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The Kaiser’s Personal
ResponsibilitylntheWar
Professor Ferrero Analyses the Con
duct of the German Emperor Just
Preceding the War From the Dis
tance of More Than a Year of Strife.
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The Kaiser in War Dress. '
By Guglielmo Ferrero.
§“ NB year has passed since | was com
pouodbunnupooplotoumn; a
bloody and unheard-of epoch has
come for Purope and the world. Before God
and history I swear that my consclence is clear
and that I did not want war.”
oth.:“ n:o the 'l;l’dl with which the message
. L) peror of Germany to his people on
‘the first anniversary of the war began. These
words have been and will continue for some
time to be ardently discussed in Europe, be
ocause this is the first answer to the accusa
tions that, openly or secretly, are repeated
during the last year in all the countries at war
with the Germanio amglm. and In many neu
“tral countries, against the Emperor of Germany.
‘The most broadly spread opinion to-day attrib
utes the greatest responsidbility to him for the
European conflagration, and accuses him of
having deceived Europe for twenty-five years,
--mt‘uu-n he wanted peace while he pre
pared the most monstrous of wars.
. These accusations up to the present had not
~been taken up and answered by the Germans.
- The Bmperor of Germany in the many speeches
he made since the war has not even hinted at
them. He breaks silence now after a year
~with a solemn oath sworn before God and
- history.
Is this royal oath enough to impose silence
.on his accusers? What foundation have these
aocusations in trustworthy, sure documents and
-asoertained facts? To this question—one of
the gravest that the terrible history of this
_year nts, because on the answer to it
,m«h‘u the destiny of the Hohenzol
derns—l shall try to reply sine ira et studio
{without anger and after serfous study), with
_the equity that is the duty of a historian, using
.the documents that made possible my article
of last December on the origin of the war.
Everybody knows that July 23, when Austria
_sent the note to Serbia, of which the war was
the outcome, the Emperor of Germany was
crulsing in the North Sea. 1 shall not discuss
_whether he wr- there because he didn't know
anything t what was being prepared; or
AL it was a move to reassure the governments
+of the Triple Entente so as to take them by sur
_prise.
. It Is impossible to soive the doubt at present.
“However it may be, the Emperor returned to
Berlin the 28th, the day when Austria declared
LWAar on Serbia; and as soon as he got to Berlin
~he manifested clear pacific tendencles. The
“evening of the 28th the Chancellor of the
_Empire asked the English Ambassador to come
.10 him, and he told him that Germany couldn't
«accept the conference of the four great Powers
% #ed by England because he didn't esteem
c practical; but that he was willing to do
what he could to prevent war, he added that he
«would do everything possible to get Austria
and Russia to come to a direct understanding
sPetween themselves: he concluded by saying
wexplicitly that “a war between the great Powers
_of Europe had to be prevented”
. Some hours after the Emperor of Germany
#ent the Czar a friendly, trusting dispatch; on
- that night Instructions conforming to thoso
swords went out from Berlin. In fact, the
«morning of the 29th the German Ambassadors
"#t Paris and Petrograd assured the French
_Bnd Russian Governments that Germany
pourished the most conciliatory Intentions.
. _Thiugs seemed to be golng well the evening
of the 28th, and from the night of the 28th to
the 20th, when, all of a sudden, the wind
. shanged the afternoon of the 20th. The after.
- Boon of the 20th the German Ambassador went
' Basanoff and lustead of repeating the
friendly speeches of that morning, he declared
to him that Germany had decided to mobilize,
If Russia did not interrupt her military prepara
tions. In other words, on the afternoon of the
E9th Germany suddenly threatened war If Rus
sla did not renounce the military preparations
mgainst Austria, that she had announced she
would make In case Austrla declared war on
Berbla.
From that moment and after that threat the
events, up to that time in the balance, rushed
on toward war, and this is easy to understand,
80 grave was the provocation contained in that
threat.
Sazanoff Immediately replied to the Ambassa
dor that Russla would not consent under any
ocondition to suspend her military preparations.
As soon as that reply was made known at
Berlin the Emperor convoked, the same evening
of the 20th, at Potgdun. a reunion of high
functionaries, In which the heads of the army.
took part, to discuss the situation created by
Russia’s answer. And in this reunion it was
decided to have the Ambassador repeat the
threat to Russia, and if Russia resisted, to
declare war; so what they really deliberated
was the Furopean war. So at 2 o'clock in the
morning the German Ambassador returned to
Bazanoff and repeated the intimation. Russia
agaln refused, and the next day, the 31st, the
uitimatum left Berlin.
