THE ARMY TRADITION

The visit which the Czar had paid Emperor William at Breslau the year before (September 5, 1896) had led to unfortunate consequences. The Czar, in his answer to the wishes of the Emperor that the two empires might draw more closely together, had announced, according to the official report, that he was animated by the same traditional sentiments as his Majesty, Emperor William II. Certain important papers printed a reading which made it appear that the Czar had said that he shared the same feelings which had moved his father (who was notoriously anti-German). The State Secretary, Von Marschall, was drawn into an ugly suit as a result. It was stated that the Foreign Office was involved. Although this was not true, it left a decidedly bad impression, and several officials resigned.On the occasion of the visit of the German Emperor and Empress to St. Petersburg they were greeted by a most friendly address of welcomefrom the Czar, and Emperor William II was made an admiral of the Russian fleet. On this occasion he offered the following toast to the Russian Emperor and Empress:

On the occasion of the visit of the German Emperor and Empress to St. Petersburg they were greeted by a most friendly address of welcomefrom the Czar, and Emperor William II was made an admiral of the Russian fleet. On this occasion he offered the following toast to the Russian Emperor and Empress:

In the name of her Majesty, the Empress, and in my own, I thank your Majesty warmly for the hearty and magnificent reception which you have given us and for the gracious words with which your Majesty has so lovingly bid us welcome. At the same time, with deep feeling I would like to lay at the feet of your Majesty my grateful acknowledgment for the renewed and unexpected distinction which your Majesty has conferred upon me in giving me a place in your glorious fleet. This is a particular honor, which I appreciate at its full significance and which is also a distinction conferred very particularly upon my navy. In my appointment as a Russian admiral I see not only an honor conferred upon my person but also a new evidence for the perpetuation of the close relationship, traditional and unshakable, which exists between our two empires. The unalterable decision of your Majesty to preserve now and hereafter peace for your people finds in me also a joyful echo, and wandering together in the same way we two shall strive in concert, under the blessing of this peace, to guide the cultural developmentof our peoples. My whole people is behind me, I know, as I confidently lay this renewed pledge in the hands of your Majesty—I shall bestow upon your Majesty my most powerful support and stand at your side with all my heart in this great work of preserving the peace for the nations and in directing my strength against any one who might attempt to disturb or break this peace. I drink to the health of their Majesties, the Emperor and the Empress! [These last words the Emperor spoke in Russian.]

Coblentz, August 30, 1897

On this date the Emperor reviewed the great parade of the Eighth Army Corps, under the leadership of the commanding general, the Grand Duke of Baden. At the dinner after the review the Emperor offered the following toast. The address illustrates what Doctor Liman calls the romanticism of the Emperor. He is easily impressed by his surroundings and speaks with particular animation and fervor on the occasions (and they are frequent) in which the memories of his ancestors are brought back to him:

A review in the Rhine country, what an entrancing and what a beautiful picture! But a review on the shores of the River Rhine itself,and in sight of the old historic city of Coblentz—how this appeals to our hearts! The sight of the soldierly sons of the Rhine country, under the command of your Royal Highness, has moved me to deep joy. But it moves me with deep sadness, likewise, for the place on which we stand and the city in which we tarry is a witness to a great time and reminds us of great names and figures.

We, therefore, do not wish to forget that the time[12]which Emperor William the Great spent in Coblentz was of deepest significance, especially for us in the army. Here the work which he was called upon to carry through came to maturity; here it was granted him in quiet retirement to work out the organization of his army, which was often attacked with animosity and often misunderstood but which has so magnificently justified itself. His nation under arms has proved in three victorious wars that he was right.

[12]1850-7.

And now let us turn from our glance into the past to the present day. The splendid corps which I took from the hands of a general [Vogel von Falckenstein] whose name spelled bravery, whose conduct, chivalry, and whose life, fidelity on the battle-field and in peace, I have now given over to you, the grandson of the great Emperor,the son[13]of the lofty Princess who would not be deprived of the pleasure of appearing here to-day and, in the spirit of her great departed mother, of celebrating and tarrying for a while with us in memories.

