River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1918-11-21
.ABD|CATION ENDS
KA|SER'S DREAM
Insane Ambition Leads His Peo-
pie to Ruin.
POWER WRECKED; He QUITS
Man Who Plunged the World Into War
VIII Go Down Into History as
Most Hated Ruler World
Has Ever Known.

! Most Hated Ruler World
| Has Ever Known.
The kaiser has abdicated and the
crown prince has renowned his right
to the throne of Germany.
/ The grandiose scheme of world con-
! quest or downfall has ended in the
complete downfall of German military
might and of the rule of the Hohen-
| zollerns.
! For decades the militaristic oligarchy
of Prussia, supported by philosophers,
historians, teachers, preachers and
| men of business had directed the
moral, Intellectual and material re-
sources Of the empire along consistent
| lines toward the tremendous concen-
tration and contamination Of organ
lied force which in 1914 the kaiser let
loose upon the world.
Sought World Dominion.
He signed the order for the German
| mobilization He stood sponsor for
| the terrorism and brigandage which,
under the guiSe OF warfare, ravished
Belgium, laid waste the cities of
| France, depopulated and outraged Ser
| bia and sent the Lusitania with her
grave in the Atlantic.
| Civilization will never forget that it
was the minions of the emperor who
| officially shot to death Edith Cavell
the English nurse who befriended the
Belgians in Brussels.
| Against these his cry 81 did not will
the war" availed as nothing. Before
the bar of humanity William was adj
| judged guilty Of the greatest crime
since the crucifXion. In him human
ity saw the last of the autocrats, the
| final Caesar.
| Assertions that he was at heart
| peaceful, so persistently circulated for
years as to give them the stamp of
German propaganda, became branded
as false He who had long proclaimed
| himself the prince of peace stood re-
| vealed as humanity's scourge, and
against him and all that he represent
ed rose the new world of democracy
| and freedom.
Claims Almighty as His Ally.
Many doubt whether William was
entirely sane. He said repeatedly that
| he possessed a divine mandate to rule,
| that the Almighty was his "uncondf-
| tional and avowed ally" It is not en-
| tirely clear whether such outgivings
were the product of a Gisordered brain
| or were due to unbounded egotism and
an effort to impress his subjects with
| the idea of reverent and unquestioning
| submission.
His speeches to his armies in which
| he asserted he and they were 'instru-
ments of divine judgment upon Ger
| many's enemies" were regarded by
many outside of Germany as pieces of
rhetoric, intended only to deceive his
own people.
Few statesmen realized that the en-
peror in his Shining armOr," maneu-
| vering his armies and fleets, building
| up the German military system, ce-
menting the central empires and Tur-
key, and fostering the preaching of the
supremacy Of autocracy, was erecting
machine that one day would make
war upon all civilization.
Yet the world was warned by some
| far-sighted men that the emperor
would one day bring catastrophe upon
| the nations. These men saw in him
| then and see him now as q mad inven-
| tor, given in his youth the most dan
| gerous of all tOys-his army and navy.
They were his playthings. He de-
veloped them throughout the years to
| the point where he had to put them
| 10 test. Like a crazed inventor, he
| feared the end of his reign would find
| his inventions untried, so grasped the
| first opportunity to wage a world war.
Meantime the German war party
| grew, with William at it's head and
| the scheme of world dominion awaited
the hour to begin it's attainment. 1t
came with the assassination of the
Austrian Archduke Francis ferdinand
and his wife at Sarajevo.
Recalled from a yachting trip, Will
| liam presided at a conference at Pots
| dam of representatives of the German
and Austrian armies, navies and com
mercial interests. There, according to
| the best information obtainable, the
| decision was reached to make the as
sassination Of the archduke & pretense
| for the world war for which Germany
had long prepared.
In the diplomatic exchanges between
Germany and Austria on one side and
| Great Britain France and Russia on
| the other William posed as one wishing
for peace but driven to war.
He signed the order for the mobiliza