Germany, The Next Republic?

At the beginning of the war, even the Socialist Party in the Reichstag voted the Government credits. The press and the people unanimously supported the Government because there was a very terrorising fear that Russia was about to invade Germany and that England and France were leagued together to crush the Fatherland. Until the question of the submarine warfare came up, the division of opinion which had already developed between the Army and Navy clique and the Foreign Office was not general among the people.

Although the army had not taken Paris, a great part of Belgium and eight provinces of Northern France were occupied and the Russians had been driven from East Prussia. The German people believed they were successful. The army was satisfied with what it had done and had great plans for the future. Food and economic conditions had changed very little as compared to the changes which were to take place before 1917. Supplies were flowing into Germany from all neutral European countries. Even England and Russia were selling goods to Germany indirectly through neutral countries. Considerable English merchandise, as well as American products, came in by way of Holland because English business men were making money by the transaction and because the English Government had not yet discovered leaks in the blockade. Two-thirds of the butter supply in Berlin was coming from Russia. Denmark was sending copper. Norway was sending fish and valuable oils. Sweden was sending horses and cattle. Italy was sending fruit. Spanish sardines and olives were reaching German merchants. There was no reason to be dissatisfied with the way the war was going. And, besides, the German people hated their enemies so that the leaders could count upon continued support for almost an indefinite period. The cry of "Hun and Barbarian" was answered with the battle cry "Gott strafe England."

The latter part of April on my first trip to the front I dined at Great Headquarters (Grosse Haupt Quartier) in Charleville, France, with Major Nicolai, Chief of the Intelligence Department of the General Staff. The next day, in company with other correspondents, we were guests of General von Moehl and his staff at Peronne. From Peronne we went to the Somme front to St. Quentin, to Namur and Brussels. The soldiers were enthusiastic and happy. There was plenty of food and considerable optimism. But the confidence in victory was never so great as it was immediately after the sinking of the Lusitania. That marked the crisis in the future trend of the war.

Up to this time the people had heard very little about the fight between the Navy and the Foreign Office. But gradually rumours spread. While there was previously no outlet for public opinion, the Lusitania issue was debated more extensively and with more vigour than the White Books which were published to explain the causes of the war.

With the universal feeling of self confidence, it was but natural that the people should side with the Navy in demanding an unrestricted submarine warfare. When Admiral von Bachmann gave the order to First Naval Lieutenant Otto Steinbrink to sink the Lusitania, he knew the Navy was ready to defy the United States or any other country which might object. He knew, too, that von Tirpitz was very close to the Kaiser and could count upon the Kaiser's support in whatever he did. The Navy believed the torpedoing of the Lusitania would so frighten and terrorise the world that neutral shipping would become timid and enemy peoples would be impressed by Germany's might on the seas. Ambassador von Bernstorff had been ordered by the Foreign Office to put notices in the American papers warning Americans off these ships. The Chancellor and Secretary von Jagow knew there was no way to stop the Admiralty, and they wanted to avoid, if possible, the loss of American lives.

The storm of indignation which encircled the globe when reports were printed that over a thousand people lost their lives on the Lusitania, found a sympathetic echo in the Berlin Foreign Office. "Another navy blunder," the officials said--confidentially. Foreign Office officials tried to conceal their distress because the officials knew the only thing they could do now was to make preparation for an apology and try to excuse in the best possible way what the navy had done. On the 17th of May like a thunderbolt from a clear sky came President Wilson's first Lusitania note.

"Recalling the humane and enlightened attitude hitherto assumed by the Imperial German Government in matters of international life, particularly with regard to the freedom of the seas; having learned to recognise German views and German influence in the field of international obligations as always engaged upon the side of justice and humanity;" the note read, "and having understood the instructions of the Imperial German Government to its naval commanders to be upon the same plane of human action as those prescribed by the naval codes of other nations, the government of the United States is loath to believe--it cannot now bring itself to believe--that these acts so absolutely contrary to the rules and practices and spirit of modern warfare could have the countenance or sanction of that great government. . . . Manifestly submarines cannot be used against merchantmen as the last few weeks have shown without an inevitable violation of many sacred principles of justice and humanity. American citizens act within their indisputable rights in taking their ships and in travelling wherever their legitimate business calls them upon the high seas, and exercise those rights in what should be a well justified confidence that their lives will not be endangered by acts done in clear violation of universally acknowledged international obligations and certainly in the confidence that their own government will sustain them in the exercise of their rights."

And then the note which Mr. Gerard handed von Jagow concluded with these words:

"It (The United States) confidently expects therefore that the Imperial German Government will disavow the acts of which the United States complains, that they will make reparation as far as reparation is possible for injuries which are without measure, and that they will take immediate steps to prevent the recurrence of anything so obviously subversive of the principles of warfare, for which the Imperial German Government in the past so wisely and so firmly contended. The Government and people of the United States look to the Imperial German Government for just, prompt and enlightened action in this vital matter. . . . Expressions of regret and offers of reparation in the case of neutral ships sunk by mistake, while they may satisfy international obligations if no loss of life results, cannot justify or excuse a practice, the natural necessary effect of which is to subject neutral nations or neutral persons to new and immeasurable risks. The Imperial German Government will not expect the Government of the United States to omit any word, or any act, necessary to the performance of its sacred duty of maintaining the rights of the United States and its citizens, and of safeguarding their free exercise and enjoyment."

Never in history had a neutral nation indicted another as the United States did Germany in its first Lusitania note without immediately going to war. Because the Foreign Office feared the reaction it might have upon the people, the newspapers were not permitted to publish the text until the press bureaus of the Navy and the Foreign Office had mobilised the editorial writers and planned a publicity campaign to follow the note's publication. But the Navy and Foreign Office could not agree on what should be done. The Navy wanted to ignore Wilson. Naval officers laughed at President Wilson's impertinence and, when the Foreign Office sent to the Admiralty for all data in possession of the Navy Department regarding the sinking of the Lusitania the Navy refused to acknowledge the request.

During this time I was in constant touch with the Foreign Office and the American Embassy. Frequently I went to the Navy Department but was always told they had nothing to say. When it appeared, however, that there might he a break in diplomatic relations over the Lusitania the Kaiser called the Chancellor to Great Headquarters for a conference. Meanwhile Germany delayed her reply to the American note because the Navy and Foreign Office were still at loggerheads. On the 31st of May von Jagow permitted me to quote him in an interview saying:

"America can hardly expect us to give up any means at our disposal to fight our enemy. It is a principle with us to defend ourselves in every possible way. I am sure that Americans will be reasonable enough to believe that our two countries cannot discuss the Lusitania matter until both have the same basis of facts."

The American people were demanding an answer from Germany and because the two branches of the Government could not agree on what should be said von Jagow had to do something to gain time. Germany, therefore, submitted in her reply of the 28th of May certain facts about the Lusitania for the consideration of the American Government saying that Germany reserved final statements of its position with regard "to the demands made in connection with the sinking of the Lusitania until a reply was received from the American Government." After the note was despatched the chasm between the Navy and Foreign Office was wider than ever. Ambassador Gerard, who went to the Foreign Office daily, to try to convince the officials that they were antagonising the whole world by their attitude on the Lusitania question, returned to the Embassy one day after a conference with Zimmermann and began to prepare a scrap book of cartoons and clippings from American newspapers. Two secretaries were put to work pasting the comments, interviews, editorials and cartoons reflecting American opinion in the scrap book. Although the German Foreign Office had a big press department its efforts were devoted more to furnishing the outside world with German views than with collecting outside opinions for the information of the German Government. Believing that this information would be of immeasurable benefit to the German diplomats in sounding the depths of public sentiment in America, Gerard delivered the book to von Jagow personally.

In the meantime numerous conferences were held at Great Headquarters. Financiers, business men and diplomats who wanted to keep peace with America sided with the Foreign Office. Every anti-American influence in the Central Powers joined forces with the Navy. The Lusitania note was printed and the public discussion which resulted was greater than that which followed the first declarations of war in August, 1914. The people, who before had accepted everything their Government said, began to think for themselves. One heard almost as much criticism as praise of the Lusitania incident. For the first time the quarrel, which had been nourished between the Foreign Office and the Admiralty, became nation-wide and forces throughout Germany lined up with one side or the other. But the Navy Department was the cleverer of the two. The press bureau sent out inspired stories that the submarines were causing England a loss of a million dollars a week. They said that every week the Admiralty was launching two U-boats. It was stated that reliable reports to Admiral von Tirpitz proved the high toll taken by the submarines in two weeks had struck terror to the hearts of English ship-owners. The newspapers printed under great headlines: "Toll of Our Tireless U-Boats," the names and tonnage of ships lost. The press bureau pointed to the rise in food prices in Great Britain and France. The public was made to feel a personal pride in submarine exploits. And at the same time the Navy editorial writers brought up the old issue of American arms and ammunition to further embitter the people.

