[Illustration: AN INVITATION TO ATTEND THE OPENING OF THE ROYAL
ACADEMY.]
[Illustration: AN INVITATION TO A COURT BALL.]
[Illustration: SAFE CONDUCT FOR AMBASSADOR GERARD AND HIS FAMILY,
UNDER THE SIGNATURE OF SECRETARY ZIMMERMANN, FEBRUARY, 5, 1917.]
[Illustration: AMBASSADOR GERARD SAYING GOOD-BYE TO THE AMERICANS
LEAVING ON A SPECIAL TRAIN, AUGUST, 1914.]
MY FOUR YEARS IN GERMANY
BY JAMES W. GERARD
LATE AMBASSADOR TO THE GERMAN IMPERIAL COURT
TO MY SMALL BUT TACTFUL FAMILY OF ONE
MY WIFE
FOREWORD
I am writing what should have been the last chapter of this book
as a foreword because I want to bring home to our people the
gravity of the situation; because I want to tell them that the
military and naval power of the German Empire is unbroken; that of
the twelve million men whom the Kaiser has called to the colours
but one million, five hundred thousand have been killed, five
hundred thousand permanently disabled, not more than five hundred
thousand are prisoners of war, and about five hundred thousand
constitute the number of wounded or those on the sick list of
each day, leaving at all times about nine million effectives
under arms.
I state these figures because Americans do not grasp either the
magnitude or the importance of this war. Perhaps the statement
that over five million prisoners of war are held in the various
countries will bring home to Americans the enormous mass of men
engaged.
There have been no great losses in the German navy, and any losses
of ships have been compensated for by the building of new ones.
The nine million men, and more, for at least four hundred thousand
come of military age in Germany every year, because of their
experience in two and a half years of war are better and more
efficient soldiers than at the time when they were called to
the colours. Their officers know far more of the science of this
war and the men themselves now have the skill and bearing of
veterans.
Nor should anyone believe that Germany will break under starvation
or make peace because of revolution.
The German nation is not one which makes revolutions. There will
be scattered riots in Germany, but no simultaneous rising of the
whole people. The officers of the army are all of one class,
and of a class devoted to the ideals of autocracy. A revolution
of the army is impossible; and at home there are only the boys
and old men easily kept in subjection by the police.
There is far greater danger of the starvation of our Allies than
of the starvation of the Germans. Every available inch of ground
in Germany is cultivated, and cultivated by the aid of the old
men, the boys and the women, and the two million prisoners of
war.
The arable lands of Northern France and of Roumania are being
cultivated by the German army with an efficiency never before
known in these countries, and most of that food will be added
to the food supplies of Germany. Certainly the people suffer;
but still more certainly this war will not be ended because of
the starvation of Germany.
Although thinking Germans know that if they do not win the war
the financial day of reckoning will come, nevertheless, owing to
the clever financial handling of the country by the government
and the great banks, there is at present no financial distress in
Germany; and the knowledge that, unless indemnities are obtained
from other countries, the weight of the great war debt will fall
upon the people, perhaps makes them readier to risk all in a
final attempt to win the war and impose indemnities upon not
only the nations of Europe but also upon the United States of
America.
We are engaged in a war against the greatest military power the
world has ever seen; against a people whose country was for so
many centuries a theatre of devastating wars that fear is bred
in the very marrow of their souls, making them ready to submit
their lives and fortunes to an autocracy which for centuries has
ground their faces, but which has promised them, as a result of
the war, not only security but riches untold and the dominion of
the world; a people which, as from a high mountain, has looked
upon the cities of the world and the glories of them, and has
been promised these cities and these glories by the devils of
autocracy and of war.
We are warring against a nation whose poets and professors, whose
pedagogues and whose parsons have united in stirring its people
to a white pitch of hatred, first against Russia, then against
England and now against America.
The U-Boat peril is a very real one for England. Russia may either
break up into civil wars or become so ineffective that the millions
of German troops engaged on the Russian front may be withdrawn
and hurled against the Western lines. We stand in great peril,
and only the exercise of ruthless realism can win this war for us.
If Germany wins this war it means the triumph of the autocratic
system. It means the triumph of those who believe not only in
war as a national industry, not only in war for itself but also
in war as a high and noble occupation. Unless Germany is beaten
the whole world will be compelled to turn itself into an armed
camp, until the German autocracy either brings every nation under
its dominion or is forever wiped out as a form of government.
