Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1918-11-02
House of Hohenzollern Doomed
Brooklyn Eagle,

great Will DC lHt idll lNSICol.
1t is a structure reared stone by stone
throughout many years, its builders spurred on
by towering ambition to zeal that IN the end
has overreached itself.
They sought to erect building which by its
magnitude would overshadow all others in the
world. Obsessed by their aim, they lost all
sense of proportion. They dehed all laws OF hu-
man architecture. The inevitable crash is i'm
minent, and threatens to involve all the contem-
porary builders in the wreckage.
The word Hohenzollern comes from the
name OF castle which stood on the hill OF Zol-
lern and gave its name to the family which the
emperor of Germany today represents. 1t is
said to have been built in the ninth century.
Vague traditions connect the line with old fam
lilies of Rome and Lombardy; but the first his
toric reference is found in chronicle dated
l08S 1t makes reference to two counts of FOL
lern, or Zolorin, who died in 1901. The line OF
one of these died out. it appears, and from the
other, one Burkhard, descended the present
German ruling line. His grandson, Frederick,
German powers of that time, Lothar the Saxon
and Conrad III. His son, also Frederick,
through marriage, obtained, in addition to his
own estates some lands in Austria and Fran
COMA
So the line continued, with new acquisitions
OF territory from various sources and constant
divisions AMONG lineal descendants. until in 1861
Frederick (ifth of the name) was sole ruler of
Nuremberg, Ansbach and Bayreuth. From his
close friendship with Emperor Charles ~ came
his formal lnvesture as prince of the empire in
1868. He proved an able ruler, introducing
regular system of public finance into his lands.
One OF his sons married daughter of the EN-
peror, thus definitely linking the line with roy
atty, though he died without sons
From 1415 to 1901 the fortunes of the Ho-
henzollerns are identified with those of Bran
denburg, and from that time until the present
with that of Prussia, the occasion of the change
being the coronation of the Elector Frederick
III as king of Prussia. In 1S48 two princes of
the Hohenzollern line, because of political diff
ticulties, resigned their principaties. In &C
cordance with an agreement made in 1906 these
lands reverted to the king of Prussia, who duly
took possession on March IL, 1850. By royal
decree the title of "highness" and the preroga-
tives of younger sons of the royal house were
conferred on the two Indicating princes. The
suggestion to raise Prince Leopold of the house
of one of them to the Spanish throne in 1870
precipitated the Franco-Prussian war.
In one OF his messages President Wilson
declared that in the Hohenzollerns govern
nent the United States can never have friend
and that in the presence of its organized pow
ers, always lying in wait to accomplish we know
not what purpose, there can be no assurance OF
security for the democratic government of the
world"
Today practically the whole non Teuton
world is lined up with the president in support
OF that dictum. The present representative of
the Hohenzoerns, Wilhelm II, stands before
the tribune OF civilization, accused of breach of
faith and unwarranted disturbance of the peace.
and the verdict is that he is the greatest bandit
in history. guilty of an outlawry never before
equaled.
In the war Of liberation in 1918 Frederick
Wilhelm III of Prussia had no alternative other
than to offer self-government and constitution
10 his people in order to enlist their support
When the time came to make good, however,
ne tailed to do so-disregard for given pledges
being salient feature of the Hohenzollern
blood. A liberal party was the outgrowth of
this, and its ranks included not the masses, but
the cultured and wealthy middle classes They
demanded government akin to that of Eng
land, and in f848, by dint of strong revolution
airy measures, wrested it from the reluctant rul-
ers. The first Prussian Parliament was strongly
liberal, and continued so until 1861 Its oppo-
sltion to the ruling house was so strong that the
Prussian king. who subsequently became En-
peror William l, upon one occasion was ready
to abdicate.
But Otto Eduard Leopold Won Bismarck. des-
tined to play vital role in the history of Ger
many, persuaded him not to do so, and pledged
his assistance in effecting the restoration of the
| absolutism OF the house of Hohenzollern and
| the consequent overthrow of the power of Par
| Lament Bismarck himself was member of that
| BODY, and was one of the strongest spokesman
| OF what was known as the junker party, de-
| tending always the power of the king and fight
| ing against its curtailment by the new constitu.
| ton. tie was the most trusted adviser of the
king, and to him were given missions of most
important and delicate nature. He was person.
ally responsible for the struggle with the Danes
in 1864, and with Austria in 1866, acting in the
| latter L
and Drawing Gas he himself admitted in hi:
memoirs) the wrath of Parliament and the dan
ger of FORGETTING his life Z
By the war of 1866 Bismarck indirectly was
the power which established Prussian DONNA
ton of Germany. 1t sounded out the aim o.
FREDERICK the Great, creating through the power
OF the Prusslan sword unified Germany Ye
at the same time with almost uncanny fore
sight, he insisted upon no annexation of Aus
| TRAN territory, and aimed in every way to re-
store Austrian friendship, looking no doub
toward time like the present, when German,
would need its Teutonic neighbors as allies.
Frederick William w, habitualy intemper
ate. has to his discredt the sending of 100000
Prussian prisoners, many of them political te
Siberian prisons upon the friendly invitation
OF his Russian brother-in-law, the car
Throughout his reign of 81 years he was tn,
butt OF the humorists at home and abroad tn,
| Aa'oiltS PoIIdyai Oh MN Oelng III state OF dis
gushing inebriety. He kept up ruthless warfar,
against the opponents Of constitutional govern
ment and under his regime Carl Schurz an,
other we'll known German lovers of freedom lief
their homes for the greater opportunities of tn,
comparatively young country across the seas
He was sufferer from the same ear maad,
with which the present emperor is afflicted, AM
from it he became insane in 1858, and had to b.
placed under restraint
His brother William was made regent, re