Thus the first note which President Wilson wrote in the Lusitania case not only brought the quarrel between the Navy and Foreign Office to a climax but it gave the German people the first opportunity they had had seriously to discuss questions of policy and right.

In the Rhine Valley, where the ammunition interests dominated every phase of life, the Navy found its staunchest supporters. In educational circles, in shipping centres, such as Hamburg and Bremen, in the financial districts of Frankfort and Berlin, the Foreign Office received its support. Press and Reichstag were divided. Supporting the Foreign Office were the Lokal Anzeiger, the Berliner Tageblatt, the Cologne Gazette, the Frankforter Zeitung, the Hamburger Fremdemblatt, and the Vorw?rts.

The Navy had the support of Count Reventlow, Naval Critic of the Deutsche Tageszeitung, the T?glische Rundscha, the Vossische Zeitung, the Morgen Post, the B. Z. Am Mittag, the Münchener Neueste Nachrichten, the Rheinische Westf?lische Zeitung, and the leading Catholic organ, the Koelnische Volks-Zeitung.

Government officials were also divided. Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg led the party which demanded an agreement with the United States. He was supported by von Jagow, Zimmermann, Dr. Karl Helfferich, Secretary of the Treasury; Dr. Solf, the Colonial Minister; Dr. Siegfried Heckscher, Vice Chairman of the Reichstag Committee on Foreign Relations; and Philip Scheidemann, leader of the majority of the Socialists in the Reichstag.

The opposition was led by Grand Admiral von Tirpitz. He was supported by General von Falkenhayn, Field Marshal von Mackensen and all army generals; Admirals von Pohl and von Bachmann; Major Bassermann, leader of the National Liberal Party in the Reichstag; Dr. Gustav Stressemann, member of the Reichstag and Director of the North German Lloyd Steamship Company; and von Heydebrand, the so-called "Uncrowned King of Prussia," because of his control of the Prussian Diet.

With these forces against each other the internal fight continued more bitter than ever. President Wilson kept insisting upon definite promises from Germany but the Admiralty still had the upper hand. There was nothing for the Foreign Office to do except to make the best possible excuses and depend upon Wilson's patience to give them time to get into the saddle. The Navy Department, however, was so confident that it had the Kaiser's support in everything it did, that one of the submarines was instructed to sink the Arabic.

President Wilson's note in the Arabic case again brought the submarine dispute within Germany to a head. Conferences were again held at Great Headquarters. The Chancellor, von Jagow, Helfferich, von Tirpitz and other leaders were summoned by the Kaiser. On the 28th of August I succeeded in sending by courier to The Hague the following despatch:

"With the support of the Kaiser, the German Chancellor, Dr. von Bethmann-Hollweg, is expected to win the fight he is now making for a modification of Germany's submarine warfare that will forever settle the difficulties with America over the sinking of the Lusitania and the Arabic. Both the Chancellor and von Jagow are most anxious to end at once and for all time the controversies with Washington desiring America's friendship." (Published in the Chicago Tribune, August 29th, 1915.)

"The Marine Department, headed by von Tirpitz, creator of the submarine policy, will oppose any disavowal of the action of German's submarines. But the Kaiser is expected to approve the steps the Chancellor and Foreign Secretary contemplate taking, swinging the balance in favour of von Bethmann-Hollweg's contention that ships in the future must be warned before they are torpedoed."

One day I went to the Foreign Office and told one of the officials I believed that if the American people knew what a difficult time the Foreign Office was having in trying to win out over the Admiralty that public opinion in the United States might be mobilised to help the Foreign Office against the Admiralty. I took with me a brief despatch which I asked him to pass. He censored it with the understanding that I would never disclose his name in case the despatch was read in Germany.

A few days later the Manchester, England, Guardian arrived containing my article, headed as follows:

HOLLWEG'S CHANGE OF TUNE

Respect for Scraps of Paper

LAW AT SEA

Insists on Warning by Submarines

TIRPITZ PARTY BEATEN

Kaiser Expected to Approve New Policy

"New York, Sunday.

"Cables from Mr. Carl W. Ackerman, Berlin correspondent of the United Press published here, indicate that the real crisis following the Arabic is in Germany, not America. He writes:

"The Berlin Foreign Office is unalterably opposed to submarine activity, such as evidenced by the Arabic affair, and it was on the initiative of this Government department that immediate steps were taken with Mr. Gerard the American Ambassador. The nature of these negotiations is still unknown to the German public.

"It is stated on the highest authority that Herr von Jagow, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg are unanimous in their anxiety to settle American difficulties once and for all, retaining the friendship of the United States in any event.

"The Kaiser is expected to approve the course suggested by the Imperial Chancellor, despite open opposition to any disavowal of submarine activities which constantly emanates from the German Admiralty.

"The Chancellor is extremely desirous of placing Germany on record as an observer of international law as regards sea warfare, and in this case will win his demand that submarines in the future shall thoroughly warn enemy ships before firing their torpedoes or shells.

"There is considerable discussion in official circles as to whether the Chancellor's steps create a precedent, but it is agreed that it will probably close all complications with America, including the Lusitania case, which remained unsettled following President Wilson's last note to Germany.

"Thus if the United States approves the present attitude of the Chancellor this step will aid in clearing the entire situation and will materially strengthen the policy of von Bethmann-Hollweg and von Jagow, which is a deep desire for peace with America."

After this despatch was printed I was called to the home of Fran von Schroeder, the American-born wife of one of the Intelligence Office of the General Staff. Captain Vanselow, Chief of the Admiralty Intelligence Department, was there and had brought with him the Manchester Guardian. He asked me where I got the information and who had passed the despatch. He said the Navy was up in arms and had issued orders to the General Telegraph Office that, inasmuch as Germany was under martial law, no telegrams were to be passed containing the words submarines, navy, admiralty or marine or any officers of the Navy without having them referred to the Admiralty for a second censoring. This order practically nullified the censorship powers of the Foreign Office. I saw that the Navy Department was again in the saddle and that the efforts of the Chancellor to maintain peace might not be successful after all. But the conferences at Great Headquarters lasted longer than any one expected. The first news we received of what had taken place was that Secretary von Jagow had informed the Kaiser he would resign before he would do anything which might cause trouble with the United States.

Germany was split wide open by the submarine issue. For a while it looked as if the only possible adjustment would be either for von Tirpitz to go and his policies with him, or for von Jagow and the Chancellor to go with the corresponding danger of a rupture with America. But von Tirpitz would not resign. He left Great Headquarters for Berlin and intimated to his friends that he was going to run the Navy to suit himself. But the Chancellor who had the support of the big shipping interests and the financiers, saw a possible means of checkmating von Tirpitz by forcing Admiral von Pohl to resign as Chief of the Admiralty Staff. They finally persuaded the Kaiser to accept his resignation and appoint Admiral von Holtzendorff as his successor. Von Holtzendorff's brother was a director of the Hamburg-American Line and an intimate friend of A. Ballin, the General Director of the company. The Chancellor believed that by having a friend of his as Chief of the Admiralty Staff, no orders would be issued to submarine commanders contrary to the wishes of the Chancellor, because according to the rules of the German Navy Department the Chief of the Admiralty Staff must approve all naval plans and sign all orders to fleet commanders.

Throughout this time the one thing which frightened the Foreign Office was the fear that President Wilson might break off diplomatic relations before the Foreign Office had an opportunity to settle the differences with the United States. For this reason Ambassador Gerard was kept advised by Wilhelmstrasse of the internal developments in Germany and asked to report them fully but confidentially to Wilson. So, during this crisis when Americans were demanding a break with Germany because of Germany's continued defiance of President Wilson's notes, the American Government knew that if the Foreign Office was given more time it had a good chance of succeeding in cleaning house. A rupture at that time would have destroyed all the efforts of the Foreign Office to keep the German military machine within bounds. It would have over-thrown von Jagow and von Bethmann-Hollweg and put in von Tirpitz as Chancellor and von Heydebrand, the reactionary leader of the Prussian Diet, as Secretary of State. At that time, all the democratic forces of Germany were lined up with the Foreign Office. The people who blushed for Belgium, the financiers who were losing money, the shipping interests whose tonnage was locked in belligerent or neutral harbours, the Socialists and people who were anxious and praying for peace, were looking to the Foreign Office and to Washington to avoid a break.

