Germany, The Next Republic?Ackerman, Carl W. (Carl William)
History
Germany, The Next Republic?
Ackerman, Carl W. (Carl William)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Germany
"The fight to oust the Chancellor has now grown to such proportions
that it overshadows in interest the Allied offensive. The attacks on
the Chancellor have gradually grown bolder since the appearance of
Prince Buelow's book 'Deutsche Politik,' because this book is believed
to be the opening of Buelow's campaign to oust the Chancellor and step
back into the position he occupied until succeeded by Bethmann-Hollweg
in 1909.
"The movement has grown more forceful since the German answer to
President Wilson's ultimatum was sent. The Conservatives accepted the
German note as containing a conditional clause, and they have been
waiting to see what steps the United States would take against England.
"Within the past few days I have discussed the situation with leaders
of several parties in the Reichstag. A National Liberal member of the
Reichstag, who was formerly a supporter of von Tirpitz, and the von
Tirpitz submarine policies, said he thought Buelow's success showed
that opposition to America was not dead.
"'Who is going to be your next President--Wilson or Hughes?' he asked,
and then, without waiting for an answer, continued:
"'If it is Hughes he can be no worse than Wilson. The worst he can do
is to declare war on Germany and certainly that would be preferable to
the present American neutrality.
"'If this should happen every one in our navy would shout and throw up
his hat, for it would mean unlimited sea war against England. Our
present navy is held in a net of notes.
"'What do you think the United States could do? You could not raise an
army to help the Allies. You could confiscate our ships in American
ports, but if you tried to use them to carry supplies and munitions to
the Allies we would sink them.
"'Carrying on an unlimited submarine war, we could sink 600,000 tons of
shipping monthly, destroy the entire merchant fleets of the leading
powers, paralyse England and win the war. Then we would start all
over, build merchantmen faster than any nation, and regain our position
as a leading commercial power.'
"Friends of the Chancellor still hope that President Wilson will take a
strong stand against England, thereby greatly strengthening
Bethmann-Hollweg's position. At present the campaign against the
Chancellor is closely connected with internal policies of the
Conservatives and the big land owners. The latter are fighting
Bethmann-Hollweg because he promised the people, on behalf of the
Kaiser, the enactment of franchise reforms after the war."
Commenting on this despatch, the New York _World_ said:
"Not long ago it was the fashion among the opponents of the
Administration to jeer loudly at the impotent writing of notes. And
even among the supporters of the Administration there grew an uneasy
feeling that we had had notes _ad nauseam_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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