We are in this war because we were forced into it: because Germany
not only murdered our citizens on the high seas, but also filled
our country with spies and sought to incite our people to civil
war. We were given no opportunity to discuss or negotiate. The
forty-eight hour ultimatum given by Austria to Serbia was not,
as Bernard Shaw said, "A decent time in which to ask a man to
pay his hotel bill." What of the six-hour ultimatum given to
me in Berlin on the evening of January thirty-first, 1917, when
I was notified at six that ruthless warfare would commence at
twelve? Why the German government, which up to that moment had
professed amity and a desire to stand by the _Sussex_ pledges,
knew that it took almost two days to send a cable to America! I
believe that we are not only justly in this war, but prudently
in this war. If we had stayed out and the war had been drawn
or won by Germany we should have been attacked, and that while
Europe stood grinning by: not directly at first, but through an
attack on some Central or South American State to which it would
be at least as difficult for us to send troops as for Germany.
And what if this powerful nation, vowed to war, were once firmly
established in South or Central America? What of our boasted
isolation then?
It is only because I believe that our people should be informed
that I have consented to write this book. There are too many
thinkers, writers and speakers in the United States; from now
on we need the doers, the organisers, and the realists who alone
can win this contest for us, for democracy and for permanent
peace!
Writing of events so new, I am, of course, compelled to exercise
a great discretion, to keep silent on many things of which I
would speak, to suspend many judgments and to hold for future
disclosure many things, the relation of which now would perhaps
only serve to increase bitterness or to cause internal dissension
in our own land.
The American who travels through Germany in summer time or who
spends a month having his liver tickled at Homburg or Carlsbad,
who has his digestion restored by Dr. Dapper at Kissingen or
who relearns the lost art of eating meat at Dr. Dengler's in
Baden, learns little of the real Germany and its rulers; and in
this book I tell something of the real Germany, not only that
my readers may understand the events of the last three years
but also that they may judge of what is likely to happen in our
future relations with that country.
CONTENTS
FOREWORD.
I MY FIRST YEAR IN GERMANY.
II POLITICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL.
III DIPLOMATIC WORK OF FIRST WINTER IN BERLIN.
IV MILITARISM IN GERMANY AND THE ZABERN AFFAIR.
V PSYCHOLOGY AND CAUSES WHICH PREPARED THE NATION FOR WAR.
VI AT KIEL JUST BEFORE THE WAR.
VII THE SYSTEM.
VIII THE DAYS BEFORE THE WAR.
IX THE AMERICANS AT THE OUTBREAK OF HOSTILITIES.
X PRISONERS OF WAR.
XI FIRST DAYS OF THE WAR: POLITICAL AND DIPLOMATIC.
XII DIPLOMATIC NEGOTIATIONS.
XIII MAINLY COMMERCIAL.
XIV WORK FOR THE GERMANS.
XV WAR CHARITIES.
XVI HATE.
XVII DIPLOMATIC NEGOTIATIONS. (Continued).
XVIII LIBERALS AND REASONABLE MEN.
XIX THE GERMAN PEOPLE IN WAR.
XX LAST.
ILLUSTRATIONS
AMBASSADOR GERARD SAYING GOOD-BYE TO THE AMERICANS LEAVING ON
A SPECIAL TRAIN, AUGUST, 1914.
AMBASSADOR GERARD ON HIS WAY TO PRESENT HIS LETTERS OF CREDENCE
TO THE EMPEROR.
THE HOUSE RENTED FOR USE AS EMBASSY.
A SALON IN THE EMBASSY.
THE BALL-ROOM OF THE EMBASSY.
PROGRAMME OF THE MUSIC AFTER DINNER AT THE ROYAL PALACE.
THE ROYAL PALACE AT POTSDAM.
DEMONSTRATION OF SYMPATHY FOR THE AMERICANS AT THE TOWN HALL,
AUGUST, 1914.
RACING YACHTS AT KIEL.
THE KAISER'S YACHT, "HOHENZOLLERN".
AMBASSADOR GERARD ON HIS WAY TO HIS SHOOTING PRESERVE.
A KEEPER AND BEATERS ON THE SHOOTING PRESERVE.
CROWDS IN FRONT OF THE EMBASSY, AUGUST, 1914.
OUTSIDE THE EMBASSY IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE WAR.