[13]The hereditary Grand Duke of Baden at this time was Frederick William, born July 9, 1857, son of the Grand Duke Frederick I and the Grand Duchess Louise-Marie, Princess of Prussia. The Grand Duchess Louise-Marie was the daughter of Emperor William I. The hereditary Grand Duke, who since the death of his father, in 1907, has been reigning Grand Duke of Baden, is therefore a grandson of William I and first cousin of the present Emperor, which will explain the somewhat unusual familiarity of the Emperor’s address.

The corps has been honored by the fact that his Royal Highness, the Duke of Cambridge, who was for a long time the highest in command of the brave British army, has decided to appear here and to lead before me his gallant historic regiment. I express my hearty thanks to your Royal Highness. The corps, is indeed, highly fortunate in this. We are privileged to greet in the noble person of your Royal Highness an associate, a contemporary of our departed great Emperor, about whom I know particularly that he always spoke with deepest respect and greatest friendship of your Royal Highness, and that he always praised your Royal Highness’s military achievements.

My dear Fritz [turning to his Royal Highness, the hereditary Grand Duke], to-day’s parade does you and the corps great honor in every respect,and we can say with a clear conscience that the sons of the Rhineland who have marched by to-day will do their duty as completely, and that they are as well trained and as brave as they were in the time of the great Emperor.It is our duty to maintain, in all its parts, the army, the work of the great Emperor, against every influence and to defend it against every opposition from without, and I hope that every general will be as faithful and as upright as you are, and that he will strive to achieve this aim in his field with as good results as you have done.

With this hope I raise my glass and drink to the health of the Eighth Army Corps and its commanding general. The Eighth Army Corps! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

Homburg, September 4, 1897

On this day the Emperor reviewed the Eleventh Army Corps, which was under the command of General von Wittich, in the presence of the Empress and of the King and Queen of Italy. At the banquet which followed in the Castle of Homburg, the Emperor offered this toast:

My Dear Wittich:

I am happy to be able to express to you before our royal and princely guests and to the wholearmy corps my heartiest congratulations on this day. I am pleased to be able to say that the present day in its achievements does not suffer in the least by comparison with the day when, many years ago,[14]the corps defiled before my late grandfather, my dear father, and the late Grand Duke. I thank his Royal Highness, the Grand Duke, for the splendid division which he has led, and I am pleased to see him at the head of the magnificent troops which have done such great things under his father.

[14]September 25, 1883.

A great honor has been conferred upon the corps through the fact that riding at the head of one of his regiments [13th Hessian Hussar Regiment] his Majesty, King Humbert of Italy, has led it before us.

Your Majesty! My army thanks your Majesty whole-heartedly for the great honor which has been conferred upon it. Not only my army but also the whole German Fatherland greets in the person of your Majesty the lofty prince, the close friend of my departed father, the faithful ally, whose coming here shows again to us and to the world that the bond of the triple alliance stands firm and inviolate, the triple alliance which was founded in the interest of peace and which, as time goes on, strikes deeper and firmer root in theconsciousness of the peoples, in order finally to bring forth greater fruit.

In deepest gratitude I bid the great Queen welcome in the name of my people. We rejoice that she has not disdained to come here, leaving behind her her repose and her activities dedicated to art and literature, and that she should have graced with her fair presence this camp of our soldiers. Her Majesty is particularly dear and precious to us Germans, because she is like the image of the great constellation to which her people and Fatherland look up with confidence; because the artist, the wise man, the musician, and the student always have free access to her, and because under the protection of her Majesty so many a German can fulfil his life devoted to learning and so many an invalid can go in search of his health to the beautiful sunny south.

With a whole heart I bid you both welcome, and call out with my Eleventh Corps: Their Majesties, the King and Queen of Italy!—Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

Berlin, October 18, 1897

On this occasion sixty-three new flags were dedicated to the newly formed regiments of the guard,of the First to the Eleventh and of the Fifteenth to the Seventeenth Army Corps. The Emperor and people celebrate this anniversary of the battle of Leipzig, 1813, with particularly patriotic demonstrations, and he almost invariably makes it the occasion for a military address. After the religious ceremony the Emperor addressed the following words to his troops:

The flags which have just now been consecrated before the altar of God and which have received His blessing I now turn over to the new regiments which spring from their old and proved predecessors in accordance with the custom of our army, which forever renews itself and its youth out of the ranks of its older and proved regiments. I do this in a hallowed place, before the statue of the great King and before the windows of the great Emperor. If the site is holy, so too is the day. It is the anniversary of the great victory after which the German people for the first time dared look forward in prospect to the dawn of coming union and the future greatness which was conditioned thereby. The day on which, for everlasting memory, the October fires leap from Germany’s hills is the birthday of the heroic first German Crown Prince and of the second German Emperor.[15]

[15]Frederick III.

