COURT &j DIPLOMACY IN AUSTRIA % GERMAN

WHAT KNOW
I

COUNTESS OLGA LEUTRUM

aURlJlS

Bedford

,V COI.HOURXE, LTD., Aihk\.t:i M Library, s forks. Leamington Spa.

COURT AND DIPLOMACY IN AUSTRIA AND GERMANY

AVHAT
1

KNOW=

RASPUTIN: PROPHET
LIBERTINE, PLOTTER
By T. VOGEL-JORGENSEN.
Translated

hy

W.

F.

ITarvey.
Cloth,
},$.

Second Impression.

dd. net.

Our interest in Rasputin must increase in direct proportion to our knowledge of this sinister personage who, little by little, from humble, even criminal beginnings, gathered into his hands all the threads of power in the Russian Church and State, and, himself a violent Reactionary, was unconsciously one of the main factors in precipitating the downfall of the Romanov Dynasty. In this hook Mr. T. Vogel-Jorgensen has collected from all authentic sources available the salient features of Rasputin's career, from his boyhood down to his assassination. In Denmark the book has already run into eight editions.
T. Fisher

Unwin Ltd.

London.

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in

2008

with funding from

IVIicrosoft

Corporation

http://www.archive.org/details/courtdiplomacyinOOIeut

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COURT

^ DIPLOMACY

IN AUSTRIA

AND GERMANY
I

^=WHAT
By

KNOW
V^'iSf

COUNTESS OLGA LEUTRUM

WITH IIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS

T.

FISHER UNWIN LTD.

LONDON: ADELPHl TERRACE

Pirst pttilishtd in i^iS

{All

rthh

rest^^ved.)

TO EVERY RIGHT-MINDED,

DECENTLY FEELING RUSSIAN

AS AN

ENCOURAGEMENT, TO EVERY

MISLED RUSSIAN FOR ENLIGHTENMENT,

THIS

BOOK

IS

DEDICATED
O.
L.

PREFACE
Silence may sometimes be both a crime and a tacit lie. If you see those you love best on earth approaching a precipice, because
they are temporarily blind, you are a criminal
if

you do not try to stop them.

My
partly

country, Russia,

my

nearest and dearest,

blinded

by

her

deceitful

enemies,

is

hovering on the brink of a precipice.

My hand is weak, yet it My silence must cease, lest

I

must more than another. I am in a position to do so, for I was able to weigh the scales, and can tell all those (the more the better) who have ears to hear, that in this war Right and Wrong are more clcariy defined than in any Not for nothing have the previous one. Central Powers been condemned almost unanimously as by a plebiscite of all nations, and condemned rightly. My hand will not tremble

must be extended. it become criminal. cry out and warn you, even I, far

PREFACE

nor
I

my

heart quail in view of the task,

tell

for

have been given strength to

the truth

and nothing but the truth because I know. I will explain why I have seen both sides
of the
shield

as

shortly

as
:

possible.

am

mixed parentage my father was I have Hungarian and my mother Russian.

a child
seen
of

the

political

face

(as

it

were,

genuine

home-face) of both lands

Russia
in

and Austria-

Hungary.
face
too,

Having
Austria's

been
present

Germany when
I

the war broke out, I have also seen the vile

of
boss.

saw

that

unmasked,
of

horrible
later.

and

brutal.

But
in
in

more
the

that

My
and

father
I

diplomatic

service,

was grew up

an
wise
of

atmosphere

saturated

with

international

politics.

From
of

childhood I was used

to hear subjects

men
world

many
in

nations

talk

of

interest.

My

father

was,

what
I

would be termed
tell

the parlance

of to-day,

a pro-German, a pretty rare specimen,

you,
in

can

the case of a Hungarian before

the

war.

My

mother,

Olga

Lobanov,

was

born and brought up in Paris, and represented

the best type of

a pure Russian personality,

culture

with

Anglo-French

grafted

upon

it.

She

may

be

said

to

have personified

the

PREFACE
" entente "
of

9 parents*
it

to-day.

My

marriage

was not a happy one, and

to

was only owing

my
a

that

mother's tact and personal dignity decent " facade " was maintained. I
her

was
hope

integrally
I

daughter,

and

though

was a dutiful daughter to

my

father

(though at the cost of great personal

there was a lack of

sacrifice)

About

my

sympathy in our relations. none too happy childhood no more

need be

said.

At eighteen I was " brought out " in Vienna and Budapest. I felt an alien, as my mother had felt before me. The carefully built up
patriotism,

implanted

in

the
facts,

schoolroom,

crumbled before the actual

the

when

saw

country

people.
reality
I

and observed the habits of the Nominally I belonged to that people, in

never did.
Therefore
I

my
freely

eyes

ears

were
father's

open and

could

and compare
In the

my
in
I

and
in

my
to

mother's countries.
pass

latter

we used

summer,

many happy months my mother's family. And there

did feel at home.

At nineteen,
saw

my

father

being at
at

the

time
I

Austro-Hungarian

minister

The Hague,
which

something of

the

first

Peace Conference.
during
I

most

interesting

time,

10
laid

PREFACE
up many
but
the
lurid

impressions,

that

have
clearly

been

dormant,
in

that
light

can
the

read

now,
Three
held

of

world-war.

years later I lost

my

adored mother,
drove
his

all I

dear on earth, and after eighteen months of

misery
father

that

almost
rid

me

insane,

my

got

of

none
as

too

well-loved

daughter
to

by placing me
Isabelle,

lady-in-waiting
wife
of

Archduchess

the

Arch-

duke Frederick of Austria, who was, as long as the late Emperor lived, commander of the
Austrian forces.

Thus situated
fear

could

make an

exhaustive
its

study of "Austria mendax."

By
to

that time

and

dislike of
will
see.

Russia was very apparent,

as

you

From 1903

1906 I was
In

there,

and then
sister.

my
evil

father died suddenly.

1906 I left court to be able to take care of

only

my

My

star

made me meet and

marry Count Leutrum in that year. I was separated from him in 1913, and he drank himself to death two months before the war
broke
out,

leaving

me

thus

entirely

free.

Munich for a year, for the sake of some very kind relations of my husband's who had sided entirely with me after he had made several attempts on my life. That is
I lived in

PREFACE
how
I

11

came
out.
all
is

to

be

in

Germany when

the

war broke
This
to explain

I
I

need

say of

my

personality,

how
is

came

to see both sides of the

war-question.

This

book
of

specially

written
she
true

for

Russia,

because

all

the
as

Allies

enlightenment
causes of
this

to

the

most needs and intimate

war and the long, treacherous preparations of Germany and Austria- Hungary. Young Revolutionary Russia has made an
almost

unavoidable
the bad

mistake

she
in

threw
getting

the
rid

good with
of her
lost

overboard
of

late

form

government.

Thus she

contact with

all

the previous information

necessary in order to form a right estimate of

this

war
for

and
one

of

its

importance.
it

It

is

pardonable mistake, but

able

would be unpardonbetter

who knows
truth.
I

not to

try

to tell

them the

should

be

bad

patriot indeed were

this
I

not to raise

my

voice in

case.

am
book

bold enough to
:

claim

one
lived

merit for
through,

my
seen,

have

personally
I
I

and heard what

as

am

going to put

down
be.

in the following pages.

try to be as impartial
possible
to

and as just

it

is

humanly

12

PREFACE
As
I said

before,

my

book
it.

is

dedicated to

Russia, for she most needs

But
in
all

hope

it

may

deserve a kindly welcome

the countries allied in this Holy War, united under the motto of " Right against

Might."
the

For

it

is

indeed a Holy
the
insane

War

against
in
for

brutality

and

militarism

which the Central Powers kept the world

forty years.
I think I need

say very

little

more

in this

my

introduction of

my

person and

the public.
to be so

By

this

they will see

book to how I came

sides

my

well

acquainted with

both

of

the shield.

As
I

cannot serve in the crusade

with the

sword, I put

my

pen at

its

disposal.

Nor do

wish to hide behind the curtain of anonymity.

I prefer to sign in full.

n^e

COUNTESS OLGA LEUTRUM, OKOLICZANYI OF OKOLICSNA.

PREFACE
1.

.....
IN

CONTENTS

MV DEBUT

AUSTRl A-HUNCiARY

17
.'JO

II.

THK PKACE CONFERENCE, THE HAGUE,

AT THE COURT OF AUSTRIA
.MY
.

18'.'9

III.

.73
1

1>

IV.

MARRIAGE. AND TOKENS

FURTHER SIGNS

AND
.

114
lol

T.

THE EXPLOSION 1914

MUNICH

VI.

....
.

217

VII.

THE .lOURNEY
riiK M.\(;rE

233
272
279
385

VIII.

ro.sTSCHirruM

INDEX

....

ILLUSTRATIONS
SROOTINd-PARTY AT SKKLOWTTZ. MORAVIA. 1904
Frontispieat

PACING PASS

PRINCE ALEXIS LORANOFF-ROSTOWSKY

OLfJA

21

OKOLICZANYI.

ROSTOWSKY

......
//fV

PRINCESS

LOBANOFF.17

ARCHDUCHESS ISABELLK AND HKR ALBRECHT

FIELD-MARSHAL PASKEVITCH
.

....
.

SON,

ARCHOUKE
7a
79
9?.

COUNT JULIUS ANDRASSY (THE SON) COUNT JULIUS ANDRASSY

COUNTESS LKUTRUM
(^THK

FATHER)

221
:2a;5

WHAT
MY DEBUT
I

KNOW
I

CHAPTER

IN AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
to a few soirees
in

HAD

first

been

Vienna,

before

was

brought
receptions

to

Pest,

and
the
or

having
world
at

had
at

some previous experience of

informal
at

home

the

houses of
of

my

parents' friends, I

had a standard

comparison

ready,

and asked

my

mother

why people seemed so hostile in Vienna ? " " Have you already noticed it ? " replied mamma. " I am at a loss," I went on, " because they
"

seem to lack the most elementary notions of

politeness

and hospitality."

"

Ah

"
!

" Listen

came again from my mother. Answer me honestly, have I ever

prejudiced you in any

way about your

2

father's

country

"
?

"

18
I

WHAT

KNOW

was astonished at the question, for indeed she had done nothing of the kind, by word or by deed. So far, in fact, that she had never
taught

me

Russian,

but
fit

conscientiously

led

my
so.

education so as to

me, as far as she

I

could,

for the country officially mine.

I

said

Then

added that

only could feel in-

distinctly that I did not

My

seem to belong here. mother's face became sad. " I did my

she said,
" but
I

best,"

suppose
child,

it

can't

be

helped.
is

You

see,

my

poor

your father

and I am Russian, both are equally feared and hated here. I had many bitter experiences myself. The Austrian
Hungarian,
aristocracy
is

ill-bred,

with the exception of

a few,

like

the

Metternichs,

who

are

cosmo-

politans.

The

rest

re-intermarry,
large

marry and intermarry, and they become like one until

and stupid family, who think there is outside of them. I tell you this, not to put you up against them, but to explain. I had been all over the world before I came here, and I never saw anything like it. I will tell you a story which would be impossible anywhere else. here I came when I was newly married, and a Viennese,

no world

so-called

'

great lady/ said within

my

hear-

MY DEBUT
ing,
'

IX AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

19

just after

that she really

to,

had been introduced to her, didn't know what the world

if

was coming
satraps

the
to
her,

daughters

of

Asiatic
civilized

were
I

going
faced
at

marry into
events, Asiatic

countries.'

and remarked very

satraps

coolly

'
:

that,

all

were not
politeness

civilized beyond

the

common

laws of

and

hospitality,

and (would the world

'

believe it?) were actually proud of this fact!

" I got a laugh at the lady's expense, and

a reputation for being able to

myself.

take care

of

People were more careful in sharpen-

ing their dull wits at

I

may remark
charm,

my expense after this." that my mother rejoiced in

both
for

world-wide
her

popularity,

her

beauty,

and
to

her
too,

intelligence.

She
offered

was
gra-

kindliness

itself

unless

one

tuitous

insults
case,

her

nationality,

as

in

the

above

" the fear

is

and then she was quite able to put of the Lord " into people. All this
It only goes

not of deep interest, perhaps.

to

the Russians are considered as far beneath the famous " Kultur "

show

that

Russia and

which has shown such glorious results

violation

in

the
of

of

Belgium,

the

martyrization

Poland and Serbia, jointly executed by Austria and Germany.