AT WORK IN THE EMBASSY BALL-ROOM, AUGUST, 1914.
AMBASSADOR GERARD AND HIS STAFF.
COVER OF THE RUHLEBEN MONTHLY.
SPECIMEN PAGE OF DRAWINGS FROM THE RUHLEBEN MONTHLY.
ALLEGED DUM-DUM BULLETS.
THE "LUSITANIA" MEDAL.
PAGE FROM "FOR LIGHT AND TRUTH".
AMBASSADOR GERARD AND PARTY IN SEDAN.
IN FRONT OF THE COTTAGE AT BAZEILLES.
FOOD ALLOTMENT POSTER FROM THE CHARLEVILLE DISTRICT.
FAC-SIMILE REPRODUCTION OF THE KAISER'S PERSONAL TELEGRAM TO
PRESIDENT WILSON.
FAC-SIMILE OF SECRETARY OF STATE'S REQUEST TO AMBASSADOR GERARD
TO CALL IN ORDER TO RECEIVE SUBMARINE ANNOUNCEMENT.
THE REMODELLED DRAFT OF THE TREATY OF 1799.
INSTRUCTIONS SENT TO THE GERMAN PRESS ON WRITING UP A ZEPPELIN
RAID.
PETITION CIRCULATED FOR SIGNATURE AMONG AMERICANS IN EUROPE.
PAGE FROM LISSAUER'S PAMPHLET SHOWING "HYMN OF HATE".
INSTRUCTIONS REGULATING APPEARANCE AT COURT.
A BERLIN EXTRA.
CHAPTER I
MY FIRST YEAR IN GERMANY
The second day out on the _Imperator_, headed for a summer's
vacation, a loud knocking woke me at seven A. M. The radio, handed
in from a friend in New York, told me of my appointment as Ambassador
to Germany.
Many friends were on the ship. Henry Morgenthau, later Ambassador
to Turkey, Colonel George Harvey, Adolph Ochs and Louis Wiley
of the _New York Times_, Clarence Mackay, and others.
The _Imperator_ is a marvellous ship of fifty-four thousand
tons or more, and at times it is hard to believe that one is
on the sea. In addition to the regular dining saloon, there is
a grill room and Ritz restaurant with its palm garden, and, of
course, an Hungarian Band. There are also a gymnasium and swimming
pool, and, nightly, in the enormous ballroom dances are given,
the women dressing in their best just as they do on shore.
Colonel Harvey and Clarence Mackay gave me a dinner of twenty-four
covers, something of a record at sea. For long afterwards in
Germany, I saw everywhere pictures of the _Imperator_ including
one of the tables set for this dinner. These were sent out over
Germany as a sort of propaganda to induce the Germans to patronise
their own ships and indulge in ocean travel. I wish that the
propaganda had been earlier and more successful, because it is
by travel that peoples learn to know each other, and consequently
to abstain from war.
On the night of the usual ship concert, Henry Morgenthau translated
a little speech for me into German, which I managed to get through
after painfully learning it by heart. Now that I have a better
knowledge of German, a cold sweat breaks out when I think of
the awful German accent with which I delivered that address.
A flying trip to Berlin early in August to look into the house
question followed, and then I returned to the United States.
In September I went to Washington to be "instructed," talked
with the President and Secretary, and sat at the feet of the
Assistant Secretary of State, Alvey A. Adee, the revered Sage
of the Department of State.
On September ninth, 1913, having resigned as Justice of the Supreme
Court of the State of New York, I sailed for Germany, stopping on
the way in London in order to make the acquaintance of Ambassador
Page, certain wise people in Washington having expressed the
belief that a personal acquaintance of our Ambassadors made it
easier for them to work together.
Two cares assail a newly appointed Ambassador. He must first
take thought of what he shall wear and where he shall live. All
other nations have beautiful Embassies or Legations in Berlin,
but I found that my two immediate predecessors had occupied a
villa originally built as a two-family house, pleasantly enough
situated, but two miles from the centre of Berlin and entirely
unsuitable for an Embassy.
There are few private houses in Berlin, most of the people living
in apartments. After some trouble I found a handsome house on
the Wilhelm Platz immediately opposite the Chancellor's palace
and the Foreign Office, in the very centre of Berlin. This house
had been built as a palace for the Princes Hatzfeld and had later
passed into the possession of a banking family named von Schwabach.