While Germany was professing her friendship for the United States in every note written following the sinking of the Lusitania, the government was secretly preparing the nation for a break in diplomatic relations, or for war, in the event of a rupture. German officials realised that unless the people were made to suspect Mr. Wilson and his motives, unless they were made to resent the shipment of arms and ammunition to the Allies, there would be a division in public opinion and the government would not be able to count upon the united support of the people.

Because the government does the thinking for the people it has to tell them what to think before they have reached the point of debating an issue themselves. A war with America or a break in diplomatic relations in 1915 would not have been an easy matter to explain, if the people had not been encouraged to hate Wilson. So while Germany maintained a propaganda bureau in America to interpret Germany and to maintain good relations, she started in Germany an extensive propaganda against Wilson, the American press, the United States Ambassador and Americans in general.

This step was not necessary in the army because among army officers the bitterness and hatred of the United States were deeper and more extensive than the hatred of any other belligerent. It was hardly ever possible for the American correspondents to go to the front without being insulted. Even the American military attaches, when they went to the front, had to submit to the insults of army officers. After the sinking of the Arabic the six military observers attached to the American Embassy were invited by the General Staff to go to Russia to study the military operations of Field Marshal von Mackensen. They were escorted by Baron von Maltzahn, former attache of the German Embassy in Paris. At Lodz, one of the largest cities in Poland, they were taken to headquarters. Von Maltzahn, who knew Mackensen personally, called at the Field Marshal's offices, reported that he had escorted six American army officers under orders of the General Staff, whom he desired to present to the Commander-in-Chief. Von Mackensen replied that he did not care to meet the Americans and told von Maltzahn that the best thing he could do would be to escort the observers back to Berlin.

As soon as the military attaches reached Berlin and reported this to Washington they were recalled.

BLOOD-TRAFFICKERS

Cowards, who kill three thousand miles away,

See the long lines of shrouded forms increase!

Yours is this work, disguise it as you may;

But for your greed the world were now at peace.

Month after month your countless chimneys roar,--

Slaughter your object, and your motive gain;

Look at your money,--it is wet with gore

Nothing can cleanse it from the loathsome stain.

You, who prolong this hideous hell on earth,

Making a by-word of your native land,

Stripped of your wealth, how paltry is your worth!

See how men shrink from contact with your hand!

There is pollution in your blood-smeared gold,

There is corruption in your pact with Death,

There is dishonor in the lie, oft-told,

Of your "Humanity"! 'Tis empty breath.

What shall it profit you to heap on high,

Makers of orphans! a few millions more,

When you must face them--those you caused to die,

And God demands of you to pay your score?

He is not mocked; His vengeance doth not sleep;

His cup of wrath He lets you slowly fill;

What you have sown, that also shall you reap;

God's law is adamant,--"Thou shalt not kill"!

Think not to plead:--"I did not act alone,"

"Custom allows it," and "My dead were few";

Each hath his quota; yonder are your own!

See how their fleshless fingers point at you, at you!

You, to whose vaults this wholesale murder yields

Mere needless increments of ghoulish gain,

Count up your corpses on these blood-soaked fields!

Hear . . . till your death . . . your victims' moans of pain!

Then, when at night you, sleepless, fear to pray,

Watch the thick, crimson stream draw near your bed,

And shriek with horror, till the dawn of day

Shall find you raving at your heaps of dead!

JOHN L. STODDARD.

The League of Truth

Head Offices for Germany:

Berlin W

40 Potsdamer Str.

July 4th, 1916. Printed by Barthe & Co., Berlin W.

But this was not the only time von Mackensen, or other army officers, showed their contempt for the United States. After the fall of Warsaw a group of American correspondents were asked to go to the headquarters of General von Besseler, afterward named Governor General of Poland. The general received them in the gardens of the Polish castle which he had seized as his headquarters; shook hands with the Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Swiss and South American newspaper men, and then, before turning on his heels to go back to his Polish palace, turned to the Americans and said:

"As for you gentlemen, the best thing you can do is to tell your country to stop shipping arms and ammunition."

During General Brusiloff's offensive I was invited together with other correspondents to go to the Wohlynian battlefields to see how the Germans had reorganised the Austrian front. In a little town near the Stochod River we were invited to dinner by Colonel von Luck. I sat opposite the colonel, who was in charge of the reorganisation here. Throughout the meal he made so many insulting remarks that the officer who was our escort had to change the trend of the conversation. Before he did so the colonel said:

"Tell me, do they insult you in Berlin like this?"

I replied that I seldom encountered such antagonism in Berlin; that it was chiefly the army which was anti-American.

"Well, that's the difference between the diplomats and the army. If the army was running the government we would probably have had war with America a long time ago," he concluded, smiling sarcastically.

Shortly after the sinking of the Lusitania the naval propaganda bureau had bronze medals cast and placed on sale at souvenir shops throughout Germany. Ambassador Gerard received one day, in exchanging some money, a fifty mark bill, with the words stamped in purple ink across the face:

"God punish England and America." For some weeks this rubber stamp was used very effectively.

The Navy Department realised, too, that another way to attack America and especially Americans in Berlin, was to arouse the suspicion that every one who spoke English was an enemy. The result was that most Americans had to be exceedingly careful not to talk aloud in public places. The American correspondents were even warned at the General Staff not to speak English at the front. Some of the correspondents who did not speak German were not taken to the battle areas because the Foreign Office desired to avoid insults.

The year and a half between the sinking of the Lusitania and the severance of diplomatic relations was a period of terror for most Americans in Germany. Only those who were so sympathetic with Germany that they were anti-American found it pleasant to live there. One day one of the American girls employed in the confidential file room of the American Embassy was slapped in the face until she cried, by a German in civilian clothes, because she was speaking English in the subway. At another time the wife of a prominent American business man was spit upon and chased out of a public bus because she was speaking English. Then a group of women chased her down the street. Another American woman was stabbed by a soldier when she was walking on Friedrichstrasse with a friend because she was speaking English. When the State Department instructed Ambassador Gerard to bring the matter to the attention of the Foreign Office and to demand an apology Wilhelmstrasse referred the matter to the General Staff for investigation. The soldier was arrested and secretly examined. After many weeks had elapsed the Foreign Office explained that the man who had stabbed the woman was really not a soldier but a red cross worker. It was explained that he had been wounded and was not responsible for what he did. The testimony of the woman, however, and of other witnesses, showed that the man at the time he attacked the American was dressed in a soldier's uniform, which is grey, and which could not he mistaken for the black uniform of a red cross worker.

It was often said in Berlin, "Germany hates England, fights France, fears Russia but loathes America." No one, not even American officials, questioned it.

The hate campaign was bearing fruit.

In January, 1916, there appeared in Berlin a publication called Light and Truth. It was a twelve-page circular in English and German attacking President Wilson and the United States. Copies were sent by mail to all Americans and to hundreds of thousands of Germans. It was edited and distributed by "The League of Truth." It was the most sensational document printed in Germany since the beginning of the war against a power with which Germany was supposed to be at peace. Page 6 contained two illustrations under the legend:

WILSON AND HIS PRESS IS NOT AMERICA

Underneath was this paragraph:

"An American Demonstration--On the 27th of January, the birthday of the German Emperor, an immense laurel wreath decorated with the German and American flags was placed by Americans at the foot of the monument to Frederick the Great (in Berlin). The American flag was enshrouded in black crape. Frederick the Great was the first to recognise the independence of the young Republic, after it had won its freedom from the yoke of England, at the price of its very heart's blood through years of struggle. His successor, Wilhelm II, receives the gratitude of America in the form of hypocritical phrases and war supplies to his mortal enemy."

[Illustration: First page of the magazine "Light and Truth"]

One photograph was of the wreath itself. The other showed a group of thirty-six people, mostly boys, standing in front of the statue after the wreath had been placed.

When Ambassador Gerard learned about the "demonstration" he went to the statue and from there immediately to the Foreign Office, where he saw Secretary of State von Jagow. Gerard demanded instantaneous removal of the wreath. Von Jagow promised an "investigation." Gerard meanwhile began a personal investigation of the League of Truth, which had purchased and placed the insult there.

Days, weeks, even months passed. Von Jagow still refused to have the wreath removed. Finally Gerard went to the Foreign Office and told von Jagow that unless it was taken away that day he would get it himself and send it by courier to Washington. That evening Gerard walked to the statue. The wreath had disappeared.

Week by week the league continued its propaganda. Gerard continued his investigation.

