The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-05-13
ABDICATIONO OF THE KAISER.
nv Count Frederick Won Der Schulenburg, Of His Personal
Stah,) .

Count Won Der Sch%ulenburg's narra-
tive Of the discussion among the FORM
er kaiser, General Hindenburg. Min
lister Won Hintze, Generals Won Plessen,
Groener and MarschaH. Herr Won
Guenau, of the foreign Office. and Maor
Nieman, OF the supreme army com
mand, leading up to the kalsers abdl-
cation continued: .
"A long discussion followed In which
General Groener again and again
reiterated his belief that 1t was too late
for n measures OF that sort, They
could no longer succeed. he said. since
the revolutionists were practically in
possession Of all Germany and well
[organized. In his opinion. the rebels
would undoubtedly stop the food sup
ply Of the army. In addition, it should
be taken into consideration that the
army was no longer to be relied pom
as all the army commanders had testi-
fled when asked for their candle opin-
ion by Colonel Heye. charged with taxi
ing this testimony by h supreme
army command.
Il combatte this conception most
vigorously. and emphasized | could
state in behalf OF all commanders and
generals with crown princes army
group, that the army, as a whole. was
loyal to the kaiser. 1t might not be
CIchSh - dhhit thnf'hS "f
arms and fighting the foreign foe. but
1t was loyal enough to restore order in
spots and to march back home in or
ganized units under the leadership of
the kaiser.
His majesty, then asked Groener,
what facts he had upon which he
based his opinion. as to the sentiments
of the army. He wanted to know
whether Groener had asked all the
army commanders and generals, h
kaiser mentioned that Schulenburg
had reported a state of affairs at
variance with what Groener claimed to
be the true situation Groener re-
piled, he had TO differ with me,
HIS majesty, t~hereupon. very sharp
ly said: I command the field marshal
and YOU to report in black and white
on this subject. but only after you
have consulted all the high army COM
manders.' His majesty again made it
plain, he did not want civil war under
any circumstances He would never
expect tho army to entertain any such
proposition. His only wish. he said,
was to lead the artny as an organized
body home. To this Groener replied.
The army will march back home, as
an organized body and under the
leadership Of it's regular commanders.
! but not under the leadership of your
majesty. again protested against
this view. said. ! believed ! was Noic-
ing the views of all the commanders
and generals when / maintained that
the whole army would gladly follow
the kaiser's leadership on tho way
home. The army would never let
lanyone charge it with the shame Of
having deserted its kaiser in the ietd
.iAnd.in the face of the enemy
Hindenburg's Views.
Field Marshal Won Hindenbure
then spoke. Every Prussian army off,
Ger was expected to share my opinion,
he said. but reports received from the
front, as we'll as from home. made 1t
absolutely +that-the-katser
should abdicate. He and General
Croener could no longer guarantee
the armv's reliability. His majesty
concluded h discussion in these
words: You viii ask all my chief
commanders as to the sentiment in the
army. and when they report to me that
the army no longer sticks TO me, then
/ shall be ready TO go. But no sooner
During this time telephone queries
from Berlin. asking whether the kaiser
had abdicated. were chasing one an
other. These queries came from the
ichancellor's office at Berlin. They told
of the dangerous situation looming UP
at the capital and finally "prenonitortl>
demanded the immediate abdicatton.
me IaSt one or t1PSP ttitf tsloIllt 1ofii~
lmunications said there was street fight
ing in Berlin. some of the troops had
gone over To the Rebels, the governor
OF Berlin had no longer any troops
tina he could trust and the only means
of preventing bloodShed was the an
nouncement of the abdication. This
would be the only way of saving the
monarchy for the future.
His majesty was deeply impressed
~ chase m, n yag In seams I re-
solved. to sacrifice his person in order
to prevent civil war. | told him II
any abdication were really necessary.
il could concern only the German en-
peror. but not the KING of Prussla.
THE question of the ahdication of the
king of Prussia. was a matter TO he
taken up with the Prussian house OF
lords and the rrussian diet. but it was
mot a mater to he taken up with and
10 be defeated. by the German empires
ministry and the German empire s
parliament. prussian army officers
and the prussian army would never
survive the loss Of their king, l told
him il was his duty to remain AT the
head OF the Prusslan army and never
to desert 1t.
1T seemed TO me the government al
Berlin was too much under tho an
I~tiuence of the local turmoil and sway
ed too much by street fighting close
by. I had an idea the ministers were
asking for the kaiser's abdieaiion
merely in order to protect their own
sacred persons, suggested the gov
ernor of Berlin he called up on the
telephone. asked about the situation.
There would be plenty of time to rem
der a decision after the governor had
hoen heard from. His majesty assent
ed to my proposition and added he
would continue as kin of Prussia ur-
der all circumstances and never leave
tho army. He then gave orders 10
have the governor of Berlin called up
and left for tho garden. accompanied
by his adjutant."
Il stayed in the room with Field
Marshal Won H~indenburg and General
Groener. While the field marshal as
sented to my proposition and even de-
Tended my contention that the en-
peror must never abdicate as king of
Il Prussia. General Groener expressed
different views. He said action of that
sort. on the part of the kaiser. might
have saved Germany two weeks ago,
but now it was too late for that.