New-York tribune., 1919-08-23
The Kaiser Confesses

The Berlin review Deutsche PoIitik
publishes a letter of the Kaiser to Chan
cellor Bethmann- Hollweg, commenting on
the Serbian answer, then just received, to
the Austro-H Hungarian ultmatum If any
proof were still needed of Germany's
fixed will to crush Serbia regardless of
consequences, it has now been offered
from the most authentic source. And,
interesting as the imperial manuscript is
as an exhibition of an almost incredibly
crude hypocrisy, as a childish attempt
to find posteriori justification for
predetermined course, it's chief signif-
canoe lies in the light it throws on the
motives which led Wilhelm II to choose
war at any price as the way out
The letter, as could be expected, begins
with an advertisement of peaceful SEN
timent:
"Your Excellency: After peruslng the
Serbian answer, received this morning, I
am Of the conviction that on the who'll the
wishes of the Danube monarchy have been
fulfilled. The few reservations stipulated
by Serbia on points of detail could be-, it
seems to me- easily set aside through nego-
tiaton. But the document proclaims sur
render urbi ct orb, and all reasons for
war are eliminated thereby"
Exactly. With this judgment Of the
Kaiser the entire world, outside of the
miitarist gang at Vienna, Budapest and
Rn,.If,
last five years affirmed it's correctness
But it was judgment that pointed tow
ard peace, and what Wilhelm wanted
was war. So he proceeded:
"Yet this scrap of paper o., with its
contents, possesses q limited value only as
long as it is not translated into practice
The Serbs are Orientals; therefore, men
dacious, false and past masters in cajol-
ing In order to render these beautiful
promises into truth and reality, douce vio-
icnce must be exercised. This could be
done as follows: Austria should occupy
Belgrade as chattcl security to guarantee
and exact the fulhment of the PROMISES
and hold it until the terms arc actually
executed"
In other words, Serbia has granted
Austria's impossible demands mainly in
order to escape INVASION But what Aus
tria wanted was to invade her. Had
Serbia refused, she would have been in
vadcd. Now that she complied, she was
to be invaded, anyway Heads | win,
tails you lose.
But now for the Kaiser's confession:
"This the occupation of the Serbian
capitall is necessary also in order to give
the army modified in vain for the third
time an outward satisfaction d'honneur.
the semblance of success in face of the
foreign powers, and to endow it with the
consciousness of having trodden hostile
soil. But for this there would be a rise
of very bad feeling against the dynasty,
which would be very grave"
Ever since August, 1914, the belief has
been held generally that Germany and
AustriaH Hungary plunged deliberately
into war which could not otherwise be
justified, which they could have easily
avoided, mainly for reasons of prestige.
Now the belief is confirmed out of the
Kaiser's own mouth. Could anything be
more Illuminating than the phrase "sem-
blance of success in face of the FOREIGN
powers? Also, here is the Kaiser's
word to attest that the Central Powers.
and more especially AUSTRIA Hungary,
needed war in order to avoid revolution.
Thus, the main witness has spoken.
Nothing could illustrate better the Gulf
that separates German from non-Ger-
man mentality than the fact that this
letter is cited by paper like the Vos-
sasche Ze1tung as a complete vindication
Of the Kaiser's will to peace. In fact.
it is one of the strongest proofs of his
will to war