of indifference, and to refuse them in one's own con-
sciousness the undeserved honour of moral equality.
The repeated and bitter struggles in which you have
had to fight alone will have strengthened you in your
feeling of contempt for opponents who are neither
honourable enough nor deserve sufficient respect to be
able to injure you."
There was indeed a serious evil arising from the
want of the feeling of responsibility in a Parliament-
ary assembly which had no great and honourable
traditions. He attempted to meet it by strengthen-
ing the authority of the House over its own mem-
bers ; the Chairman did not possess any power of
punishing breaches of decorum. Bismarck often
1887] Economic Reform. 435
contrasted this with the very great powers over their
own members possessed by the British Houses of
Parliament. He drew attention to the procedure by
which, for instance, Mr. Plimsoll could be compelled
to apologise for hasty words spoken in a moment of
passion. It is strange that neither the Prussian nor
the German Parliament consented to adopt rules
which are really the necessary complement for the
privileges of Parliament.
The Germans Avere much disappointed by the con-
stant quarrels and disputes which were so frequent
in public life ; they had hoped that with the unity of
their country a new period would begin; they found
that, as before, the management of public affairs was
disfigured by constant personal enmities and the
struggle of parties. We must not, however, look on
this as a bad sign ; it is rather more profitable to ob-
serve that the new institutions were not affected or
weakened by this friction. It was a good sign for
the future that the new State held together as firmly
as any old-established monarchy, and that the most
important questions of policy could be discussed and
decided without even raising any point which might
be a danger to the permanence of the Empire.
Bismarck himself did much to put his relations
with the Parliament on a new and better footing.
Acting according to his general principle, he felt that
the first thing to be done was to induce mutual con-
fidence by unrestrained personal intercourse. The
fact that he himself was not a member of the Parlia-
ment deprived him of those opportunities which an
English Minister enjoys. He therefore instituted,
43^ Bismarck. [1878-
in 1868, a Parliamentary reception. During the ses-
sion, generally one day each week, his house was
opened to all members of the House. The invita-
tions were largely accepted, especially by the mem-
bers of the National Liberal and Conservative parties.
Those who were opponents on principle, the Cen-
tre, the Progressives, and the Socialists, generally
stayed away. These receptions became the most
marked feature in the political life of the capital,
and they enabled many members to come under the
personal charm of the Chancellor. What an event
was it in the life of the young and unknown Deputy
from some obscure provincial town, when he found
himself sitting, perhaps, at the same table as the
Chancellor, drinking the beer which Bismarck had
brought into honour at Berlin, and for which his
house was celebrated, and listening while, with com-
plete freedom from all arrogance or pomposity, his
host talked as only he could !
The weakest side of his administration lay in the
readiness with which he had recourse to the criminal
law to defend himself against political adversaries.
He was, indeed, constantly subjected to attacks in
the Press, which were often unjust and sometimes
unmeasured, but no man who takes part in public
life is exempt from calumny. He was himself never
slow to attack his opponents, both personally in
the Parliament, and still more by the hired writers
of the Press. None the less, to defend himself from
attacks, he too often brought his opponents into the
police court, and Bismarckbelcidigiing became a com-
mon offence. Even the editor of Kladderadatsch was
1887] Economic Reform. 437
once imprisoned. He must be held personally re-
sponsible, for no action could be instituted without
his own signature to the charge. We see the same
want of generosity in the use which he made of at-
tempts, or reputed attempts, at assassination. In
1875, while he was at Kissingen, a young man shot
at him ; he stated that he had been led to do so ow-
ing to the attacks made on the Chancellor by the
Catholic party. No attempt, however, was made to
prove that he had any accomplices ; it was not even
suggested that he ivas carrying out the wishes of the
party. It was one of those cases which will always
occur in political struggles, when a young and inex-
perienced man will be excited by political speeches
to actions which no one would foresee, and which
would not be the natural result of the words to
which he had listened. Nevertheless, Bismarck was
not ashamed publicly in the Reichstag to taunt his
opponents with the action, and to declare that
whether they would or not their party was Kuhl-
mann's party ; " he clings to your coat-tails," he
said. A similar event had happened a few years
before, when a young man had been arrested on the
charge that he intended to assassinate the Chancellor.