July 4, 1916, another circular was scattered broadcast. On page 1 was a large black cross. Pages 2 and 3, the inside, contained a reprint of the "Declaration of Independence," with the imprint across the face of a bloody hand. Enclosed in a heavy black border on page 4 were nine verses by John L. Stoddard, the lecturer, entitled "Blood-Traffickers." (Printed in the beginning of this chapter.)

The league made an especial appeal to the "German-Americans." Germany, as was pointed out in a previous article, counts upon some German-Americans as her allies. One day Ambassador Gerard received a circular entitled "An Appeal to All Friends of Truth." The same was sent in German and English to a mailing list of many hundred thousands. Excerpts from this read:

"If any one is called upon to raise his voice in foreign lands for the cause of truth, it is the foreigner who was able to witness the unanimous rising of the German people at the outbreak of war, and their attitude during its continuance. This applies especially to the German-American.

"As a citizen of two continents, in proportion as his character has remained true to German principles, he finds both here and there the right word to say. . . .

"Numberless millions of men are forced to look upon a loathsome spectacle. It is that of certain individuals in America; to whom a great nation has temporarily intrusted its weal and woe, supporting a few multi-millionaires and their dependents, setting at naught--unpunished--the revered document of the Fourth of July, 1776, and daring to barter away the birthright of the white race. . . . We want to see whether the united voices of Germans and foreigners have not more weight than the hired writers of editorials in the newspapers; and whether the words of men who are independent will not render it impossible for a subsidised press to continue its destructive work."

Gerard's investigation showed that a group of German-Americans in Berlin were financing the League of Truth; that a man named William F. Marten, who posed as an American, was the head, and that the editors and writers of the publication Light and Truth were being assisted by the Foreign Office Press Bureau and protected by the General Staff. An American dentist in Berlin, Dr. Charles Mueller, was chairman of the league. Mrs. Annie Neumann-Hofer, the American-born wife of Neumann-Hofer, of the Reichstag, was secretary. Gerard reported other names to the State Department, and asked authority to take away the passports of Americans who were assisting the German government in this propaganda.

The "league" heard about the Ambassador's efforts, and announced that a "Big Bertha" issue would be published exposing Gerard. For several months the propagandists worked to collect data. One day Gerard decided to go to the league's offices and look at the people who were directing it. In the course of his remarks the Ambassador said that if the Foreign Office didn't do something to suppress the league immediately, he would burn down the place. The next day Marten and his co-workers went to the Royal Administration of the Superior Court, No. 1, in Berlin, and through his attorney lodged a criminal charge of "threat of arson" against the Ambassador.

The next day Germany was flooded with letters from "The League of Truth," saying:

"The undersigned committee of the League of Truth to their deepest regret felt compelled to inform the members that Ambassador Gerard had become involved in a criminal charge involving threat of arson. . . . All American citizens are now asked whether an Ambassador who acts so undignified at the moment of a formal threat of a wholly unnecessary war, is to be considered worthy further to represent a country like the United States."

Were it not for the fact that at this time President Wilson was trying to impress upon Germany the seriousness of her continued disregard of American and neutral lives on the high seas, the whole thing would have been too absurd to notice. But Germany wanted to create the impression among her people that President Wilson was not speaking for America, and that the Ambassador was too insignificant to notice.

After this incident Gerard called upon von Jagow again and demanded the immediate suppression of the third number of Light and Truth. Before von Jagow consented Mrs. Neumann-Hofer turned upon her former propagandists and confessed. I believe her confession is in the State Department, but this is what she told me:

"Marten is a German and has never been called to the army because the General Staff has delegated him to direct this anti-American propaganda. [We were talking at the Embassy the day before the Ambassador left.] Marten is supported by some very high officials. He has letters of congratulations from the Chancellor, General von Falkenhayn, Count Zeppelin and others for one of his propaganda books entitled 'German Barbarians.' I think the Crown Prince is one of his backers, but I have never been able to prove it."

On July 4th, 1915, the League of Truth issued what it called "A New Declaration of Independence." This was circulated in German and English throughout the country. It was as follows:

A NEW DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

Seven score years have elapsed since those great words were forged that welded us into a nation upon many fiery battlefields.

In that day the strong voices of strong men rang across the world, their molten words flamed with light and their arms broke the visible chains of an intolerable bondage.

But now in the red reflex of the glare cast from the battlefields of Europe, the invisible manacles that have been cunningly laid upon our freedom have become shamefully apparent. They rattle in the ears of the world.

Our liberty has vanished once again. Yet our ancient enemy remains enthroned in high places within our land and in insolent ships before our gates. We have not only become Colonials once again, but subjects,--for true subjects are known by the measure of their willing subjection.

We Americans in the heart of this heroic nation now struggling for all that we ourselves hold dear, but against odds such as we were never forced to face, perceive this truth with a disheartening but unclouded vision.

Far from home we would to-day celebrate, as usual, the birthday of our land. But with heavy hearts we see that this would now seem like a hollow mockery of something solemn and immemorial. It were more in keeping with reality that we burnt incense upon the altars of the British Baal.

Independence Day without Independence! The liberty of the seas denied us for the peaceful Commerce of our entire land and granted us only for the murderous trafficking of a few men!

Independence Day has dawned for us in alien yet friendly land. It has brought to us at least the independence of our minds.

Free from the abominations of the most dastardly campaign of falsehood that ever disgraced those who began and those who believe it, we have stripped ourselves of the rags of many perilous illusions. We see America as a whole, and we see it with a fatal and terrible clarity.

We see that once again our liberties of thought, of speech, of intercourse, of trade, are threatened, nay, already seized by the one ancient enemy that can never be our friend.

With humiliation we behold our principles, our sense of justice trodden underfoot. We see the wild straining of the felon arms that would drag our land into the abyss of the giant Conspiracy and Crime.

We see the foul alliance of gold, murderous iron and debauched paper to which we have been sold.

We know that our pretenses and ambitions as heralds of peace are monstrous, so long as we profit through war and human agony.

We see these rivers of blood that have their source in our mills of slaughter.

The Day of Independence has dawned.

It is a solemn and momentous hour for America,

It is a day on which our people must speak with clear and inexorable voice, or sit silent in shame.

It is the great hour in which we dare not celebrate our first Declaration of Independence, because the time has come when we must proclaim a new one over the corpse of that which has perished.

Berlin, July 4th, 1915.

AN ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA DOCUMENT

The League of Truth, however, was but one branch of the intricate propaganda system. While it was financed almost entirely by German-Americans living in Germany who retained their American passports to keep themselves, or their children, out of the army, all publications for this bureau were approved by the Foreign Office censors. Germans, connected with the organisation, were under direction of the General Staff or Navy.

In order to have the propaganda really successful some seeds of discontent had to be sown in the United States, in South America and Mexico as well as in Spain and other European neutral countries. For this outside propaganda, money and an organisation were needed. The Krupp ammunition interests supplied the money and the Foreign Office the organisation.

For nearly two years the American press regularly printed despatches from the Overseas News Agency. Some believed they were "official." This was only half true. The Krupps had been financing this news association. The government had given its support and the two wireless towers at Sayville, Long Island, and Tuckerton, N. J., were used as "footholds" on American soil. These stations were just as much a part of the Krupp works as the factories at Essen or the shipyards of Kiel. They were to disseminate the Krupp-fed, Krupp-owned, Krupp-controlled news, of the Overseas News Agency.

When the Overseas despatches first reached the United States the newspapers printed them in a spirit of fairness. They gave the other side, and in the beginning they were more or less accurate. But when international relations between the two countries became critical the news began to be distorted in Berlin. At each crisis, as at the time of the sinking of the Arabic, the Ancona, the Sussex and other ships, the German censorship prevented the American correspondents from sending the news as they gathered it in Germany and substituted "news" which the Krupp interests and the Imperial Foreign Office desired the American people to believe. December, 1916, when the German General Staff began to plan for an unrestricted submarine warfare, especial use was made of the "Overseas News Agency" to work up sentiment here against President Wilson. Desperate efforts were made to keep the United States from breaking diplomatic relations. In December and January last records of the news despatches in the American newspapers from Berlin show that the Overseas agency was more active than all American correspondents in Berlin. Secretary of State Zimmermann, Under-secretaries von dem Busche and von Stumm gave frequent interviews to the so-called "representatives of the Overseas News Agency." It was all part of a specific Krupp plan, supported by the Hamburg-American and the North German Lloyd steamship companies, to divide opinion in the United States so that President Wilson would not be supported if he broke diplomatic relations.

