EX-CROWN PRINCE

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 84, 3 January 1920, Page 3

EX-CROWN PRINCE

ATTEMPT TO CLEAR CHARACTER 'HUMOUS IN A YELLOW BOOKTills article is about what the oxCrowii Princo of Germany was doing to reliabilifeito himself in the world! espocim Germany, on the first anniversM'y t,\ s to Holland (writes William (j. Snoijlierd in the Now York "Evening Post"). \ M Visitors to tlio littlo homo of the exL.rown, Princo on the Island of Wieringou, in Holland aro, if they bo considered of any importance, given a\ littlo 3'ellow book of thirty-throe pages to carry away with them. If they be of less importance thev receive a cheap loather cigarette case Wring the coat of arms and tho initials of Willielm. Tradesmen and pdlico officials who help y to guard tho houso rccoive tlio cigarette case. < I received tho distinction of being proGetitßd with tho book on my visit tliero in August.' Major Mulner von llulnheim gave it to me and aalced ma to read it. Ho suggested, too, that it might bo interesting to some of my friends among American journalists. I consider, however, that it may bo of interest to anybody who finds humour in tlio only too frequent clumsiuoss o' German propaganda. Hero in this book we have a German propagandising Germane! . Tlio very cover of tho book gave mo ft piece of news. In red letters it bears the words across its top, ilvronpriaz Willielm." A lino in small type across the bottom of tlio cover runs, "Berlin, 1919. Published by Ernst Siegfried Mittler and Son." Tho news the cover sets forth, therefore, is that in this winter of 1919-1920 the young man who fled from Germany: to llo\land for safety still clings to tho boliof that he is tlio Crown Prince of tlio German Empire. ' Tho cover explains Hurt •Anker wrote tho book, and that he was aide-de-camp at tho headquarters of the Crown Prince's army. People Blame Crown Princß. The Crown Prince himself would never have dared to write the book; it would have branded him on its very first jvago as being the champion whiner anions,' all the losers of the great war. Tho astonishing part is that lie dares to permit It to go out from his AVieringen houso as a propaganda pamphlet. "Just as long its we were winning the war," says my translation of Anker's book, 'the laurels were distributed among all the commanders and among tho German people generally. It seems: strange, however, in our catastrophe that our former unanimity is f6rgotten. People now are blaming certain persons or the eystem which these persons represented. People and army are suddenly the sacrifice of a bad and conscienceless guidance. Not even the irresistible powers of fate itself are discussed. No. After tho old human custom people needed a ecapogoat.

"The .German Crown Prince, in their judgment, had his part in the war failure. At least they say that what _ho ha? done as a human' being, a soldier, and a politician is enough to justify an accusation against him. " Even Germane of pro-monarchical leaning think the Crown Prince has shown himself unworthy to fill tho responsible place of monarch.' "Without the knowledge of tho Crown Prince," runs the text (and I was given mv copy of thp book by Mnior Mulner yon Mulnheim, Wilhelm's constant associato as AVierinpen'). "I want.to tell my compatriots what impression, during the last two years of the war, I gained from the personality of the former Crown Prince." Anlter then explains that he was distinguished in "political, military, and humane cases."-with tho Crown Prince's absolute confidence. "T was not a favourite." he hastens tn ■exnlnin. 'T'he Crown Prince never linil any favourites. He never had around himself a favoured clique. "I / know that many, German people want to subdue all the irresponsible 'blackmailing talk about him. . Deserves Protection. "They may havo taken' away from him his right to become a loader of.tho German world nation. Hut the right to be preserved against blackmail he still deserves ' because in the pages of world history he may go down as a dethroned heir." Before dealing with the many so-called slanders about the Crown Prince, Anker draws a picture of him. It is a-picture intended to nhow that/the Crown Prineo was not a military man! "The appearance of tho Crown Prince evnrybody knows: Tall, slim, woll-buill, youthful face, blue, open; honest-looking eyes. lie slouches in his'carriage, and does not always carry himself in accordance with rigid Prussian military form. His uniform never was made exactly according to military specifications. People draw most nonsensical conclusions from these latter facts: that he had. a disregard for law and orders that he-lacked self-restraint. All real big men have had, in one way or another, their sfnaJl personal peculiarities. We have all, diiving the war, allowed ourselves certain privileges in dressing and demeanour aml many an officer has lost his lifo in ft uniform which ho would havo been punished for wearing in peacetime manoeuvres. Averse to Pomp,*