The step taken by the German Ambassador
at Petrograd the afternoon of the 29th was
then the irreparable act that let loose the war
on Burope. If the Immediate responsibility of
the war apertains to the stated act, the men
that commit the irreparable and decisive act,
we must now ask ourselves why and wherefore
the German Government decided on that step
the morning of the 29th. After the publication
of the Russian Red Book there remains no
doubt that the impetus came from Austria. The
evening of the 28th Count Berchtold tele
graphed to Berlin that Russia was arming on
the Austrian frontier, and w easked the Ger
man Government to prevall upon Russia, in a
friendly way, to desist.
Bo the German Government by that act only
wanted to fulfill the prayer of its ally. But
who are the men among those who composed
the German Government who belleved it was
necessary to satlsfy Austria’s desire, denying
the tranquilizing assurances made to the
European powers a few hours after they were
glven? There was no great quickness of appre
hension necessary to understand that from the
point where things were, after Russia had
many times declared that she would mobilize
It Austria declared war on Serbia, that such a
step was more than dangerous.
Passing over whatever political plans the
German Emperor may have nourished in his
mind and what we do not yet know, in this
point is the great problem of his responsibility
~at least that immediate responsibility that in
the eyes of the world is the gravest. Did he
push the Government on to satisty tHe demands
of Austria, as some people claim; or was he
reluctantly drawn into it by the military party,
as 18 also said? According to which of these
two hypotheses is true, the responsibility of
the German Emperor appears, great or small,
because when that fatal ultimatum was once
sent, the rest was all the fatal rushing on of
the deluge that ultimatum let loose. Is it not
possible to-day to decide between these two
opposite judgments?
In a definite manner—no. The proofs are
still too uncertain, scarce and confused. There
are nothing but indications: however the indi
cations as to what we may attribute the brusk
turn the German policy took and from which
the war sprung, are several, and very grave.
There is, first of all, the testimony of a serious
and authoritative man, who was in a position to
know many things: Baron Beyens, who was
the last Minister to Belglum. Beyens is pub
lishing a series of most important articles on
the European war in the Revue des Deux
Mondes. In the article published June Ist
Beyens éxplicitly asserted that the step taken
July 29 at Petrograd was willed and ordered
by the Emperor.
When the Kaiser -
Arrived at Berlin.
What do we make out, then? We make out
that the only new fact that could justify this
unlooked-for and violent oscillation of the Ger
man policy was the arrival at Berlin of the
German Emperor, which happened on the
28th. While the Emperor was absent the Chan
cellor, the Minister of Forelgn Affairs, the Sec
retary of State do not assume any decided po
sition and do not carry out any decisive act,
for peace or war. They talk, they refuse to
talk, seeking to gain time. The 28th the Em
peror arrives; and a few hours afterward the
two first vesolute and decisive acts of the Ger
man Government follow each other at brief
intervals--the first for peace, the second for
war., How can we not be tempted to see some
thing between these two acts and th arrival of
th Emperor?
It may be added that the contradiction
between these two actlons and the rapidity
with which they follow each other induce us to
suspect the impetuous, impulsfve will attributed
to Willlam 11. One would say that when he
first got back to Berlin the Emperor jmmedi.
ately deliberated to make acts of conciliation
and peace, but that after (when Count Berch
told’ s dispatch arrived) he changed his opinion.
The Emperor of Germany in fact, even if
the circamstantial evidence of his responsibility
is true, may have been sincere when he de
clared he didn't want the war. The German
Government may be sincere when it says it
didn’t want war. Unhappily it followed a pol
iy that fatally one day or another had to
lond to war despite the best intentions It
was a policy that treated two great Powers like
France and Russia almost as if they were pro
tectorates. One day or another the cord,
stretched too far, had to break, as it broke,
alas, 1o an all oo traglo way, August 1, 1914,
The World’s Greatest Interpreter of Nietzsche
Defines OQur Lack of True Greatness
“As the American Women Are More Nearly Super-Women
Than Your Men Are Super-Men, Why Not Take the Vote
Away from the Men and Give It to the Women?” Says Dr.
Oscar Levy, the Foremost Exponent of the “Superman” Idea.
By Franz Hugo Krebs.
London, Sept. 1.
