Boche and Bolshevik: Experiences of an Englishman in the German Army and in Russian Prisons — John Shaqi
Boche and Bolshevik: Experiences of an Englishman in the German Army and in Russian PrisonsPrice, Hereward Thimbleby
History
Boche and Bolshevik: Experiences of an Englishman in the German Army and in Russian Prisons
Price, Hereward Thimbleby
World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives; World War, 1914-1918 -- Prisoners and prisons, Russian
The most impudent forgeries in the German papers are the speeches
attributed to the Kaiser. The utmost has been done to enhance his
position in the eyes of the world and of his own subjects. When the
war broke out, tradition demanded that he should address the Berlin
crowd from the balcony of his palace. The German papers report him
as having told the crowds to go home and pray. But the correspondent
of the _Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant_ wrote that the Kaiser said
nothing of the sort, and that his speech was full of the most “drastic
expressions.” The Kaiser and his family were presented to the people
in a cloud of lies. When the Germans bombarded Scarborough, it was
put about that Prince Henry (the Kaiser’s brother) had been very much
against it, the idea being to insist on the chivalry of his nature. But
he is a Prussian of the Prussians, a very Hindenburg of the sea. Allied
papers have been inclined lately to jeer at the Kaiser, because none
of his sons have fallen in action. This is a little unfair. One son at
least has been wounded. Prince Eitel Fritz has gained the admiration
of all his men by his desperate bravery. An N.C.O., who has fought
under him, told me he seemed to seek death. Another N.C.O., who had
been in the thick of it at Verdun, told me the Crown Prince was popular
as a soldier, and had the knack of getting the most out of his men.
The other German Princes have, on the whole, shown themselves worthy
of their great positions, and have been an inspiration to their men.
The Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, of the Bonn Hussars, was renowned as
a daring patrol-rider. These things I know from soldiers themselves,
not from newspapers trying to write up the cause of absolutism. The
Kaiser’s family has not had an altogether easy time of it during the
war. Many are known to be English in their sympathies, and it was even
said to be fashionable in Court circles to speak German with an English
accent. A sister of the Kaiser lives at Bonn, and for an unfortunate
remark she made she had to undergo the rebuke of plebeians. At the
beginning of the war there was a great rush of Bonn women to be
nurses. They adopted a most unbecoming uniform, the veil in particular
being a monstrous black thing that reminded you of a funeral mute. The
Princess said they ought to have a prettier veil, “like those they have
in England.” The reply was priceless. She was informed, “We are all
good Germans here, your Royal Highness.”
[SN: THE CENSORSHIP]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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