Out of the old and proved regiments which he led to battle and victory the shoots have been taken for these new ones to which I now turn over their field insignia. May Almighty God, who has ever been so faithful and well intentioned to our Prussia and to the whole German Fatherland, help always to maintain the vows of the thousands of German youths who shall stream from the circles of the people to these new flags and who before them shall swear their oath of allegiance!

I hope that in these regiments the qualities of the great Emperor will live on—the absolutely unselfish devotion to the whole, the unreserved sacrifice of one’s own capacity, bodily as well as spiritual, for the honor of the army and for the safety of the beloved Fatherland. Then, I am convinced, will the foundations remain firm and intact in these new regiments, the foundations upon which the discipline of our army rests—bravery, sense of honor, and absolute and unconditional obedience.

This is my wish for the new regiments.

Berlin, November 18, 1897

After the administering of the oath to the recruits of the garrisons of Berlin, Charlottenburg,and Spandau by the representatives of the Evangelical and the Catholic churches, the Emperor took the occasion to deliver the following admonition:

To-day I greet you as soldiers of my army, as grenadiers of my guard. With the oath to the flag you have sworn allegiance as German men, and even before the altar of God, under the open skies, and upon His crucifix, as good Christians must. He who is not a good Christian is not a brave man and no Prussian soldier; and he cannot fulfil under any circumstances what is demanded of a soldier in the Prussian army.

Your duty is not easy; it demands of you self-control and self-abnegation, the two highest qualities of a Christian, and in addition unconditional obedience and subordination to the will of those who are appointed above you.

But you have examples before you out of the history of the German army. Thousands before your time have sworn their oath and kept it. And because they did keep it our Fatherland has become great and our army victorious and unconquerable. Because they kept their oath, their flags stand before you, garlanded with honor and covered with the tokens of glory, and wherever they are shown, heads are uncovered and regiments present arms.

In the time of your service temptation will surely draw near to many of you. If it does approach, either with regard to your personal conduct or with regard to your relationship as a soldier, turn it from you with the thought of the past of your regiments; turn it from you with the thought of your uniform, which is the uniform of your King. Whoever offends against the uniform of the King lays himself open to the most grievous punishments. Wear your uniform in such wise that you will compel respect from the world and from those who oppose you.

My glorious ancestors look down upon you from the vaulted heavens. The monuments of the Kings look down upon you and, above all, the statue of the great Emperor. When you are discharging your service remember the grievous times through which our Fatherland had to pass; remember them when your labor seems heavy and bitter. Stand firm in your inviolable faith and trust in God who never forsakes us. Then will my army and especially my guard be equal to its task in all times, whether in peace or war.

It is now your task to stand faithfully by me and to defend our highest possessions, whether against enemies from without or from within, and to obey when I command and never to forsake me.

December 15, 1897

In accordance with her general colonial policy, Germany had for some time been attempting to obtain a footing in China. Already in 1895 the German consul-general had arranged an agreement with the Chinese authorities which was to allow the establishing of a base at Hangchow. German explorers had examined the coast and had noticed the favorable situation of the harbor of Kiaochow. In November, 1897, two German Catholic missionaries were murdered. Admiral Diedrichs, who is remembered in America for his interference with Admiral Dewey at Manila Bay, resolved upon immediate action, steamed into the harbor of Kiaochow and took possession of the island of Tsingtao. He announced the occupation of the bay and of all the islands and dependencies on November 15. An indemnity of 200,000taelswas demanded, as well as the repayment of the expenses of the occupation, a ninety-nine year lease of the captive territory, and the cession of all mining rights and railway privileges. All this was granted, and Germany made good use of her privileges. At the outbreak of the European war the country had been developed and reclaimed to such a degree that Tsingtao with its buildings and forts looked like a bit of Prussia set into the Chinese coast.Through her occupation of this rich province and through the fact that Germany thus established a naval base opposite Japan’s coast, she incurred the ill will of Japan. This ill will was later to be increased through Germany’s conduct with regard to commerce regulations. At the time of the occupation Germany declared that Tsingtao was to be a port open to all the world. Subsequent regulations which she had made amounted to very serious discrimination against the commerce of other nations, especially that of the Japanese, which had already attained considerable importance. A plan was evolved in 1906 according to which Chinese customs duties were allowed to be collected in the colony in return for an annual consideration, which amounted to twenty per cent of the entire customs duties of the Tsingtao district. In this way, what she allowed China to collect from German merchants she forced China to pay back to her. Other merchants were, of course, likewise forced to pay the duties, and Germany received a considerable percentage of the toll. The discrimination, if not obvious, was very real, and the feeling of the Japanese distinctly hostile.Prince Henry was sent out to take command of the increased East Asiatic Squadron on December 16, 1897, and took command in the following March. On the eve of his departure a great farewell dinner was given him in the Royal Palace at Kiel. The Emperor spoke as follows:

Through her occupation of this rich province and through the fact that Germany thus established a naval base opposite Japan’s coast, she incurred the ill will of Japan. This ill will was later to be increased through Germany’s conduct with regard to commerce regulations. At the time of the occupation Germany declared that Tsingtao was to be a port open to all the world. Subsequent regulations which she had made amounted to very serious discrimination against the commerce of other nations, especially that of the Japanese, which had already attained considerable importance. A plan was evolved in 1906 according to which Chinese customs duties were allowed to be collected in the colony in return for an annual consideration, which amounted to twenty per cent of the entire customs duties of the Tsingtao district. In this way, what she allowed China to collect from German merchants she forced China to pay back to her. Other merchants were, of course, likewise forced to pay the duties, and Germany received a considerable percentage of the toll. The discrimination, if not obvious, was very real, and the feeling of the Japanese distinctly hostile.

Prince Henry was sent out to take command of the increased East Asiatic Squadron on December 16, 1897, and took command in the following March. On the eve of his departure a great farewell dinner was given him in the Royal Palace at Kiel. The Emperor spoke as follows:

My Dear Henry:

As I rode into Kiel to-day I thought of the many times on which I had visited this city joyfully at your side and on my ships, either to be present at the sports or at some one of our military undertakings. On my arrival in the city to-day an earnest and deep feeling moved me, for I am perfectly conscious of the task which I have set before you and of the responsibility which I bear. But I am likewise conscious of the fact that it is my duty to build up and carry farther what my predecessors have bequeathed to me.

The journey which you are to undertake and the task which you are to accomplish indicate nothing new in themselves; it is merely the logical consequence of what my departed grandfather and his great Chancellor inaugurated politically and what our glorious father won with his sword on the field of battle. It is nothing more than the first expression of the newly united and newly arisen German Empire in its tasks beyond the seas. The empire has developed so astonishingly through the extension of its commercial interests that it is my duty to follow up the new German Hansa and to give it the protection which it has a right to expect from the empire and the Emperor.

Our German brothers of the church who havegone out to their quiet work and have not spared risking their lives in order to spread and make a home for our religion on foreign soil have placed themselves under my protection, and it is now a question of providing support and safety for these brothers who have been so often insulted and oppressed. For that reason the undertaking which I intrust to you and which you must fulfil in company with your comrades and the ships which are already out there is really one of protection and not one of defiance. Under the protecting banner of our German flag of war we expect that the rights which we are justified in demanding will be guaranteed to our commerce, to the German merchant, and to German ships—the same right which is vouchsafed by strangers to all other nations.

Our commerce is not new; in old times the Hanseatic League was one of the most powerful enterprises which the world has ever seen, and the German cities were able to build a fleet such as the sea’s broad back had never carried in earlier days, but finally it came to naught because the one condition was lacking, namely that of an Emperor’s protection. Now things have changed; the first condition, the German Empire, has been created; the second condition, German commerce, flourishes and develops, and it can only developproperly and securely if it feels itself safe under the power of the empire. Imperial power means sea power, and sea power and imperial power are so interdependent that the one cannot exist without the other.

