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“I HAVE ALWAYS CONSIDERED ENGLAND A FOE”
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WILHELM II; EMPEROR OF GERMANY. Two Autograph Letters Signed,
“Wilhelm / I.R.,” as Emperor, to General Director of the Hamburg America Line Albert
Ballin, in German, in pencil. The first, reporting on terms of the naval agreement being
negotiated [with Great Britain: the Haldane Mission]. 2 pages, oblong 8vo, written on the
recto and verso of a card, stationery embossed with the imperial eagle, pale blue paper.The
second, complaining that the British politicians refuse to conform to the February agree-
ment, explaining that the British declared an alliance with France, and had begun a
program of building Dreadnaughts. 5 pages, small 4to, written on two folded sheets, sta-
tionery embossed with the imperial eagle, pale blue paper. Each with the original
envelope.
“Berlin Palace” [Berlin], 9 February;“New Palace”
[Potsdam], 15 December 1912
[2,000/3,000]
15 December:“. . .Then . . . after it became
known that Serbia’s insolence was based on
its hope for help and support from the great
Slavic matriarch, we realized that we would
have to help Vienna, for the Slavic subjects
in Austria . . . could be kept in check only
through energetic action of the
entire
monarchy against Serbia. Austria stood at a
turning point, and it had become a life-and-
death matter whether it could remain
German and under German rule . . . or be
inundated in Slavdom and thus unable to
form alliances. If we were forced to take up
arms, then in order to help Austria we
would have to fend off not just Russia but
the Slavs in general, and to remain
German. That is, the Germans faced a
racial conflict with the Slavs, who had
become cocky. A racial conflict that we will
not be spared, for it concerns the future of
the Habsburg monarchy and the survival of
our fatherland. . . .
“
Then on December 6, Haldane came to
Lichnowsky . . . and declared to the aston-
ished ambassador in dry words: If Germany
gets embroiled in a war with Russia and
France, England will not remain neutral but
spring at once to France’s side. . . . Now you
can well imagine what effect this news had on the entire Wilhelmstrasse! It didn’t surprise me—as
you know, I have always considered England a foe . . . .
“
Politically, Haldane’s communiqué is a great blunder by the English government. . . . [W]ith this
declaration, England is announcing a state of alliance with France that ties it directly to the side of our
arch enemy.Thus, in the battle for survival that the Germans will be forced to fight in Europe against
the French-backed Slavs, the Germanic Anglo-Saxons . . . stand on the side of our racial foes, the
Slavs!!!
“
The British naval behavior is just as illicit and deceptive as its politics. Haldane had officially
informed us that the English building program for 1912 . . . will be Dreadnaughts . . . .
“
. . .This is how Britain’s famous friendship with Germany really stands! . . .”