No evidence in support of the charge was forthcom-
ing, but the excuse was taken by the police for
searching the house of one of the Catholic leaders
with whom the accused had lived. No incriminating
documents of any kind were found, but among the
private papers was the correspondence between the
leaders in the party of the Centre dealing with ques-
tions of party organisation and political tactics.
438 Bismarck. [1878-
The Government used these private papers for po-
litical purposes, and published one of them. The
constant use of the police in political warfare be-
longed, of course, to the system he had inherited,
but none the less it was to have been hoped that he
would have been strong enough to put it aside.
The Government was now firmly established ; it
could afford to be generous. Had he definitely cut
himself off from these bad traditions he would have
conferred on his country a blessing scarcely less than
all the others.
The opposition of the parties in the Reichstag to
his policy and person did not represent the feelings
of the country. As the years passed by and the
new generation grew up, the admiration for his past
achievements and for his character only increased.
His seventieth birthday, which he celebrated in 1885,
was made the occasion for a great demonstration of
regard, in which the whole nation joined. A na-
tional subscription was opened and a present of two
million marks was made to him. More than half of
this was devoted to repurchasing that part of the es-
tate at Schoenhausen which had been sold when he
was a young man. The rest he devoted to forming
an institution for the help of teachers in higher
schools. A few years before, the Emperor had pre-
sented to him the Sachsen Wald, a large portion of
the royal domains in the Duchy of Lauenburg. He
now purchased the neighbouring estate of Fried-
richsruh, so that he had a third country residence to
which he could retire. It had a double advantage:
its proximity to the great forest in which he loved
1887]
Economic Reform.
439
to wander, and also to a railway, making it little
more than an hour distant from Berlin. He was
able, therefore, at Friedrichsruh, to continue his
management of affairs more easily than he could at
Varzin.
CHAPTER XVII.
RETIREMENT AND DEATH.
1 887- 1 898.
WELL was it for Germany that Bismarck had
not allowed her to fall into the weak and
vacillating hands of a Parliamentary government.
Peace has its dangers as well as war, and the rivalry
of nations lays upon them a burden beneath which
all but the strongest must succumb. The future
was dark ; threatening clouds were gathering in the
East and West ; the hostility of Russia increased,
and in France the Republic was wavering ; a mili-
tary adventurer had appeared, who threatened to
use the desire for revenge as a means for his per-
sonal advancement. Germany could no longer dis-
regard French threats ; year by year the French
army had been increased, and in 1886 General Bou-
langer introduced a new law by which in time of
peace over 500,000 men would be under arms. Rus-
sia had nearly 550,000 soldiers on her peace estab-
lishment, and, against this, Germany only 430,000.
They were no longer safe; the duty of the Govern-
ment was clear; in December, 1886, they brought
440
1887] Retirement and Death. 441
forward a law to raise the army to 470,000 men and
keep it at that figure for seven years. '' We have
no desire for war," said Bismarck, in defending the
proposal ; " we belong (to use an expression of Prince
Metternich's) to the States whose appetite is satis-
fied ; under no circumstances shall we attack France ;
the stronger we are, the more improbable is war ; but
if France has any reason to believe that she is more
powerful than we, then war is certain." It was, he
said, no good for the House to assure the Govern-
ment of their patriotism and their readiness for sac-
rifice when the hour of danger arrived ; they must
be prepared beforehand. " Words are not soldiers
and speeches not battalions."
The House (there was a majority of Catholics,
Socialists, and Progressives) threw out the bill, the
Government dissolved, and the country showed
its confidence in Bismarck and Moltke ; Conserva-
tives and National Liberals made a coalition, the
Pope himself ordered the Catholics not to oppose
the Government (his support had been purchased by
the partial repeal of a law expelling religious orders
from Prussia), and the Emperor could celebrate his
ninetieth birthday, which fell in March, 1887, hope-
ful that the beneficent work of peaceful reform
would continue. And yet never was Bismarck's
resource so needed as during the last year in which
he was to serve his old master.