20

WHAT

KNOW

As regards Austria-Hungary, let it be remembered that it is a land of much-mixed

races, the greater part of

which are Slavs.

is

If

the at present reigning element, which

Ger-

man, were suppressed, with its appalling snobbery and more than Chinese ancestor-worship,
I

myself

could

find

much

to
in

like,

even

much

to remind

me

of home,

the people.

But the upper

parvenu.

classes are the ruin of the land,

from the reigning house

to

the

last

aping

Can you fancy a country where no talent, no genius even, can avail you to get recognition ? Unless you have sixteen quarterings you are beyond the pale, and even if you have
them, but are of alien blood, partly or wholly,

anathema upon you I happened to mention Tolstoy

!

once,

and
will

expressed

my

admiration

for

him.

You

upon what grounds his greatness was finally conceded by a few scions of
never
guess

Austrian nobility
he was a count
bitterness in

"

Ah, but that

is

different,
it
is

!^^

Do

not think
as
I

that
do.
I

me

to

speak

had
posi-

the required quarterings; I even

tion
sible

made a

for

myself eventuallj^ by the only pos-

method there

that

of being even

more

PRINCE ALEXIS LOBAXOFF-ROSTOWSKY,

To

face p. 21.

MY DEBUT
I

IN AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
But
in
I

21

rude than they were.

was an

alien,

and
I

took a certain pride

also

being

different.

was
tion

blessed

by a sense of humour,

so

that I got a lot of quiet fun out of

of

my

posiI

onlooker

And

sarv

the

game,
are

promise you.
I
all

do
in

not

consider that

diplomats

at

a good

position to judge

not from

the

inside.
spies,

They

are considered officially

nominated

and compromising conversations stop at

approach.
their

their

flattery,

They get their meed of meed of blame, and it is the

if

merest

chance

they perceive

corner

of

the national
I

soul.

can give you a concrete

great uncle (brother of

example

that
died

of

my

mamma's

father),

Alexis

Lobanov, who was our ambassador at

for

Vienna

many
ago

long year, and

who

twenty
that

years

under

the

fond

illusion

Austria
a

was

well-disposed

towards

us.

He was
single

shrewd and clever man, yet was

hoodwinked.
he was
well

completely

And
off,

why

For

man
cannot
!

and

he received
the society

much and charmingly.

that

Show me
into

be
the

fed

temporary
his

good

humour
ollicial

On

other

hand,

age

and

position

brought

him

into

contact

2^

WHAT
Hungarian
in

KNOW
who
still

with the older elements,

the
role

Revolution
the

remembered Russia's and

These

saving

Habsburg throne.
present,
will

retained some sort of gratitude, unwilling perhaps,

but

still

faintly

even in later
pre-

days

my

days.
for

We
the

come to that

young men in the diplomatic they no doubt enjoyed the "life in Vienna." I wish them to remember that loose women are a purchasable commodity all the world over, and that the good fellowship built upon the foundation of " Wine and women " is also international and worthsently.

As

service,

less.

No

one

will
is

make me

believe

that

champagne supper
racial

the proper place to study

Besides,
it
is

sympathies or differences.
Veritas "

if

the

saying " In vino

truer,
it

be true,
that
it

even
a

seems

to

me,

induces

certain
liking

equality and

a feeling

of

superficial

for

him who pays.

And be

assured
as

it

was we who paid, le cceur sur la main are and paid in more ways than one.

we

tragic figure in contrast to all this rises

before

my

mind's

eye.

beautiful
greatest

Russian,
in

married into one

Austria.
I

of the

families

People
scarcely

say

she
it

was
now.

merry

once
thirty

can

credit

At

MY DEBUT
her
hair

IN AUSTHIA-HUNGARY
and
I

2t

was

grey,

haunting
her
;

sadness
she
is

never

left

Iier

face.

know
and
and

always

uncommunicative

dignified.
hell

She
life

has tried her best.

in

She had a
I

of a

her husband's family,

whilst

myself heard

her vilely abused,

apparently the only

that
she

evidence
Russian.

against

her

was

was

The other instance was that

beautiful Italian.

of

an equally
If the
silent,
ally,

Mercifully she died.

hatred against us was deep-rooted

that
of
Italy,
officially

and
an

accounted

but

always

treated

as

an

enemy,

was very
to-day " treason."

blatant

and

offensive

indeed.
Italy's

Yet

Austria
It
is

clamours

about
!

merely laughable

Now
I

come to a strange part

of

my

first

impressions.

must begin with a few lines of history. In 1848, exasperated by the atrocious treatment of her by Austria, Hungary rose as The revolution was successful, and one man. treacherous the House of Habsburg was almost swept off by it. Almost What bitter regret must till the heart of every true Russian to-day that the Emperor Nicholas I, through
!


24

WHAT

KNOW

dynastical prejudice, was induced to help the

" young Emperor, Francis Joseph."

It

was a kinsman of mine,

to play.

my

great-grand-

father, Field-IVIarshal Paskevitsch,

who had
his

the

chief role

Whilst obeying the Tsar's

secret

command, he made no
opinion,
either

of

private

before

his

Imperial master or

otherwise.

He

said
it

he

disliked

his

task,

because

he

was sure
Austria's

would only once more bring out

thanklessness,
directing
said
it,

historical
later,

sooner

or

against us.

He

Austria

was rotten, and the only live sapling, sprung from a decayed tree, was the rebellious Hungary he was asked to fight. It is also a
matter of
best
history that

he tried to

make
his

the

terms for the foes he had

gallant.

beaten,

but
fault

considered
that

It

was none of

Emperor Francis Joseph broke his solemn Imperial word of honour concerning the safety of the rebellious generals. This word had been given to Paskevitsch, yet he had scarcely passed the frontier when the Emperor gave orders to have them all hanged ! Think of
the
horror
of
it

hanged
those

It

should

be

dread warning to
to be able to

all

who imagine to-day

acceptable

come

to honourable,

MY DEBUT
terms with
the
atrocious

IN AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
Be warned
of
Vilagos,
in

25

Austria.

time,

by
in

gallows

erected

defiance

of a solemnly passed

Imperial word.

Believe

me,
are

now

as

of

yore,

high

sounding

promises

easily

given

by the

House of
sides.

Habsburg
I

and

as easily broken.

heard this story recounted on both

My

mother told

it

me

often, as a sort of family

history,

dwelling upon the

indignation
quite

of her

grandfather,

who

never

forgave

the

Emperor

of Austria this
it

mean

act. us,

On

the other side

was told

strangely

by the chief leader of the rebels, General Gorgey himself. He was at that time in Rome, where he passed the winters of his exile, whilst my father was attached to the " Black Embassy." I was a small girl of nine, but I still remember the scene as if it were to-day the
enough,

extraordinarily

bending
saying
:

low

handsome white-haired General over my mother's hand and " Madam, you must accept an old
in

soldier's

tlianks

place of your grandfather

had
been
first

it

not been for him this head would have

a felon's noose, and

in

my

heart would

have broken under the

shame and the

dishonour of such a death."

5f6

WHAT
He

KNOW
is

then told us a thing that

perhaps not

generally
if

known, but can do no harm now,

published, namely, that, considering General

Gorgey
father

was the
feared
to

ringleader,

my

great-grand-

trust

to

the

mercy of the

Austrians, and privately helped

I

him to

escape.

shall

when
to

never forget the pride that filled me " We never surrendered Gorgey said
:

the

Austrians, never

but

to Paskevitsch

there

was no shame in surrendering, for he was strong and great enough to be merciful."

One strange impression

be summarized
it

spoke about can

in the following

words

though
fought
experi-

was

Hungary
and beaten,
less

the

Russians

had
I

against

my

mother and

enced far

unkindness there than in Austria,

though
that

we were of the very blood of the man who had vanquished them. It must be
some popular sense
the
of justice

brought
it

back

hatred

to

roost

where

really

belonged

to
the

Austria.

And
need
being
sight

Hungarians'

friendliness
for

to

us

not
of

be

accounted
race.

by

my

father's
fore-

their

Ambition

and
for

made
made

my

paternal
cause,

grandfather

stick
his

to the
career

Imperial

and ambition
quite

my

father

exaggeratedly

MY DEBUT
tuous appellation

IN AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

27

black and yellow (" Schwarzgelh^'" the contempin

Hungary

for

those

who
was

pinned their faith to the Imperial colours).

And

assure you,

up to the war,
;

this

no Open Sesame to favour

tacit traitor's

indeed,

rather a

badge
soul

in

the eyes of Hungary.

My

mother possessed
of

to a great degree that

so

democracy
Russians.

common among
though
of

the

Her sympathies were

generally,

not with kings

and

princes

course

making exceptions for special persons "He (or them. Phrases hke this
:

among
she)
is

quite nice,

in spite of

being a Highness,"

constantly heard from her.

that

No

wonder, then,

we made our friends in Budapest largely among the so-called *' Opposition party " " party more or less constantly " en fronde with Vienna, but by far the more sympathetic
faction.

My

father

was

in

the

queer

posiif

tion
1

of

having an

" inherited friendship,"

may

use the expression, with

the family of

their
his

accepted

leaders,

the

Andrassys.
secretary

In
to

youth he had

been

private

by the way, also died a disappointed, heart-broken man, because

their

eminent father, who,

his

he witnessed

life-work

the

better under-

standing between the two halves of the Mon-

28

WHAT

KNOW
of Austria.

archy

ruined

by the

faithlessness

Pohtically, then,
fighting

my

father
nail,

them tooth and

took
place.

was their enemy, and many strange

discussions

avowed aim, up to
Austria.

The Opposition's unthe war, was liberation from

My

father of course considered this

ruin.
?

damnation and
I

wonder what he would say now

is

thing

certain,

that

never

were

there

One two

more absurdly mated. Hungary, if proud, vain, and excitable, is also, in the main, frank, chivalrous, and generous. Predestined
countries
to be
le

dindon de

la farce^

she fought Austria's

wars, paid her debts, was exploited

and fooled

by her always in the past, the present, and in the future how long ? Take three episodes out of her history for
:

centuries

she

Her own glory perhaps, for certainly that was all the thanks she got. The famous time when Maria Theresa felt shaken upon her throne and appealed,
Turks
with a dramatic talent that
is

to

was a what end ?

rampart

against

the

undeniable, to

Hungary
Oh, I

what did Hungary ever get for it ? forget! Numbers of people were created
!
!

counts, of course

Then

lastly,

in

'66,

when the

only

good

MY DEBUT
general
in

IN AUSTRIA-HUNGARY army had was

29

the Austrian

sacrificed,
fall

order that the blame should not

upon

member of the House of Habsburg. I mean General Benedek, who was the only one who could perhaps have saved the country from the German claw. And we ? WTiat did ive get for our helping craven hand ? Exactly what Hungary got
a
:

fear,

hate,

contempt,

abuse,

treachery.
lies

The
in the

only sign of respect in both cases

first- mentioned

result

fear.

It is
simile.

not for nothing that I draw this lengthy

you dreamers of dreams of peace, and accept them For in me you have a witas a mene tekel. saw things from the inside saw ness who everything from close by the war broke out, I had one WTien moment of hope. Hungary in its blindness
these
signs
in

Read

Russia,

let

the liberating minute pass.

CHAPTER

II

THE PEACE CONFERENCE, THE HAGUE, 1899

Young Do you
Russia,

you talk much of Liberty

liberty for certain factions,
I

only

mean
all ?

or liberty for

hope you are large-minded

latter.

enough to mean the

believe

Not

hear the truth argues weakness

want to and I do not

to

you are weak. I need liberty for what I am going to say to you, because I must talk of one you have now dethroned, and whose fate should be another perpetual mene tekel to you, to all
of

you

as a nation.

From
you, yet
I
full

the bottom of
believe

my

heart devoted to

you to be full of sense, and of idealism, more so than any other

nation in the world.

ideals

And fundamentally your

saner,

are

larger,

better,
in
30

with more of

beauty and courage

them

than those

of

THE PEACE CONFERENCE

other
nations.
rise

31
will
all

And
the

yet

and yet
that

you
those
love

ever

to

eminence

who
Ah,

love

you with a deep and abiding

desire for

you

?
!

Russia

Your

fate

is

interwoven with

every fibre of
life
is

my

being; every minute of

!

my
not

but hope and prayer for you

Do

disappoint me, and the hundreds of thousands

like

me You talk,
!

too, of Socialism
it.

and a golden era

to

arise
it,

from

Do any

of you,

who

talk

about
first

remember the God-made-man Who taught you the original elements of this

doctrine

Christ
of
?