HAD an interview yesterday which took up
I part of the morning, most of the after
noon and extended into the evening, with
Dr. Oscar Levy, of London, the greatest author-
Ity on Nietzsche, and one of the world’s great
est psychologists. Dr. Levy was born on March
28, 1867, in the town of Stargard in Pommer
ania. His father was a banker. Dr. Levy grad
uated from the Gymnasium in Stargard, then
from the University of Freiburg, in Baden,
where he was a member of the Albingia Corps,
one of the fighting corps, which in accordance
with German custom meets all challengers.
Afterward Dr. levy took post graduate courses
in medicine and psychology in the Universities
of Berlin, Munich, Vienna and Paris. For the
last twenty years Dr. Levy’s home has been
in London, where he {3 a member of the Royal
Socleties Club, of the Royal College of Sur
geons and Licentlate of the Royal College of
Physiclans.
Dr. Levy is that most wonderful being, from
an Intellectual standpoint, a Jew who is ab
solutely free from any trace of commercialism
and whose sole interest i{s in literary pursuit
and research, regardless of material gain. On
his mother’s side, in the seventeenth and eigh
teenth centuries, there were gix generations of
Rabbis, and it is to them and to her that Dr.
Levy attributes his mentality.
Dr. Levy told me of a most strange and in
teresting custom; he said that for centurieg it
was the custom for rich Jewish families living
in Poland, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy and
France, to seek Talmudic scholars as husbands
for some of their daughters. The wealth of
the family was placed at thelir disposal, so that
they could continue their studies, and in that
way the love of learning and the longing for
knowledge were kept alive in the race. Dr.
Levy further said that, had It not been for this,
the Jewish race would have ceased to exist as
“no race purely commerclal can live.”
Dr. Levy spent a few weeks in the Unfited
States in 1892, but in spite of the travels that
have taken him to all quarters of the globe he
says, “A psychologist does not need to travel
in ordersto know the people of the earth. A
study of their literature reveals not merely
their mental but racial characteristics as well.”
“But, Doctor,” I asked, “do you mean that a
psychologist can get to know as much about
‘the people of the earth’ from ‘a study of their
literature,’ as those who travel in the countries
and meet the people themselves?”
A Nation’s Literature
Its True Revealer,
“Not only a® much, but far more, for the
psychologist is mentally detached and views
the subject of his inquiry from a distance;
there is pothing between the subject he dis
sects and the scalpel of truth. For instance,
Americans by hundreds of thousands have
travelled through Great Britain and over the
Continent; they have seen the outside of the
bufldings and probably the inside of some; also
they have seen the outside of the people. How
much do they know of their thoughts and as
pirations?"
“Americans are the most optimistic of all
the nations; properly directed, this spirit will
accomplish wonders, but when the American
comes to Europe he indulges himself mentally
much as he does at home, and slurs over the
rough places unl!ess his personal comfort is
disturbed. The American readily forgets
White Chapel; it is so much pleasanter to re
member the West End; he forgets the awful
slums of the large cities {n Great Britain, the
unspeakable degredation of the drunken, sod
den, submerged tenth; it is s 0 much pleasanter
to remember the beautiful lawns, where the
tender care of generationg has produced a vel
vety sward that cannot be equalled for years
to come in the New World.
“It 1s sweetor to remember the charming and
cultivated people that one meets, whose cult!-
vation is not that of to-day or yesterday, but
the outgrowth of generations of well-to-do and
cultivated ancestors. It is interesting at this
time, when a deputation from the leading ship
bullding firms has waited on the Chancellor
of the British Exchequer and the Secretary for
Scotland to urge that ‘there should be a total
prohibition during the period of the war of
the sale of excisable liquors,’ and when Lloyd
George in his reply salc, ‘That nothing but root
and branch methods would be of the slightest
avail in dealing with this evil,’ and further said,
‘We are fighting Germany, Austria and Drink;
and as far as | can see, the greatest of these
three deadly foes is Drink,' to realize that
Disraell, the greatest British statesman of all
times, described in ‘Sybil,’ the preface to which
is gigned by him as of May-Day, 1845, the con
ditlon of the masses of the British people. A
perusal of this book, at this time, would do
much to enlighten Americans whose mentality
is rugged enough to consider painful subjects.
As Disraell sald: ‘There is not a trait in this
work for which he has not the authority of his
own observation, or the authentic evidence
which has been received by Royal Commis
sions and Parllamentary Committees. But,
while he hopes he has alleged nothing which is
not true, he has found the absolute necessity
of suppressing much that is genuine.