First, a French spy was arrested on German
soil ; the French demanded his release, maintain-
ing that German ofificers had violated the frontier.
Unless one side gave way, war was inevitable ;
442 Bismarck. [1887-
the French Government, insecure as it was, could
not venture to do so ; Bismarck was strong enough
to be lenient : the spy was released and peace
was preserved. Then, on the other side, the pas-
sionate enmity of Russia burst out in language of
unaccustomed violence ; the national Press de-
manded the dismissal of Bismarck or war ; the Czar
passed through Germany on his way to Copenhagen,
but ostentatiously avoided meeting the Emperor ;
the slight was so open that the worst predictions
were justified. In November, on his return, he
spent a few hours in Berlin. Bismarck asked for an
audience, and then he found that despatches had
been laid before the Czar which seemed to shew that
he, while avowedly supporting Russia in Bulgarian
affairs, had really been undermining her influence.
The despatches were forged ; we do not yet know
who it was that hoped to profit by stirring up a war
between the two great nations. We can well be-
lieve that Bismarck, in the excitement of the
moment, spoke with an openness to which the Czar
was not accustomed ; he succeeded, however, in
bringing about a tolerable understanding. The
Czar assured him that he had no intention of going
to war, he only desired peace ; Bismarck did all that
human ingenuity could to preserve it. By the Triple
Alliance he had secured Germany against the attack
of Russia. He now entered into a fresh and secret
agreement with Russia by which Germany agreed
to protect her against an attack from Austria ; he
thereby hoped to be able to prevent the Czar from
looking to France for support against the Triple
18981 Retirement and Death. 443
Alliance. It was a policy of singular daring to enter
into a defensive alliance with Russia against Austria,
at the same time that he had another defensive alli-
ance with Austria against Russia.* To shew that he
had no intention of deserting his older ally, he
caused the text of the treaty with Austria to be
published. This need no longer be interpreted as a
threat to Russia. Then, that Germany, if all else
failed, might be able to stand on her own resources,
another increase of the army was asked for. By the
reorganisation of the reserve, 500,000 men could be
added to the army in time of war. This proposal
was brought before the Reichstag, together with one
for a loan of twenty-eight million marks to purchase
the munitions of war which would be required, and
in defence of this, Bismarck made the last of his
great speeches.
It was not necessary to plead for the bill. He
was confident of the patriotism of the House ; his
duty v/as to curb the nervous anxiety which recent
events had produced. These proposals were not
for war, but for peace; but they must indeed be
prepared for war, for that was a danger that was
never absent, and by a review of the last forty years
he shewed that scarcely a single year had gone by
in which there had not been the probability of a
great European conflict, a war of coalitions in which
all the great States of Europe would be ranged on
* Our knowledge of this treaty is still very incomplete ; even the
date is not certain, but it seems most probable that it was executed
at this time. Neither Bismarck's own memoirs nor Busch's book
throw any light upon it.
444 Bismarck.
[1887-
one side or the other. This danger was still pre-
sent, it would never cease; Germany, now, as before,
must always be prepared ; for the strength of Ger-
many was the security of Europe.
" We must make greater exertions than other Powers
on account of our geographical position. We lie in the
middle of Europe ; we can be attacked on all sides.
God has put us in a situation in which our neighbours
will not allow us to fall into indolence or apathy. The
pike in the European fish-pond prevent us from becom-
ing carp,"
It was not their fault if the old alliance with
Russia had broken down ; the alliance with Austria
still continued. But, above all, Germany must de-
pend on her army, and then they could look boldly
into the future. " It will calm our citizens if they
think that if we are attacked on two sides we can
put a million good soldiers on the frontier, and in a
few weeks support them by another million." But
let them not think that this terrible engine of war
was a danger to the peace of Europe. In words
which represent a profound truth he said : " It is
just the strength at which we aim that makes us
peaceful. That sounds paradoxical, but it is so.