Germany, as I have pointed out, has been conducting a two-faced propaganda. While working in the United States through her agents and reservists to create the impression that Germany was friendly, the Government laboured to prepare the German people for war. The policy was to make the American people believe Germany would never do anything to bring the United States into the war, but to convince the German public that America was not neutral and that President Wilson was scheming against the German race. Germany was Janus-headed. Head No. 1 said:

"America, you are a great nation. We want your friendship and neutrality. We have close business and blood relations, and these should not be broken. Germany is not the barbaric nation her enemies picture her."

Head No. 2, turned toward the German people, said:

"Germans, President Wilson is anti-German. He wants to prevent us from starting an unlimited submarine war. America has never been neutral, because Washington permits the ammunition factories to supply the Allies. These factories are killing your relatives. We have millions of German-Americans who will support us. It will not be long until Mexico will declare war on the United States, and our reservists will fight for Mexico. Don't be afraid if Wilson breaks diplomatic relations."

The German press invasion of America began at the beginning of the war. Dr. Dernburg was the first envoy. He was sent to New York by the same Foreign Office officials and the same Krupp interests which control the Overseas agency. Having failed here, he returned to Berlin. There was only one thing to save German propaganda in America. That was to mobolise the Sayville and Tuckerton wireless stations, and Germany did it immediately.

At the beginning of the war, when the British censors refused the American correspondents in Germany the right of telegraphing to the United States via England, the Berlin Government granted permission to the United Press, The Associated Press and the Chicago Daily News to send wireless news via Sayville. At first this news was edited by the correspondents of these associations and newspapers in Berlin. Later, when the individual correspondents began to demand more space on the wireless, the news sent jointly to these papers was cut down. This unofficial league of American papers was called the "War-Union." The news which this union sent was German, but it was written by trained American writers. When the Government saw the value of this service to the United States it began to send wireless news of its own. Then the Krupp interests appeared, and the Overseas News Agency was organised. At that moment the Krupp invasion of the United States began and contributed 800,000 marks annually to this branch of propaganda alone.

Dr. Hammann, for ten years chief of the Berlin Foreign Office propaganda department, was selected as president of the Overseas News Agency. The Krupp interests, which had been subscribing 400,000 marks annually to this agency, subscribed the same amount to the reorganised company. Then, believing that another agency could be organised, subscribed 400,000 marks more to the Transocean News Agency. Because there was so much bitterness and rivalry between the officials of the two concerns, the Government stepped in and informed the Overseas News Agency that it could send only "political news," while the Trans-ocean was authorised to send "economic and social news" via Sayville and Tuckerton.

This news, however, was not solely for the United States. Krupp's eyes were on Mexico and South America, so agents were appointed in Washington and New York to send the Krupp-bred wireless news from New York by cable to South America and Mexico. Obviously the same news which was sent to the United States could not be telegraphed to Mexico and South America, because Germany had a different policy toward these countries. The United States was on record against an unlimited submarine warfare. Mexico and South America were not. Brazil, which has a big German population, was considered an un-annexed German colony. News to Brazil, therefore, had to be coloured differently than news to New York. Some of the colouring was done in Berlin; some in New York by Krupp's agents here. As a result of Germany's anti-United States propaganda in South America and Mexico, these countries did not follow President Wilson when he broke diplomatic relations with Berlin. While public sentiment might have been against Germany, it was, to a certain degree, antagonistic to the United States.

Obviously, Germany had to have friends in this country to assist her, or what was being done would be traced too directly to the German Government. So Germany financed willing German-Americans in their propaganda schemes. And because no German could cross the ocean except with a falsified neutral passport, Germany had to depend upon German-Americans with American passports to bring information over. These German-Americans, co-operating with some of the Americans in Berlin, kept informing the Foreign Office, the army and navy as well as influential Reichstag members that the real power behind the government over here was not the press and public opinion but the nine million Americans who were directly or indirectly related to Germany. During this time the Government felt so sure that it could rely upon the so-called German-Americans that the Government considered them as a German asset whenever there was a submarine crisis.

When Henry Morgenthau, former American Ambassador to Turkey, passed through Berlin, en route to the United States, he conferred with Zimmermann, who was then Under Secretary of State. During the course of one of their conversations Zimmermann said the United States would never go to war with Germany, "because the German-Americans would revolt." That was one of Zimmermann's hobbies. Zimmermann told other American officials and foreign correspondents that President Wilson would not be able to bring the United States to the brink of war, because the "German-Americans were too powerful."

But Zimmermann was not making these statements upon his own authority. He was being kept minutely advised about conditions here through the German spy system and by German-American envoys, who came to Berlin to report on progress the German-Americans were making here in politics and in Congress.

Zimmermann was so "dead sure" he was right in expecting a large portion of Americans to be disloyal that one time during a conversation with Ambassador Gerard he said that he believed Wilson was only bluffing in his submarine notes. When Zimmermann was Under Secretary of State I used to see him very often. His conversation would contain questions like these:

"Well, how is your English President? Why doesn't your President do something against England?"

Zimmermann was always in close touch with the work of Captains von Papen and Boy-Ed when they were in this country. He was one of the chief supports of the little group of intriguers in Berlin who directed German propaganda here. Zimmermann was the man who kept Baron Mumm von Schwarzenstein, former Ambassador to Tokyo, in the Foreign Office in Berlin as chief of foreign propaganda and intrigue in America and China. Mumm had been here as Minister Extra-ordinary several years ago and knew how Germany's methods could be used to the best purpose, namely, to divide American sentiment. Then, when Zimmermann succeeded Jagow he ousted Mumm because Mumm had become unpopular with higher Government authorities.

One day in Berlin, just before the recall of the former German military and naval attaches in Washington, I asked Zimmermann whether Germany sanctioned what these men had been doing. He replied that Germany approved everything they had done "because they had done nothing more than try to keep America out of the war; to prevent American goods reaching the Allies and to persuade Germans and those of German descent not to work in ammunition factories." The same week I overheard in a Berlin cafe two reserve naval officers discuss plans for destroying Allied ships sailing from American ports. One of these men was an escaped officer of an interned liner at Newport News. He had escaped to Germany by way of Italy. That afternoon when I saw Ambassador Gerard I told him of the conversation of these two men, and also what Zimmermann had said. The Ambassador had just received instructions from Washington about Boy-Ed and von Papen.

Gerard was furious.

"Go tell Zimmermann," he said, "for God's sake to leave America alone. If he keeps this up he'll drag us into the war. The United States won't stand this sort of thing indefinitely."

That evening I went back to the Foreign Office and saw Zimmermann for a few minutes. I asked him why it was that Germany, which was at peace with the United States, was doing everything within her power to make war.

"Why, Germany is not doing anything to make you go to war," he replied. "Your President seems to want war. Germany is not responsible for what the German-Americans are doing. They are your citizens, not ours. Germany must not be held responsible for what those people do."

Had it not been for the fact that the American Government was fully advised about Zimmermann's intrigues in the United States this remark might be accepted on its face. The United States knew that Germany was having direct negotiations with German-Americans in the United States. Men came to Germany with letters of introduction from leading German-Americans here, with the expressed purpose of trying to get Germany to stop its propaganda here. What they did do was to assure Germany that the German-Americans would never permit the United States to be drawn into the war. Because of their high recommendations from Germans here some of them had audiences with the Kaiser.

Germany had been supporting financially some Americans, as the State Department has proof of checks which have been given to American citizens for propaganda and spy work.

I know personally of one instance where General Director Heinicken, of the North German-Lloyd, gave an American in Berlin $1,000 for his reports on American conditions. The name cannot be mentioned because there are no records to prove the transaction, although the man receiving this money came to me and asked me to transmit $250 to his mother through the United Press office. I refused.

When Zimmermann began to realise that Germany's threatening propaganda in the United States and Germany's plots against American property were not succeeding in frightening the United States away from war, he began to look forward to the event of war. He saw, as most Germans did, that it would be a long time before the United States could get forces to Europe in a sufficient number to have a decisive effect upon the war. He began to plan with the General Staff and the Navy to league Mexico against America for two purposes. One, Germany figured that a war with Mexico would keep the United States army and navy busy over here. Further, Zimmermann often said to callers that if the United States went to war with Mexico it would not be possible for American factories to send so much ammunition and so many supplies to the Allies.

German eyes turned to Mexico. As soon as President Wilson recognised Carranza as President, Germany followed with a formal recognition. Zubaran Capmany, who had been Mexican representative in Washington, was sent to Berlin as Carranza's Minister. Immediately upon his arrival Zimmermann began negotiations with him. Reports of the negotiations were sent to Washington. The State Department was warned that unless the United States solved the "Mexican problem" immediately Germany would prepare to attack us through Mexico. German reservists were tipped off to be ready to go to Mexico upon a moment's notice. Count von Bernstorff and the German Consuls in the United States were instructed, and Bernstorff, who was acting as the general director of German interests in North and South America, was told to inform the German officials in the Latin-American countries. At the same time German financial interests began to purchase banks, farms and mines in Mexico.

