Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-17

| to Vienna, where it had become a SIM
pie Hapshurg monarchy. with nothing
| left of the old German medieval tradi-
:. ton. According to the Frankfort de-
cisions, the empire was to be built on a
popular basis The reigning Hohen-
! Zollern--who was found to be insane a
few years later--refused the crown be-
cause he did not want to have anything
to do with democracy.
Germany Born Earlier.
Germany sometimes is thought to
have been created by violence and au-
tocracy on bloody battle fields in 1870,
% years after the last pacific oppor-
tunity of l848. In reality Germany had
been born earlier and probably would
! have attained great future even with
out the dangerous laurels of 1870. She
already had her great writer's, she al
ready had marvellous development of
instruction. her industry had shown a
forceful revival-indeed no power In the
world oculd have delayed the recon-
struction of the German reich. In the
same way nobody could have prevented
the almost contemporary unification of
Italy. Both indications were historical
necessities.
Germany probably would not have
been Prussianized: it is even probable
that the process of unif1cation would
have been less hasty. But that process
was certain all the same. given the
beautiful expansion of German thought,
the rapid increase of riches. trade and
industry. and, after all. what are even a
few decades in the history of a great
nation? In a slower way Germany
might have become an imperial state
with people of free citizens, not with a
~ vi nx-
| / almost believe that the greatest fac
tors of Germanys misfortunes were two
persons-Bismarck and William 1.-THE
first having much greater sense of re-
sponsibility than the second. as a genius
must have in proportion to simple
amateur. Bismarck surely had some
thing approaching genius: certainly his
was powerful personality. But what ]
am persuaded of is that. though he had
great diplomatic gifts. he did not have
the essential gift of seeing into the fu-
ture through history. The mere diplo-
mat does not need this sort of genius
he works merely for immediate success.
Thus did Bismarck work.
Creation Of Triple Alliance.
Once only in his life did he see far
| into history. but on that day he was in
| happy contradiction of his old habits
of the animal Of prey. 1t was just after
| the Prusian victories over Austria in
1866 when, alone against his King and,
of course, against all the generals, he
forced a peace which did not take an
/ inch of territory from Austria. That
very day he created the triple alliance,
with which he won for decades the
German hegemony in Europe.
But, apart from this episode-prob-
ably not admired by realistic politi-
clans who believe in the marvels of au-
| tocracy--what is the career of Bismarck
but series of errors or miscalculations?
| He did not seize the opportunity of
creating colonial empire for Ger
many when it could be had for the
asking. In this mistake are to be
! found the tardy violences of the post
Bisma:ckian German policy, with the
interventions at Tangier. Agadir and so
on-all those incidents which were the
! forerunners of the World War.
He planned the destruction of the
Polish element in the reich. and the
Poles of Posnania remained true to
their Polish sentiments-both the rich
Poles in their castles and the peasants
| in their villages
He irritated the Alsatians when a
mild policy might have induced them
to become more or less good Germans.
BY bullying them he made their Celtic
spirit, still alive under their German
(conipued on Fourth Page3