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  [Illustration: _From a photograph by Brown and Dawson_
    WILLIAM II
    GERMAN EMPEROR
    From a photograph taken since the beginning of the war of 1914]




  THE GERMAN EMPEROR
  AS SHOWN
  IN HIS PUBLIC UTTERANCES

  BY

  CHRISTIAN GAUSS
  PROFESSOR Of MODERN LANGUAGES, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY


  NEW YORK
  CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
  1915


  COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY
  CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

  Published February, 1915




PREFACE


Unlike his grandfather, who shielded himself behind his Chancellor,
the present Emperor has always insisted upon making himself the
storm-centre of the debates in his Reichstag and among his people.
He has played with many, if not all, of his cards upon the table. In
accordance with this policy he has gone through his country from end
to end and into foreign lands, everywhere announcing his policies and
his views on every possible subject of interest or controversy. Up to
1905 he had made upward of five hundred and seventy speeches, and since
that time has made almost as many more. It was manifestly impossible
to give all of these speeches, and it was also thought unfair to give
merely extracts which might fail to represent the spirit of the entire
pronouncement. They are all printed, therefore, in the completest
form available. Particular speeches have often been reported to the
press in widely differing versions. In all cases only those speeches
are here presented which have received official or semiofficial
sanction. The text followed for pronouncements made before 1913,
with the one exception of the _Daily Telegraph_ interview, October
29, 1908, has always been that of the recognized and standard edition
in four volumes, edited by J. Penzler and published in the Reclam
_Universal-Bibliothek_. Now and then only portions of certain addresses
appear to have been reported, and on a few occasions parts of speeches
are given directly and other parts are merely summarized. In all such
cases the speech is translated from the form sanctioned in the official
version. In no case has any change been made. Where significant
differences exist in the versions of addresses as given officially and
unofficially, the official version is in every instance printed first.
It has been the aim to present faithfully the language and spirit of
the speaker, and his phraseology and emphasis have been reproduced as
closely as was at all consistent with fair English usage. The speeches
have been chosen to represent in due proportion his many interests,
and range therefore from agriculture and art to Biblical criticism,
national and international politics.

The Emperor has, of course, not given titles to his speeches, and
the headings have been assigned by the compiler. It has been his
aim to explain the circumstances under which each address was
delivered and to make plain the references to events embodied therein.
Questions which have had a continuous interest, or which have had
some lasting effect on Germany's policy, such as the attitude toward
Alsace-Lorraine, the Social Democratic party, the retirement of
Bismarck, the development of the navy, the Morocco question, have
been treated at greater length on the first fitting occasion. For
the introductions, therefore, the compiler assumes responsibility.
In preparing them he has had recourse to many incidental sources
of information, and in many cases the true inwardness of certain
situations is still as much a matter of controversy as the causes
of the present war. For his facts generally, he has followed where
possible, besides such incidental and contemporary sources, Bruno
Gebhardt's "Handbuch der Deutschen Geschichte" (1913), the "Cambridge
Modern History--The Latest Age," volume XII (1910), and the volumes of
the "Statesman's Yearbook." In addition, for information concerning
the internal development of Germany he has consulted and drawn
upon the literature of this subject which has appeared in the last
decade, but is more particularly indebted to Doctor Paul Liman's
"Der Kaiser," Dawson's "The Evolution of Modern Germany," Barker's
"Modern Germany," Price Collier's "Germany and the Germans," Forbes's
"William of Germany," Gibbons's "The New Map of Europe," and the
"_Reichsgesetzblatt_."

As the Emperor has spoken upon almost every phase of German political
life, with the editorial introductions which aim to set forth briefly
the occasion and causes of each address, it is hoped that altogether
the volume will offer a fairly accurate picture of the trend of German
affairs for the last twenty-five years.

For help in the preparation of this volume, the writer is much indebted
to his wife, whose assistance has amounted to collaboration.

  PRINCETON, N. J.
    _December 20, 1914_.




CONTENTS


                                                            PAGE

    PREFACE                                                  v


    I

    THE HOHENZOLLERN TRADITION                               1


    II

    PRELIMINARIES                                           25
      June 15, 1888--October 30, 1889.

    The First Official Act of the Emperor                   25
      Schloss Friedrichskron, June 15, 1888.

    To My People                                            28
      Potsdam, June 18, 1888.

    First Declaration of Policy                             31
      Berlin, June 25, 1888.

    Opening of the Reichstag                                39
      November 22, 1888.