And

has any one

of

you

ever

noticed

the

fundamental
application

difference

between

the
its

Divine

the

theory
1 talk

and

human
and uneven by
one

counterpart

And

to believer

believer alike,

for the

pure philosophy of the

accepted

Christian doctrine has been

unbelievers,

and the Divine

practically

idea, the only

that can,

if

executed, lead

you to
talks

golden

era

of

peace

and goodwill,
is

always of giving.

Your talk
well.
I

but of taking.
differently

Understand
to
for

me

would talk
;

a people
you,
for

less

idealistic

but

my

speech
try

is

Russians.

Can you not

to

32

WHAT

KNOW
?

grasp that unless you too are eternally willing

to give, you will achieve nothing
If each of
all,

you and

is

not

willing to

die

and
die

suffer for

all

are not willing to

and

suffer

for

one of you
unity

if

you do not achieve a

achieve

selfless

you

will

but

" noise

and

nothingness"; you will go the

disintegration,

way

of discord,

and death. Yes, death moral, Cannot you summon spiritual, and physical. enough greatness to lay aside personal ambition,

and instead of being

tiny
stars,

separate, miserably

twinkling

unite

your

forces

to
into

become
one

rays

of

light,

linked

together

great

sun, useful

and powerful, shedding and

happiness
?

glory and

splendour

proin

pose you

new
and

device,

to be inscribed

upon your banners the device of a new power for good and a new " One for all, and all It should be nation. The man you Listen to me one." for
your
hearts
:
!

dethroned had high

ideals.

Was

not his the

hope of bidding
peace

for arbitration, so as to secure

Surely no ideal can be upon earth ? At present it is your own also. Both higher you and he forgot the saying of Christ '' For unto thee I bring not peace, but the
!

sword."

And

again

address

myself

to

THE PEACE CONFERENCE

believers

88

and
tried

unbelievers
to

you ever

any of understand the inner meanalike

is

have
if

ing of this saying

?
:

The inner meaning

for

that

cause

that

is

right,

and moment to lay down your

watchful

and

armed,
the
is

you stand you must remain be ready at any

life

for

it.

Yea,
if

even
he

sacrifice

life

of

your

brother,
right.

attacks a

what
sword

holy

and
is

Christ

brought
cleave

for

Truth

a
If,

sword

to
lie

lies

and shams
is

in twain.

therefore,

your cause

the cause of Truth versus a

If

you
only,

7nust

fight.

your brother attacks you

you are

free to let

him

kill

you,

if

you

so choose, because

you are only an individual, a personal unit, and you were given free will. But if he attacks your wife, your children,
fight,

your family, you rnust

kill

and,

if

necessary,
holy,

him,

because

he

attacks

what

is

in

every nation, in every civilization, even in the

basest,

the
it,

least

developed

he desecrates, in

attacking

the hearth, the family.

is

In a larger sense, every nation

as a family,

and every man, worthy of the name, was given

his family

to defend.

Will yuu, Russians,

idealists, lay

whom
8

just

now

I
?

called

down

the sword of Truth

You

84

WHAT

KNOW
as

before whose collective

and individual courage

before

the world has bowed until now,

strange
virtue
?

a
to

your
you,

worst
of
all

enemy could
nations,

not

dispute

Will

stand

be

pilloried,

as traitors

and written down henceforward and cowards ? Never ! But if

me,

Then
let

pray God be merciful to

and

me

die in that hour.

tekel !

Mene, mene,
idealist,

The Emperor was an

yet
in

Because
force,

you dethroned him. And why ? his soul there was no unity, no
!

no

will

Because

the

sacred

flame
all

burnt unsteadily and wavered.

Will you

Won't you be able to find the collective strength of will that must keep you seated upon a throne among the other nations, Will you, too, strong, loyal, and honoured ?
waver too
?

shilly-shally

until

it

is

too

late,

until

the

nations
lings,

rise

against

you,

calling

you

weak-

and thus dethrone you,

?

you into the outer darkness

this,

and precipitate For remember

at

the present
!

your entire future

bless or to curse,

moment you are risking You are the men whom

have reason either to
lose
!

unborn generations will

Don't
forget
it

even hundreds of years hence.

;

never

sight

of

your

tremendous responsibility

THE PEACE CONFERENCE

85

Can you not open your eyes and see that a miracle has happened? Almost the entire world
has forgotten
fight
its

small

immediate interests to
out
to

cerous,

common enemy to cut And poisonous growth.

I

a can-

the most

unbelieving

would say

Look

at America

Do

you think a nation so free from constraint,

have
high

so level-headed,

ever

and so eminently gone to war were

unavoidable,
of

pacific,
it if

would

not a dire

necessity,

a thing

one would

keep

the standard
is

national
its

honour

? ?

And what
All

a nation

without

honour

you have surely met in your life an individual person who had lost that precious
of
intangible thing
!

Did

you

think

that

existence
!

enviable

shunned, disliked, a moral leper

shudtler,

Well, then,

every

one

of

you,

at

the

thought

of preparing such a future for a whole nation,

innocent

and

guilty

alike

of

preparing such
trying to be
Is
1

a future for your children.

just,
I

Yet,
:

can

see
?

your objection

our cause
it
is,

the
I

just
will

one

And
you

because
out
of

know

answer
the
of

my

knowledge

out

of

experience

of one
;

who has
to

seen

both

sides

the question
nations

because she
belonged

saw
pre-

one

of

the

she


86

WHAT
the
it

KNOW
death
for

pare

ambush
with her

of

the

other.

Heard

own ears, saw it with her own eyes. And when the atrocious result became visible, when this poor earth was made
burn

to

and

bleed,

by

the

crime

of

two
evil

powerful nations, joined in the cause of

then, even
and
alone,

I,

a woman, weak of health, poor,

strength
to

found

renounce

the

side of evil for the side of good.

And

pray

now
for

may

be given the pen as a sword, to fight

:

Right against Might

to raise the banner

for all to see
!

of Truth,

and wave
In

it

on high

Listen

1899 the

man whom you

de-

throned was one of the most powerful rulers

on earth.
an
possibility
least

So that
of

his

motive for proposing

to
establish
this

international

conference

the
at

by cannot be put down

peace
all

arbitration

to

him

as weakness.
:

And
Prince,

the other rulers said to him

" Hail,

for
in

thy thought
their

is

good."
two,

All

were

honest
secretly

greeting but
their

who were
murder.

sharpening

knife

for

Upon

the face of these two the smile of wel-

come was a
blackness.

and And, though

sneer,

in
I
it

their

hearts dwelt
I

was young,
happened.

heard

and

I saw.

This

is

how

OLGA OKOLICZAXVI,

na-

PRIN'CESS LOBAXOFF-ROvSTOWSKY.

To

face p. 37.

THE PEACE CONFERENCE

Picture
to

87
little

yourself

lovely

sleepy

town,

all

of a sudden inundated

lectual forces

by the intelof the whole world. It was The

1899.
savants,
soldiers,
sailors,

Hague

in

May

Politicians,

and
world
(or

writers, in fact every brilliant brain the

over,

had been sent by their government

of their free will, out to of curiosity

came

and
It

interest)

help

on the cause of peace.

!

was an extraordinary event indeed And what wonder that the house of a beautiful, charming, and intelligent woman, with an
international

reputation

for

these
centre,

qualities,

should

become

the

social

where

all

these people loved to gather,

and where they

down.
This

talked, so to say, with their visors

woman was my
Her
conversation,

mother.
her
delightful,

hospitality,

sparkling

and

her discretion,

marked

her

by common consent it was hers. By blood and by ineradicable sympathy she was, and had always remained, a Russian. By marriage she was the wife
out for this position
of

and

the

Austro-Hungarian
I

Minister

at

The
I

Hague.

was

her
as

modest
always,

aide-de-camp

and confidant,

then

and

what

am

going to report was either said within

my

hearing or told

me

afterwards by her.

38

WHAT
The
President,
his

KNOW
by
seniority

both

and

be-

cause

country

had

taken

the

initiative,

was Baron de
this
ally

Staal, at the time

Russian

Am-

bassador at London.

How

can

I best describe

man, with the physique of a preternaturclever, yet venerable, orang-outang? With

that

eyes

took

in

everything
of

with

a
all

dis-

tinction

own.
so
to

and a Next to

force

personality

his

the

effect

of

vivid

and,

say,

vibrating
invariably
of
entire

intelligence

that

Baron
the

de

Staal

produced,

he

gave

impression
honesty.

straightforwardness

and

This
in
on,
his in

old

man

of

near

eighty

was young

enthusiasm and hopefulness

his

^and,

later

indignation too.

The idea he was

was worthy of

asked to represent was great, and the devotion he placed at

it.

its

service
his

But
to

all

too

soon

hopefulness

made
here
a

way

indignation.

Let

me

repeat
in

conversation

that

took

place

my

mother's
quite

salon one day,

when by chance we were

alone with him. " Cela ne marche pas, cela ne

On

nous met des batons dans

!

les

marche pas roues, a chaque

!

instant
alors

L'Allemagne joue a cartes fermees,

les

que

not res sont etalees sur

la

table.

THE PEACE CONFERENCE

Que
veulent-ils ?
lis

39
se

s'esquivent,

ils

de-

robent, et TAutriche de

meme."

"Pardon, Olga Michailovna, j'oublie toujours que cela pourrait vous froisser, j'oublie que vous n'etes plus Russe."
" Je serai

toujours Russe,

mon ami

on ne
croyezla

change pas son coeur a volonte

mais
"

vous done a des sentiments hostiles de

part

de I'Allemagne, a ces idees de Paix ? " Je vous ai deja dit qu'ils se derobent.
S'ils

etaient

franchement hostiles
effraye.

je

crois

que

je

serais

moins

Vous verrez que nous

serons tous

prets

signer les conventions

I'ltalie,

la
tres
si

France,

I'Angleterre,

I'Amerique, I'Es-

pagne

nous autres,

les

petits

pays

aussi,

naturellenient.
leurs
'*

Ceux-la

n'ont qu'a gagner,

grands voisins se tiennent tranquilles."

voila,

Et

et

voila

encore
a

I'Allemagne et
avis,

I'Autriche

ne

signeront,

mon

jamais

Avec
de
la

eux aussi se proclament champions Paix de la Paix armee jusqu'aux dents,

cela

Et nous devrons continuer a nous miner en armements, car cependant on ne pent pas etre bete au point de desarmer tous, si eux no desarment point. Des fois ils s'imaginent
naturellement
!

que nous serions

assez
:

serieux

pour

le

faire.

Voyez vous un peu

lis

nous encouragent

meme

40

WHAT
desarmer,

KNOW
on leur
c'est tout
!

de

seulement quand
lis disent

dit

Et vous, messieurs?
autre chose
!

que

a fait

Je vous demande un peu

il

Je con-

nais Miinster de longue date,

est

meme mon

ami, personnellement, mais ni officiellement ni

en sa qualite d'ami, Je
I'ai

il

n'y a rien a en tirer!

attaque
le

de

face

un

jour,

et
:

il
'

repondu
tenir les

plus

evasivement possible
avait tout
interet

m'a Que

I'Allemagne certes

a main-

bases de la politique Bismarckienne,

amitie avee la Russie, alliance avec I'Autriche

et ritalie
:

il

ne croyait pas que Ton denierait

etc.

de ces principes,'
II
'

L'Empereur Guillaume
'

un souverain pacifique,' etc., encore. Et le desarmement partiel ? lui demandai-je. Une Utopie. Et puis I'Autriche ne voudra jamais, elle se compose de nationalites trop
est
*

differentes,

une armee commune

pour
fondre

est necessaire

pour

amalgamer,

tous

ces

ele-

Possible, mais ments divers.' Welsersheimb, qui n'est ce que m'explique que c'est VAllemagne d'une armee pour defendre et

pourquoi
pas un
qui

estaigle,

besoin
ses

maintenir

colonies contre

I'Angleterre, et se garer contre

?

Tagression de la France

C'est fou,

que voulezfiasco.

vous, mais c'est ainsi qu'ils se renvoient la balle

et

c'est ainsi

que nous allons droit k un

'

THE PEACE CONFERENCE

" Si encore
la

41

Russie prenait pour pretexte,

pour avoir une forte

apres
aurait
est

armee, que nous avons

a

tout

I'Asie

entiere

nos portes, cela

encore

quelque

sens

commun.
le

L'Asie
restera

tou jours un facteur inconnu, et

probablement

longtemps

encore.

