The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-09-17

I i'Ffp va itiEAbtfS as II WDulQ ne
for Germany to attack.
Remember that in southern Brazil
nearly 400. 600 Germans are sustain
ed as | found out, in their devotion
to the fatherland by annual grants of
, money, for educational purposes. from
the imperial treasury in Berlin.
ENGLAND CHANGES
THE WHOLE SITUATION
1t was not without reason that at
this interview. when the kaiser wrote
this message to the president, he said
that the coming I'm of England chang
ed the whole situation and would
make the war long one. The kaiser
talked rather despondently about the
war, | tried 10 cheer him up by say
ing The German troops would soon en-
ter Paris. but he answered; The Eng
lish change the whole situation; an
obstinate nation, they will keep up the
war" II cannot end soon"
II was the entry of England in the
war, in defense of the rights of small
nations, in defense Of the guaranteed
neutrality OF Belgium. which saved
the world from the harsh dominion
! OF the conquest hungry Prussians and,
therefore. saved as well the two Amer
icas and their protecting doctrine of
President Monroe
The document, which is dated Au-
eust 1o,\1a14. supersedes the state
ment made by the German Chancellor
vor Bethmann-H oilweg In his speech
before the reichstag on August T. 1914
in which he gave the then Official &C
count of the entrance into the war
OF the central empires Because the
text of Won Bethmann- Hollwegs
speech and the imperial letter to Presi-
| dent Wilson will be studied and com
pared by all future historians Of the
war, | give below the chief part of the
! chancellor's version of the facts that
accom- panied the German declaration
! of war. 1t will be noted that Won
J Bethmann Hollweg insisted that
! France began the war In the sentence
reading There were bomb throwing
1iers, cavalry patrols. invading com
panies In the Reichsland (AIsace Ior-
! rainel Thereby France although the
condition Of war had not vet been de-
/ clared. had attacked our territory"
| But the emperor makes no mention Of
this fact. Of supreme Importance II
! true, in his writing TO President VIII
/ son six days later Won Bethmann-
+ Hollweg's account Is as follows:
Won BETIM ANN-HoLLWEG'S
/ SUPERSEDED SPEECH
80 Gentlemen. a series Of
documents. composed in the rush OF
events, Is In your hands. Allow me
! to place before you the facts which
| chara cterize our attitude.
rom the very beginning OF the
Austrian conflict we strove and work
ed toward the end that this trouble
remain confined TO Austria Hungary
end Serbia. All cabinets, especially
that Of England. take the same stand
only Russia declares that she must
have word in rho decision Of this
conflict There wlth the danger az
European entanglements arises. As
soon sthe first authentic reports OF
the military preparations in Russia
reached us we declared in a friendly
hut emphatic manner in 81. Peters
burg that war measures and military
preparations would force us also 70
prepare. and that mobilization liz close
" akin to war
Russia asserts In what is an ap-
parentlv friendly manner that she is
rot modifying against us. In the
eantime England tries 70 mediate
between Vienna and st. Petersburg. in
which she is warmly supported by us,
On July 2S the kaiser telegra phed the
C7ar. asking him to consider that Aus
tria Hungary has the right and that
II ia her duty to defend herself against
Serbian intrigues. which threaten to
undermine her existence The kaiser
called the attention of the czar 10
their common monarchical interests
with regard to the Serajevo outrage
ana asked him personally TO support
: Trim In order tn eEta bftsfl harmony be-
tween Vienna and ST Petersburg
telegram was sent the car asked the
kaiser for his support and requested
him TO advise Vienna TO be moderate
in it's demands The kaiser assumed
! the role of mediator. Hardly had he
! begun his activity when Russia mohil-
lied its entire fighting force against
Austria Hungary Austria Hungary.
/ however, had modified only those
army corps which were directed
against Serbia in the north there
! were only two army corps, and these
far from the Russian border.
The kaiser Immediately called the
attention of the car to the fact that
| this mobilization of his forces against
Austria Hungary made his position as
mediator difficult or absolutely impos-
sihle. In spite of this we continued
our media torial activities In Vienna
RcInE 10 the utnl oSf units or consist
ency with the terms of our federal
treaty. During this time Russia again
spontaneously assured us that her mill
itary preparations were not directed
against us.
The thirtv-frst of July arrived. In
| Vienna the decision WAS to he made
In the meantime we had succeeded
with our negotiations in reaching a
point where Vienna resumed inter-
course with ST Petersburg which for
some time had been discontinued;
but before the final decision was
reached in Vienna the news arrived
that Russia had modified it's entire
| hgthing force, which meant also
! against us.
The Russian government, which
| from repeated admonitions knew what
mohilfzing on our borders meant, did
not notify us 81 this mobilization and