The German Emperor as Shown in His Public UtterancesWilliam II, German Emperor
History
The German Emperor as Shown in His Public Utterances
William II, German Emperor
Germany -- History -- William II, 1888-1918 -- Sources; Germany -- Politics And Government -- 1871-1918
You are now ready to enter the university. Therefore I would like to
give you one more counsel, which you must not take lightly, for it is
to me a very serious matter. Alcohol is a great danger to our people,
which, believe me, gives me great anxiety. I have led the government
now during twenty-three years, and through the reports which pass
through my hands I know how many crimes have been committed through
alcohol. Direct your gaze for a moment to a neighboring land. The
Americans are far ahead of us in this. At their universities there they
do great things, as you may convince yourselves, since so many students
come to us from there. There, at the reunions and at the great academic
gatherings--for instance, at the inauguration of a president--no wine
is seen on the whole table; and they get along very well without it. If
you enter the university, steel your body through sport and through
fencing--a thing I would blame in no one--or through rowing; but do
not seek to make a record for yourself by seeing who can gulp down the
greatest number of intoxicating drinks. Those are customs which come
to us from another time. If you will take this attitude in the corps
and societies, I shall be grateful to you. We have other tasks now than
they had in former years and must strengthen our knowledge of national
economy and finances. For it is worth Germany's while to protect her
position in the world, especially in the world market. Therefore we
must all hold fast together.
I herewith turn the flag over to you. The _primus omnium_, so I
understand, will carry it and will consider it an honor that he is the
first one to do so.
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
HAMBURG, AUGUST 27, 1911
After a religious service for the army, the Emperor and Empress
visited the race-course at Grossborstel. The relations between
Germany and England were becoming strained. At the time of the
uprising in Morocco on the twenty-first of May, 1911, the French
general Moinier took measures, so he said, to protect Europeans
in Morocco and later besieged certain native cities. Germany,
pursuing her world-policy, immediately sent the gunboat _Panther_
and later the cruiser _Berlin_ to the harbor of Agadir, and assumed
a threatening attitude, as she had done at Tangier and as Admiral
Diedrichs had done at Manila. When the English made it plain that
they would support France, in accordance with the _entente_ reached
in 1904, with regard to Morocco and Egypt, feeling between the two
nations became tense and has remained so. The Emperor here, while
insisting upon the place in the sun, is at the same time insisting
on friendly competition. (See the discussion of the speech of March
31, 1905.)
YOUR MAGNIFICENCE:
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