The United States Government, unlike other nations, does not
own or pay the rent of a suitable Embassy, but gives allowance
for offices, if the house is large enough to afford office room
for the office force of the Embassy. The von Schwabach palace
was nothing but a shell. Even the gas and electric light fixtures
had been removed; and when the hot water and heating system,
bath-rooms, electric lights and fixtures, etc., had been put
in, and the house furnished from top to bottom, my first year's
salary had far passed the minus point.
The palace was not ready for occupancy until the end of January,
1914, and, in the meantime, we lived at the Hotel Esplanade,
and I transacted business at the old, two-family villa.
There are more diplomats in Berlin than in any other capital in
the world, because each of the twenty-five States constituting
the German Empire sends a legation to Berlin; even the free cities
of Hamburg, Lübeck and Bremen have a resident minister at the
Empire's capital.
Invariable custom requires a new Ambassador in Berlin to give
two receptions, one to the Diplomatic Corps and the other to
all those people who have the right to go to court. These are
the officials, nobles and officers of the army and navy, and
such other persons as have been presented at court. Such people
are called _hoffähig_, meaning that they are fit for court.
[Illustration: AMBASSADOR GERARD ON HIS WAY TO PRESENT HIS LETTERS
OF CREDENCE TO THE EMPEROR.]
[Illustration: THE HOUSE ON THE WILHELM PLATZ, RENTED FOR USE
AS THE EMBASSY.]
It is interesting here to note that Jews are not admitted to
court. Such Jews as have been ennobled and allowed to put the
coveted "von" before their names have first of all been required
to submit to baptism in some Christian church. Examples are the
von Schwabach family, whose ancestral house I occupied in Berlin,
and Friedlaender-Fuld, officially rated as the richest man in
Berlin, who made a large fortune in coke and its by-products.
These two receptions are really introductions of an Ambassador
to official and court society.
Before these receptions, however, and in the month of November,
I presented my letters of credence as Ambassador to the Emperor.
This presentation is quite a ceremony. Three coaches were sent
for me and my staff, coaches like that in which Cinderella goes
to her ball, mostly glass, with white wigged coachmen, outriders
in white wigs and standing footmen holding on to the back part
of the coach. Baron von Roeder, introducer of Ambassadors, came
for me and accompanied me in the first coach; the men of the
Embassy staff sat in the other two coaches. Our little procession
progressed solemnly through the streets of Berlin, passing on
the way through the centre division of the arch known as the
Brandenburger Thor, the gateway that stands at the head of the
Unter den Linden, a privilege given only on this occasion.
We mounted long stairs in the palace, and in a large room were
received by the aides and the officers of the Emperor's household,
of course all in uniform. Then I was ushered alone into the adjoining
room where the Emperor, very erect and dressed in the black uniform
of the Death's Head Hussars, stood by a table. I made him a little
speech, and presented my letters of credence and the letters
of recall of my predecessor. The Emperor then unbent from his
very erect and impressive attitude and talked with me in a very
friendly manner, especially impressing me with his interest in
business and commercial affairs. I then, in accordance with custom,
asked leave to present my staff. The doors were opened. The staff
came in and were presented to the Emperor, who talked in a very
jolly and agreeable way to all of us, saying that he hoped above
all to see the whole of the Embassy staff riding in the Tier
Garten in the mornings.
The Emperor is a most impressive figure, and, in his black uniform
surrounded by his officers, certainly looked every inch a king.
Although my predecessors, on occasions of this kind, had worn a
sort of fancy diplomatic uniform designed by themselves, I decided
to abandon this and return to the democratic, if unattractive and
uncomfortable, dress-suit, simply because the newspapers of America
and certain congressmen, while they have had no objection to the
wearing of uniforms by the army and navy, police and postmen,
and do not expect officers to lead their troops into battle in
dress-suits, have, nevertheless, had a most extraordinary prejudice
against American diplomats following the usual custom of adopting
a diplomatic uniform.
Some days after my presentation to the Emperor, I was taken to
Potsdam, which is situated about half an hour's train journey from
Berlin, and, from the station there, driven to the new palace and
presented to the Empress. The Empress was most charming and affable,
and presented a very distinguished appearance. Accompanied by Mrs.
