KAISER FIXED DATE

Evening Star, Issue 16625, 7 January 1918, Page 8

KAISER FIXED DATE

HOSTILITIES DECIDED ON AT CONFERENCE IN BERLIN. [By Henry Morgenthatj, former American Ambassador to Turkey.] This war is no accident. Nor did it come about through the temporary breakdown of European diplomacy. It was carefully planned and deliberately executed in cold blood.. The. spirit and motives behind it were the spirit and motives that brought about the war between Prussia and Denmark, the war between Prussia and Austria, and the waj- between Prussia and France. It was undertaken in the furtherance of a definite programme of Prussian Imperialism. Whenever the question of peace is raised the Kaiser solemnly asserts that he did not will this war, but that, with the help of the good German God, he will see it through to the end. He did will this war. and he brought it about when it suited his purposes "and his preparations. The Serbian incident was more than excuse. It was an opportunity. On August 18, 1914, as Amorican Ambassador at Constantinople/ IVcalled oft" the' Marquis of ; PaJlaic'ini, the•'•'Au'stro-Hungariaii'.Am-bassador, to congratulate him on the Emperor's eighty-fourth, birthday. After exchanging the usual diplomatic compliments suitable to such an occasion, he spoke of the condition of the Emperor's health and his great physical and. mental activity in spite of the strain to" which he was subjected. The conversation then turned to the war, which was in its third week, and His Excellency told me that when he visited the Emperor in May His Imperial Majesty had' said that 'war was inevitable because of conditions in the Balkans. The;' Austrian ' Crown Prince was murdered at Sarajevo, on June 28; yet weeks before that the Austrian Emperor .had -confided to his Ambassador to Turkey that war was inevitable. CONFIRMED BY WANGENHEIM.

A still more remarkable confirmation' came to me from Baron Wangenheim, the German Ambassador at „ Constantinople. In an outburst of 'enthusiasm after the arrival of the Goeben and the Breslau in the Dardanelles, he having directed their movements by wireless while they': were endeavoring to escape from the British Fleet, the German Ambassador informed nie ' that a conference had been held in Berlin in the earlv part of July, at which the date of the war was fixed. This conference was presided over by the Kaiser; the Baron Wangenheim was present to report on conditions in Turkey. Moltke, the ; Chief of Staff, was there, and so was Grand Admiral Von Tirpitz. With them the leaders of German finance, the directors of the 'railroads, and the captains of industry, whose aid was essential to the Kaiser in putting his vast military machine. into operation. Each was asked if lie was ready for war. All replied in the affirmative except the financiers, who insisted that they must have two weeks in which to sell'foreign securities . and arrange their loans. At the time this conference was held nob.xlv outside the inner circles of the Berlin and Vienna Governments dreamed of war as a result of the Sarajevo assassinations. Th'ey took good' care that no suspicion should be aroused. The Kaiser went straightway to Norway on his yacht. The Chancellor left Berlin for a rest. The

Diplomatic Corps had no intimation of the impending calamity. FINANCIERS GOT BUSY. From the date of this conference the German financiers were busy with their part while the army marked time. All the great stock exchanges experienced an acute financial depression as Germanowned stocks were quietly pushed into the market. In New York, as I found afterward, there were astonishing slumps in quotations. It was not to me alone that Baron Wangenheim told the story of this Berlin conference. Only recently the Marquis Garroni, the Italian Ambassador at Constantinople, announced that Baron Wangenheim said the same thing to him, Italy at that time being a member of the Triple Alliance. The decision for war which the Austrian Emperor had confided to his Ambassador to Turkey in May, and which the Kaiser fully revealed to his lieutenants in July, was the culmination of plan® that had been under way for 25 years.

When the Kaiser came to the throne he found a mighty military machine already constructed for his use. It was not enough. It was necessary to create a mighty industrial, financial, and transportation machine as well, and to build a navy that could mobilise this power for use anywhere on the globe. The Kiel Canal was a war measure. Government aid to German industries was a war measure. Government regulation and estimation of agriculture was a war measure. The German railroad systems were developed; with an eye singly to moving vast armies to the east and to the west. Everything that could contribute to the winning of a war was encouraged by the Government. Krnpps was made almost a national institution, under the pei-sonal patronage of the Kaiser, who, by the way, was one of its stockholders. PURPOSE OF PRINCE'S VISIT HERE.

In pursuance of the war plans of the Kaiser and the pan-Germans, who inspired him and probably used him as the agent of their ambitions, the world was besieged by armies of Prussian spies, advancing Prussian interets a.nd doin<r Prussia's work everywhere. Not a nation escaped this infamous invasion. The Kaiser's brother, Prince Henry, was sent to the United States, ostensibly to assist in the launching of the Imperial yacht, in reality to rekindle among Americans of German descent their Vatorland's lieb, and organising .them into German societies that could be directed from Berlin to suit the exigencies of the Imperial policy. At least 80.000 Germans were turned loose upon Spain, and probably a quarter of a million upon England. France was overrun with them. There was no occupation, calling, or industry in which they did not make their way. They swarmed over South America, over the Near East and the Far East, and all of them- were card indexed for the use. of Berlin. Nothing was overlooked. Nothing is more characteristic of the Prussian methods than the manner in which they obtained possession of Turkey. Turkey -was vital to Pan-Germanism. Itwas an essential part of the Mittel Europa. procTaninie. and when the. Kaiser was ready to strike Turkey was already a vassal of Germany, to be used as Berlin paw fit, either neutral or belligerent, but always in Germany's interest. It came about tint some of Germany's carefullvlaid schemes in other countries* went wrong, and the money invested turned out to be a total less, but the Turkish ii>vestment paid dividends from the start.