The weekly tribune. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1918-1919, 1918-11-15
BISMARCK BLAZED
path FOR GERMANY
Years Ago Infamous Acts Of Old
Chancellor Laid Foundation
FOrPresent War

leaders of its greatest crises, Wash
ington and Lincoln. The unbending
integrity of both men, their straight
forwardness, their sense of justice,
their loyalty to ideals, have been i'm
pressed upon generation after genera
tom On many public occasions
have Lincoln's noble words on demOc-
racy been held up as the national
ideal,
1t has been disastrous to the Ger
= an nation that its national hero was
of such a different type. The success
achieved by Washington and Lincoln
in America was achieved by Bismarck
In Europe. But under what different
conditions, All the glamour that at
tended the fruits Of his great ability
attached as well to his inscriptions
diplomacy and his hatred of democ-
racy
In 1862, when against the will of
Parliament he began his preparations
for his career of conquest, he told the
king frankly that he was prepared to
carry out his policy without regard to
the legislative branch. 81 will rather
perish with the king" he said, ethan
forsakc your majesty in the contest
with parliamentary government"
Many years later he wrote in his
"reminiscences" his protest against
every shameful union with democra-
cy.' '',fhe Prussian CROWN" he said
must not allow itself to be thrust in
to the powerless position of the Eng
lish crown"
In his diplomatic dealings the chan
cellor had all the cynicism of the old
profession of diplomacy at its worst.
His conquest of Schleswig- Holstein
was undertaken on a pretext. The
real reason that he urged on the king
IS given in his "reminiscences" He
tells there how he pointed out to the
king that each OF his ancestors had
, added something to the territory of
Prussia.
His stroke in bringing on the Fran
co-Piussian war b. editing Elms Dis
patch is well known. After assuring
himself by consultation with his mill
tary advisers that Prussia was ready
for war he changed a harmless dis
patch received from the King at Ems
about his interview with the French
| ambassador so as to give the impress
sion of an international insult, and
he tells how his work succeeded. The
dispatch became ''red flag to the
Galiec bull"
An equally infamous act of his fol-
lowed his formation of the triple al
lance Of Germany, Austria and Italy.
which was organized for protection
against Russia. Then he entered into
a secret treaty with Russia against
, Austria-a Reinsurance treaty" he
called it.
The Crimean war ended with the
treaty of Paris under which Russia
bound herself not tc maintain a fleet
on the Black Sea. Early in the Franco
Prussian war Russia announced she
no longer would consider that pro
vision binding. England, as one of
the parties to the treaty protested,
and Bismarck sent word to the British
| foreign minister that the Russian ac-
ton "had taken him by surprise"
and that while he always regarded
the Black Sea provision as unduly
severe he entirely disapproved of the
manner adopted and the time selected
" the Russian government to obtain
a revision. In his Reconnaissance"
he says he himself made the suggcs-
ton to Russia and pressed it on 4
reluctant government as affording am
opportunity of improving our rela-
tons with Russia.
Throughout his career Bismarck
was thus piaying the diplomatic gamc
without regard to the code of homer
and decency. A British ambassador at
Paris, after the Franco-Prussian war
commenting on the chancellor's war
scares, with which he periodically ter
rified France and Europe, remarked
that he played with France ''like cat
with mouse" Another British diplo-
mat. writing of the contrast between
the comparatively public diplomacy of
Gritfan, with its published volume of
diplomatic correspondence and the Sc
cret diplomacy of Germancy said: 1T
is astonishing how cordially Bismarck
hates our Blue Books"
This Bismarckian tradition. faith !
fully followed has brought Germany
to the point where no other nation
will accept its word without guaran-