After the sinking of the Arabic the German Foreign Office intimated to the United States Government and to the American correspondents that methods of submarine warfare would be altered and that ships would be warned before they were torpedoed. But when the Navy heard that the Foreign Office was inclined to listen to Mr. Wilson's protests it made no attempt to conceal its opposition. Gottlieb von Jagow, the Secretary of State, although he was an intimate friend of the Kaiser and an officer in the German Army, was at heart a pacifist.

Every time an opportunity presented itself he tried to mobilise the peace forces of the world to make peace. From time to time, the German financiers and propaganda leaders in the United States, as well as influential Germans in the neutral European countries, sent out peace "feelers." Von Jagow realised that the sooner peace was made, the better it would be for Germany and the easier it would be for the Foreign Office to defeat the military party at home. He saw that the more victories the army had and the more victories it could announce to the people the more lustful the General Staff would be for a war of exhaustion. Army leaders have always had more confidence in their ability to defeat the world than the Foreign Office. The army looked at the map of Europe and saw so many hundred thousand square miles of territory under occupation. The Foreign Office saw Germany in its relation to the world. Von Jagow knew that every new square mile of territory gained was being paid for, not only by the cost of German blood, but by the more terrible cost of public opinion and German influence abroad. But Germany was under martial law and the Foreign Office had nothing to say about military plans. The Foreign Office also had little to say about naval warfare. The Navy was building submarines as fast as it could and the number of ships lost encouraged the people to believe that the more intensified the submarine war became, the quicker the war would end in Germany's favour. So the Navy kept sinking ships and relying upon the Foreign Office to make excuses and keep America out of the war.

The repeated violations of the pledges made by the Foreign Office to the United States aroused American public opinion to white heat, and justly so, because the people here did not understand that the real submarine crisis was not between President Wilson and Berlin but between Admiral von Tirpitz and Secretary von Jagow and their followers. President Wilson was at the limit of his patience with Germany and the German people, who were becoming impatient over the long drawn out proceedings, began to accept the inspired thinking of the Navy and to believe that Wilson was working for the defeat of Germany by interfering with submarine activities.

On February 22nd, 1916, in one of my despatches I said: "The patient attitude toward America displayed during the Lusitania negotiations, it is plain to-day, no longer exists because of the popular feeling that America has already hindered so many of Germany's plans." At that time it appeared to observers in Berlin that unless President Wilson could show more patience than the German Government the next submarine accident would bring about a break in relations. Commenting on this despatch the Indianapolis News the next day said:

"In this country the people feel that all the patience has been shown by their government. We believe that history will sustain that view. Almost ten months ago more than 100 American citizens were deliberately done to death by the German Government, for it is understood that the submarine commander acted under instructions, and that Germany refuses to disavow on the ground that the murderous act was the act of the German Government. Yet, after all this time, the Lusitania case is still unsettled. The administration has, with marvellous self-restraint, recognised that public opinion in Germany was not normal, and for that reason it has done everything in its power to smooth the way to a settlement by making it as easy as possible for the Imperial Government to meet our just demands. Indeed, the President has gone so far as to expose himself to severe criticism at home. We believe that he would have been sustained if he had, immediately after the sinking of the _Lusitania_, broken off diplomatic relations.

"But he has stood out against public opinion in his own country, waited ten months for an answer, and done everything that he could in honour due to soften the feeling here. Yet just on the eve of a settlement that would have been unsatisfactory to many of our people, Germany announced the policy that we had condemned as illegal, and that plainly is illegal. The trouble in Berlin is an utter inability to see anything wrong in the attack on the Lusitania, or to appreciate the sense of horror that was stirred in this country by it. The idea seems to be that the policy of frightfulness could be extended to the high seas without in any way shocking the American people. Nothing has come from Berlin that indicates any feeling of guilt on the part of the German people or their Government.

"In the United States, on the contrary, the act is regarded as one of the blackest crimes of history. And yet, in spite of that feeling, we have waited patiently for ten months in the hope that the German Government would do justice, and clear its name of reproach. Yet now we are told that it is Germany that has shown a 'patient attitude,' the implication or insinuation being that our long suffering administration has been unreasonable and impatient. That will not be the verdict of history, as it is not the verdict of our own people. We have made every allowance for the conditions existing in Germany, and have resolutely refused to take advantage of her distress. We doubt whether there is any other government in the world that would have shown the patience and moderation, under like provocation, that have been shown by the American Government in these Lusitania negotiations."

I sent the editorial to von Jagow, who returned it the next day with the brief comment on one of his calling cards: "With many thanks."

About this time Count Reventlow and the other naval writers began to refer to everything President Wilson did as a "bluff." When Col. E. M. House came to Berlin early in 1916, he tried to impress the officials with the fact that Mr. Wilson was not only not bluffing, but that the American people would support him in whatever he did in dealing with the German Government. Mr. Gerard tried too to impress the Foreign Office but because he could only deal with that branch of the Government, he could not change the Navy's impression, which was that Wilson would never take a definite stand against Germany. On the 8th of February, the London Times printed the following despatch which I had sent to the United States:

"Mr. Gerard has been accused of not being forceful enough in dealing with the Berlin Foreign Office. In Berlin he has been criticised for just the opposite. It has been stated frequently that he was too aggressive. The Ambassador's position was that he must carry out Mr. Wilson's ideas. So he tried for days and weeks to impress officials with the seriousness of the situation. At the critical point in the negotiations various unofficial diplomats began to arrive and they seriously interfered with negotiations. One of these was a politician who through his credentials from Mr. Bryan met many high officials, and informed them that President Wilson was writing his notes for 'home consumption.' Mr. Gerard, however, appealed to Washington to know what was meant by the moves of this American with authority from Mr. Bryan. This was the beginning of the reason for Secretary Bryan's resigning.

"Secretary Bryan had informed also former Ambassador Dumba that the United States would never take any position against Germany even though it was hinted so in the Lusitania note. Dumba telegraphed this to Vienna and Berlin was informed immediately. Because of Mr. Gerard's personal friendship and personal association with Secretary of State von Jagow and Under Secretary of State Zimmermann, he was acquainted with Secretary Bryan's move. He telegraphed to President Wilson and the result was the resignation of Mr. Bryan."

In December, the Ancona was torpedoed and it was officially explained that the act was that of an Austrian submarine commander. Wilson's note to Vienna brought about a near rupture between Austria-Hungary and Germany because Austria and Hungary at that time were much opposed to Germany's submarine methods. Although the submarines operating in the Mediterranean were flying the Austrian flag, they were German submarines, and members of the crews were German. Throughout the life of the Emperor Franz Josef the Dual Monarchy was ruled, not from Vienna, but from Budapest by Count Stefan Tisza, the Hungarian Premier. I was in Budapest at the time and one evening saw Count Tisza at his palace, which stands on the rocky cliff opposite the main part of Budapest, and which overlooks the valley of the Danube for many miles. Tisza, as well as all Hungarians, is pro-American before he is pro-German.

"To think of trouble between Austria-Hungary and the United States is sheer nonsense," he said in his quiet but forceful manner. "I must confess, however, that we were greatly surprised to get the American note. It is far from our intention to get into any quarrel with America. Perhaps I should not say quarrel, because I know it would not be that, but of course matters do not depend upon us entirely. There is no reason for any trouble over the Ancona question. It must be settled satisfactorily," he said emphatically, "not only from the standpoint of the United States, but from our standpoint."

The Ancona crisis brought the Foreign Office new and unexpected support. Hungary was opposed to a dispute with America. In the first place, Hungarians are more of a liberty loving people than the Germans, and public opinion in Hungary rules the country. While there is a strong Government press, which is loyal to the Tisza party, there is an equally powerful opposition press which follows the leadership of Count Albert Apponyi and Count Julius Andrassy, the two most popular men in Hungarian public life. Apponyi told me on one occasion that while the Government was controlled by Tisza a great majority of the people sided with the opposition. He added that the constant antagonism of the Liberals and Democrats kept the Government within bounds.

Hungarians resented the stain upon their honour of the Ancona incident and they were on the verge of compelling Berlin to assume responsibility for the sinking and adjust the matter. But Berlin feared that if the _Ancona_ crime was accredited to the real murderers it would bring about another, and perhaps a fatal crisis with the United States. So Vienna assumed responsibility and promised to punish the submarine commander who torpedoed the ship.