Mais

eux
ni

Nous ne
leurs, si

soninies certes pas agressifs et n'avons

ail-

aucune querelle a chercher en Europe,

on nous
laisse tranquilles.
'

plus

ou moins, tou jours ete un

Mais
croyez-vous

Nous avons, bon Geant

et le serons toujours."
*'

la

possibilite,

meme
?

eloignee,

que d'autres s'attaquent

nous

"

here interpolated

Mamma.
.
.

" L'Angleterre

ne

nous aimc pas, mais

" L'Angleterre,
retardez

."

Olga
ans

Michailovna

Vous

dc

vingt

au

moins

L'Angle-

terre est riche,

puissante,

elle

pent de ne pas
si

nous aimer

d'un tendre amour, mais

foi,

nous

desarmons de bonne
aussi

elle

dcsarmera tout
la

honnetement,
Aussi

unc

fois

question
croire
ils

des

Boers reglee.
les

bien, je

veux

que
ne

Anglais soient aveugles, mais jamais

seront assez aveugles pour vouloir serieusement

affaiblir le brisc-lame
I'Asie.

que nous sommes, contre

L'avenir nous

Elle tient trop a ses Indes.

verra peut-etre Allies ennemis, je n'y crois pas! "


WHAT
" Alors ? " queried " Alors, alors, j'ai

42

KNOW
mother.

my
^

tres

peur quand-meme

depuis cette conference."

I

" It won't do
!

it

won't do
is

they put obstacles before

us at every step

Germany

playing with hidden cards,

while ours are spread on the table.

They
so
is

are lying low,

What do they want ? and playing an underhaijd game and

:

Austria."
;

" I beg your pardon, Olga Michailovna

that you

I
;

always forget

be hurt by this sort of thing I forget you are no longer a Russian." " I shall always be a Russian, my friend one's heart is not to be changed at will but do you believe in a hostile
:

may

attitude on Germany's part, in the midst of " of Peace ?

If they were frankly hostile I think I should
will see,

all

these ideas

" I have already said they are playing an underhand game.

You

/foe less alarmed. be ready to sign the treaties France, England, Italy, America, and Spain and we ourselves, and the little countries too, naturally. These will

we

shall all

be
to

all the better off if their great neighbours keep quiet. " There you are, and there again Germanj'^ and Austria,
:

And for all that they too declare themselves champions of PeacePeace armed to the teeth, of course And we shall have to go on ruining
thinking, will never sign.
!

my

ourselves over armaments, for after

as all to disarm
if

all

we

can't be so stupid

Sometimes they think we should be sufficiently in earnest to do it. You see how it is they urge us to go even to the point of disarmament, but when you ask them And what of yourselves, gentlemen ? they say it is quite another matter ! Did you ever hear of such a thing ? I have known Miinster for many years, he is even a personal friend of mine, but neither from his official nor his friendly relations with me can I drag
they do not.
:
:

THE PEACE CONFERENCE

And
"
then, as
:

43

if

a prophetic spirit seized him,

he went on
V^oici
:

I'Autriche

veut s'etendre

vers

les

Balkans, qifelle compte englober tot ou tard.

L'Allemagne
Provinces
colonies

guigne

notre
et
elle

Pologne
est

et

nos
des

baltiques,
et

jalouse

anglaises,

de son expansion comelle

merciale,

laquelle
faire

ambitionne

de

plus

en plus de

concurrence.
!

Nous dormons

anything out of him I attacked him openly one day, and he answered as evasively as possible ' that it was
certainly entirely to

Germany's

interest to
is

preserve the

foundations of Bismarck's policy, that

to say, a friendship
:

with Russia and an alliance with Austria and Italy

he
etc.

did not think these principles

etc.'
'

would

be forsaken,

Emperor William II was still a peace-loving sovereign, What you do think of partial disarmament ? I
'

asked.

'

Utopia.

Besides, Austria will never consent

she

is

made up
is

of too

many

different nationalities,

and a

common army
mingle
all

necessary to her so as to amalgamate and

is

Possibly, hut why does no eagle, point out to me that it is Germany who needs an army to defend and maintain her colonics against England, and to protect herself against aggression on the part of France ? It is wild, but what do you expect ? For that is how they toss the ball to and frf> and that is how we are heading straight for

these diverse elements.'

Welscrsheimb, who

disaster.

" Even

if

army
Asia

the fact that after

Russia chose as a pretext for keeping up a strong all we have the whole of Asia at
in

our doors, there would at least be some sense

is

the plea.

always an unknown quantity, and

will

probably

44

WHAT
fermes,
crie

KNOW
dort,
la

a poings ne

I'Angleterre

France
seule-

qu'en reve.
les

L'AUemagne ferme
la

ment
elle

yeux
et
elle

pour

forme

en

verite

veille

s'arme.

L'Autriche devient
elle

son esclave de plus en plus, et

jamais

ne nous a
sauvee

pardonne
j'ai

celle

la,

de

I'avoir

en

'48,

" Enfin

une

peur

instinctive

des com-

mencements de
et
si

siecles.

" L'enfant [that was myself] ecarquille

je suis

les

yeux,

mauvais prophete,

je lui
of

permets
?

remain so for a long time yet.

Europe, nor always been continue so " But do
that
others

But what

them

We
have
shall

are certainly not aggressive and have no quarrel to pick in

anywhere else, if we are left alone. more or less a good-natured giant

'

We
'

and

always."

you believe
will

in
?

attack us

even the remote possibility " here interpolated Mamma.

.

" England does not like us, but ." " England, Olga Michailovna you are at least twenty years behind England is rich and powerful she very
.
! !

likely does not love us tenderly,

but

if

we disarm

in all

good

faith she will disarm quite as honestly, once the

is

Boer

question
seriously

settled.

Besides, I

am

willing to believe that

the English are blind, but they will never be so blind as

to

wish

to

form against Asia.

She

weaken the breakwater that we sets too much store on her India.

The

future
it

may
"

find us allies

but

enemies, no, I don't

believe

" And then ? " queried my mother. " Then, then, I am very much alarmed even since this
conference."

THE PEACE CONFERENCE

de dire plus tard
je
'
:

45

Le vieux a
je

radote.'

Moi
qu'elle

serai

mort,

mais

crains

bien
la

ne voit encore eclater une guerre,

rible

plus ter-

que

forces

monde n'a jamais vue. Avec les partagees comment ? Je n'en sais rien
le

encore.
le

Mais
often

je

suis

sur,

ahsolument sur, que

^

premier coup partira du cote allemand."

How
Staal's

I
!

have

remembered
qui

Baron

de
les

words
is

" L'enfant

ecarquille

yeux"2

now
:

a very sad and weary

woman,

" It

is

like this

Austria wants to spread out towards

the Balkans, and counts on absorbing

them sooner or later. Germany has an eye on our Poland and our Baltic Provinces, and is jealous of the English colonies, and of the expansion of English commerce, which she grows more and more
ambitious to
rival.

We

are sleeping with our

is

fists

clenched,

England
sleep.

is

asleep,
is

and France

Germany

only crying out in her only keeping her eyes shut for form's

sake
is

in reality she is

increasingly her slave,

awake and arming herself. Austria and we have never been forgiven

for

havmg saved
then
I

her in 1848.

"And
"The

have an instinctive dread of the opening of

a new century.
child [that

ished eyes,

say later

was myself] is looking at me with astonand if I am a bad prophet I give her leave to on, The old man was talking nonsense.' I shall
'

be dead, but

am

very

nmch
?

afraid she will live to see

seen.

war declared, the most

terrible

war the world has ever

I

How
But
fired
'

will
I

the forces be divided

sure, absolutely sure,

am

cannot say at present. that the first shot will be

by Germany."

The

child with astonished eyes.

46

WHAT

KNOW

and begs pardon of his spirit for having, in childish optimism, beheved then " que le vieux radotait." ^ You must not forget that I was
barely nineteen.

My

mother became very

left,

serious,

and

after

Baron de Staal had

thought about
"
it.

I asked her
:

what

she

She replied

You know
opinions

that

whatever
be,

your
are

father's

political

may

they

not

anti-

Russian.

This conference for the estabhshment

I

of arbitration has his entire approval.

have
faith.

no reason whatever to doubt

Well, a few

his

good

days ago he also

told
line

me

that

he could not understand the

prescribed

of conduct

by the governments in and Germany. As you know, he put out and moved to anger, and very angry indeed when he said
'

Austria
is

easily

he was
to to
for

me
send
all

We

might

as

well

have

refused

representatives

to

this

conference,

the good
evasive,

we

are doing.

We

are taking

up an

yea
tion

unworthy attitude, saying neither With her usual discriminanor nay.

Austria

has

sent

one

poor fool

[meande
doing

ing Welsersheimb] and one knave [Gaetan

Merey],
1

who

stop

the honest

men from

That the old man was talking nonsense.

THE PEACE CONFERENCE

anything.

47

As
I

to

Miinster

and

the
all.

other

Germans,
are

They long-winded and turn out compliments by

they might

cannot make them out at

the yard, but

be fools or knaves
the
all

know them not to be), for all good they do. And Professor Zorn makes
(which
I

our

heads

reel

with

statistics

that

prove

nothing and lead nowhere

if

for
"

all

the world as

he wanted to gain time.'

Now, whatever
honest
in

my

father's

faults,

he

was
being

his

political

convictions,

and

honest, unable to see through

the deep

game

the
as as

others were playing.

He

put them down

being ungainly,
far

clumsy,
their

but could not go

real

as

suspecting
rather

reason.

He
Hav-

himself
ing

was

an

anti-militarist.

a physical defect (he was lame), he had

never served,
all its

and certainly militarism under forms was a dead letter to him. On the
hand,
he
believed
in

other

political

and

diplomatic regeneration of the world, of which

he thought the idea of peace by arbitration was

at least a fair beginning.

He was
tradition
friendly

of the old school, of Bismarck

in

so far as the

went.

He was

frankly

towards Russia, but (nobody really knows why) he hated England, France, and


48
Italy.

WHAT
man,
perhaps

KNOW
the reason
that

Considering that he was a most " con-

trary "

my

mother loved
cause.

these countries was a sufficient " I can!

In his embarrassment, he expressed a

sentiment that sounds prophetic now.

not conceive the

object

of isolating ourselves

Even England, who is always grasping, always harbouring some after-thought, for her own
aggrandizement
she
is

look

at (her

the

Boer

Wareven
quarrel
left

quite

willing

present

out

of

the question) to submit to arbitration.

this
it

Before
feared

conference was

started, I

always

would be from the side of Albion our difficulties would arise. Yet she is as pleasant and as willing as any to help on this cause.

But
tion.

we

we

Utopia

or

not,

arbitration

would at

least

be a step in the right direcblind to this fact."

if

But we seem to be

" For," he always added, as

der,

in fear or

won-

" I cannot admit for an instant that any modern Power an hope or wish for war "
!

Two
here
to

other

conversations

wish to

record

prove
the

my

point.

One with Count

one
with

Miinster,

German,

and

Count

Welsersheimb, the Austrian chief delegate.

You must consider that all of us were burning to know how things were going, and

THE PEACE CONFERENCE

that
(as

49

had a however differently started. Nor was it a wonder that my mother, who received a lot and was daily *' at home " between five and
seven,

now with the war) conversations way of turning to the same subject,

should

hear

many

thoughts uttered in
candid

the intimacy

of her draAving-room the

expression of which was not

meant

for the larger

arena of the

conference,

nor for the ears of

brother statesmen.

Like
for
his

everybody
of

else,

Count Miinster (who

earned

anti-peaceful opposition to the general

trend

thought had

from

his

col-

leagues the

" Vieux

nickname of " Comte Monstre " or Monstre ") also admired my beautiful

mother very much.

deal to a

Germans
of

will

say a good

woman, not out

each

trustfulness,

but
the

out of the sincere conviction reposing at

bottom

of

Teuton
I

heart

that

women
Baron
to

are unimportant

negligible
Miinster
her.

quantities, in fact.

My
"

mother,

alarmed,

suppose,

by
the

de Staal's outburst, soon

found

occasion

draw "
in

Count
alone

upon
also

subject
to

that

interested

He

happened

drop

to

tea

one day, and

Mamma
" I

" went " for him, in the disarming, half serious,

half
j(jcosc

way

in

which she excelled.

4

60
hear,*'

WHAT
she
said,
lot,

KNOW
we
by
are

" that

accounted

a bad, bad
of
ideas
I,

for opposing the general trend

towards
as

peace

arbitration.
;

Of

course,

woman, can hardly judge

do not understand
it."