Gerard, and always, either by night or by day, in the infernal
dress-suit, I was received by the Crown Prince and Princess, and
others of the royal princes and their wives. On these occasions
we sat down and did not stand, as when received by the Emperor
and Empress, and simply made "polite conversation" for about
twenty minutes, being received first by the ladies-in-waiting
and aides. These princes were always in uniform of some kind.
At the reception for the _hoffähig_ people Mrs. Gerard stood
in one room and I in another, and with each of us was a
representative of the Emperor's household to introduce the people
of the court, and an army officer to introduce the people of the
army. The officer assigned to me had the extraordinary name of
der Pfortner von der Hoelle, which means the "porter of Hell."
I have often wondered since by what prophetic instinct he was
sent to introduce me to the two years and a half of world war
which I experienced in Berlin. This unfortunate officer, a most
charming gentleman, was killed early in the war.
The Berlin season lasts from about the twentieth of January for
about six weeks. It is short in duration because, if the
_hoffähig_ people stay longer than six weeks in Berlin, they
become liable to pay their local income tax in Berlin, where
the rate is higher than in those parts of Germany where they
have their country estates.
The first great court ceremonial is the _Schleppencour_,
so-called from the long trains or _Schleppen_ worn by the
women. On this night we "presented" Mr. and Mrs. Robert K. Cassatt
of Philadelphia, Mrs. Ernest Wiltsee, Mrs. and Miss Luce and
Mrs. Norman Whitehouse. On the arrival at the palace with these
and all the members of the Embassy Staff and their wives, we
were shown up a long stair-case, at the top of which a guard of
honour, dressed in costume of the time of Frederick the Great,
presented arms to all Ambassadors, and ruffled kettle-drums.
Through long lines of cadets from the military schools, dressed
as pages, in white, with short breeches and powdered wigs, we
passed through several rooms where all the people to pass in
review were gathered. Behind these, in a room about sixty feet by
fifty, on a throne facing the door were the Emperor and Empress,
and on the broad steps of this throne were the princes and their
wives, the court ladies-in-waiting and all the other members of
the court. The wives of the Ambassadors entered the room first,
followed at intervals of about twenty feet by the ladies of the
Embassy and the ladies to be presented. As they entered the room
and made a change of direction toward the throne, pages in white
straightened out the ladies' trains with long sticks. Arrived
opposite the throne and about twenty feet from it, each Ambassador's
wife made a low curtsey and then stood on the foot of the throne,
to the left of the Emperor and Empress, and as each lady of the
Embassy, not before presented, and each lady to be presented
stopped beside the throne and made a low curtsey, the Ambassadress
had to call out the name of each one in a loud voice; and when
the last one had passed she followed her out of the room, walking
sideways so as not to turn her back on the royalties,--something
of a feat when towing a train about fifteen feet long. When all the
Ambassadresses had so passed, it was the turn of the Ambassadors,
who carried out substantially the same programme, substituting low
bows for curtsies. The Ambassadors were followed by the Ministers'
wives, these by the Ministers and these by the dignitaries of
the German Court. All passed into the adjoining hall, and there
a buffet supper was served. The whole affair began at about eight
o'clock and was over in an hour.
At the court balls, which also began early in the evening, a
different procedure was followed. There the guests were required
to assemble before eight-twenty in the ball-room. As in the
_Schleppencour_, on one side of the room was the throne with
seats for the Emperor and Empress, and to the right of this throne
were the chairs for the Ambassadors' wives who were seated in the
order of their husbands' rank, with the ladies of their Embassy,
and any ladies they had brought to the ball standing behind them.
After them came the Ministers' wives, sitting in similar fashion;
then the Ambassadors, standing with their staffs behind them on
raised steps, with any men that they had asked invitations for,
and the Ministers in similar order. To the left of the throne
stood the wives of the Dukes and dignitaries of Germany and then
their husbands. When all were assembled, promptly at the time
announced, the orchestra, which was dressed in mediæval costume
and sat in a gallery, sounded trumpets and then the Emperor and
Empress entered the room, the Emperor, of course, in uniform,
followed by the ladies and gentlemen of the household all in
brilliant uniforms, and one or two officers of the court regiment,
picked out for their great height and dressed in the kind of
uniform Rupert of Hentzau wears on the stage,--a silver helmet
surmounted by an eagle, a steel breast-plate, white breeches
and coat, and enormous high boots coming half way up the thigh.
The Grand Huntsman wore a white wig, three-cornered hat and a
long green coat.