This opposition from Hungary embittered the German Navy but it was helpless. The growing fear of the effects which President Wilson's notes were having upon Americans and upon the outside neutral world caused opposition to von Tirpitz to gain more force. In desperation von Tirpitz and his followers extended the anti-American propaganda and began personal attacks upon von Bethmann-Hollweg.

Bitterness between these two men became so great that neither of them would go to the Great Headquarters to confer with the Kaiser if the other was there. The personal opposition reached the point where the Kaiser could not keep both men in his cabinet. Von Tirpitz, who thought he was the hero of the German people because of the submarine policy, believed he had so much power that he could shake the hold which the Kaiser had upon the people and frighten the Emperor into the belief that unless he supported him against the Chancellor and the United States, the people would overthrow the Hohenzollern dynasty. But von Tirpitz had made a good many personal enemies especially among financiers and business men. So the Kaiser, instead of ousting the Chancellor, asked von Tirpitz to resign and appointed Admiral von Capelle, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy and a friend of the Chancellor, as von Tirpitz' successor. Admiral von Mueller, Chief of the Naval Cabinet, who was always at Great Headquarters as the Kaiser's personal adviser on naval affairs, was opposed to von Tirpitz and exposed him at the Great Headquarters conferences by saying that von Tirpitz had falsified the Navy's figures as to the number of submarines available for a blockade of England. Von Capelle supported von Mueller and when the friends of von Tirpitz in the Reichstag demanded an explanation for the ousting of their idol, both the Chancellor and von Capelle explained that Germany could not continue submarine warfare which von Tirpitz had started, because of the lack of the necessary submarines.

This was the first big victory of the Foreign Office. The democratic forces in Germany which had been fighting von Tirpitz for over a year were jubilant. Every one in Germany who realised that not until the hold of the military party upon the Kaiser and the Government was dislodged, would the Government be able to make peace now breathed sighs of relief and began to make plans for the adjustment of all differences with the United States and for a peace without annexation. Von Tirpitz had had the support of all the forces in Germany which looked forward to the annexation of Belgium and the richest portions of Northern France. Von Tirpitz was supported by the men who wanted the eastern border of Germany extended far into Poland and Lithuania.

Even Americans were delighted. Washington for the first time began to see that eleven months of patience was bearing fruit. But this period of exaltation was not destined to last very long. While the Chancellor had cleaned house in the Navy Department at Berlin he had overlooked Kiel. There were admirals and officers in charge there who were making preparations for the Navy. They were the men who talked to the submarine commanders before they started out on their lawless sea voyages.

On March 24th the whole world was shocked by another U-boat crime. The Sussex, a French channel steamer, plying between Folkstone and Dieppe, was torpedoed without warning and Americans were among the passengers killed and wounded. When the news reached Berlin, not only the Chancellor and the Foreign Office were shocked and horrified, but the American Embassy began to doubt whether the Chancellor really meant what he said when he informed Gerard confidentially that now that von Tirpitz was gone there would be no new danger from the submarines. Even the new Admiralty administration was loathe to believe that a German submarine was responsible.

By April 5th it was apparent to every one in Berlin that there would be another submarine crisis with the United States and that the reactionary forces in Germany would attempt again to overthrow the Chancellor. Dr. von Bethmann-Hollweg, who had been doing everything possible to get some one to propose peace, decided to address the Reichstag again on Germany's peace aims. It was announced in the newspapers only a few days beforehand. The demand for tickets of admission was so great that early in the morning on the day scheduled for the address such dense crowds surrounded the Reichstag building that the police had to make passages so the military automobiles could reach the building to bring the officials there.

The Chamber itself was crowded to the rafters. On the floor of the House practically every member was in his seat. On the rostrum were several hundred army and naval officers, all members of the cabinet, prominent business men and financiers. Every one awaited the entrance of the Chancellor with great expectations. The National Liberals, who had been clamouring for the annexation of Belgium, the conservatives, who wanted a stronger war policy against England, the Socialists, who wanted real guarantees for the German people for the future and a peace without annexation, sat quietly in their seats anxiously awaiting the Chancellor's remarks which were expected to satisfy all wants.

The Chancellor entered the chamber from the rear of the rostrum and proceeded to his desk in the front platform row, facing the House and galleries. After a few preliminary remarks by President Kaempf, the Chancellor arose. To the Chancellor's left, near the rear of the hall among his Socialist colleagues, sat a nervous, determined and defiant radical. He was dressed in the uniform of a common soldier. Although he had been at the front several months and in the firing line, he had not received the iron cross of the second class which practically every soldier who had seen service had been decorated with. His clothes were soiled, trousers stuffed into the top of heavy military boots. His thick, curly hair was rumpled. At this session of the Reichstag the Chancellor was to have his first encounter with Dr. Karl Liebknecht, the Socialist radical, who in his soldier's uniform was ready to challenge anything the Chancellor said.

The Chancellor began his address, as he began all others, by referring to the strong military position of the German army. He led up, gradually, to the subject of peace. When the Chancellor said: "We could have gotten what we wanted by peaceful work. Our enemies chose war." Liebknecht interjected in his sharp, shrill voice, "You chose the war!" There was great excitement and hissing; the President called for order. Members shouted: "Throw him out!" But Liebknecht sat there more determined than ever.

The Chancellor continued for a few minutes until he reached the discussion of the establishment of a Flemish nation in Belgium, when Liebknecht again interrupted, but the Chancellor continued: "Gentlemen, we want neighbours who will not again unite against us in order to strangle us, but such that we can work with them and they with us to our mutual advantage." A storm of applause greeted this remark. Liebknecht was again on his feet and shouted, "Then you will fall upon them!"

"The Europe which will arise from this, the most gigantic of all crises, will in many respects not resemble the old one," continued von Bethmann-Hollweg. "The blood which has been shed will never come back; the wealth which has been wasted will come back but only slowly. In any case, it must become, for all living in it, a Europe of peaceful labour. The peace which shall end this war must be a lasting one and not containing the germ of a fresh war, but establishing a final and peaceful order of things in European affairs."

Before the applause had gotten a good start the fiery private in the Socialists' rank was again on his feet, this time shouting, "Liberate the German people first!"

Throughout the Chancellor's speech there was not one reference to the Sussex. The Chancellor was anxious if he could to turn the world's attention from the Sussex to the larger question of peace, but the world was not so inclined. On the 18th of April I asked Admiral von Holtzendorff, Chief of the Admiralty Staff, for his opinion about the Sussex. Two days later he approved the interview, in which I quoted him as saying:

"We did not sink the Sussex. I am as convinced of that as of anything which has happened in this war. If you read the definite instructions, the exact orders each submarine commander has you would understand that the torpedoing of the Sussex was impossible. Many of our submarines have returned from rounding up British vessels. They sighted scores of passenger ships going between England and America but not one of these was touched.

"We have definitely agreed to warn the crews and passengers of passenger liners. We have lived up to that promise in every way. We are not out to torpedo without warning neutral ships bound for England. Our submarines have respected every one of them so far, and they have met scores in the North Sea, the Channel and the Atlantic."

On the same day that Ambassador Gerard handed von Jagow Secretary Lansing's note, Under Secretary of State Zimmermann approved the von Holtzendorff interview. Zimmermann could not make himself believe that a German submarine was responsible and the Government had decided to disavow all responsibility. But such convincing reports began to arrive from the United States and from neutral European countries which proved beyond a doubt that a German submarine was responsible, that the Government had to again bring up the submarine issue at Great Headquarters. When the von Holtzendorff interview was published in the United States it caused a sensation because if Germany maintained the attitude which the Chief of the Admiralty Staff had taken with the approval of the Foreign Office, a break in diplomatic relations could not be avoided. Secretary Lansing telegraphed Ambassador Gerard to inquire at the Foreign Office whether the statements of von Holtzendorff represented the opinions of the German Government. Gerard called me to the Embassy but before I arrived Dr. Heckscher, of the Reichstag Foreign Relations Committee, came. Gerard called me in in Heckscher's presence to ask if I knew that the von Holtzendorff interview would bring about a break in diplomatic relations unless it was immediately disavowed. He told Dr. Heckscher to inform Zimmermann that if the Chief of the Admiralty Staff was going to direct Germany's foreign policies he would ask his government to accredit him to the naval authorities and not to the Foreign Office. Heckscher would not believe my statement that Zimmermann had approved the interview and assured Gerard that within a very short time the Foreign Office would disavow von Holtzendorff's statements. When he arrived at the Foreign Office, however, Zimmermann not only refused to disavow the Admiral's statement but informed Heckscher that he had the same opinions.