. "The more or less unmilitary part of the character of the Crown l'rince ee.me from his aversion to pomp, ceremony, ami ostentation. That he went too far, at times, in this regard, is possible." Anker says, however, that theso things have been evilly held against him. Tho Germans, it Teems, {mm Anker's book, luwo charged about a dozen or more various weaknesses of character or action against the Crown Prince. 110 tries to dispose of them one by one. Analysis of the book shows them* to 1» taken up in this se-.iucncp: No. 1— -Superficiality—On this point the Crown Prince's'books says: "Every motion of li s hands, his wa.v of wearing his cap. his pleasure in hi's liussian wolf hounds, his way of speaking, his liking for jokes,. all were regarded in Germany with shakings of the head. At last they brought • lorth the sentence: Tho Crown Prince is onlj a shallow youth,. a man without depth, . who, even in war times, could not take life seriously. He laughed mul x joked, whilo at the'front hundreds and thousands were bleeding and dying. "This was all distortion. To be,sure, the Crown Prince, ill the perfect health of thirty-five years, enjoyed life and showed good spirits. He desired to keep up tho good spirits of, the soldiers. The commander must in hard situations show confidence, and good olieor. How often did he speak in a mournful way at tho small evening circle of tho .tremendous sacrifices that wero being made a! the front. "After years lie remembered exactly tho number of dead which this or that regiment had lost at the front. "He nover took the war easily. Ho conldn't stand tho bloody/ 'murdering. 'This stupid, tinnecessary./war' is an expression I heard him use several times. That tho war gave him pleasure is a lie." His Mental Capacity. No. 2~His mental capacities wero email. "Concerning tho mental capacities of tho Crown Prince," says tho Crown Prince's book, "I believe that ho judged himself rightly when ho used to reply to questions with tho following words: "1 am not a genius, but I have common sense and it tells mo so and so.' "He was often too -modsst in this respect. Without flattery, ho could lie considered a very clever ma'n; His general education was very high. Never did he try to show off in conferences with humorous interruptions. lie was exactly tho opposite of a four-flusher." Ao. 3 —llo was disrespectful. "It is not truo that he undervalued great, nieu . and called them i.'iuaiics," writes Anker, "because ho could not understand them. He enjoyed hearing the opinions of othnrs, Disagreements in opinion did not vex him I tiiey only stimulated him. At all his meetings with great personalities I noticed that he always tried to get them to speak to him freely and frankly. Ho converted formal receptions into cozy chats. I remember the war correspondents K. and E., who took walk with him in 1918. .After the walk they had to admit tlmt

they had had a free and opun talk with him." No, 4—Ho was haughty and subject to flattery. Of this Anker says: "Throe thiuga aro guarantees of tho fact that the Crown Princo fully, matured would havo made a fine head of tho Stato—hie ability' to select men, a natural aversion to flatterers, and last, but not loast, his ability to hear tho truth, whether it i?na uleasant or not. "Ho could always see whether' the right man was in tho right place. Luring tho Chancellorship light . ho said many interesting things. Lickspittles he detested. Tha mon who overpraised him brought a cloud "to his face. Con-ti-adic'tion or disagreement stimulated him, and without being hurt bo would permit tliinga to bo said to him thai were almost impolite. He read tho newspapers;. With a shaking of tho head ho read, evil thing 3 cf uimself or looked at tho vi3o cartoons in tlio ei emy Press. "Ho was never importin-jnt or. stuck on himself. Ho did not parade his talents on tho violin or in painting." Friendship for French.' No. s—Ho was too friendly with certain elements of tho French population. Major Ank'or said that the Crown Prince's desiro to gain first-hand knowledge of lifo brought him into contact" with tho French population. "Ho thought that, as commander and Crown Prince, ho ought to show tho people of the occupied territory that Germany was not fighting them, but only tho soldiers of tho enemy. On this principlo lie went round among them, friendly, err.-, sidorate, protecting.' Whether this was right in war-timo, especially against these fanatic Frenchmen, is to bo doubted. But, in the end, the Crown. Princo is only a human being," No. C—He was too friendly with French women. i