On entering the room, the Empress usually commenced on one side
and the Emperor on the other, going around the room and speaking
to the Ambassadors' wives and Ambassadors, etc., in turn, and
the Empress in similar fashion, chatting for a moment with the
German dignitaries and their wives lined up on the opposite side
of the room. After going perhaps half way around each side, the
Emperor and Empress would then change sides. This going around
the room and chatting with people in turn is called "making the
circle", and young royalties are practised in "making the circle"
by being made to go up to the trees in a garden and address a
few pleasant words to each tree, in this manner learning one
of the principal duties of royalty.
The dancing is only by young women and young officers of noble
families who have practised the dances before. They are under
the superintendence of several young officers who are known as
_Vortänzer_ and when anyone in Berlin in court society gives
a ball these _Vortänzer_ are the ones who see that all dancing
is conducted strictly according to rule and manage the affairs
of the ball-room with true Prussian efficiency. Supper is about
ten-thirty at a court ball and is at small tables. Each royalty
has a table holding about eight people and to these people are
invited without particular rule as to precedence. The younger
guests and lower dignitaries are not placed at supper but find
places at tables to suit themselves. After supper all go back
to the ball-room and there the young ladies and officers, led
by the _Vortänzer_ execute a sort of lancers, in the final
figure of which long lines are formed of dancers radiating from
the throne; and all the dancers make bows and curtsies to the
Emperor and Empress who are either standing or sitting at this
time on the throne. At about eleven-thirty the ball is over,
and as the guests pass out through the long hall, they are given
glasses of hot punch and a peculiar sort of local Berlin bun, in
order to ward off the lurking dangers of the villainous winter
climate.
At the court balls the diplomats are, of course, in their best
diplomatic uniform. All Germans are in uniform of some kind, but the
women do not wear the long trains worn at the _Schleppencour_.
They wear ordinary ball dresses. In connection with court dancing
it is rather interesting to note that when the tango and turkey
trot made their way over the frontiers of Germany in the autumn
of 1913, the Emperor issued a special order that no officers of
the army or navy should dance any of these dances or should go
to the house of any person who, at any time, whether officers
were present or not, had allowed any of these new dances to be
danced. This effectually extinguished the turkey trot, the bunny
hug and the tango, and maintained the waltz and the polka in their
old estate. It may seem ridiculous that such a decree should
be so solemnly issued, but I believe that the higher authorities
in Germany earnestly desired that the people, and, especially,
the officers of the army and navy, should learn not to enjoy
themselves too much. A great endeavour was always made to keep
them in a life, so far as possible, of Spartan simplicity. For
instance, the army officers were forbidden to play polo, not
because of anything against the game, which, of course, is splendid
practice for riding, but because it would make a distinction in
the army between rich and poor.
[Illustration: A SALON IN THE AMERICAN EMBASSY.]
[Illustration: THE BALLROOM OF THE EMBASSY. THIS WAS AFTERWARD
TURNED INTO A WORKROOM FOR THE RELIEF OF AMERICANS IN WAR DAYS.]
The Emperor's birthday, January twenty-seventh, is a day of great
celebration. At nine-thirty in the morning the Ambassadors, Ministers
and all the dignitaries of the court attend Divine Service in the
chapel of the palace. On this day in 1914, the Queen of Greece and
many of the reigning princes of the German States were present.
In the evening there was a gala performance in the opera house,
the entire house being occupied by members of the court. Between
the acts in the large foyer, royalties "made the circle," and I
had quite a long conversation with both the Emperor and Empress
and was "caught" by the King of Saxony. Many of the Ambassadors
have letters of credence not only to the court at Berlin but
also to the rulers of the minor German States. For instance,
the Belgian Minister was accredited to thirteen countries in
Germany and the Spanish Ambassador to eleven. For some reason
or other, the American and Turkish Ambassadors are accredited
only to the court at Berlin. Some of the German rulers feel this
quite keenly, and the King of Saxony, especially. I had been
warned that he was very anxious to show his resentment of this
distinction by refusing to shake hands with the American Ambassador.
He was in the foyer on the occasion of this gala performance
and said that he would like to have me presented to him. I, of
course, could not refuse, but forgot the warning of my predecessors
and put out my hand, which the King ostentatiously neglected to
take. A few moments later the wife of the Turkish Ambassador was
presented to the King of Saxony and received a similar rebuff;
but, as she was a daughter of the Khedive of Egypt, and therefore
a Royal Highness in her own right, she went around the King of
Saxony, seized his hand, which he had put behind him, brought
it around to the front and shook it warmly, a fine example of
great presence of mind.