With the powerful engine into which we are forming
the German army one undertakes no ofTensive
war." In truth, when the army was the nation,
what statesman was there who would venture on
war unless he were attacked ? " If I were to say to
you, ' We are threatened by France and Russia ; it
is better for us to fight at once ; an offensive war
1898] Retirement and Death. 445
is more advantageous for us,' and ask for a credit
of a hundred millions, I do not know whether you
would grant it, — I hope not." And he concluded ;
" It is not fear which makes us lovers of peace,
but the consciousness of our own strength. We can
be won by love and good-will, but by them alone ;
we Germans fear God and nothing etse in the world,
and it is the fear of God which makes us seek peace
a7id ensne it.''
These are words which will not be forgotten so
long as the German tongue is spoken. Well will it
be if they are remembered in their entirety. They
were the last message of the older generation to the
new Germany which had arisen since the war ; for
already the shadow of death lay over the city; in
the far South the Crown Prince was sinking to his
grave, and but a few weeks were to pass before Bis-
marck stood at the bedside of the dying Emperor.
He died on March 9, 1888, a few days before his
ninety-first birthday, and with him passed the sup-
port on which Bismarck's power rested.
He was not a great man, but he was an honour-
able, loyal, and courteous gentleman; he had not
always understood the course of Bismarck's policy
or approved the views which his Minister adopted.
The restraint he had imposed had often been incon-
venient, and Bismarck had found much difficulty
in overcoming the prejudices of his master; but
it had none the less been a gain for Bismarck that
he was compelled to explain and justify his action
to a man whom he never ceased to love and respect.
How beneficial had been the controlling influence
446 Bismarck. [1887-
of his presence the world was to learn by the events
which followed his death.
That had happened to which for five and twenty
years all Bismarck's enemies had looked forward.
The foundation on which his power rested was taken
away ; men at once began to speculate on his fall.
The noble presence of the Crown Prince, his cheer-
ful and kindly manners, his known attachment to
liberal ideas, his strong national feeling, the success
with which he had borne himself on the uncongenial
field of battle, all had made him the hope of the
generation to which he belonged. Who was so well
suited to solve the difficulties of internal policy with
which Bismarck had struggled so long? Hopes
never to be fulfilled ! Absent from his father's death-
bed, he returned to Berlin a crippled and dying man,
and when a few weeks later his body was lowered into
the grave, there were buried with him the hopes and
aspirations of a whole generation.
His early death was indeed a great misfortune for
his country. Not that he would have fulfilled all
the hopes of the party that would have made him
their leader. It is never wise to depend on the
liberalism of a Crown Prince. When young and
inexperienced he had been in opposition to his
father's government — but his father before him had,
while heir to the throne, also held a similar position to
his own brother. As Crown Prince, he had desired and
had won popularity ; he had been even too sensitive
to public opinion. His, however, was a character
that required only responsibility to strengthen it ;
with the burden of sovereignty he would, we may
EMPEROR FREDERICK.
1898] Retirement and Death. 447
suppose, have shewn a fixity of purpose which many
of his admirers would hardly have expected of him,
nor would he have been deficient in those qualities of
a ruler which are the traditions of his family. He
was not a man to surrender any of the prerogatives
or authority of the Crown. He had a stronger will
than his father, and he would have made his will
felt. His old enmity to Bismarck had almost
ceased. It is not probable that with the new Em-
peror the Chancellor would long have held his posi-
tion, but he would have been able to transfer the
Crown to a man who had learnt wisdom by pro-
longed disappointment. How he would have gov-
erned is shewn by the only act of authority which
he had time to carry out. He would have done
what was more important than giving a little more
power to the Parliament : he would at once have
stopped that old and bad system by which the
Prussian Government has always attempted to
schoolmaster the people. During his short reign
he dismissed Herr von Puttkammer, the Minister of
the Interior, a relative of Bismarck's wife, for interfer-
ing with the freedom of election ; we may be sure that
he would have allowed full freedom of speech ; and
that he would not have consented to govern by aid
of the police. Under him there would not have been
constant trials for Majestdtsbeleidigitng or Bismarck-
beleidigung. This he could have done without weak-
ening the power of the Crown or the authority of
the Government ; those who know Germany will
believe that it was the one reform which was still
required.