“How can any even ordinarily keen observer
be blind to the fact that the soul of the British
lower classes living in the clties and large
towng is rotied away by drink, and that as
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L@a’o*”’ X DAwWIOoN JTAIMPOrd Comma PROM WUNderwoeod wnderwooe]
N.Y.
Dr. Oscar Levy, the Distinguished Scholar
; By DR. OSCAR LEVY.
HE only things that live forever are great thoughts.
T . Socrates, Plato and Aristotle are remembered, althongh the kings
of their time are one and all forgotten.
Nietzsche will be read when no one but a student of ancient history will
remember the name of one of the rulers now at the head of the countries waging
this greatest of all wars.
America has produced a high average man, as far as strength, quickness
of thought and general well-being are concerned ; but mentally the United States
has contributed little to the world along the lines of really great thought.
As a matter of fact, the American woman is_far higher intellectually, in
proportion to the female sex in other parts of the world, than is the American
man, in proportion to the male sex.
This does not seem to me desirable, and indicates that for generations to
come American thought is likely to be lacking in virility.
In the world’s history, no woman philosopher or psychologist has added
to its knowledge. Another unfortunate feature in conneetion with the unequal
development of American men and women is that so many of your women find
out too late that their husbands are not their mental mates.
This is doubtless largely responsible for the great increase of divoree in
America.
I am opposed on prineiple to a democratie form of government; I do not
believe in the rule of the fit by the unfit.
As to woman suffrage, if one is forced to aecept a democratic form of gov
ernment, why not be logical and have a pure democracy, regardless of sex?{
De Toequeville said, in his great book on the United States : ““The only cure
for democracy is more demoeracy.”’
It is a sad situation to contemplate, but as the American women are more
nearly superwomen than your men are supermen, why not take the vote away
from the men and give it to the women? They probably would not do worse
than the men, and your form of government is only a happy-go-lucky experi
ment. :
far as they are concerned ‘Christian England’
is non-existent.”
I then asked Dr. Levy, “What does Nietzsche
mean to you?”
“Nietzsche Is the great teacher, not of the
masses, but of the individual. He teaches that
the firgt duty of the individual ig to himself.
By ralsing himself, he will then be in a better
position to help others. He points the way to
self-culture and self-development, not to the un
thinking many, but to those who have the ca
pacity for Intellectual improvement. He
preaches egotism, but it s the egotism of self
renunciation. Hils egotism is not a brutal, but
rather an ascetic egotism. Nlietzsche did not
believe in a superman without tenderness, and
that tenderness means due consideration based
upon knowledge of others.”
“No captains of industry who walk over the
corpses of their fellowmen and then found I
braries and hospitals in order to ease their con
science would be considered supermen by
Nietzsche. They might be considered super
men by the business world, but not In that
hl'hor culture that Nietzsche had in view.”
n answer to my question as to whether he
belleved that it was desirable that Nietzsche
should be generally read, Dr. Lavy replied:
“Nietzsche ought NOT to be generally read.
No one but a person with more than the aver.
age education, or with much more than the
average mentality can, as a rule, profit by
Nietzsche. There are many mentalities to
whom he would only do harm; they would lose
the smaller virtnes they now possess, and they
would gain nothing to replace them.
“In Japan the Samural, who are still very
powerful and whose traditions are most aris
tocratic, will probably profit by Nietzsche's
teachings.” (It is of interest to know that
Nietzeche is being studied at the Japanese
Military College).
“I believe In an arlstocracy, but In an arls
tocracy of the mind, not of the skin. The time
Is coming when the white and the brown and
the yellow men will meet In combat for the
mastary of the world; the Samurai, with their
code of ‘Bushido’ will pjove worthy antagonists
for any branch of the white race.”
“Was Nietzsche liked in Germany during his
life?” I asked.
“Nietzsche was absolutely hated in Germany,
while he was alive, and the hatred did not
diminish after his death. He advised the
Prussian aristocracy to marry Jewesses in or
der to quicken their mental processes. He
might well have added Italian, French, Russian,
Polish, Irtsh and American women, You see,
their, that is, the Prussian aristocracies,
muscles and hearts are in good condition, but
the working of the cerebrum needs quickening.”
“What is your opinion of Ralph Waldo Emer
son?”
“He was not extraordinary, but interesting
and pleasing.”
“Who are the greatest German psycholq
?”