Writing of all these things and looking out from a sky-scraper
in New York, these details of court life seem very frivolous
and far away. But an Ambassador is compelled to become part of
this system. The most important conversations with the Emperor
sometimes take place at court functions, and the Ambassador and
his secretaries often gather their most useful bits of information
over tea cups or with the cigars after dinner.
Aside from the short season, Berlin is rather dull; Bismarck
characterised it as a "desert of bricks and newspapers."
In addition to making visits to the royalties, custom required
me to call first upon the Imperial Chancellor and the Minister
of Foreign Affairs. The other ministers are supposed to call
first, although I believe the redoubtable von Tirpitz claimed
a different rule. So, during the first winter I gradually made
the acquaintance of those people who sway the destinies of the
German Empire and its seventy millions.
I dined with the Emperor and had long conversations with him on
New Year's Day and at the two court balls.
All during this winter Germans from the highest down tried to
impress me with the great danger which they said threatened America
from Japan. The military and naval attachés and I were told that
the German information system sent news that Mexico was full
of Japanese colonels and America of Japanese spies. Possibly
much of the prejudice in America against the Japanese was cooked
up by the German propagandists whom we later learned to know
so well.
It is noteworthy that during the whole of my first winter in
Berlin I was not officially or semi-officially afforded an
opportunity to meet any of the members of the Reichstag or any
of the leaders in the business world. The great merchants, whose
acquaintance I made, as well as the literary and artistic people,
I had to seek out; because most of them were not _hoffähig_
and I did not come in contact with them at any court functions,
official dinners or even in the houses of the court nobles or
those connected with the government.
A very interesting character whom I met during the first winter
and often conversed with, was Prince Henkel-Donnersmarck. Prince
Donnersmarck, who died December, 1916, at the age of eighty-six
years, was the richest male subject in Germany, the richest subject
being Frau von Krupp-Böhlen, the heiress of the Krupp cannon
foundry. He was the first governor of Lorraine during the war of
1870 and had had a finger in all of the political and commercial
activities of Germany for more than half a century. He told me, on
one occasion, that he had advocated exacting a war indemnity of
thirty milliards from France after the war of 1870, and said that
France could easily pay it--and that that sum or much more should
be exacted as an indemnity at the conclusion of the World War of
1914. He said that he had always advocated a protective tariff
for agricultural products in Germany as well as encouragement of
the German manufacturing interests: that agriculture was necessary
to the country in order to provide strong soldiers for war, and
manufacturing industries to provide money to pay for the army and
navy and their equipment. He made me promise to take his second
son to America in order that he might see American life, and the
great iron and coal districts of Pennsylvania. Of course, most
of these conversations took place before the World War. After
two years of that war and, as prospects of paying the expenses
of the war from the indemnities to be exacted from the enemies
of Germany gradually melted away, the Prince quite naturally
developed a great anxiety as to how the expenses of the war should
be paid by Germany; and I am sure that this anxiety had much to
do with his death at the end of the year, 1916.
Custom demanded that I should ask for an appointment and call on
each of the Ambassadors on arrival. The British Ambassador was
Sir Edward Goschen, a man of perhaps sixty-eight years, a widower.
He spoke French, of course, and German; and, accompanied by his
dog, was a frequent visitor at our house. I am very grateful
for the help and advice he so generously gave me--doubly valuable
as coming from a man of his fame and experience. Jules Cambon was
the Ambassador of France. His brother, Paul, is Ambassador to
the Court of St. James. Jules Cambon is well-known to Americans,
having passed five years in this country. He was Ambassador to
Spain for five years, and, at the time of my arrival, had been
about the same period at Berlin. In spite of his long residence
in each of these countries, he spoke only French; but he possessed
a really marvellous insight into the political life of each of
these nations. Bollati, the Italian Ambassador, was a great admirer
of Germany; he spoke German well and did everything possible
to keep Italy out of war with her former Allies in the Triple
Alliance.