As a token of this imperial sea power the squadron which has been strengthened by your division must now take its place, with all the comrades of the foreign fleet out there in close relationship and on good terms of friendship, but for the purpose of protecting our particular interests against every one who might be tempted to intrude upon the right of the Germans. That is your task and your mission.

Make it clear to every European there, to the German merchant, and, above all things, to the foreigner in whose country we are or with whom we have to deal, that the GermanMichel[16]has set his shield, decorated with the imperial eagle, firmly upon the ground. Whoever asks him for protection will always receive it. And may our countrymen out there cherish the firm conviction, whether they are priests or merchants or whatever profession they follow, that the protection of the German Empire as exemplified in the Emperor’sships will continuously be granted them! But if any one should undertake to insult us in our rights or to wish to harm us, then drive in with the mailed fist and, as God wills, bind about your young brow the laurels which no one in the entire German Empire will begrudge you!

[16]The GermanMichelis the proverbial representative of the German character, as Uncle Sam is of the American or John Bull of the English. He is usually pictured as a simple, good-natured fellow.

In the firm conviction that you, following good examples—and, God be praised, examples are not wanting in our house—will carry out my thoughts and wishes, I raise my glass and drink it to your health, with the wish for a good voyage, for a happy issue to your task, and for a joyous return. Long live his Royal Highness, Prince Henry! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

Potsdam, June 16, 1898

On the day of the tenth anniversary of his coming to the throne the Emperor assembled the regiments of the guard in the gardens of Potsdam and made them the following address:

The most important heritage which my noble grandfather and father left me is the army, and I received it with pride and joy. To it I addressed my first decree when I mounted the throne. As I enter into the next decade of my reign I againaddress it in these words: You who are now assembled here constitute the 1st Infantry Regiment of the guard, in which I grew up; the Regiment of the Gardes du Corps, the most distinguished regiment of the cavalry body-guard of the Prussian Kings; the Hussar Regiment of the Body-Guard, which I have always commanded; and the Cadet Corps of the Infantry Battalion, which represents the entire army and which in Potsdam enjoys the honor of providing the guard for the King and his house.

Perhaps never did an army suffer such severe loss as in the year 1888. Never has an army lost in the course of a single year two such powerful leaders crowned with laurel and honor, who were at the same time its war lords.[17]I look back gratefully upon the years which have passed since that time.

[17]It is interesting to note that the Emperor here himself explicitly makes the distinction between commander of an army,Heerführer, and war lord,Kriegsherr, a title which can only be bestowed upon the Emperor.

Seldom has so difficult a task fallen to the lot of a successor who in a brief period had been forced to see both his grandfather and his father carried away by death. The crown was weighed down with heavy cares. Every one lacked confidence in me; everywhere I was falsely judged. One alone believed in me, one alone had faith—that was the army. And leaning upon her, trusting upon our old guard, I took up my heavy charge, knowing well that the army was the main support of my country, the main support of the Prussian throne, to which the decision of God had called me. I therefore turn to you first to-day and express to you my congratulations and my gratitude, and in these expressions I include likewise with you all your brothers in the army. I am of the firm conviction that, through the self-sacrificing devotion of the officers and men in their faithful work of peace, the army during the last ten years has been maintained in the same condition in which I received it from my departed predecessors.

In the next ten years, faithfully bound together, let us seek further the unconditional fulfilment of our duty in old and unremitting labor, and may the main supports of our army remain forever intact! They are courage, sense of honor, and unconditional, iron, blind obedience.

That is my wish which I to-day address to you and with you to the entire army.

Friedrichsruh, August 2, 1898

After the founding of the German Empire Prince Bismarck, who initiated and carried throughmany of the policies which brought great prosperity to the German people, was looked upon with much favor and enjoyed great popularity. Emperor William II, as has been noted, dismissed him from his post as Imperial Chancellor in the second year of his reign. His attitude toward Bismarck has already been discussed (March 26, 1895). In most of his speeches which recount the progress of the empire the Emperor is strangely silent about this great figure in German history. When Bismarck died, however (July 30, 1898), the Emperor immediately interrupted his journey into the north and returned on the second of August to pay his respects at the bier of the first Imperial Chancellor in Friedrichsruh. On the same day he issued the following statement which appeared that evening in the special edition of theReichsanzeiger.It is noticeable that on this occasion the Emperor speaks of his grandfather as “William the Great.” His tendency to set his ancestors upon lofty pedestals and to praise them somewhat extravagantly finds expression in many of the speeches. He was very desirous of having his grandfather called by this title, and here as everywhere took the initiative. His lead, however, was not generally followed. When the city of Hamburg erected a monument to William I the pedestal was left without an inscription. This has been explained by the fact that they were unwilling to say, “William the Great,” and afraid to say merely, “William I.”

