The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1888-03-17 00:00:00

SKETCH OF THE LATE EMPEROR'S CAREER.

The venerable Emperor, whose death the Father-
land now mourns, was born on March 22, 1797, so

that he was
,within a few days of having reached
his 91st birthday. Son of King William 111. of
Prussia, he was in every sense, it may be said, edu-

cated as a soldier. Ile took part in the campaigns of
1813 and 1815 against France, though only, of course,
.... .

as a youth gainiil'g experience. For years before Prussia
had been "nursing her army," and had already laid
the foundation of that system which has made her
a nation of soldiers. The young Prince naturally
entered with fervour into the military schemes of his

country. He was not, however, born heir to the
throne. It was occupied by his elder brother,

Frederick William IV., until 18-61, the younger Prince
acting as Regent from 1858, when the mind of the
King gave way. Before undertaking the responsi-
bilities of the Regency, however, the young Prince
William had some rather rough experiences. lie was
in 1840 appointed Governor of Pomerania, remaining
at the post until the revolutionary period of 1848,
when he had to leave somewhat suddenly, and take
refuge in England, like another Prince of another
house. In May of that year, however, he was elected

a member 6f- the Constituent Assembly. In the
following year he was appointed Commander-in-Chief

of the Prussian army acting against the Revolutionary
forces in Baden. Then came the Regency, and his

succession to the throne on January 2, 1861, under
the title of William I. Not a little talk was caused
at the time by the King, at the coronation ceremony
at Kanigsberg in the following October, putting the
crown on his own head. It was his way of asserting
the "Divine right of Kings." He would be beholden
to no one for the outward and visible symbol of
"Divine authority."
Previous to his accession to the throne the King
had had rather a reputation for Liberal ideas; but he
changed immediately he put the crown on his head.
He began almost at once a contest with the Chamber
of Deputies. In this he was vigorously assisted by
Count Bismarck, then just coming to the front, and
who became Prime Minister in 1862. The feud

increased in intensity, and it is not at all .nlprobable
it would have ended in civil war had the public and
_ . . _ .