I con-

fess frankly I

The " Monstre " was outwardly no monster

at
all
;

he was a fine-looking, stately old gentlethe

old

man

of

school

nothing

but

the

cold look in his eyes

and
"

his rather cruel

Jaw

gave him away as a Boche.

" Oh,
should
beautiful

lady

he

replied,

"

how

women comprehend
it,

affairs

of

state ?

Let them remain out of

and take example

Wesen,
in

from

charming creatures
like

[reizende

German]
create a

you

and your

daughter,

and

haven of

rest

such as this delightful

house for the joy

like

and repose of weary men

colleagues."
this

myself and

my

My
It

mother received
was,

sweetly mischievous smile,

compliment with a directed partly at me.

had Miinster but known it, an acknowledgment of the cleverly worded question that had been put to him.
Clever, in pretending lack of understanding,

and so
in

flattering

his

vanity
the

clever,

too, in

identifying

herself

with
of

her

"

we

"

instead

German factions taking up the con-

THE PEACE CONFERENCE

trary
attitude.

51

She went on, with

:

the

same

twinkle in her eyes

"

Of course, we cannot judge affairs of State, but we have a legitimate interest all the same ! "
"

Ah

Yes,

in

the
!

question of arbitration.
Believe
in

A Utopia, madam We Germans believe

course
peace,

me,

Utopia.

maintaining peace, of
;

so

does our

Emperor
teeth.

but a sensible

armed to the

Personally I have

nothing against signing the convention.

is

What
signs

a convention
;

but a parchment

One

it

it

gives pleasure to everybody for the time

being,
outre,

and
sans

at

the

historical

moment^ on passe
one
is

phrases,^

and

if

powerful

enough, one can always

excv^ses to posterity.'''

make

one's

how and one*s

[You

see

that

Bethmann-Hollweg had

his

predecessors in opinion.]

"The
of Asia,

chancelleries of Europe,

and I dare say are stocked with documents like this.

see,

But you
nothing,
I

my

personal opinion counts for

have to follow the given mot d'ordre,^

is

and
see,

that

against

signing

anything.

You
in

we

have
the

the

most

powerful

army

the

world,
'

most perfect war-machine as

it

One

steps over

without more ado.

VVatehword.

62

WHAT
invented,

KNOW
is

yet

our

navy
they

daily

growing

in

strength.

Our people have made a god

worship

of

the

army, which

respectfully,

and we could never give them for disarmament. The pride

Fritz.'

sufficient reasons

in

the

army
'

is

a national pride, since the days of the

Alte
it

And
I

arbitration told

I,

too, consider
will

Utopia, as

you.

War

be as long

as the world lasts,

and whoever the aggressor,

in "
the

he will always

be
!

right

as

long

as

he

remains victorious
["

Wer immer auch anfangt, siegen muss man dann hat man Recht." These were the
;

very words.] " And Austria

" Austria,

" asked
will

my

mother.
This was

madam,

have to do as we
tactful answer.

wish
'*

she learnt her lesson in '66."

actually a

more truthful than a

objected

But,"

Mamma,

*'

does

Germany

ever harbour thoughts of aggression, for you " to talk as you do, Count Miinster ? " Madam, you ask too much I am a dip;

But I think a and not a soldier. war would do good to the world in general. And this I know, that Germany's sword will fly out of its scabbard upon the day that any one dares to dispute her right to he the first among
lomat,


THE PEACE CONFERENCE
the

58

nations,

for

we are ready

We

are

the

only

Power
at

and,

perhaps, Austria [this as

tardy afterthought of pohteness]

asleep

which
"

is

not

the present
?

" Asleep

What

moment." do you mean

and
that is

asked

Mamma.
" Asleep
Italy
is
!

madam

lucky for us.

asleep,

and sometimes has nightmares

her.

however, we can manage

She
She

will will

England is asleep. never think of having a proper army.

Look, even the Boers
will

degenerate in her luxury, splutter, and

in time.

go out,

be

able to beat her as they like.

France

is

asleep,

and

dreaming dangerous
is

dreams

of
!

revenge.

Russia

asleep,

full of perils

and dreaming of peace a dream, when your neighbours dream of war.""

" Her neighbours

dream

of w^ar

What

do

you mean

"

cried

my

mother, for once losing

her composure.

He had gone
second, in
his

farther in giving himself

away

than he intended; one

face.

saw

it,

for

fleeting

Then he parried calmly

and cleverly enough.

''

But,

madam,
I

mean

her
"

neighbours

in

Asia, of course.

am

a great believer in the

?

Yellow Peril

are

not you
at

Mamma

answered

random,

though

she

54

WHAT

KNOW
aftertrivial

and soon wards, the conversation having become and the hour late. Count Miinster left us.
self-possession,
I shall

had regained

never

forget

my

mother's

beautiful

eyes,

darkened by fear and horror, fixed upon

me.
tense
I'as

Then she covered her

agitation
!

face,
I'as

and
je

in

in-

cried

"

Tu

entendu,

tu

entendu
de

Pas pour un instant

ne

crois

qu'il

a pense a I'Asie, a ce
grace

moment-la.

Mon
!

Dieu,

non,
si

non,

pas
et

cela
le
!

Pas
!

une

guerre

entre

mon pays

votre
"
^

J'espere mourir,

cela devait arriver

She

was
:

terribly

thoughtfully

upset. Later she said " Je demanderai cependant son

opinion a Welsersheimb.

J'essayerai de savoir.
brillant,
^

Papa
crdis

dit

qu'il

n'est

pas

mais

je

le

un honnete homme."
result.

She did try soon afterwards, with the

lowing
for

fol-

Welsersheimb saw
elements
in

some
the

peril

the

Germanic
their

Austria.

He
Slav

feared
'

being

unable

to
!

keep

"
I

You heard
believe
!

do

him, you heard him Not for one moment he was thinking of Asia just then. Oh
!

Heaven
*

no, no, not that

!

and yours

hope

I shall die, if I shall

Not a war between my country " that is to come to pass

!

" All the same,

ask Welsersheimb's opinion.

brilliant,

shall try to find out.

believe

him

to

Papa says he's not be an honest man."

but

THE PEACE CONFERENCE

and

55

Hungarian

elements
if

in

subjection,

and

feared, too, that

stitutional
alities

ever Russia became a condissatisfied nation-

monarchy, these
rally

would

on her

side.

" It

is

only the

fear of

your autocratic regime that keeps our

Our present policy is grounded on the hope of one day wiping out
Slavs

awqy from you.

Balkan

the smaller

States,

with the help of

is

Germany and

Turkey.

That

the

arriere-

pensee of Germany's

new

Oriental

politics.

"But
she

if

Germany
us
to

really helps us in this, will

leave

enjoy our
?

victory,
it

and

will

Russia
all,

not interfere

Will

be possible at

with the Hungarians nothing better than

rebels, the Poles eternally unreliable, the other

Slav contingents with Russian sympathies, and the Italians frankly traitors ? "

My
least

mother was right

honest, as
:

Welsersheimb was at

he proved

by another candid
personally,
in
like

outburst

"

Madam, you
tell

are a Russian born,

and

will

my
ally

chief,

you that I Goluchowsky, am

aggressive

no

way

friend of

any
I

politics,

and

especi-

do

think

on the soft
after
all,

so

we should always keep side of Russia, to whom we owe, much. But, you see, the young
that

elements, both with us

and

in

Germany, are very


56

WHAT
My
It

KNOW
German, as you know,
I hear people
'

dangerous.

wife

is

and
talk

it

really frightens
is

me when
about

there.

all

the

grandiose
to some

army, and the necessity of putting

use,

it

and the waste of letting it rot,' etc. present they seem not to have found
'

At
the

ideal enemy,'

but

it

is

a dangerous tendency
wall.

to paint the devil

upon the

"
in

And
a

unfortunately there are

many
less

people

Austria not one whit saner,

swollen

with nothing
reason
col-

but

head,

with
All

much

than the Germans.

lects

the

rabble

that

around Francis Ferdinand, for instance.

is

He
is

very generally detested.

yet
it

His following
grows,

the small minority,

because

he, like they, wishes to

become
is

great, rise into

popularity through a war. " Perhaps the Archduke

of

not quite conscious

as
yet,

the

harm he
he can do

is

doing

but

his

ideas

have a dangerously
little,
is

bellicose

tendency.

So

far

because the Emperor

getting
old.

hates

him.

But he

He was

and things are working towards a change more and more The new course is bound to be every day.
never
a

very

reliable

politician,

full

of peril bound to be " I personally wish the

mot

d'ordre was not

TEE PEACE CONFERENCE

against
signing

57

the
of

conventions
this

not

against

the

peace-trend
I

conference.

And
not

especially

wish

this

mot

d'ordre

did

come from

Berlin.'^
:

My
*'

mother now hazarded a straight question

never fear that the
'

Do you
you
say,

as

may
it.

be found in

my

ideal enemy,' "

country

" Yes, I fear

just

We

are not strong enough

is

now,

but
the

Germany
Slav
peril,

ever

behind

us,

preaching

going

back to the
when,
as

days
says,

of

Frederick

the

Great,

she

Russia cheated us both out of the best

of

part

Poland.

Saying

also,

that

the

Bal-

kans come too

much under Russian

is

influence,

and that
opinion

this
is,

a peril for us.

the
contrary,

My
it

on
to

that

humble would

be

smooth down racial differences instead of dwelhng upon them in fact, to let
better

sleeping dogs

lie.

It

is

a risky game playing

with them, making gratuitous trouble, to have

the
glory
of conquering
is

it

afterwards.
opinion.

Golu-

chowsky
he
thinks
will

of

the

same

Moreover,
arising

that

any
a
'

serious

question

now
and,
yet,

mean

world- war.

However,
the
old

we

get laughed at

for

being of
is

school,'

anyhow, everything

so

embryonic as

we can only hope

for the best

and

wait."

58

WHAT
much
worried
;

KNOW
my
mother was
too

After this conversation, too,

very

but as

even the worst

she
:

pessimists throw off

thoughts that seem

finally

monstrous
herself

for

reahzation,

gave
ne

mental
etre,

shake,

saying

" Cela
des

pent
ndlres

pas
a

nous nous forgeons

idees
croire

vide.

Jamais

je

ne

pourrai

que I'Empereur rran9ois-Joseph consente a un

complot contre nous
;

a une guerre coiitre nous.

il

Ce

serait trop infame, et

^

me

semble que ce

serait trop bete aussi."

The
corded,
singular

most
to

weighty

conversations
far

are

re-

show you how

of

back dates the

Empires.

position

the

Germanic

This has been

will

my

chief object.

Like me, you

have noticed two odd convergences and

one strange divergency.

Barons de Staal and Miinster both talk of

all

the chief Powers, except the Central ones,

as being asleep.
faith,

That

is,

acting in blind good

in the

unaware of the menacing danger,

eyes of Staal. eyes of Miinster.

*

Easy

preys, eventually, in the

" That cannot be, and we are building up horrors out

I shall

of nothing.

Joseph
us.

will

consent to a plot against us

never believe that the Emperor Francis to a war against

;

It

would be too dastardly, and, as

far as I

can

see,

too stupid as well."

THE PEACE CONFERENCE

The divergency
said to
is

59

between

what Miinster

mother and what he said to Staal. The former was much more truthful and less evasive, being said to a person he considered
of no importance, a

my

mere woman, who, having

cease

married into Austria, must automatically

to feel

anything

for

her

own

country,

and
till

blindly embrace the ideals of her

new

station,

even
the
also

if

that involved renouncing everything

then held sacred.

real

The lack
is

of psychology of

German

very

evident

here,

and
in

the

national attitude

towards

women

The middle course in these conver" sations is steered by the frank " ahurissement (bewilderment) of my father and the honest The rest disquietude of Count Welsersheimb. of what I have to tell is some more convergeneral.

sations

and impressions that

tend further to

show the general flow of ideas and the Leon Bouratmosphere in which we moved.
geois,

the
of

chief

French
uncle

delegate,

personal
of

friend

my
the

late

Lobanov and

my

mother, and

d'Estournellc

de Constant were
protagonists

perhaps
of

most
of

enthusiastic
arbitration.
!

the

cause

So

much

for

France's thirst for revenge

I

do not personally remember

their express-


60

WHAT
their

KNOW
the

ing

distaste

at

German

attitude,

but

my

mother told
" Ah,

me
!

that they had done

so, to her,

though winding up with true French

:

bonhomie
fait, le

bah

Le

premier
!

pas

est

reste viendra tout seul

"

(Again, so

much

for France's " revengefulness.")

brilliant,

They were them, and I

Bourgeois

charming men, both of

talk,

shall

always remember their

that sparkled with wit and humour.