It is noticeable that on this occasion the Emperor speaks of his grandfather as “William the Great.” His tendency to set his ancestors upon lofty pedestals and to praise them somewhat extravagantly finds expression in many of the speeches. He was very desirous of having his grandfather called by this title, and here as everywhere took the initiative. His lead, however, was not generally followed. When the city of Hamburg erected a monument to William I the pedestal was left without an inscription. This has been explained by the fact that they were unwilling to say, “William the Great,” and afraid to say merely, “William I.”

With my lofty peers and with the whole German people I stand in mourning at the bier of the first Chancellor of the German Empire, Prince Otto von Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg. We who were witnesses of his masterly work, who looked upon him as the master of statecraft, as the fearless champion in war as in peace, as the most devoted son of his Fatherland and most faithful servant of his Emperor, are deeply shaken by the demise of the man in whom the Lord God created the implement with which to carry into effect the deathless idea of Germany’s union and greatness.

At this moment it is not fitting to recount all the deeds which the great departed accomplished, all the cares which he bore for the Emperor and the empire, all the successes which he won. They are too powerful and manifold, and only history can and will engrave them upon her brass tablets.

But I feel constrained to make some expression before the world of the whole-hearted grief and grateful reverence which to-day fill the entire nation and, in the name of the nation, to make a vow that what he, the great Chancellor, built up under Emperor William the Great I shall maintain and develop and, if need be, defend with our possessions and our blood.

In this may the Lord God help us!

I commission you to bring to public attention this, my decree.

William, I. R.To the Imperial Chancellor.

photo“OUR FUTURE LIES UPON THE WATER”The Emperor on Shipboard in the Autumn of 1898

“OUR FUTURE LIES UPON THE WATER”The Emperor on Shipboard in the Autumn of 1898

Stettin, September 23, 1898

A previous address shows that in the mind of the Emperor the idea of world-empire carried with it the idea of naval supremacy. In this period he was increasingly interested in the industrial and especially the naval and maritime expansion of Germany. A number of his speeches take up this subject; so, for instance, he was present at the opening of the new harbor at Stettin and delivered this address:

With full heart I congratulate you on your completed work. You began with a fresh spirit of daring. You were able to begin it, thanks to the interest of my departed grandfather, the great Emperor, who built the iron girdle around the city. After the moment when this iron mantle fell you could take a larger and wider point of view. You did not delay but carried it out with real Pomeranian recklessness and obstinacy. You have succeeded, and I am pleased that theold Pomeranian spirit has again come to life in you and has driven you from the land upon the water.

Our future lies upon the water, and I am deeply convinced that this work which you, Herr Burgomaster, have carried out with foresight and care and energy will always be linked with your name, even after centuries, by the grateful citizens of the city of Stettin and that your work will always be recognized.

But I, as lord of the land and King, express my thanks to you that you have brought the city of Stettin to such a flourishing position. I hope and expect, yes, I might say, I demand, that she shall go on developing at this same rate, not divided by party strife and with her glance fixed upon the great whole, in order that she may come to a state of development such as has never yet been achieved. That is my wish!

