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Throughout the celebrations [for the Kaiser's daughter's wedding in 1913] there was nothing
but goodwill between the cousins, whose obvious amity gave no hint of an
impending war. Eight months later, Wilhelm wrote to the Tsar:
“I am most gratified that you still keep
pleasant recollections of the visit you paid us last summer on the occasion of
Sissy’s wedding, and you may be assured that we all most heartily reciprocate
your kind feeling and remembrance.”[i]
That summer, despite rising
international tensions, peace was being spoken of everywhere. In August, the
Peace Palace was officially opened in The Hague; and, in June, as Wilhelm
celebrated his Silver Jubilee, he repeatedly stressed that throughout the
twenty-five years of his reign he had never spilt human blood and he intended
to keep it that way. The American industrialist and philanthropist, Andrew
Carnegie, who dined with him, was deeply impressed by his sincerity, believing
him to be ‘an earnest man, anxious for peace and the progress of the world’[ii]. Such was Carnegie’s faith in him that he
came to the conclusion that the world had little to fear from Germany, since
her interests were ‘all favourable to peace’ and Wilhelm was:
“…not only an Emperor, but something much higher
– a man anxious to improve existing conditions, untiring in his efforts to promote
temperance, prevent duelling, and, I believe, to secure International Peace.”[iii]
Others were equally convinced of his pacific
intentions. The recently retired American President, William Howard Taft,
concurred that, for the last quarter of a century, the Kaiser had been
‘the single greatest force in the practical maintenance of peace in the world’;
the French Ambassador, Jules Cambon, reported to the British Foreign Secretary
that ‘Germany and the Emperor were bent on avoiding war’[iv];
and a British newspaper described the
Kaiser as a man of great versatility, being an artist, musician, sportsman,
‘theologist’ and traveller who had seen enough of the world to recognise the
horror of battle. Others drew attention to his efforts to promote good
relations between nations through academic, artistic and sporting events. He
had arranged an exchange of German and foreign professors; he had invited
foreign contributors to numerous art exhibitions; and he had organised a
variety of international yachting and motor races, convinced that such events
would promote greater mutual respect and understanding. In 1902, when the
Berlin Yachting Club sent vessels to the Cork races, the Kaiser had written personally
to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, inviting him to send Irish yachts to similar
events at Kiel ‘because such manifestations are excellent for the furtherance
of goodwill and brotherhood between nations.’[v] Two years later, when starting a race at
Cuxhaven, he announced optimistically that:
“Together with our colours, the Union Jack,
the Stars and Stripes, and the Tricolour will flutter in the breeze in peaceful
contest and partnership….If the merchant, the manufacturer and the farmer are
able to progress, they owe it to this solidarity which gives them confidence in
the future.”[vi]
Even in France, he was not without admirers,
as the renowned pacifist and editor of
Temps, Baron d’Estournelles, recorded:
“I am convinced that he sincerely loves
peace, and that he believes in his mission to maintain it. A man who, even if
he is an Emperor, lives daily in the company of his children, does not love
war. He understands better than anyone else its tragic risks.”[vii]
[i]
Don Levine, Isaac (editor) Letters from
the Kaiser to the Tsar (Frederick A. Stokes 1920)
[ii]
Carnegie, Andrew An Autobiography of
Andrew Carnegie (Constable & Co Ltd 1920)
[iii]
Carnegie, Andrew An Autobiography of
Andrew Carnegie (Constable & Co Ltd 1920)
[iv]
Gooch G.P. & Temperley, Harold (editors) British Documents on the Origins of the War 1898-1914 Vol. IX (1932)
[v]
Fried, Alfred H. The German Emperor &
The Peace of the World (Hodder & Stoughton 1912)
[vi]
Fried, Alfred H. The German Emperor &
The Peace of the World (Hodder & Stoughton 1912)
[vii]
Fried, Alfred H. The German Emperor &
The Peace of the World (Hodder & Stoughton 1912)
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