Perhaps

was the more showy of the two, at times, taciturn d'Estournelle was more though quite an especial friend of mine.

Now
ence,

suppose

he
shall
his

has

forgotten

my
me.

exist-

but

always
kindness

remember
to

his

enthusiasm, and

Turk-

han Pasha was also a constant visitor at our house, and bearing the war in my mind, I
clearly
recall

one of his sayings which

:

is

of
la

some
cour

interest

" L'AUemagne

nous
cela

fait

depuis

quelque

temps

ne

signifie

bon pour personne, et j'espere que chez nous, on ne tombera pas dans le panneau quoique je craigne que oui " ^ Count Nigra
rien de
!

" Ah, well

the

first

step

is

taken, and the rest will

to us for

follow naturally." " Germany has been 2

making love

some time
will
I

that bodes no good to any one, and I hope that our country-

men won't

fall

into the trap

though I'm afraid they

"

THE PEACE CONFERENCE

was a very old
friend,
^

61

and he discussed everyhe was capable thing, with all the " fougue " of. Amongst his sayings the most remarkable

was
la

"

Nos chers
actuelle,
ils

Allies

s'ils

continuent

dans
jour

voie

preparent
fort

une

guerre
si

europeenne et
Triplicc.'

seront

etonnes
:

le

ou cela arrive nous dirons

Car
cc

Adieu
aurons

la

jour

la

nous

choisir

entre
II

une
est

guerre
triste

contre

eux ou une

revolution.
etais

a dire, que moi qui

un des plus grands partisans de la Triple Alliance, sur mes vicux jours dois admettre
c'etait

que

une

faute.

Jamais

on

ne

saura

meme
traite

nous tolerer en Autriche, ou

en ennemis, et

Ton nous

chez nous on est de plus

le

en plus aigri de leurs gaffes, et

^

nombre des

Irredentistcs croit d'une maniere qui doit nous

donner a penser."

Vehemence.
"
II"

our dear Allies go on as they are

for a

now

doing, they

European war and they will be Farewell highly astonished if when that day comes we say have to shall For on that day we to the Triple Alliance.' It is sad choose between a war with them or a revolution. believers in to think that I. who was one of the greatest to admit the Triple Alliance, should have in my old age
are

making ready

'

was a mistake. We shall never be so nmch as tolerated in Austria, where they treat us as enemies; our people are being more embittered every day by their blunders,
that
it

62

WHAT
A lengthy

KNOW

upon the present subject, took place between us two women, .William Stead, and Sir Julian Pauncefot^. Stead, like Baron de Staal, had started with the highest hopes, which had in the course
conversation, bearing
of the conference dwindled almost to

nothing.
of

He was

quite

violent

in

his

abuse

the

Germans, though, being a confirmed

he did not spare England
either.

Pacifist,

Sir

JuHan
the

came

in

just

as

he was

saying,
in
'

" It pleases
like

us to fritter
so-called
'

away our
Boer

forces

wars
now,

Great

War

which

has nothing great in

it,

except the enormous

financiers.

money-hunger of
as

few wretched

Yes, Sir Julian, you

may
I

glare at

me

as

much
[and

you please
I

what
to

say

is

true none the

less.

may

go

prison

for

treason

some time later he actually did], but, all the same, what I am saying is the truth. " With all that, we are bhnd to the fact that

Germany
building a

is

arming

as

fast

as
is

she

can,

is

navy against

ours,

neatly avoiding

signing anything at the present conference,

and

nursing in her head thoughts of world-conquest.

And

during

all

that time

we

shall

have done
way which

and the number of Irredentists is increasing ought to give us food for thought."

in a

TEE PEACE CONFERENCE

nothing but repose upon past
laurels,

6t

and win
all

a few fresh ones, perhaps, that are not worth

the winnincr.

Also

we

shall

have alienated

Europe, by our pose of self-righteous dignity.

As
will
will

if if

even

I,

though a
is

Pacifist,

couldn't see
it

that

there

a European conflagration,
it.

be impossible for us to stay out of be a matter of

if

It

common decency
foul play

to take

our part,
there
*'

there

is

somewhere

and

Germans for that." Good God, man, what a firebrand you '* keep quiet are " interpolated Sir JuHan an instant, can't you, and let a sensible man " get in a word edgeways
zvill

be, trust the

" I

suppose

you are that sensible

bit

man
"

"

interrupted
are

Stead, a
lot,

aggressively.

We

convincing

are

we

not,

preaching

peace, with a

war upon our hands ? " Pauncefote was a wise and a patient man, because he only smiled, and then went on
I

''

personally

regret

the Boer

War
it,

as

much
she
?

as

any one
very

can,
well

but

once

started,

England
can

cannot

back out of

You would
attitude,
*'

not like us to take up a craven

?

would you

Let us leave the Boers out of our present

discussion

and

look

Httle

farther

ahead.

WHAT
you
will

KNOW
believe

Surely

do She

not

seriously
in

that

Germany
for ever ?

persist
will

her present

attitude
error,

be convinced of her

and
is

sign with the rest of us.

At

least,

that

my

fond hope."
Julian,

" Sir
Stead,
will

take

it

from
if lie

me,"
ever
in

resumed
realized,

" your

fond
that

hope,

only

mean one more

is,

the

annals

of diplomacy,
sign,

provided Germany does

which

I doubt.

"
like

We

shall sign in

good
is

faith, of course, and,

fools,

think

all

well

in

this

best

of

worlds, and

we

shall

go to sleep more soundly

if

than ever.
you,
as
it
is

Whilst Germany,

she signs (mind

a big

if),

will use her signature only

a screen,
all

and

secretly

go on preparing a
Willie of the

war

the same.
is

''It

not for nothing that

talents
'

'

universal

himself

among other things fancies Napoleon Good God You in

! !

England never read anything, that

troubles
it
!

is

one of the

Go and
all

get their literature, and read

It
'70,

is

about their beloved glorious year

of

or about

more

'

gory glory
speeches,

'

to come.

And
all

study
begin
all

the

Kaiser's

too

they

with

protestations

of

peacefulness,

and

end

up

with

exhortations

towards

THE PEACE CONFERENCE

virtues
as
quite other

65

than peaceful

You might
his

well

say that old Fritz

drilled

army
is

for his private pleasure only.

But mind you,

his

one thing

is

possible

that the Kaiser

own
realize

dupe.

That
this

he

does

not

altogether

whither

tin-soldier-parading,

blowing-of-trumpets-and-horns,

he

will

one day wake, very

for

may lead. much astonished

It

and That
to

find that his pet playthings are not tin,

and have

become too strong

well

him to manage.
II,

may
is

be that William

like

Frankenstein,

unconsciously helping to create a monster that

will

one day turn upon him and devour him.

is

The man
talent,
setting,

chiefly

an actor, of some showy

not unlike Nero in a twentieth -century

and

his
less

be none the

war torches may one day cruel, if more modern, than

!

Nero's lights of horror

And

they
!

will

shine

over a world-wide charnel-house

shall

go on,

like

the fool that I

to

Meanwhile I am, preaching

at
large,

peace

and
'

goodwill
;

mankind
I

Germany
another

included

but

fear

I shall

be but
!
'

Voice crying in the wilderness

"

Only
talk

those

who have heard William Stead

emanated
personality.

can

have any idea of the picturesqueness

speech

and
from

the intense psychic force that

his

and
5

his

whole


66

WHAT
his

KNOW
a saint in
his

He was
and
one
sight.

something of

way,
I for

words impressed one as those of the

have done.
gifted

ancient prophets must

And

beheved
I

he

was

with

second-

was much honoured by his giving me his friendship, and my feeling for him bordered upon veneration. One had only to
look
to
into
his

penetrating,

bright

blue

eyes

be sure that more

there.

than ordinary earthly

wisdom dwelt
Certain
speech.
replied
:

it

It

we all felt silent after his was some time before Sir Julian
is,

that

"I

sincerely
is

Yet
fears

admit there

you are wrong. sense in what you say.

hope
if

Things

may

turn out like that,

our very worst

ourselves
as

fears

we

do
even

not
to

allow

to

harbour,

hardly

formulate
materialize.

yet

should take shape

merciful
reality

and

God be
us the

upon
of such

humanity,
of

and
"
!

spare

a nightmare

The
this

representatives
in

the

smaller

States

were unanimously
feeling

favour of arbitration, and

best
:

was perhaps

expressed

by

Bernard, the Belgian delegate " Nous autres petits pays,

et
la

dont

la

force

richesse

est

dans
si

le

commerce

paisible,

n'avons qu'^ gagner

les

Grandes Puissances

THE PEACE CONFERENCE

se

67

tiennent

tranquilles.

Pourvu que Ton ne

casse pas de sucre sur notre dos, c'est tout ce

que
il

nous

pouvons

demander.
soit

Comme
situe

gloire

nous
!

suffit

que Waterloo

en Bel-

gique
suffit

C'est

un monument
plusieurs

historique, qui nous

pour

siecles.

Du
par

reste,

notre
les

neutralite

etant

garantie

toutes

Grandes
rait

Puissances, je ne

vois pas

qui pourcette conI'autre.

nous tomber dessus.

devra
aboutir un

Et puis
jour

ference

ou
le

moins d'un aveuglement absolu

bien en

monde devra

venir

la.

II

s'est

tellement interna-

tionalise depuis cinq ans, les

uns ont tellement

tou jours

besoin
folic,

des
qui
je

autres,

qu'a

moins d'un coup de

reste

malheureusement
crois

possible,

que nous sommes assez surs

"
^

de
s'il

la

Paix entre Blancs^usqu'au Peril jaune,

!

vient jamais celui-la

"

'

We

small nations, whose strength and wealth consist

all

in

peaceable commerce, shall be

the better off

if

the

Great Powers remain quiet. So long as no one tries his It is sufficient fists on nur face, that is all we can ask. That glory for us that Waterloo is situated in Bcljjrium
!

is

an historical

monument

that will suffice us for several

centuries.

Besides, our neutrality is vouched for by all the Great Powers, so that I don't see who could 'go' for us. And tliis conference will have to bear fruit some time or another.

Unless the world

is

absolutely blind

it

will

have to accept
years
it

our ideal

in

the end.

During the

last

five

has

68

WHAT
At
all

KNOW
the
cleverest

events,

one

of

heads

in

Belgium

never foresaw any trouble for his

country, because he implicitly believed in the

honesty

of the

signatories

of

the

treaty,

so

infamously broken by the Germans since then. " Sauf un coup de folic!" And later I will
tell

you

how

saw and

this

act

of

madness
equally

accomplished.

America,

China,

Japan
China,

were

ready to sign the

atlantic

treaties,

though, being Trans-

Powers

(except

and she was

almost as far

off),

they naturally took a cooler

especially America,

interest in this burning question of arbitration.

Though

I hear

that they,

collaborated most heartily for the good cause.

I

have almost done with

the
is

my
the

recollections

about the Peace Conference.

within
closed

What happened
" Huis ten

doors

of

Bosch "

a matter for

official history.

Every-

body

knows to-day that the treaty for arbitration was signed by all the Powers, small and great, except Germany, Austria-Hungary,
become
which
Yellow
is

so

much more

international, the nations

have so

much need

of each other, that except for an act of madness

I think we are peace between white nations, even to the that should ever approach."

unfortunately always a possibility

fairly certain of
Peril, if

THE PEACE CONFERENCE

and
(as I

69
I

have but

lately heard)

Turkey.

do

not even

know whether this latter is correct. Anybody visiting The Hague can contemplate the Peace Palace, built by Andrew There it stands, a monument to Carnegie. the fallacy of honest human hopes and human
work.

monument,

too, to a pair of traitors

among the nations. One can only wonder how we have

mained
so
signs

all

re-

blind

to

danger,

in

spite

of us

so
in

many

that

should

have warned
few

good time.

Only the
to say

very

saw

clearly,

and those few were scoffed at and derided.

i

wisii

a word here about another

Russian delegate, Mr. Martens, who said something quite personal to me, the truth of which

came back

to

me
:

ning of the war

ever so often, at the begin" Olga Alexandrovna, vous

et
le

avez I'anie russe

pletement,
si

coeur

russe,

si

com-

indiscutablement, que vous devriez

dire a votre jolie

le

maman

de vous mener dans

et Pest.

monde en Russie au heu de Vienne

Mariez-vous en Russie,
nir apparticnt

ma

chere enfant.