"He chatted ond joked in amiablo spirit with the French at Charlovillo and Stenay and invited their children to coffee and c-ako. He personally moderated hard rules which had been posted in the town by German commanders and always had an ear ready for every request. Most of the tinio it was women and girls who camo to him with petitions. Only a old buck could bo agitated over !i.o fact that he received them in a spirit of gallantry and tlmt lie was, pleased by womanly beauty. Those who havo witnessed such scenes, which took place in all. liarmlesaness, and, in repeating them, have seen ilt to draw their own J conclusions, I can only compare with those foul-mimled' persons who, looking at the Venus de Miio, have their dirty thoughts and make nasty remarks. "Rumour has taken up these things and spread them everywhere. When these stories came back to tho Fatherland through the mouths of - soldiers homo'on leave, they increased into great stories that were talked over at the beer and coffee tables. I know tho kernel of nearly every one of tlicso stories. Tho truth of them was harmless. But garnishments were added to them on tho homeward i journey of tlio soldiers, until them became very bad. "I will be pleased to oxplain away every doubt about' these things that presses down upon virtuous German eonls, but I ask them, in return to epread my explanations with tho same zeal they used in spreading littlo dories which consisted of a tiny bit of truth and a whole lot of lie." . No. 7—The Crown Prince was too Prus-sian-like. "Tho Crown Prince is not an allsolute minded military man; at least, not ofi. the old Prussian school. Neither physical nor mental military stiffness is in him. Nevertheless ho is too good a Hohenzollern not to bo a good soldier." Accused o{, Cowardice. No. B—Ho kept to places of safety in war. "His personal courage is without question. Ho was oftcner in tho front-line trenches or under artillery-, fire than was necessary for him as a commander. Tho accusation that he was always back in security is an injustice. \ . "Every day ho went to tho front to visit his troops, to look at the battlefield, to look at his soldiers. It was one of his duties to see that not one unit or anotihe.r was drawn back from the front until it had reached its limit of endurance. The man, the warrior, was what interested him, not the apparatus of war."

No. 9—The Crown Prince was responsible for defeats, especially as Verdun. "The general stall rules, as provided by old Moltke," say's Anker, "provide that it is necessary for Ihe Crown Prince and every other commander to lhave a chief of staff, who carries all the responsibility. Without the chief of staff 110 decision could be taken nor could a command be given. The accusation was made that the Crown Prince was made a general in his t'hirtj -second year. This could never have caused a catastrophe. It was a hereditary thing. "Tho especial accusation that the Crown Prince was at fault for tho failure at Verdun in 191G is disproved by the fact, i.e., that his chief of staff was responsible. Tho Crown Prince had onlv a small influence in a great militnrv operation. As for Verdun, ho is :■ blameless as one of his soldier?, bleeding in the front-line trenches. He. nover asked for nor wanted tho offensives at Verdun." Admired Hindenburg, No. 10—He tried to influence tho military leaders. "He never violently differed with any of the big generals. Ho always siioke of I'leld-llarshal von Hindenburg and General Ludendoiff in a very admiring way. When his opinion on large or small military matters was askc-d ho alwavs showed .himself against taking risks. He never underestimated the enemy. Just before the big German offensive in 191S he said to me in a sorrowful way, 'Ich muse, immer an Verdun denkcn'-<I cannot forget Verdun). This ho said in the beginning of March."