Bethlehem, October 30, 1898

On the 12th of October, 1898, the Emperor and Empress set out on their journey to the Holy Land, accompanied by many representatives of the church. In Venice they visited the Italian King and Queen and passed on by way of Messina and Constantinople. They reached Jerusalemon October 29. During his stay at Constantinople the Emperor obtained the rights to a piece of land, theDormitio Sanctæ Virginis, and turned it over to the German Catholics in Jerusalem. On November 4 they began their return journey via Damascus. Though the dedication of the Church of Our Redeemer constituted the ostensible object of the visit, the Emperor had also other purposes in mind. He took the occasion to announce that he would protect the interests of all Germans of whatever faith. This is the more significant when we remember that up to this time the French had always been allowed to assume the duty of protecting the Catholics there. The Emperor likewise had in mind increasing his prestige in the East. One of the outward indications of the growing friendliness between Turkey and Germany which was then strengthened may be found in the fact that the building of the Anatolian railway was intrusted to a German company, to which was also granted a concession for a harbor and permission to extend the line through Bagdad to Bassora.It will be noted that the approach to Jerusalem aroused a very unfavorable impression in the Emperor. Nevertheless, he had somewhat unusual preparations made for his entrance. The old walls of the sacred city were breached in order to allow him to make his entry in imperial state. In pursuance of his policy as a world-emperor he attempted during his visit, as we have seen, both by his acts and by his speeches, to conciliate all sects and creeds; the Catholics through the grantof land, which likewise pleased the Centre or Catholic party at home; the Evangelicals through the dedication of a church; and the Moslems incidentally and through his speech nine days later at Damascus, in the course of which he said: “May the Sultan and may the three hundred million Mohammedans who are scattered over the face of the earth and who recognize him as their caliph be assured of the fact that at all times the German Emperor will be their friend!” This friendship of the Emperor for the Sultan was not to be clouded by the Armenian massacres, nor did the assassinations in Asia Minor evoke any protest. Indeed, we are told by a well-known foreign correspondent that “five days after the great massacre of August, 1896, in Constantinople, when Turkish soldiers shot down their fellow citizens under the eyes of the Sultan and of the foreign ambassadors, William II sent to Abdul-Hamid for his birthday a family photograph of himself with the Empress and his children.” At Damascus, he likewise laid a wreath upon the tomb of Saladin.After the service in the Evangelical Church at Bethlehem the Emperor gathered about him the Evangelical ministers and made them this address, which was reported by E. Bosse, who at that time was the PrussianKultusminister.

It will be noted that the approach to Jerusalem aroused a very unfavorable impression in the Emperor. Nevertheless, he had somewhat unusual preparations made for his entrance. The old walls of the sacred city were breached in order to allow him to make his entry in imperial state. In pursuance of his policy as a world-emperor he attempted during his visit, as we have seen, both by his acts and by his speeches, to conciliate all sects and creeds; the Catholics through the grantof land, which likewise pleased the Centre or Catholic party at home; the Evangelicals through the dedication of a church; and the Moslems incidentally and through his speech nine days later at Damascus, in the course of which he said: “May the Sultan and may the three hundred million Mohammedans who are scattered over the face of the earth and who recognize him as their caliph be assured of the fact that at all times the German Emperor will be their friend!” This friendship of the Emperor for the Sultan was not to be clouded by the Armenian massacres, nor did the assassinations in Asia Minor evoke any protest. Indeed, we are told by a well-known foreign correspondent that “five days after the great massacre of August, 1896, in Constantinople, when Turkish soldiers shot down their fellow citizens under the eyes of the Sultan and of the foreign ambassadors, William II sent to Abdul-Hamid for his birthday a family photograph of himself with the Empress and his children.” At Damascus, he likewise laid a wreath upon the tomb of Saladin.

After the service in the Evangelical Church at Bethlehem the Emperor gathered about him the Evangelical ministers and made them this address, which was reported by E. Bosse, who at that time was the PrussianKultusminister.

If I am to give you the impressions of these last days, then I must tell you that, above all, I am very much disappointed. I did not wish to saythat here, but after I had heard that the same thing had happened to others also, and among them to my court chaplain, for instance, I no longer wish to hide this from you. It may, indeed, be that the very unfavorable approach to the city of Jerusalem has contributed to this impression, but when one sees such conditions in the holy places and sees how things happen there it cuts one to the quick.

That the emanation of the love of the Creator took place here where we are now standing is a fact of extraordinary import, and yet how little does it correspond to what we have seen! I am, therefore, doubly pleased to have received my first elevating impression in the Holy Land at this service among you. The particular example of Jerusalem warns us insistently that we must suppress as far as possible the slight deviations in our sects, and that the Evangelical Church and the Evangelical creed must put forward a firmly united front here in the East. Otherwise we can accomplish nothing. We can only work through example, through the practice and proof that the gospel is a gospel of love in all quarters of the heavens and that it bears other fruits.