44^ Bismarck. [1887-
The illness of the Emperor made it desirable to
avoid points of conflict ; both he and Bismarck
knew that it was impossible, during the few weeks
that his life would be spared, to execute so important
a change as the resignation of the Chancellor would
have been. On many points there was a difference
of opinion, but Bismarck did not unduly express his
view, nor did he threaten to resign if his advice were
not adopted. When, for instance, the Emperor
hesitated to give his assent to a law prolonging the
period of Parliament, Bismarck did not attempt to
control his decision. When Herr Puttkammer was
dismissed, Bismarck did not remonstrate against
an act which was almost of the nature of a personal
reprimand to himself. It was, however, different
when the foreign policy of the Empire was affected,
for here Bismarck, as before, considered himself the
trustee and guarantor for the security of Germany.
An old project was now revived for bringing about a
marriage between the Princess Victoria of Prussia
and Prince Alexander of Battenberg. This had been
suggested some years before, while the Prince was
still ruler of Bulgaria ; at Bismarck's advice, the Em-
peror William had refused his consent to the mar-
riage, partly for the reason that according to the
family law of the Hohenzollerns a marriage with the
Battenberger family would be a mesalliance. He was,
however, even more strongly influenced by the effect
this would have on the political situation of Europe.
The foundation of Bismarck's policy was the main-
tenance of friendship with Russia ; this old-estab-
lished alliance depended, however, on the personal
1898] Retirement and Death. 449
good-will of the Czar, and not on the wishes of the
Russian nation or any identity of interests between
the two Empires. A marriage between a Prussian
princess and a man who was so bitterly hated by the
Czar as was Prince Alexander must have seriously in-
jured the friendly relations which had existed between
the two families since the year 1814. Bismarck
believed that the happiness of the Princess must be
sacrificed to the interests of Germany, and the Em-
peror William, who, when a young man, had for
similar reasons been required by his father to re-
nounce the hand of the lady to whom he had been
devotedly attached, agreed with him. Now, after
the Emperor's death the project was revived ; the
Emperor Frederick wavered between his feelings as
a father and his duty as a king. Bismarck suspected
that the strong interest which the Empress displayed
in the project was due, not only to maternal affec-
tion, but also to the desire, which in her would be
natural enough, to bring over the German Empire to
the side of England in the Eastern Question, so that
England might have a stronger support in her peren-
nial conflict with Russia. The matter, therefore,
appeared to him as a conflict between the true inter-
ests of Germany and those old Court influences which
he so often had had to oppose, by which the family
relationships of the reigning sovereign were made to
divert his attention from the single interests of his
own country. He made it a question of confidence ;
he threatened to resign, as he so often did under
similar circumstances ; he let it be known through
the Press what was the cause, and, in his opinion, the
450 Bismarck. [1887-
true interpretation, of the conflict which influenced
the Court. In order to support his view, he called
in the help of the Grand Duke of Baden, who, as the
Emperor's brother-in-law, and one of the most ex-
perienced of the reigning Princes, was the proper
person to interfere in a matter which concerned both
the private and the public life of the sovereign. The
struggle, which threatened to become serious, was,
however, allayed by the visit of the Queen of Eng-
land to Germany. She, acting in German affairs with
that strict regard to constitutional principle and
that dislike of Court intrigue that she had always
observed in dealings with her own Ministers, gave
her support to Bismarck. The marriage did not
take place.
Frederick's reign lasted but ninety days, and his
son ruled in his place. The new Emperor belonged
to the generation which had grown up since the
war; he could not remember the old days of con-
flict ; like all of his generation, from his earliest
years he had been accustomed to look on Bismarck
with gratitude and admiration. In him, warm per-
sonal friendship was added to the general feeling of
public regard ; he had himself learnt from Bismarck's
own lips the principles of policy and the lessons of
history. It might well seem that he would continue
to lean for support on the old statesman. So he
himself believed, but careful observers who saw his
power of will and his restless activity foretold that