“?"L;'here are no German psychologists, that {s,
of pure German blood. Schopenhauer had
Dutch blood from his father. Heine was of
Jewish blood, and Nietzsche's Polish blood
gave him to the world.”
In answer to the question, what do you mean
when you say that “In International and po
litical psychology Great Britain is supreme?”
Dr. Levy sald: “When war was decided on,
the British immediately secured control of ak
cables going to America and by their cleves
dispatches and their knowledge of mob psycho
logy lashed the American people into a perfect
frenzy, so that the most absurd stories, that
would not even pass muster among intelligent
English people, were readily believed.
“For instance, when the report was sent out
that the Kaiser had forbidden mourning to be
worn by women in Germany, that was not a
haphazard invention, but was evidently written
by one who not only understood that wearing
mourning was the normal outward expression
of grief on the part of American women, but
also realized fully that America is a woman's
country. In a thousand and one ways the
British showed that they could play the master
touch on American folbles and prejudices. It
is nothing new; it has for many years been
well understood that when Great Britain at
tacks, it is not only by her navy and her land
forces, but by the news agencies and the press
as well. Yes, as political psychologists they
are wonderful.
“Although my sympathy has always been with
the Tory party, as the party of the aristocracy,
I realize that Lloyd George is an idealist, and
that he and the masses of the Liberal party
would not have supported the war had it not
been for the violation of the neutrality of
Belgium.
“Recent admissions by Liberals regarding the
neutrality of Belgium not being an absolute
controlling factor in the war clearly indicate
that they wish to counteract the growing feel
ing, ‘Well, if we only went to war on account
of Belgium we are about ready to quit.’
“I can see nothing ahead of the Liberal party
but a smashing defeat at the next general elec
tion. My sympathy has always been with the
Tory party in Great Britain, not merely be
cause it is the aristocratic party, but because
it is really a Nietzschean party, although the
masses and even many of fts leaders are not
intelligent enough to know it.”
To the question, are there any men who
have been prominent in American history
whom you would consider supermen? Dr. Levy
Jeplied:
“Most decidedly yes. There are two, George
Washington and Abraham Lincoln. George
Washington was an aristocrat to his finger
tips; he never craved the applause of the
vulgar or the numerous. No personal ambition
prompted him to bring about the freedom of
his countrymen from British misrule. Not a
man of mental warmth, he yet had the tender
ness that springs from due consideration based
upon knowledge of others.
Waashington and
Lincoln Supermen.
“Abraham Lincoln, in spite of his humble
birth and his lack of advantages of ordinary
education, was one of the world's greatest
aristocrats, because he belonged to the highest
aristocracy of all—the aristocracy of the mind.
One of the masses, he had a mind that towered
above theirs—as the ever snow-covered peaks
of the Himalayas tower above the plains that
lle around their base. Abraham Lincoln had,
to the greatest extent, the tenderness which
leads to due consideration based upon an
absolute knowledge of others. Lincoln was
not merely a superman in America, he was a
king in the mental aristocracy of the world.”
“How about Theodore Roosevelt? Roose
velt could not be called a superman, unless it
were of the obvious. Up to the time that his
desire for political office became so strong as
to partly obscure his mental vision, he was
very skilful in finding out the average
American thought and then announcing it as
his opinion. In America such a policy would
inevitably lead to success, but it carries with it
a silent valuation of the adoption of such a
standard.”
“How about President Wilson? That is a
question that I am not prepared as yet to
definitely answer. There are questions that
President Wilson has yet to deal with that will
have great bearing on how it should be
answered. President Wilson Is not only a man
of high intellectual attainments, but he is a
man of remarkable mental power and force
He is a bit of a philosopher and has great wil
power. i
“The United States has been very fortunate
in having had in all crises of its history the
very man at the helm who was mentally best
fitted to deal with that particular situation. The
time will come when there will be need of
creating a mental aristocracy In America,
whose aims and ideals will be far above those
of the masses. There is and always should be
a great amount of mental mediocrity in the
world; this is necessary for civilization, but
why extend its area beyond reasca?”
| asked Dr. Levy why he Ilved In London,
and he said: “Because, while the world over,
thought is free and unshackled, in Great Britain
the spoken or written expression of thought is
freer than in any other country,”
“Than in the United States?"
“Infinitely. Were the United States at war
there would be no room for a Bernhard Shaw
within its boundarles,
“At present America has evolved the greatast
area of middle-class mentality that the world
has ever known, with all the virtues and all the
smallness that are characteristic of a middle
class mentality.”