Only the life of Christians can make any impression upon the Mohammedans. No one cancriticise them if they have little respect for the Christian name. Our churches divide against each other. Indeed, they must be restrained from quarrelling through the external power of arms. In the political world, under all possible pretexts we take away from them [the Mohammedans] one piece of territory after another, for which we have no justification, so that our influence has been much weakened and we have fallen to a very low level.

And now it is our turn! The German Empire and the German name have now won a consideration in the entire Ottoman Empire such as has never existed before. It is, therefore, for us to show what the Christian religion really is, that the practice of Christian love even toward the Mohammedan, not through dogmas and attempts at conversion but merely through example, is our plain duty. The Mohammedan is a very zealous believer, so that preaching alone will not suffice. But our culture, our institutions, the life which we live before them, the manner of our conduct toward them, and the proof that we are united among ourselves, these alone will have effect.

It is a kind of examination which we must pass for our Protestant faith and our creed. Through this we must give them proof of what Christianityis. In this way we may inspire in them an interest for our religion and for the Christian creed. See to it that this remains so!

Jerusalem, October 31, 1898

The Church of Our Redeemer at Jerusalem was dedicated in the presence of the Emperor by the general superintendent and head court chaplain, Doctor Dryander, of Berlin. The church had been planned by King Frederick William IV. After the dedication there was a special church service, and after the prayer by the general superintendent the Emperor offered the following address:

God has been gracious enough to allow us to dedicate in this city, which is holy to all Christians, and in this place, which is consecrated by labors of true love, a house of worship which we have built to honor the Saviour of the world. Through the building and dedication of the Church of Our Redeemer there has now come to successful issue a plan which my blessed predecessors cherished for more than half a century and sought to carry out as the protectors of the work of love which was founded here in Evangelical interests.

Through the saving power of the love which serves, all hearts should now here be brought to the consideration of those things in which alone the troubled human spirit may find salvation, rest, and peace here and hereafter.

All Evangelical Christians, even far beyond Germany’s borders, are following our service here with closest interest and sympathy. The delegates of the Evangelical congregation and many who share the Evangelical faith from all parts of the world have come with us to this place in order to be personal witnesses to the completion of this work of faith and love through which the name of our great Lord and Saviour is to be glorified and the kingdom of God upon earth to be advanced.

Jerusalem, the lofty city on which our feet are standing, calls to mind memories of the great act of redemption of our Lord and Saviour. She shows us the common labor which unites all Christians, regardless of confessions and nations, in the apostolic faith.

The power which renewed the world through the gospel which originated here drives us to follow Him; it warns us to look up in faith to Him who died for us upon the cross. It warns us to be patient Christians and to carry out the doctrine of unselfish love of our neighbor in regard to all men. It promises us also that if we hold firm to the trueteaching of the gospel even the gates of hell shall not prevail against our dear Evangelical Church.

It was in Jerusalem that was born the Light of the World, in whose splendor our German people has grown great and powerful. What the Germanic peoples have become they have become under the protection of the cross upon Golgotha and through the practice of self-sacrificing love of their neighbors. Just as two thousand years ago, so to-day that call, “Peace upon earth,” which voices the earnest hopes of us all, should go forth to all the world.

Not splendor, not might, not glory, not honor, not earthly goods it is that we seek here. We pant, beseech, and strive only for the one highest good, the salvation of our souls, and as I now on this solemn day here repeat the vow of my ancestors who are resting in God, “I and my house, we will serve the Lord,” so I ask you all to make the same vow. Let every one seek according to his position and his calling to bring it about that all those who bear the name of the crucified Lord will live their lives under the sign of His holy name to a victory over all the dark powers which are begotten in sin and selfishness.

May God grant that rich streams of blessing may flow back from here into united Christendom, and that on the throne as in the hut, that at homeas abroad, trust in God, love of our fellows, patience in affliction, and thorough labor may remain the brightest jewels of the German people, and that the spirit of peace may permeate and hallow the Evangelical Church more and more.

He, the God of grace, will hear our prayers; that is our expectation. He alone is the strong and safe retreat upon which we build.

“Did we in our own strength confide,Our striving would be losing;Were not the right man on our side,The man of God’s own choosing.Dost ask who that may be?Christ Jesus, it is He;Lord Sabaoth His name,From age to age the same,And He must win the battle.”[18]

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