"TliiU; ilifi Crown Prince. always .durmt: the war, in public as well as in private, ajioke with assurance of military victory is ciiiito to be u ndor.sl ooil. That is what every big general must do- to keep his army in hope of victory. Jt is simply ridiculous, now that the war lias emled unfortunately, that the Crown prince should be taken seriously on everv word ho said. None of us has done differently from him in thai refneet. . . "In Germany as well as abroad they eav that tho Crown Prince was. responsible for. (he"terrible killing (at Verdun). This is i.ot only crazy and ridiculous, but it is vicious," < jfln. 11—The Crown Prince was tho head of a war-mad party. "The Crown Prince was never the head of any war-mad parly. At tlio timo our armv was nuccfssful his war aims were verv nioderte. Tho German Yaterjand partv "(Imperialists, Junkers! he looked upon objectively. lie was never its enemv. *but ho used the party as n balance nsainst other parties, though he never aereod with all its principles. Pant,istic dreams of'a world-ruling: Germany were prohibited to him by his eienr insight." 1 A Lover of Pcace. r 4t this coint in tho Crown Prince's Yellow liook he is painted as a lover of peace. "Before tho German offonsivo of 11I1S," snvs this book which came to my hftncl directly fron the Crown Prince's house at VVieriiitfen, "lie gave tho advice to crime to a ucneefiil understanding with the onomv. If I understood him rightly. ho cave this as his opinion in the discussions at Grand Headquarters. It is another question wlicther, at that time, the enemv vould have accepted peace on the basis of the status quo iintc." No 12— 110 was bound by precedent and tradition. "For all exaggerated and fantastic clans the Crown I'rinco always had a cold shoulder. 110 is, as n human bainir. as well ns in his political views, n ir.an of the modern times. Ifis aversion to dictation and hereditary power and pomp were tho cnu>u of his beintr a lax soldier, but, at the wine time they made him a good poli tical thinner. /V long timo before the German revolution came, lie thought it would bo jroorl to liavo Parliamentary government in Germany. lie wanted to build Sip his future as an Emperor out of the past iinrj the present. As often as I listened to him J was under the impression that our future German Emperor was a clever, clear-headed man, full of a sense of responsibility, a for-ward-looting man, fit for his nve-hun-drod-year-old inheritance." No, 13—Tho Croivn Prince ran away

fiom the army, oven after his father had advised him to ronmin. "A few words about tlio departure of tlio Prince to Holland," «iys Major Anker's book. "It is true tliut In a letter written November 9 tho Emperor advised tlio Crown Princo t(> remain with the army until tho armistice was sigi cd. This advice w;ts only ill lino with what tho Croivn. Princo had' already decided to do. He wanted to do his duty under the now Government. lie reached this decision with tho words, 'Even if I have to do my duty as a common soldier.' The Crown Princo gave orders to wire Ebort, who conducted foreign a Hairs in thoso times in Berlin, that he wished to remain with the army end do his duty. He offered to bring his army back into tho Fatherland in perfect discipline and in good order and not to do anvlh'jig against the new Government. Tlio Government replied that they could not accede to hii desiro on the advice of the Minister of War. "Tho War Minister at that limo was liieut.-General Schenck, who has sinio declared that ho never received a qii&qtion from the Government or, this subject, . and that lie never gavo such adviio. Did Not Desert. "Bo that as it may, the fact remains that the Uoverninuilt dismissed the Crown Prince. Ho was forced to leave the army. Ono cannot speak of the Crown Prince's departure from Germany as a (light, because ho was regularly dismissed from tho army. The rumour-that he deserted tho army to save himself was a lio. "JIo had the choico to return to Germany or go abroad. Tliero were manv arguments against his going abroad. T.ieut.-Goneral Scheuck said ho considered it a very unhappy step,' Jiut it was-vary advisable for him to do so. His icpartufc for Holland look away every possibility that ho could be, in his own person, an olistaclo to the further political development of Germany. In his decision h<s had in mind the happiness of lr.s country." No. 14—His front-line soldiers had little confidence in him. In refuting this implied charge, Major Anker gives a picture of the departure of tho Crown Prince from tho front. "On tho afternoon of November 9, when I loft tho ' general headquarters with Crown Princo Willielm, wo passed several regiments coming from the front. The unknowing soldiers greeted us villi tiucere loyalty, as As bo had always doiio in tho preceding four years, lie stopped the ear and spoke in a friendly way to them. And so I was a witness, for tho last time, to tlio faithful and frank way in which the Gcr-nan fiout-soldk-rs spoke to their Crown Prince. They luiew. him and they loved him. Tluy ioolccd at him as their truo war-comrade, who always had . a heart and a:; understanding for their pleasures, sorrows and achievements. None of those front-soldiers ever believed in all these Accusations and rumours. The ifa German soldier in his plain and natural judgment was perfectly satisfied with his head commander, with the Crown Prince and with Kaiser Wilhelm. "And they had good reason to be. The Crowr Prince's. Ycllc-w Book, which is published in only the-'Gcrman language, is undoubtedly intended principally for reading in-Germany. In Holland it is believpd that the book wliieh tho Crown Prince is reported to be writing will be much along the skeleton of the charges and explanations which Major Anker has developed in the Yellow Book.