    The Emperor and the Striking Miners                     45
      May 14, 1889.

    Visit of the King of Italy                              47
      Berlin, May 22, 1889.

    The English Fleet and the German Army                   48
      Sandown Bay, August 5, 1889.

    The English Army                                        49
      Aldershot, August 7, 1889.

    The Czar at Berlin                                      50
      Berlin, October 11, 1889.

    On Board an English Flag-Ship                           51
      The Piraeus, October 30, 1889.


    III

    AFTER BISMARCK                                          53
    May 6, 1890--June 21, 1895.

    Opening of the Reichstag                                53
      Berlin, May 6, 1890.

    Review of the Ninth Army Corps                          60
      Flensburg, September 4, 1890.

    Accidents with Agricultural Machinery                   62
      Berlin, November 11, 1890.

    Alsace-Lorraine                                         66
      Berlin, March 14, 1891.

    Swearing in the Recruits                                72
      Potsdam, November 23, 1891.

    The Emperor's First Army Bill                           75
      Berlin, July 4, 1893.

    Arrival in Metz                                         80
      Metz, September 3, 1893.

    Dedication of Flags                                     81
      Berlin, October 18, 1894.

    Navy Recruits                                           84
      Kiel, December 3, 1894.

    Christening of a Cruiser                                86
      Kiel, March 26, 1895.

    Visit to Bismarck                                       87
      Friedrichsruh, March 26, 1895.

    Opening of the Emperor William Canal                    91
      Kiel, June 21, 1895.


    IV

    THE BEGINNING OF WORLD POLITICS                         95
    June 16, 1896--March 22, 1905.

    The Beginning of World Politics                         95
      Berlin, June 16, 1896.

    To the Recruits for the Navy                           103
      Wilhelmshaven, February 21, 1896.

    A Toast to the Russian Emperor and Empress             104
      St. Petersburg, August 8, 1897.

    The Army Tradition                                     106
      Coblentz, August 30, 1897.

    Toast to the Italian King and Queen                    109
      Homburg, September 4, 1897.

    Address at a Dedication of Flags                       111
      Berlin, October 18, 1897.

    On Administering the Oath to the Recruits              113
      Berlin, November 18, 1897.

    The Chinese Situation and the Mailed Fist              116
      December 15, 1897.

    Address to the Regiments of the Body-Guard             121
      Potsdam, June 16, 1898.

    On the Death of Prince Bismarck                        123
      Friedrichsruh, August 2, 1898.

    "Our Future Lies Upon the Water"                       126
      Stettin, September 23, 1898.

    The Journey to the Holy Land                           127
      Bethlehem, October 30, 1898.

    Dedication of the Church of Our Redeemer               132
      Jerusalem, October 31, 1898.

    By Divine Right                                        135
      Brandenburg, February 3, 1899.

    The Hague Conference                                   141
      Wiesbaden, May 18, 1899.

    The Housing of Laborers                                143
      Early June, 1899.

    French Heroism at St. Privat                           143
      The Battle-field of St. Privat, August 18, 1899.


    V

    THE GREATER NAVY                                       147

    "Bitterly We Need a Powerful German Fleet"             150
      Hamburg, October 18, 1899.

    On the Threshold of the New Century                    154
      Berlin, January 1, 1900.

    New Boundary Posts                                     157
      Berlin, February 13, 1900.

    Seaports and Cannon                                    159
      Luebeck, June 16, 1900.

    The Ocean Knocks at Our Door                           160
      Kiel, July 3, 1900.

    Open the Way for Culture                               163
      Bremen, July 27, 1900.

    Civis Romanus Sum                                      167
      Imperial Limes Museum, Saalburg, October 11, 1900.

    Cabinet Order to the Prussian Army                     169
      January, 1901.

    Dedication of the Barracks of the Alexander Regiment   171
      March 28, 1901.

    To the Students at Bonn                                174
      April 24, 1901.

    A Place in the Sun                                     180
      Hamburg, June 18, 1901.

    The Great Elector                                      184
      Kiel, June 20, 1901.

    Entrance of Prince Eitel Friedrich into the Army       189
      July 7, 1901.

    True Art                                               191
      Berlin, December 18, 1901.

    Monument to General von Rosenberg                      201
      April 20, 1902.

    The Old Order Changeth                                 203
      Aix, June 19, 1902.

    Alfred Krupp and the Socialists                        209
      November 26, 1902.

    The Working Man Once More                             