President Wilson was at the end of his patience. Probably he began to doubt whether he could rely upon the reports of Ambassador Gerard that there was a chance of the democratic forces in Germany coming out ahead of the military caste. Wilson showed his attitude plainly in the Sussex note when he said:

"The Government of the United States has been very patient. At every stage of this distressing experience of tragedy after tragedy it has sought to be governed by the most thoughtful considerations of the extraordinary circumstances of an unprecedented war and to be guided by sentiments of very genuine friendship for the people and the Government of Germany. It has accepted the successive explanations and assurances of the Imperial Government as of course given in entire sincerity and good faith, and has hoped even against hope that it would prove to be possible for the Imperial Government so to order and control the acts of its naval commanders as to square its policy with the recognised principles of humanity as embodied in the law of nations. It has made every allowance for unprecedented conditions and has been willing to wait until the facts became unmistakable and were susceptible of only one interpretation. It now owes it to a just regard, for its own rights to say to the Imperial Government that that time has come. It has become painfully evident to it that the position which it took at the very outset is inevitable, namely that the use of submarines for the destruction of enemy commerce is of necessity, because of the very character of the vessels employed and the very methods, of attack which their employment of course involves, utterly incompatible with the principles of humanity, the long established and incontrovertible rights of neutrals and the sacred immunities of non-combatants.

"If it is still the purpose of the Imperial Government to prosecute relentless and indiscriminate warfare against vessels of commerce by the use of submarines without regard to what the Government of the United States must consider the sacred and indisputable rules of international law and the universally recognised dictates of humanity, the Government of the United States is at last forced to the conclusion that there is but one course it can pursue. Unless the Imperial Government should now immediately declare and effect an abandonment of its present methods of submarine warfare against passenger and freight carrying vessels, the Government of the United States can have no choice but to sever diplomatic relations with the German Government altogether. This action the Government of the United States contemplates with the greatest reluctance but feels constrained to take in behalf of humanity and the rights of neutral nations."

After von Jagow read the note the Foreign Office Telegraph Bureau sent it to Great Headquarters, which at this time was still located in Charleville, France, for the information of the Kaiser and General von Falkenhayn. It was evident to every one in Berlin that again, not only the submarine issue was to be debated at Great Headquarters, but that the Kaiser was to be forced again to decide between the Chancellor and his democratic supporters and von Falkenhayn and the military party. Before the Conference convened General Headquarters sent inquiries to five government departments, the Foreign Office, the Navy, the Ministry of War, the Treasury, and Interior. The Ministers at the head of these departments were asked to state whether in their opinion the controversy with America should be adjusted, or whether the submarine warfare should be continued. Dr. Karl Helfferich, the Vice Chancellor and Minister of Interior, Secretary of State von Jagow, and Count von Roedern, Minister of Finance, replied to adjust the difficulty. The Army and Navy said in effect: "If you can adjust it without stopping the submarine warfare and without breaking with the United States do so."

The latter part of April the Kaiser summoned all of his ministers and his leading generals to the French chateau which he used as his headquarters in Charleville. This city is one of the most picturesque cities in the occupied districts of northern France. It is located on the banks of the Meuse and contains many historic, old ruins. At one end of the town is a large stone castle, surrounded by a moat. This was made the headquarters of the General Staff after the Germans invaded this section of France. Near the railroad station there was a public park. Facing it was a French chateau, a beautiful, comfortable home. This was the Kaiser's residence. All streets leading in this direction were barricaded and guarded by sentries. No one could pass without a special written permit from the Chief of the General Staff. Von Falkenhayn had his home nearby in another of the beautiful chateaux there. The chief of every department of the General Staff lived in princely fashion in houses which in peace time were homes for distinguished Frenchmen. There were left in Charleville scarcely a hundred French citizens, because obviously French people, who were enemies of Germany, could not he permitted to go back and forth in the city which was the centre of German militarism.

When the ministers arrived at the Kaiser's headquarters, His Majesty asked each one to make a complete report on the submarine war as it affected his department. Dr. Helfferich was asked to go into the question of German finance and the relation of America to it. Dr. Solf, the Colonial Minister, who had been a very good friend of Ambassador Gerard, discussed the question of the submarine warfare from the stand-point of its relation to Germany's position as a world power. Admiral von Capelle placed before the Kaiser the figures of the number of ships sunk, their tonnage, the number of submarines operating, the number under construction and the number lost. General von Falkenhayn reported on the military situation and discussed the hypothetical question as to what effect American intervention would have upon the European war theatres.

While the conferences were going on, Dr. Heckscher and Under Secretary Zimmermann, who at that time were anxious to avoid a break with the United States, sounded Ambassador Gerard as to whether he would be willing to go to Great Headquarters to confer with the Kaiser. The Foreign Office at the same time suggested the matter to the General Staff and within a few hours Mr. Gerard was invited to go to Charleville. Before the ambassador arrived the Kaiser called all of his ministers together for a joint session and asked them to make a brief summary of their arguments. This was not a peace meeting. Not only opponents of submarine warfare but its advocates mobilised all their forces in a final attempt to win the Kaiser's approval. His Majesty, at this time, was inclined towards peace with America and was very much impressed by the arguments which the Chancellor and Dr. Helfferich presented. But, at this meeting, while Helfferich was talking and pointing to the moral effect which the ruthless torpedoing of ships was having upon neutral countries, von Falkenhayn interrupted with the succinct statement:

"Neutrals? Damn the neutrals! Win the war! Our task is to win. If we win we will have the neutrals with us; if we lose we lose."

"Falkenhayn, when you are versed in foreign affairs I'll ask you to speak," interrupted the Kaiser. "Proceed, Dr. Helfferich."

Gentleman that he is, von Falkenhayn accepted the Imperial rebuke, but not long afterward his resignation was submitted.

As a result of these conferences and the arguments advanced by Ambassador Gerard, Secretary von Jagow on May 4th handed the Ambassador the German note in reply to President Wilson's Sussex ultimatum. In this communication Germany said:

"Fully conscious of its strength, the German Government has twice in the course of the past few months expressed itself before all the world as prepared to conclude a peace safeguarding the vital interests of Germany. In doing so, it gave expression to the fact that it was not its fault if peace was further withheld from the peoples of Europe. With a correspondingly greater claim of justification, the German Government may proclaim its unwillingness before mankind and history to undertake the responsibility, after twenty-one months of war, to allow the controversy that has arisen over the submarine question to take a turn which might seriously affect the maintenance of peace between these two nations.

"The German Government guided by this idea notifies the Government of the United States that instructions have been issued to German naval commanders that the precepts of the general international fundamental principles be observed as regards stopping, searching and destruction of merchant vessels within the war zone and that such vessels shall not be sunk without warning and without saving human life unless the ship attempts to escape or offers resistance."

At the beginning of the war it was a group of military leaders consisting of General von Moltke, General von Falkenhayn, General von Mackensen, General von Herringen, Grand Admiral von Tirpitz, and a few of the Prussian military clique, which prevailed upon the Kaiser to go to war after the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne and his wife. The Allies proclaimed in their publications, in the press and in Parliaments that they were fighting to destroy and overthrow the military party in Germany which could make war without public consent. Millions of Allied soldiers were mobilised and fighting in almost a complete ring surrounding Germany, Austria Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey. They had been fighting since August, 1914, for twenty-one months, and still their fighting had not shattered or weakened the hold which the military party had upon the people and the Kaiser. Von Tirpitz and von Falkenhayn, who, shortly after the war began, became the ringleaders of Germany's organised Might, had fallen not before the armed foes on the battlefield but before an unarmed nation with a president whose only weapon was public opinion. First, von Tirpitz fell because he was ready to defy the United States. Then came the downfall of von Falkenhayn, because he was prepared to damn the United States and all neutrals. Surely a nation and a government after thirteen months of patience and hope had a right to believe that after all public opinion was a weapon which was sometimes more effective than any other. Mr. Wilson and the State Department were justified in feeling that their policy toward Germany was after all successful not alone because it had solved the vexing submarine issue, but because it had aided the forces of democracy in Germany. Because, with the downfall of von Falkenhayn and von Tirpitz, there was only one recognised authority in Germany. That was the Chancellor and the Foreign Office, supported almost unanimously by the Socialists and by the Liberal forces which were at work to reform the German Government.

But this was in May, 1916, scarcely eight months before the Kaiser changed his mind and again decided to support the people who were clamouring for a ruthless, murderous, defiant war against the whole world, if the world was "foolish" enough to join in.