The Schemes of the Kaiser Part 22

Now that all the perfidious plans inspired by Berlin have come to nought, now that the defenders of German policy at St. Petersburg, Warsaw and elsewhere have come to grief, and that the Peace Congress--even though it may not have fulfilled the generous hopes of Nicholas II--has nevertheless led to a great advance in the opinion of the public as in that of governments, on the subjects of arbitration and disarmament, William II s.h.i.+fts his rifle on to the other shoulder.

In order to clear Germany of the blame for the failure of the Conference in the eyes of the Tzar, the same individuals who const.i.tuted themselves the protectors and sponsors of M. de Bloch at the Russian Court and who had a.s.sured the Tzar of the absolute support of William II, have now started a campaign of intrigue against Count Mouravieff.

That faithful minister and servant of the Tzar, who undertook with great skill to carry out the initiative of his sovereign, and who has devoted himself whole-heartedly to the task of winning over to the Tzar's ideas not only the sympathy of the entire civilised world, but even the vast majority of the sceptical diplomats, who are leaving the Conference with the conviction that they have done useful work--well, it is this same Count Mouravieff that the German Press is now trying to hold responsible for the misdeeds of the Stengels, the Zorns and the Schwartzkopfs.

By way of a first attempt at abolis.h.i.+ng the horrors of war by means of international agreements, the Hague Conference has given very satisfactory results, and the honour for these is due to M. de Staal, Count Mouravieff and M. de Martens. The Tzar has reason to be equally satisfied in that he has compelled his very good friend William II to throw off his mask and to reveal all his hostility towards Russia.

It is now for those who had pledged themselves to guarantee the unconditional support of Germany for the Tzar, to bear the load of responsibility which is properly theirs for having unworthily deceived their Sovereign. Many other hopes, bearing on internal affairs in Russia, had been created by the authors of the intrigue which I have endeavoured to expose. We know how deeply rooted is the religious and pacific character of the Russian ma.s.ses. No initiative could stir their hearts so profoundly as that which seeks to lessen the horrors of war and to relieve the people of the crus.h.i.+ng burden of armaments. One has only to remember the sects which exist in Russia which are opposed to military service and duties. Such an initiative coming from their adored Tzar was bound to produce far-reaching results.

After our experiences of 1868 and 1869--and even 1870--how can we be guilty of running the same risks again? Was not William I, King of Prussia, amiable enough? Did he not do everything to lull the suspicions of Napoleon whilst he himself was arming to the teeth? We all allowed ourselves to be sufficiently fooled by Bismarck's agents and spies in 1870 to be able to recognise the secret agents of William II to-day.

It is not only a shameful thing, that the _Iphigenie_ should have hoisted at her mainmasthead the Imperial flag, bearing the insulting device of 1870, it is also an encouragement to William II in the treachery which he is plotting against us. One's heart is heavy with the grief of hopelessness when one thinks of our easy-going short memories, and the suffering courage of the people of Alsace-Lorraine.

During the past few days, whilst our Parisian newspapers have been discussing the probability of the obnoxious presence of the Kaiser in Paris for the Exhibition, the _Strasburger Post_ has been heaping bitter reproaches on the inhabitants of Alsace-Lorraine for their lack of enthusiasm and meagre contributions towards the proposed statue in honour of the late Emperor William. In spite of all the pressure applied, the subscriptions have hardly produced a few hundred marks.

The German Press describes the Alsatians as ungrateful and short-sighted.

August 9, 1899. [8]

The mania for autocracy dominates the mind of the German Emperor, King of Prussia, and leaves no room therein for anything but exactions of a disturbing kind. We know how numerous are the crimes of _lese-majeste_; also that William II wishes the Reichstag to pa.s.s a law punis.h.i.+ng with hard labour those who incite strikes. A lecturer at the University of Berlin, M. Arons, having dared to proclaim himself a socialist--needless to say, from the theoretical point of view--the Emperor required his Minister of Public Education to have M. Arons brought for trial before the Council of the University, consisting of forty-five professors. These acquitted the accused, who, in their opinion, had not indulged in any propaganda and was within his strict rights in expressing his personal opinions. The Emperor had their judgment heard on appeal before a court consisting of officials of the Public Education Department. To make such an appeal possible, the Reichstag was required to pa.s.s a new law in June 1898, known as the Arons Law.

Whenever the occasion offered, I have shown how deep is the hatred which William II bears towards the old liberalism of the German Universities. Yet it is for this same William that certain Germanophils amongst our French Universities entertain such a disgraceful weakness. Whilst French newspapers are continually discussing, with evident sympathy, the possibility of the Kaiser's paying a visit to France during the Exhibition, it brings the tears to our eyes to read the following in the _Journal de Colmar_:--

"The possibility of a _rapprochement_ between Frenchmen and Germans should not lead the latter to suppose that the Alsatians are likely to forget their country in order to be reconciled with the conquerors.

The Alsatian will never give up his own individual character, he will never lightly consent to be merged in a h.o.m.ogeneous whole. The Alsatian remains French, and such is the rigour of his nationality that it has resisted every attempt to destroy it."

In order to make us believe the more easily that a reconciliation with Germany is possible, and that we may come to forget 1870 and the loss of Alsace-Lorraine, they are continually telling us that Germany has never been on better terms with Russia. I showed in my last letter what were the steps taken by the Germans to minimise the great, imperishable, humanitarian success of Tzar Nicholas II in bringing about the Hague Conference. I showed that his efforts resulted in leading all the diplomats accredited to the Peace Congress to recognise that the foundation had been laid, not only of the possibility of eliminating needless horrors from the wars of the future, but also of action by the Powers in common, to be brought to bear, in the form of advice and arbitration proposals, on the minds of rivals, adversaries and enemies preparing to settle their quarrels by the arbitrament of war.

Germany realises the defeat at the Hague so completely that now she thinks only of new armaments and of arming Turkey, her only ally, to the teeth. Herein she finds numerous advantages; such as supplying rifles and guns, sending out new military instructors, and threatening Russia with a formidable army commanded by German generals.

Germany knows every inch of Russia, by land and by water, and has calculated her resources to a nicety. German spies are legion in Russia as they are in France. She may hope to make easy-going people like us believe that she is on the best of terms with our ally, but she will find it far more difficult to make Russia herself believe it. One has only to study the Russian Press to be convinced of this, and particularly a long article in the _Novae Vremya_, which proves that, as a matter of policy and of material facts, it is absolutely impossible for Russia and France to admit Germany into their Alliance without risking the destruction of that Alliance, inasmuch as its fundamental objects are diametrically opposed to those of Germany.