Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1918-06-05
Moreenthau Retells
Ho,D Kaiser William,
Started World War

The inside story Of the Potsdam
conference, at which the kaiser decided
on war, was told to the United States
ambassador Henry Morgentliau by
German who was present at the kali
ser's command. This was Baron Won
Wangenheim, the German ambassador
at Constantlnople when the war be-
gan. Mr.. Morgenthau tells the story IN
the June issue of the Worlds Work,
just published. He says:
1.-THE German ambassador left for
Berlin soon after the assassination OF
the grand duke, and he now revealed
the cause Of his sudden disappearance.
The kaiser. he told me, had summoned
him to Berlin for an imperial confer
ence. This meeting took place at Pots
dam on July 5. The kaiser presided;
nearly all the ambassadors attended;
Wengenheim came to tell Of Turkey
and enlighten his associates on the
situation in Constantinople. Moltke,
then chief of staff, was there, repre-
senting the, army. and Admiral Won
Tirpitz spoke for the navy. The great
bankers railroad directors. and the
captains Of German industry, all OF
whom were as necessary to German
war preparations as the army itself,
also attended.
Financiers Ask Time.
"Wangenheim. now told me that the
kaiser solemnly put the question to
each man in turn: Was he ready for
war? All replied Yes except the
financiers. They said that they must
have two weeks to sell their foreign
securities and to make loans. At that
time few people had looked upon the
Sarajevo tragedy as som ething that
was likely to cause war. This confer
ence decided to give the bankers time
to readjust their finances for the COM
ing war; and then the several mem
bers went quietly back to their work
or started on vacations. The kaiser
went to Norway on his yacht, Won
Bethmann-Ho llweg, left for a rest,
and Wangenheim returned to Con-
stantinople.
"In telling me about this conference.
wangenheim, Of course, admitted that
Germany had precipitated the war. l
think that he was rather proud Of the
whole performance; proud that Ger
many had gone about the matter in so
methodical and far-seeing way:
especially proud that he himself had
been invited to participate in so
momentous a gathering.
Italy Told Of Plan.
"The conspiracy that has caused this
greatest OF human tragedies was
Matched by the kaiser and his imperial
crew at this Potsdam conference OF
July 5, 1914. One fthe chief partici-
pants, flushed with his triumph at the
apparent success Of the plot. told me
the details with his own mouth.
"This imperial conference took place
July s; the Serbian ultimatum was
sent on July %. That is just about the
two weeks interval which the
financiers had demanded to complete
their plans. All the great stock
exchanges of the world show that the
German bankers profitably used this
interval. Their records disclose that
stocks were being sold in large quaint
ties and that prices declined somewhat
rapidly. At that time the markets were
somewhat puzzled at this movement;
wangenheim's explanation clears up
any doubts that may still remain.
Germany was changing her securities
into cash, for war purposes
IF any one wishes to verify Wan
genheim, I would sugges. that ne
examine the quotations Of the New
York stock market for these two
historic weeks. He will find that there
were astonishing slumps In quotations,
especially on the stocks that had an
international market. ~
"Uonpenheinn not only gave me the
details of this Potsdam conference, but
he disclosed the same secret to the
Marquis Garroni, the Italian ambassa-
dor at Constantinople. Italy was a.
that time technically Germany's ally"