L'ave-

aux

jeunes, a vous et a d'autres.

En

cas dc conflit entre nos pays, vous garderez

la

toujours
n'etes

meme
de

ame,
qui

le

meme

coeur

vous

pas

celles

changent facilement.

70

WHAT
alors

KNOW
mort
le

Et
si

vous

allez

souffrir

et

martyre,

vous etes d'un autre cote que

notre.

On
^

est Slave

ou Ton ne Test pas

cela

ne

se discute,

ni

ne se change, et vous
I told

I'etes

profondement."

him that I knew he spoke the truth but how was I to believe that there ever would be a conflict between the two countries ? One does not like looking disagreeable truths
;

in

the face at nineteen.

La sumed
bitieuse bitieuse
portes,
et
*'

"

possibilite

est,

after a pause,
et
et

mon enfant," he re" car I'Autriche est amet

maladroite,
brutale,
et

I'AUemagne,

amleurs

nous

sommes

plus paisibles,

plus grands, plus riches,

plus

desorganises

qu'eux.
qu'ils

Ce n'est pas pour rien

entendre,
ni

ne veulent
d'Arbitrage.

rien

de

Paix,

ni

" Olga Alexandrovna, you are heart and soul a Russian,

so completely and indisputably so that you ought to tell your pretty mamma to bring you out in Russia instead of at Vienna and Budapest. Marry a Russian, my dear child. The future belongs to the young, to you and other young people. If there should come a conflict between our countries, you will always be of the same mind and you are not one of those who alter readily. the same heart And then you will suffer death and martyrdom if you are on another side than ours. One is either a Slav or one there is no question about it, nor is there any room is not for change, and you are a Slav through and through."
;

THE PEACE CONFERENCE

71

Les
n'est

petits

pays
!

se
S'il

croient

en

s6ciirit6

rien

plus faux
I'Autriche

sera

ou

y a guerre, rAllemagne

c'est

que ce

qui

voudra

s'agrandir, en aneantissant quelque petit pays,

qui sera ou trop riche, a leur gre, ou sur leur

chemin
saient

ou

les

deux.

Si

les

autres
serait
la

pays

lais-

lachement

faire,

ce

une
guerre

route
euro-

pour
peenne.

eux

sinon
vous
je

ce

sera

Vous ne me croyez
mais
verrez

pas, Olga Alexancela

drovna,

probablement.
n'est-

Vous savez que

ce pas
?

vous aime beaucoup, vous

Eh
fait,

bien, je voudrais

vous voir Russe

allez
fois,

par

le

sans
jour.

quoi

beaucoup
croyez en

pleurer

un
la

Encore une
;

un vieux, qui
ame, et
'

le sait lui

on ne change jamais son

^

votre est la notre, absolument."

my child, for Austria is ambiand elumsy, and Germany is ambitious and brutal we are at their gates, and we are more peaceable, greater, wealthier, and less organized than they. " It is not for nothing that they will have nothing to do with Peace or Arbitration. The small nations are thinking themselves safe nothing is more untrue If there is war, it will be because Austria or Germany wants to expand by wiping out some small country which is too rich for their taste, or in their way, or both. If the other countries were cowardly enough to look on and do nothing, it would be a road for them if not, it will mean a European war. You don't believe me, Olga Alexandrovna, but you will probably see it take place. You know I am
tious
!

" The possibility exists,

n
God
of you
so

WHAT
often
in

KNOW
!

bless you, kind friend

have thought
stress,

my
right

time

of

reaUzed
not,
I

how

entirely

you were.
soul,

and have

could not change

And now I Russian as wished me to be, not by chance, but by my own free choice and will. At that time I was
foretold.

my am a

just as

you you

unformed

and entirely dependent upon mother, and I repeatedly asked him to

I

my
tell

her all this.

vous-meme je vous ai dit que I'avenir etait aux jeunes. Votre mere a bien assez de soucis, je ne veux
remember
his reply
:

" Agissez

pas y
rien

aj outer.

Je vous prierai
de mes

meme

de ne

lui

dire
^

avertissements

et pres-

sentiments."

And upon
chapter
of

this

last

prophecy
of

close

the

my

reminiscences

the

Peace

Conference.
very fond of you, don't you ? you a Russian for good and
Well, I should like to see
all,

otherwise there will be

believe an old

many tears in store for man who knows that

you.
one's

Once more, do
soul
is

never changed, and

your soul is ours entirely." " Act for yourself I told you the future was for the young. Your mother has plenty of worries, and I don't want to add to them. I shall even ask you not to tell her of my warnings and presentiments."

AKCnUL'ClIE.SS i.bAULLLL

A.\L'

IILU bO.N,

AKLilDLKL ALJJRLCUi.

To

face p. ?3.

CHAPTER

III

AT THE COURT OF AUSTRIA

My

mother died

in

1902,

and
:

have often
^

thought of a saying of hers

te voir
fille

" Je prefererais

de chambre que
as

dame d'honneur."
I

She was
it

right,

she

always was.

found

out to
It

my

sorrows
I

was most unwilHngly that

a

took upon

me
I

burden
girl

that

should

never

have

been

put upon a

barely twenty-three.

was
feel,

left
all

to
in

I was made no option, however. too plainly, that I was unwelcome

my

father's house after

my
me

mother's death.

Bitterness and pride urged

tion for which
ties

to take

up a
I

posi-

my
me

few,

but belligerent, qualiunfit.

rendered

particularly

had

the misfortune to be proud, fearless, and truthful.

These were disqualifications for one who

I

would serve the House of Habsburg.

'

do not
maid-

"

would rather see you a chambermaid

TS

tlian a

of-honour."

n
intend the
writing

WHAT
a
Court,
this

KNOW
scandaleuse
as
It

chronique

of

Austrian
to
tell

much
respect.

there

would
always

be

in

has

seemed to
do,
if

me

a particularly vulgar thing to

in

you have been

secrets

a position where un-

savoury
to

necessarily

make

use of this privilege

came your way, and divulge such

Politi-

private affairs of your former employers.

cally the land
lies

differently.

Many

of the

things

said

were uttered with the deliberate

intention

of hurting

and wounding me, confeeling

trary

to to

every decent a
lady
at

of

delicacy in

regard

their

mercy.

Others
full

were

spoken

with

carelessness

of

brutality.

My
If

attitude

on

these

occasions
fairly

was

definitely

antagonistic.

They were
absolves

warned.

they

did

not

heed the warning,

my
to

conscience

certainly

me
her

now
how,

from using their words against them.

serve

I wish

Russia,

and

to

show

long before the war started, the feeling Austria

bore her was that of a jealous enmity.

want to convince even the extremest group of Socialists that this war was no outcome
I

of Imperialistic, aggressive policy on our part,

but

dire,

unwelcome, and bitter necessity,

forced upon us,

and long hoped and worked

AT THE COURT OF AUSTRIA

for

75

by

Austria
all

and

Germany.
vindictive

wish
as

to
I

avoid

personally
it
;

spirit,

always
one's

think

detracts
so

from
in

the

value

of

statements

that

the

following

pages
justly

you

will

find

both

attitudes

represented

the

good

and

mind the bad

of

equally set forth.

I

will leave it to

the impartial reader to judge

I

as

coolly as

he wishes.

will

not set
grief,

down
except
of
in

any of

my

personal suffering or

when
the

it

bears
It

upon the present

will,

situation

world.

perhaps,

explain
left

why
I

the
sider

beginning of
the

the
of

war

what
I

con-

cause

evil

for

what

honestly

believe to be the cause of good.

The Archduchess Isabelle is a clever, tyrannical, somewhat self-righteous woman, not easy to
serve, in that

everything with her depends on

caprice.
is

his

Her husband, the Archduke Frederick, kindly, stupid man, very much managed by wife. And, great heavens how tactless
! !

The experience was unpleasant

it

at the time, but

serves

me

well

now, because had he had the

tact that goes with brains,

ing,
I

added to good

feel-

should not have heard as

I

utterances about Russia as

many candid did. And even

76
if

WHAT
not
brilliant,

KNOW
commander
etc.,

the Archduke,
General,

of

several
tainly

army
" in

corps.

was

cer-

the
to

know

"

of

military

affairs.

proof as
as

this is his

immediate nominaall

tion

commander

of

the

Austro-

Hungarian armies as soon as the war broke out, a position he occupied up to the death
of the
It

Emperor Francis Joseph. was during the Russo-Japanese

I

War,

when
fervent

used to study the papers with the

hope of
in

at

last

finding

news

them for us. me and came up to talk you by any chance hope to
:

some better The Archduke saw " Ah, fair one, do

in

find Russia recuperall

ating

?
it

Well I hope, we
will

Austria hope,

that

go from bad to worse for her.

is

Our one

interest

to see

her weakened, forced

to her knees

"
!

Used to senseless jests on the part of the Archduke before this, I believed this to be a particularly coarse one. I was astonished, too, at the suddenness and violence of this direct attack. I left the room (quite against any etiquette), hoping thereby to show him
.

clearly the full

measure of

my

contempt.

But nothing is quite so pachydermatous as a prince when he thinks he has got hold of

AT THE COURT OF AUSTRIA

a joke he can try
defenceless.

77

upon some one he beHeves

The second time he volunteered a

similar statement deliberately, with the corner of

his eye fixed
*'
!

upon me, to see if I would wince Russia beaten again her best Good good Hurrah Bravo for the Japanese ships sunk They are doing our work splendidly ! The Ger!

man Emperor must

spoke
so
in

be pleased too
of

nice

the wheel
nearer,

the

Slavonic

Peril,'

much
the

so

much more
!

dangerous
!

than

" hurrah Hurrah This remarkable speech was not addressed to me personally. We were quite a large company, and among them several generals and other

yellow

one

military

men.

ness even

more heartithan was necessary to show before

All

agreed

with

an utterance of a prince of the blood.

One
all

saw

clearly that this piece of eloquence

had

their heartfelt

sympathy.
French

Next to me stood
(an Alsatian,

the children's

governess

by the way. Mademoiselle Ulrich). I always liked and respected her, because she remained
independent
moralizing
in

her views, in spite of the deinfluence.

court

She

had
and
the

always
she a

been very kind and helpful to me.

Now
took

saw me
step

go

white
in

with

anger,
to
tell

forward,

order

Archduke

78

WHAT
They
war.
her.
I
all

KNOW
me
for
his
tactless-

to excuse himself
ness.

before

unlucky
strained
at

knew I had relations To her astonishment

wanted to teach

in
I

this
re-

my
way.
near

lesson

my own
time
be
I

hour,

and

in

my own
lay

By
their

this

was sure that the dastardly

repeated.
It

insults

would

too

hearts to let
I
:

to " me Mais alors, cela vous est egal ?-7-cela n'est " Cela m'est and I replied pas croyable "
; :

them keep silent. remember Mademoiselle Ulrich saying

si

peu

egal,

que

si

cela

se

repete,
je

je

de-

manderai
de

ma

demission.

Mais
car je

ne veux pas
etre
tout

d'esclandre maintenant,

veux

sure
ce

mon
que

affaire etre

calme et dire

que je pense, sans en faire une affaire d'Etat,

ce
cela

deviendrait
^

certainement devant

tous ces generaux."

The
expected

occasion

came

even

sooner

than

two

days

later,

after

dinner.

The

whole family was assembled, and the " suites,"

don't you mind ? but that is incredible " mind so deeply that if this occurs again I shall But I don't want to set a scandal afoot just give notice. now, for I want to make sure of my case to keep calm and say everything I think without making of it all an affair of State, which it would certainly become in front
I

"

Why,
I

..."

of

all

these generals."

lll.l.D-.MAKSHAL I'ASKEVITCl I.

AT THE COURT OF AUSTRIA

too,

79

when the Archduke, holding the evening paper, came up to me and brandished it " Read, read in front of me Oh, why sufficiently strong, are we not sufficiently ready to fall on their rear now ! Now To help the Japanese annihilate the giant
: !

completely
a

What
to

a day for Austria

of Habsburg,

What

day

for

the House
build

shall

be able

when we a huge empire upon

! :

the ruins of the Tsar's dominions " I stood " facing him, and replied Such a speech

comes
of of

fitly

indeed from the

to

lips

of a

member
pray,
of

your

House

the

great-granddaughter
W^here,

Field-Marshal

Paskevitsch.

would the Austrian

the

Empire,
to-day

the

dynasty

Habsburgs,
I

be
sent

Nicholas

not

armies
that

to

your help

in

Emperor Paskevitsch and his '48 ? Do you forget

had
revolutionary
of

the

Hungarian
the

troops
;

were

nearing

gates

Vienna

that

you
so

were

practically lost,

implored

the

help

of

when you humbly the Power you now

in

ardently

wish

to

see

the

dust

Are

you never afraid of God and His vengeance when you speak as you do ? As for me, am going to leave your court and your I
service," 1 added, turning to

the Archduchess.