Spain was represented by Polo de Bernabe, who now represents
the interests of the United States in Germany, as well as those
of France, Russia, Belgium, Serbia and Roumania. It is a curious
commentary on the absurdity of war that, on leaving Berlin, I
handed over the interests of the United States to this Ambassador,
who, as Spanish minister to the United States, was handed his
passports at the outbreak of the Spanish-American war! I am sure
that not only he, but all his Embassy, will devotedly represent
our interests in Germany. Sverbeeu represented the interests
of Russia; Soughimoura, Japan; and Mouktar Pascha, Turkey. The
wife of the latter was a daughter of the Khedive of Egypt, and
Mouktar Pascha himself a general of distinction in the Turkish
army.
An Ambassador must keep on intimate terms with his colleagues.
It is often through them that he learns of important matters
affecting his own country or others. All of these Ambassadors
and most of the Ministers occupied handsome houses furnished
by their government. They had large salaries and a fund for
entertaining.
During this first winter before the war, I saw a great deal of
the German Crown Prince as well as of several of his brothers.
I cannot subscribe to the general opinion of the Crown Prince. I
found him a most agreeable man, a sharp observer and the possessor
of intellectual attainments of no mean order. He is undoubtedly
popular in Germany, excelling in all sports, a fearless rider
and a good shot. He is ably seconded by the Crown Princess. The
mother of the Crown Princess is a Russian Grand Duchess, and
her father was a Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. She is a very
beautiful woman made popular by her affable manners. The one
defect of the Crown Prince has been his eagerness for war; but,
as he has characterised this war as the most stupid ever waged
in history, perhaps he will be satisfied, if he comes to the
throne, with what all Germany has suffered in this conflict.
The Crown Prince was very anxious, before the war, to visit the
United States; and we had practically arranged to make a trip
to Alaska in search of some of the big game there, with stops
at the principal cities of America.
The second son of the Kaiser, Prince Eitel Fritz, is considered
by the Germans to have distinguished himself most in this war.
He is given credit for great personal bravery.
Prince Adalbert, the sailor prince, is quite American in his
manners. In February, 1914, the Crown Prince and Princes Eitel
Fritz and Adalbert came to our Embassy for a very small dance to
which were asked all the pretty American girls then in Berlin.
It is never the custom to invite royalties to an entertainment.
They invite themselves to a dance or a dinner, and the list of
proposed guests is always submitted to them. When a royalty arrives
at the house, the host (and the hostess, if the royalty be a
woman) always waits at the front door and escorts the royalties
up-stairs. Allison Armour also gave a dance at which the Crown
Prince was present, following a dinner at the Automobile Club.
Armour has been a constant visitor to Germany for many years,
usually going in his yacht to Kiel in summer and to Corfu, where
the Emperor goes, in winter. As he has never tried to obtain
anything from the Emperor, he has become quite intimate with him
and with all the members of the royal family.
The Chancellor, von Bethmann-Hollweg, is an enormous man of perhaps
six feet five or six. He comes of a banking family in Frankfort.
It is too soon to give a just estimate of his acts in this war.
When I arrived in Berlin and until November, 1916, von Jagow
was Minister of Foreign Affairs. In past years he had occupied
the post of Ambassador to Italy, and with great reluctance took
his place at the head of the Foreign Office. Zimmermann was
an Under Secretary, succeeding von Jagow when the latter was
practically forced out of office. Zimmermann, on account of his
plain and hearty manners and democratic air, was more of a favourite
with the Ambassadors and members of the Reichstag than von Jagow,
who, in appearance and manner, was the ideal old-style diplomat
of the stage.
Von Jagow was not a good speaker and the agitation against him
was started by those who claimed that, in answering questions
in the Reichstag, he did not make a forceful enough appearance
on behalf of the government. Von Jagow did not cultivate the
members of the Reichstag and his delicate health prevented him
from undertaking more than the duties of his office.
As a matter of fact, I believe that von Jagow had a juster estimate
of foreign nations than Zimmermann, and more correctly divined the
thoughts of the American people in this war than did his successor.
I thought that I enjoyed the personal friendship of both von
Jagow and Zimmermann and, therefore, was rather unpleasantly
surprised when I saw in the papers that Zimmermann had stated in
the Reichstag that he had been compelled, from motives of policy,
to keep on friendly terms with me. I sincerely hope that what he
said on this occasion was incorrectly reported. Von Jagow, after
his fall, took charge of a hospital at Libau in the occupied
portion of Russia. This shows the devotion to duty of the Prussian
noble class, and their readiness to take up any task, however
humble, that may help their country.