The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-11-11
"LATE" Emperor
KAISER William
His Dream of World Do.
miniOn Plunged
The Earth Into Greatest War
in History.
MANY BELIEVED HIM INSANE
Man of Excessive Vanity ant
Vicious EgOtism.
Hated FlOwers-CrueI to Moth.
er-LOyed POmp.


peror William was sane. He said re-
peatedly that he possessed a divine
mandate to rule, that the Almighty
was his unconditional and avowed
ally" 1t is not entirely clear whether
such outgivings were the product of
a disordered brain or were due to I'M
bounded egotism and an effort to inn
press his subjects with the idea OF
reverent and unquestioning submis
sion.
Williams claim to close affinity
with God was the burden of dozens of
his speeches long before, as well as
after. the beginning of the war. OF
these, perhaps, none more clearly
defined his claim than made in the
! notorious "livine right" speech de-
livered at Brandenburg in 1890. in
which he said he regarded the German
people as "a responsibility conferred
upon him by God and that it was my
duty to increase this heritage for
which one day l shall be called upon
to give account Those who try to in
| terfere with my task 1 shall crush"
Took First Chance for War.
A dream of world dominion obses-
sing the mind of Emperor William
plunged the world into war. Upon him
and the tremendous military engine
of destruction of which he was the
! embodiment, the exponent and the
| leader rests the responsibility of de-
| liberately planning and bringing about
| the greatest conflict the world has
| ever seen.
| 1t did not matter to the world that
| the emperor's personal share in the
| i'm, ia oil I,racadi n O
the war had been obscured. The world
| convicted him of organizing, directing
and maintaining at the top notch of
efficiency the great German military
| machine. 1t remembered that he
| signed the order for the German mo-
| biliZation. 1t remembered that he
| stood sponsor for the terrorism and
| brigandage which, under the guise of
warfare. ravished Belgium, laid waste
the cities of France, dedopulated and
outraged Serbia and sent the Lusitania
with her freight of women and child
| rem to a grave in the Atlantic.
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 mad inven-
| tor given in his youth the most dan
gerous of all toys-his army and navy.
They were his playthings. He devel-
| oped them thruout the years to the
point where he had to put them to a
test. Like 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 as its head, and the
scheme of world domiGon awaited the
| hour to begin its attainment. 1t came
with the assassination of the Austrian
iarchduke, Francis Ferdinand. and his
wife. at Sarajevo.
Recalled from a Yachting trip, Will
liza M 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
sa estimation of the archduke a pretense
for the world war for which Germany
had long prepared.
Posed as u Peace Advocate.
In the diplomatic exchanges between
Germany and Austria on one side and
Great Britain. France and Russia or
the other William posed as one wish
ing for peace, but driven to war. He
signed the order for the mobilization
of the German army and from thai
moment war was inevita BILE. There
after he drove on his armies relent-
lessly in the mad campaigns for vic
tory, encouraging them with every de-
vice and sometimes appearing on the
front to be proclaimed as personal
comma nder in a great offensive.
Publication of the ''Willy-Nicky'
! correspondence placed the German
emperor in the light of an unscrupu-
lous plotter. The .telegram ms disclosed
that Emperor William had induced
| Emperor Nicho1aS of Russia to sign q
secret agreement to which he was to
force the adller g; ce of France in the
do
fensive alliance against England. The
treaty was discovered and repudiatod
by Russian minister.
Failing in his attempt. the German
emperor get upon himself the task VI
drawing England to his side agaias
France and RUSSIA How we'll he
thought he had succeeded in this ina
be gathered from Il letter he wrote tt
President Wilson in 1914, in which n,
said King George had promised Prince
Henry of Prussia. on July 20. 1914
that England would remain neutral il
war Involving the Central Powers
with France ara Russia.
| Macmillan Harden, a German LID
eral leader. declared the German rule
brought on the war because of his de
sire for something like world rule
!, Tried to Shift Blame.
william o-.on proclaimed his in
nocence and epdeavored to put tn
onus of the war on. the shoulders o
) the Entente Allies. In his speech from
the throne after the war began n
said:
I'm pursuing its interests the Rus
sian Empire stepped in the way y
Austria Hungary. Our duty as an all
: called us to the side of Austria
; | Hungary. The situation arose no
from temporary conflicts of interest
or diplomatic combinations, but is II
: result of ill-will existing for year
! against the strength and prosper;t
4 of the German Empire"
y No Nonsense From America"
{ The emperor, despite his previou
I ! expressions of good will for America
gave vent to his anger against tn
United States when it became eviden
no official action would be taken t
' stop the shipment of munitions an
, supplies to the entente allies by de
claring to the American Ambassador
James w. Gerard, Il shall stand n