New York Times Current History: The European War, Vol 1, No. 1: From the Beginning to March, 1915, With IndexVarious
History
New York Times Current History: The European War, Vol 1, No. 1: From the Beginning to March, 1915, With Index
Various
World War, 1914-1918
It is a fact in times of peace there have been certain differences of
opinion between the Emperor and his people. Although at all times the
honesty of his intentions was elevated above every doubt, the one or
other impulsive moves he took to obtain their realization exposed him to
criticism at home. Today one may safely admit that--today, when of these
trifling disputes not even a breath, not even a shadow, remains. Never
before has his whole people, his whole nation, in every grade of
education, in all classes, in all parties, stood behind him so
absolutely without reserve as now, when in the last, the very last hour,
and driven by direst need, he finally drew the sword to ward off an
attack from three sides, long ago prepared.
Our nation and our Emperor have not wanted this war and are not to be
blamed for it. Even the "White Book" of the German Government, by the
very uncontrovertible language of its documents, must convince every
impartial being of this fact. And day by day the overwhelming evidence
of the plot systematically hatched and systematically carried out under
the guidance of England, which put before us the alternative of cutting
our way through or being annihilated, is increasing.
*No Treason to Austria Considered.*
It may be that the catastrophe, so far as we are concerned, might have
been staved off once more if we would have disregarded the obligation of
our alliance and would have left Austria in the lurch--the Austria which
did not want anything else than to put a stop to the nasty work of a
band of assassins organized by a neighboring State. But it requires an
extreme degree of political blindness for the assumption that by such
cowardly treason we should have been able to purchase a change of mind
or a lasting peace from our enemies. On the contrary, they would soon
enough have used a suitable opportunity to fall upon Germany, which then
would have been completely isolated, and the struggle for our national
existence would have had to be fought under conditions very much more
favorable to our enemies.
According to a newspaper report, the esteemed President Eliot of Harvard
has written that the fear of the Muscovites could not explain our
action, and that an alliance with the Western powers would have offered
better protection against a Russian attack. Yes; if such a thing had
been possible! As a matter of fact, however, the Western powers did not
ally themselves with us against Russia, but with Russia against us; and
not the fear of the Muscovites, but their mobilization, encouraged and
aided by the very same Western powers, drove us to war. I wonder what
President Eliot himself would have done under these circumstances had he
been the guardian responsible for Germany's fate?
*Belgium's Alleged Neutrality.*
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account