Whilst by his policy he supports the foul murderer
of Christians and prepares the way for fresh butcheries on the return
of the victorious Turks from Thessaly, William II has addressed these
astounding words to the recruits of his Royal Guards: "He who is not a
good Christian, is not a brave man, nor a worthy Prussian soldier, and
can by no means fulfil the duty required of a soldier in the Prussian
army."
December 10, 1897. [21]
Germanism, which up till 1870 had a certain sense of decent restraint,
and took the trouble to disguise itself skilfully under Bismarck, no
longer knows either limitations or scruples. It displays itself
without shame, secure in the hesitancy of the Slav and the weakness of
the Latin peoples. Who could fail to be roused to indignation by the
display of German fanaticism which has taken place at Vienna? To think
that in the capital of an ally of William II, a faction, relying on
advice publicly given in Berlin should shout in the Reichsrath,
overthrow a ministry, disturb the public peace in the streets, and
accompany these manifestations with Prussia's national song, "Die Wacht
am Rhein," and the display of the German flag! If scandalous
proceedings such as these make no difference in the relations of the
Triple Alliance, why wonder at the audacity and pride of the Teutons?
Everything is a matter of exclusive right for the German. There are no
other rights but German rights, and when Germany claims the exercise of
a right, neither numbers, nor nationalism, nor races have any
existence, confronted by the individuality, the nationalism, of the
German race.
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