UNDERWORLD OF DIPLOMACY

North Otago Times, 3 September 1910, Page 1 (Supplement)

UNDERWORLD OF DIPLOMACY

OF 'STATB GET i OOTrBISMAROK AND THI- : ,' One ot the most fascinating phase of international life. is how ■ secre news Is obtained and how it travel through the underworld of diptomaoj The late.Queen Victoria jealousl; guarded the secrets ' preserved 'a ; Windsor Castle, and. her refusal I allow documents to be examined pre V vented; many " memolra," " confea slons," and " revelations" appeal ing during her reign; But her own letters,' published ;re cently reveal a great deal that wa only within,the knowledge of a ver; few, Her engagement to Prince Al hart, usually declared to have been t case of a wife falling In love aftei marriage, is proved conclusively b; : the letters that passed botween then before the ceremony, to have been £ case of really genuine love at firs sight. The reason for the resignation o Lord Randolph Churchill is, o! course, well known to have been dm to an impulse, but if Lord Salishurj bad been consulted it would havi been kept secret to this day, sayi " Oassell's Saturdaj Journal."' Thi father of Winston Churchill was, how ever, rather hot -tempered, and hi gave the news to the World himsell in the shape of a letter "to", thi "Times." . The same paper-secured the firsl intelligence of an event which altereo the history of England, This was j Sir Robert Peel's conversion to Fret : Trade. . He did not know, which party tc favour. , England was Protectionist anl he seemed inclined to keep with the anti-Free Traders. On a certain • day, however, he startled a Cabinet meeting by announcing his converslor j to the cause of free imports and whet they had recovered from their as tonishment his colleagues resolved tc keep it secret for a time at any cost But that night at dinner, a certait | minister whispered the news to £ ; lady at his side, and she immediatelj sold it to the "Times." The prema ture announcement forced the hands of the Government, and England be camo a Free Trade country. Georgi Meredith adapted the incident ant called it " Diana of the Orossways,' A servant made a small fortune bj selling to an evening paper the newt that the G.O.M. was about to bring in a bill proposing home rule for Ire land. It is. this chance gossip thai has led to dozens of important offlcia secret's reaching the ears ol the gene' j ral public. Everybody in these dayi j is a reporter. Germany is particularly prolific in yielding surprises in the matter ol secrets. Perhaps there is no othei j great campaign which is the subjeel j of bo much conjecture as the Francoj German War. Many accounts of its i origin have been given and all diffei ;in some material points. It was thought that Bismarck had the se crct and in his letter-published, it is believed, by the order of the fallen Chancellor to spite the Kaiser—h( gives a convincing description of th< events that precipitated that war. But the Kaiser" retaliated' with an other story, It may be remembered ■ that the two nations'were at diplomatic loggerheads over the candidature of a German Prince for the throne of Spain, and towards thf close of the correspondence between the rival foreign offices France sent a telegram, definitely demanding Prince Leopold's retirement and rc■pesting an apology. In the ordinary course this message was delivered to Bismarck, who was thirsting for a trial of strength with the French. But the telegram disappointed him. It did not seem bellicose enough, indeed, it was worded so politely that it really meant all end of talk about hostilities. The Iron Chancellor, however, was determined to try conclusions with his neighbours and therefore he I deliberately omitted certain words from the telegram before issuing it for publication. The result was to convert France's message into a threat, and the terrible offspring of Bismarck's trick we all know now. But this is only one side of a most interesting story. If Bismarck was working at Berlin for war he had a helpmeet at Versailles in the person of the Empress Eugenie. She detested the Germans, and, as a Spaniard, was passionately determined not to allow a Teuton to ascend the throne of her native country. Thus she worked day and night to give the French the opportunity of humbk ing the pride of the Germans. Time falsified her ambitions very tragically and led to her own ruin. It is said that on the evening of the day that witnessed the firing of the first shot she gave expression to that terrible phrase, "This is my war!" Within twenty-four hours she bitterly lamented her indiscretions, and with the approach of the victorious legions of Von Moltke, her throne gradually receded from her. It was not until 1894 that the German Foreign Office issued the French telegram in its original entirety and then at the instigation of the Emperor, who wished to get even with Bismarck for the ex-Minister's hostile attitude towards his sermons.' The publication of the maker of modern Germany's letters a\few years later was the Prince's dying shot. The story of the Empress Eugenie's share in the war came to light as the direct result of journalistic enterprise.