official mind alike not been diverted by the Danish
dispute. The war ultimately waged by Austria
and Prussia against the comparatively insignifi-
cant Kingdom of Denmark may be regarded
as only a part of the fight between the two
German Powers for German supremacy. Of
course Denmark was worsted in the unequal contest,
which was exceedingly short, though it can scarcely
have been said to be sharp. The end of this war saw
the beginning of a much more important struggle.
Prussia and Austria stood face to face, and it was soon
evident that war alone would settle which was to take
the lead. The King, assisted still by Prince (then
Count) Bismarck, sedulously developed the army. It
was constantly added to. His Majesty took its
management almost entirely into his own hands. Pro-
tests were made in the Upper and Lower Houses of Par-
liament ; but they were unheeded. Political parties were
brow-beaten and cajoled by turns, but not tho
slightest interference with the army was permitted.
By 1866 the military preparations had been completed,
and no time was lost in putting the long-meditated
scheme in execution. An alliance was concluded with
Italy, an ultimatum was forwarded to the Northern
German States, and the enormous Prussian Army was
set in motion. War was declared against Austria on
the 17th of June. The King and the Crown Prince took
a leading part in this short campaign, so inglorious and
humiliating for Austria. The Crown Prince, however,
had the more conspicuous place in the actual warfare;
for it was he—General Blumenthal being Chief of the
Staff---who manipulated the forces which ended the
war in the crushing defeat at Sadowa. The " needle-
gun " of the Prussians seems to have utterly demoral-
ised the Austrian troops. It was impossible to con-
tinue the war. Austria had to make such terms as
she could,. and the King of Prussia became head of the
North German Confederation, comprising twenty-two.
States, representing a population of twenty-nine
millions.
Prussia had now a rest, or a comparative rest. The
King and his indefatigable Chancellor, however, still
devoted steady attention to the development of the
army. Count-Bismarck was aiming at the union of
Germany. It was only a question of time and oppor-
tunity. The Emperor Napoleon 111. by his blundering;
and his dread of losing popularity in France, sup-
plied the opportunity. It is unnecessary here to tell
the whole story of the Benedetti Treaty, and the
somewhat angry negotiations as to the election
of a Hohenzollern Prince to the vacant throne
of Spain. Napoleon had at first a strong posi-
tion, and Europe generally sympathised with
him in the justice of his demands. But when the
Prussian King gave way, and Louis Napoleon insisted
on a further guarantee that no Hohenzollern should
ever again be proposed for the Spanish throne, the
sympathy with the French Emperor cooled consider-
ably. The relations between the two Governments
were further strained by the dispute about the cession
of the Duchy of Luxembourg to Holland. That ques-
tion was, however, amicably settled, and the two
nations vowed that they meant to be peaceful.
But the warlike preparations on both sides
continued. It seemed but a trick and play of dip-
lomacy as to who should seem to give occasion for
the declaration of war. France blundered into the
position, and appeared by her precipitate declaration
of war, to have been hankering after it all the time.
War declared, the German Army swooped down upon
France with a suddenness which astonished Europe.
The French Army did nothing even to check the ad-
vance of the Germans. There was hardly a real
pitched battle during the whole course of the
struggle. At Sedan the French made a stand because,
at the instigation of the Emperor, they had gone into
a position from which they could not escape without
fighting. But Louis Napoleon seemed tired of the
struggle. He gave himself up after Sedan with an
apparent sense of relief. He was made prisoner;
the Empress Eugenie fled from Paris; and the Govern-
ment of the National Defence was formed.
But it is no part of our present purpose to record
the history of that war so disastrous to France;
suffice it to say that it secured the unity of Germany.
King William I. of Prussia was proclaimed German
Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors, in the Palace of the
French Kings at Versailles on the 18th January, 1871.
The Emperor's life since that period is now a matter
of popular recollection. A little more than a.3,-ear
after his proclamation as Emperor occurred the
first of those meetings of the three Em-
perors which have since—whenever they have
taken place attracted BO deep an attention
in European political circles. A few months later a
definite corroboration of the harmony which pre-
vailed between the three Powers was given by a visit
of the Kaiser first to St. Petersburg, and then to
Vienna. Another evidence of it was soon given by a
visit of the Czar to Berlin in 1875. Since that time
Germany has occupied a pre-eminent position in Con-
tinental politics and European diplomacy. Its policy
and programme have been fraught with issues of the
deepest moment to Continental peace.
The Emperor has more than once been the target of
the would-be regicide's aim. On the afternoon of
May 11, 1878, a young Socialist tinker, named Emil
Hoedel, who hailed from Leipsic, waited for the Em-
peror as he drove in the public thoroughfare of Berlin.
He fired two shots from a revolver, but neither of
them struck the Monarch. At once, with character-
istic courage, the Emperor stood up in his carriage,
and asked' whether the shots were aimed at
him. The crowd were now on the heels
of Hoedel. Facing them, he fired two of
three more shots into their midst, but was almost im-
mediately captured and handed over to the police.
He had no intention of committing murder, so he
said. Dissatisfied with the social conditions of life,
he had resolved to commit suicide. Death, however,
now came to him from the hands of the public exe-
cutioner. Again, on June 2nd, 1878, the Emperor
was shot at. On that day his Majesty was driving
in Unter den Linden to the Zoological Gardens,
when two shots were fired at him fr().-.1
the window of a house. He did not DOW
go sca • theles-3 ; lie was, indeed wounded
in several placcs. The Emperor returned at once to
the Palace, where his physicians attended to him, for-
tunatelv extracting the shot without great difficulty,
His Majesty- not having been placed in much danger,
Dr. Nopiling was the would-1-p, assassin. His first act
after the outrage was to end his life. The crowd,
however, had pow entered the house and secured him
before he had'accomplishcd his purpose. However,
he afterwards died from the effect of his self-inflicted
wounds.
The EmPeror is outlived by his wife, to whom he
was married on June 11, 1829. The Empress Augusta
was the daughter of Charles Frederick Grand Duke of
Weimar. There were two children of the union—

Prince Frederick Wltliarn and the Princess Louise
Mary. Prince Frederick William was born at the
New Palace in Potsd Am, Oct. 18th, 1831, and married
the Princess Royal of Great Britain on January 25th,
1858. Princess Louise Mary was born on December
3rd, 1838, and was married on Septembe
20th, 1856, to Frederick William Grand Duke
of Baden. The venerable Monarch had lived far
beyond the allotted span of life, but recently people
have been thinking more of the probable death of hie
son than of himself. The Emperor William, if not
remarkable in himself, has been the centre, during
his long life, of some of the most remarkable events
in the history of Germany. No chapter of that
eventful story will be dwelt upon with more pride by
the modern German than that which records the
great events which led to the unity of the Father-
land.