The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1922-09-29
Kaiser Always Had Faith in
Army, Euen Against Powerful
Odds, He Writes in Memoirs

a German officer; and l added that, il
France and Russia wished to make
war, l could not prevent Ii.
Whereupon the Prince, piously cast
ing his eyes toward heaven, made the
sign of the cross and said: "Oh, la
guerrre! quelle ideei qui y pense?-|
celia ne doit pas etre." (Oh, war!
what an idea; who thinks of such a
thing? it must not be) To that /
replied that /, in any event, was not
thinking about it, but than an obser-
ver-and he need not be very keen
eyed-must assuredly consider the
constant celebrations and speeches, as
well as the official and unofficial
visits exchanged between Paris and ST.
Petersburg, as significant symptoms
which could not be ignored, and which
were calculated to arouse great dis
satisfaction in Germany; that, should
| it come to war, against my own will
and that of my people, felt that, trust
ing in God and in my army and peo-
pie 1t would be possible for Germany
| to get the better of both opponents.
To this l added still another state
ment, reported to me from Paris,
which had been made by a Russian
officer who was in France as a mem
Der of an officers deputation. Hav-
| ing been asked by a French comrade
| whether the Russians believed that
| they could beat the Germans, the gal
| liant Slav replied: "Non.mon ami, nous
serons battus plate couture, mails
gu est-ce que ca faith Nous aurons
/ la Republique." (No, my friend, we
shall be Thoroughly beaten, but what
does that matter? We shall get re-
public.)
/ At first the Prince eyed me, speech
less, then, struggling his shoulders, he
remarked: ooh, la guerre, il ne faut
pas meme y penser." (Oh, war, one
must not even think about it, The
officer had merely expressed the gen
eral opinion of the Russian intellig-
entsia and social circles. AS far back
as my first visit to St. Petersburg, in
the early sos a grand duchess said
to me at dinner, quite calmly: Here
we sit all the time on a volcano. We
expect the revolution any day. The
Slavs are not faithful, they are not at
all monarchical. all of them are re-
publicans at heart; they disguise
their sentiments, and they lie, every
one of them, all the time"
Three important events. related to
foreign politics. came within the period
1 of Prince Hohenlohe's incumbency of
the CHARACTERISTIC; the opening, in
1895. of the Emperor William Canal
4 North Sea-Baltic CanaD, begun under
Emperor William the Great, to which
squadrons or individuals ships repre-
senting countries all over the world
were invited; the annexation, in 1897,
OF Tsing-tao; and, third, the much-dis-
cussed Kruger dispatch.
The Seizure of Tsing-tao
Prince Hohenlohe played an especi-
ally important role in the annexation
of Tsing-tao. He, too, was of the
opinion that Germany needed some
coaling stations for her shups, and
that the demands of commercial eIe-
ments that the opportunity for open.
ing up China to international trade
be not allowed to pass were justified
1t was resolved that, under unimpaired
Chinese sovereignty and after payment
OF the Likin (octroi or internal rev.
enue taxi, trading port, with a mar
inc coaling station as protection, was
to be founded, wherein it was con
Itemplated to allow China to cooper
ate to the utmost possible extent.
The station was to serve the ends OF
1 commerce, before all else, the military
i measures being limited solely to the
protection of the trading centre as il
developed; they did not constitute ar
end in themselves or a basis for furth
er military enterprises.
Already several places had beer
considered, but these had proved, upon
more careful investigation, to be un
fitted, mostly because they had either
bad connections or none at all with
the interior regions, were not promis
ing from commereial-political stand
point, or were encountered by priv
lleges already granted to other foreign
countries. Finally it was Agreeable
cause of the reports of Admiral Tir
pitz, who was, at that time, chief o
the East Asiatic cruiser squadron, anC
because of the opinion of the geograph
ical expert Freiherr Won Richtofen,
who, having been questioned on thu
. subjct, had drawn a most promisin,
, picture of the possibilities of devel
, opment in Shantung-to found a set
/ tlement on the bay OF Kiao-Chau.
/ The Chancellor proceeded to collec
data on the political questions whicl
arose as a result of this and whicI
! must be taken into consideration. |
) was particularly necessary not to in
= terfere with Russia's designs, nor +
, disturb her Further information wa
obtained, some of it from our Eas
r Asiatic division; from this sourc
t favorable reports came in as to ar