80
If lightning

WHAT

KNOW

had suddenly struck the house they could not have looked more aghast than
they did, when
calmly
I stood in

my

concentrated anger,

defying them, and for a finish to

my

tirade flinging

them

my

wish to leave.

There

was a
I

silence for several seconds.

;

surrounded

Then I was excuses were showered upon me

for

was asked
would

my

silence

concerning

this

episode (a promise I never gave).

I

They swore
Russia

never

hear a word against

any more.
a joke tempt.
souls
!

(?),

They never meant anything beyond etc., etc. I was filled with confor their faithless, thankless

For them,

For myself,
I

because

half-heartedly

accepted their excuses and remained.

Where had

to go,

after

all ?

girl

of
?

twenty-four, with no place in her

own home

And had
go, to

I gone, as

my

meant at that instant to mother's people in Russia, would they

I

have believed
said
it

my tale ? Would they not have was stupid of me to have got so angry at a " mere joke " For, alas with us, they would not believe in Austria's hostiUty. I
!

talked about

it

informally to Count
in

Kapuist,
to

our

ambassador
(The
of

Vienna,

and
been

Baron
great

Budberg.
friend

latter

had

my

dear

mother's.)

They

both

AT THE COURT OF AUSTRIA

pooh-poohed
I'Archiduc
et tout le

81
?

my

ideas
est

"

Que

voulez-vous

Frederic

stupide, je

veux

bien,

monde

le sait.

C'etait d'un
qu'il

manque

de gout execrable de dire ce

vous.
veuille

a dit devant

Mais de

la

a croire que

I'Autriche nous

serieusement
le

du

mal,

bah

D'abord
^

rAllcmagne nc
triche
I

permettrait jamais, et I'Au-

depend entierement de I'Allemagne." answered

:

" L'Autriche

depend

'

de

facto

'

de

I'Alle-

magne, mais attendu qu'au fond

c'est

elle la deteste,

un

fait qu'elle

ne veut ni

voir, ni

croire

Du reste,
tout

ce

que vous dites de I'Archiduc Frederic,

carrement
le
!

vous pouvez
entiere.

dire

de

I'Autriche

Elle est bete

J'en

sais

un peu
autres
ils

quelque chose la-dessus.

J'entends continuleleet
leurs

ment

vaticiner
!

eurs generaux

sommitcs

Mais

croyez-moi,

bete ou non,
-

sont mal disposes contre nous."

'

"

What do you
I

expect

the Archduke
it.

Frederick

is

stupid,

admit, and every one knows

taste to say

want of

what he did

in

was an execrable your presence. But

It
ill

to Ijcheve from that that Austria wishes us

nonsense

To begin

with,

Germany would never

'
'

allow

it,

and Austria

depends entirely on Germany." " Austria depends * de facto

on Germany, but seeing

is

that in her heart she detests her, this

willing icither to see nor to believe
!

a fact that she

is

besides,

what you say

of the

Archduke Frederick you can say

flatly of all Austria.

82

WHAT
!

KNOW
?

Could I hope to convince them

not possible

No,

it

was

They laughed at me for a violent little Hungarian rebel (By the way, that was exactly what the Archduke had called me after
!

the dispute.)

then

for

Many a time have I cursed fate making me look so young, when I

was a full-grown woman, with the observing head of a man upon my shoulders. I was
spoilt,

petted,

made
never

love

to,

but

realized

that

people
"

took

so-called

" pretty

woman
they

seriously.
I

On

the other hand, had

brains,

believed

had any

would they
as

have talked as

freely before

me
all
is

they did,
things
?

and should
Perhaps
after
all.

have heard

these
for

not,

and perhaps

all

the

best

Now I am almost forty, and my hair is grey my worst previsions and fears are realized will you believe me now ? I insisted further with Budberg, whom I had known since the days of my babyhood
;
:

" Mais

croyez-vous

que
que

d'etre

bete,

comme
[so

nous

avons

admis

TAutriche
also],

I'etait

much he had admitted

She
is stupid.

soit

une carte
I

know something about

that.

am

con-

tinually hearing the prophecies of their generals

and other

mighty men

But, believe me, stupid or not, they are

badly disposed towards us."

AT THE COURT OF AUSTRIA

favorable

88
!

dans

iiotre

jeu

"

" Certainement

Quoi

qu'ils

fassent,

toujours

admis
il

qu'ils

fassent jamais quelque chose contre nous,

nous
" Ah,

sera plus facile de dejouer leurs tours

9a,"
I

"

retorted, " c'est

cela

qui vous trompe

la

Bete

je

veux

bien,
ils

mais faux, faux, jusqu'a

sont

Et c'est ce que nous ne sommes pas pour deux sous, et c'est comme cela que nous serons attrap^s, parce que nous ne mentons pas, comme eux. Et I'AUemagne, elle, n'est pas bete, et qui vous dit que I'Allemagne ne se servira pas un jour de la betise de I'Autriche pour nous tomber dessus quand il lui plaira ? Et qui vous donnc la securite, qu'elle ne voudra jamais,'
moelle, cela
le

avant tout.

'

comme
apres

vous dites

Avez-vous jamais parle au

lui

Baron de Staal
la

et

avez-vous demande
la

si,

sur, lui ?
'

Conference de " 1

Paix,

il

en etait

si

" But do you think that this stupidity (which

is

we have
?

admitted
they
will

Austria's)
!

is

a high card in our

game

"

Whatever they do, always admitting that do something against us, it will be all the easier for us to beat them at their own game." " Well then, that's where you are mistaken They are stuj)id if you like, but })efore everything they are false,
!

" Certainly

false to the

marrow of their bones. And that is a game we cannot play, and that is how we shall be caught, because we don't tell lies as they do. As for Germany, she is not

84

WHAT

KNOW

But it was perfectly useless. Seemingly I, too, had uttered a little prophecy, if you think that early in 1914 Germany refused arbitraon behalf of Austria under the pretext " of localizing the fight between Austria and
tion

Servia."

Localizing the

fight

between a

tiger

and a

cat,

indeed

to the

shame of the
also asked

rest

of the v/orld, had

it

consented to the dishonour

!

of merely looking on

I
it

Budberg
that

whether

he

considered

unimportant

the Archduke had mentioned

how
?

pleased the

Kaiser would be at our defeats

And what
could

he

thought this

Imperial

pleasure

be

about

? According to Budberg, it was only " just another stupid idea of old Frederick's."

I left it at that.

After
I

this, I tried

merely to

follow the

stream.
spoilt.

wasn't ugly, and I was

the goods that the

somewhat

" Take

gods provide "

became

my

motto.

It does

not

follow that I did not keep

interesting things

my

ears open,

when
way.
:

happened to come
;

my

Quite the contrary

stupid,

and here

is

the proof

At

and how do you know that Germany will not one day make use of Austria's stupidity to fall upon us when she chooses ? and how is it you are so certain that she will never so choose,' as you say ? Have you ever spoken to Baron de Staal and asked him whether after the Peace " Conference he himself was still certain of it ?
'

AT THE COURT OF AUSTRIA

Lichtenstein

85

a court function I stood next to Prince Rudolf

and

his

cousin
to

Henry,
Their

then
con-

Austrian
versation
sador,

ambassador

Russia.
!

was

fateful

enough
his

The

ambas(he

a true friend of ours, said that he felt

vacillating
in

himself

position

was

asked

to

retire

the

Austrian political

same year) because the face was changing to such

his

an extent as to render
of

situation,

as
:

one

" I more than difficult must admit that Goluchowsky does everything to keep peace. But you will see, he will They are working against not remain for long. him from underneath, and from far above.
the
old
school,

(Meaning Francis Ferdinand, /

tell

think.)

can
to

you,

everything

is

being

done
I

here

provoke Russia, a Power

shall

whom

consider,

and

always consider, as entirely peaceful and

us.

well-meaning towards

She has at present

her Asiatic conflict, but that, too, was none of

her wishing,
it.

though

she

might have foreseen

he said about the
of

[Here

leave out
AV^ar,

all

Russo-Japanese
for
in

out

consideration

our
that

present

Allies.]

You all here, and Germany specially, count

But
if

upon Russia's disorganization.

ever
realizes
that

Russia
be

she

is

being

sold by you^

86

WHAT
she
will

KNOW
like

assured

stand

one

man,

and
if

beat you too,

as

you
your

will

have deserved,
politics

you go on
here."

with

suicidal

over

His cousin here took him up with animation

:

" Suicidal
so
!

politics

you
or

may
of
of

well
all

call

them

With
either

three-quarters

our

population

Slavs

Slav

origin,

we
quite

are

running

blindfold
policy
!

into
as

an

anti-

Russian, anti-Slav
correctly,

you state only Goluchowsky and a few

are

And

other

honest

men
is

trying

to

counterorder.

balance this

folly,

and keep peace and

to lead

Where

all

this

us

to eventually,

unless to ruin, I cannot imagine.

The Emperor withdraws his interest from things more and His every other word is 'Go to more. As it is he can hardly Francis Ferdinand.
:

wait
him,

decently
I

for
!

my
'

death

Go and

ask

am

tired

And

Francis

Ferdinand

makes use of the old man's apathy, and is forming a strong party and believe me it is a war party ! He is collecting all the ambitious younger

men around
for

him.

Unfortunately,

Austria

is

full

of disappointed ambitions.

We
and

have none

no

talent
in

discovering

genius,

either

the

way

of

smoothing

down

AT THE COURT OF AUSTRIA

the

87

people

we

have

hopelessly
all

offended.

Francis

Ferdinand makes use of

the

dis-

contented elements.
dislikes

Strange to say, he really

Germany
But
as

and

her

Emperor.

If

he

were strong enough he would

him.

like best to fight

they are so powerful as to be

practically unattackable, he will

and for him, as long as it during which he can rise into popularity.
' '

work with him, brings him a war,

thoroughly

After

having
the

got
length
will

himself

hated

through

Monarchy, he
regain

and the breadth of the now work every lever to

what he has lost. And he sees in a victorious war the only way of reigning at all. Officially he makes love to the Slavs, but only them into security, to have a hold to lull In truth, everything and everyupon them.
body arc only pawns, to serve his ambition issue. throne to his and to secure the " Never mind his oath as Prince Henry and him *' he will not I were going to interrupt be the first of his house to go back upon his word, nor the first monarch " Prince Henry
I

shook
here at

his

head sadly

" Well, Rudi,

you
it,

sit

home and
the other.
so

see one side, I sit in Russia

It
is

and

see

queer, isn't

that

wc should be

agreed

You

only coniirra

88
all

WHAT
my
them.

KNOW
me
child

worst fears and give

explanations
[this

was addressed to me, whom he had known from babyhood, as a friend of my parents], what will you do ? You look such an alien here, and in case of a conflict oh my poor little girl, it will go hardly with you With me too, by the way,. for I love Russia very dearly; she has become my second country. Let us hope we are seeing things too darkly, and that
for

And

you, poor

a timely assassin

may

deliver

us

of

Francis

Ferdinand before he has

lessly
'

entirely
^

and

hope-

brouille les cartes.'

this,

He

runs a clear

chance of

even as near home as his own

Konopischt.
near there,
shot by

have a cousin who has estates and he told me that he may be

I
all

one of his own keepers, for

one

knows.

By
;

Jove,

the
at

man

is

loathed

and
his

no wonder
"

look
"
!

his

ugly jowl and

crocodile eyes

By

the way, your Isabella does not love

him
had
the

either, since

he married her Lady-in- Wait!

ing instead of her daughter

"

(Sophie Chotek

been

my
of
'

predecessor once removed

" the

when

the Archduke married her, and so disappointed

hope

seeing

one

of

Frederick

Muddled the

situation.

AT THE COURT OF AUSTRIA

girls,"

89

as

they were commonly called, become

the future Empress.)

"No,"
mock
tions,

replied;

"but they
whilst

love the

Ger-

man Emperor,
at
his

even

they

laugh

and
I

many
his

pretensions
for

and

affecta-

and at

mania

clothes.

And
"
!

don't see that loving that one is any better " No," thoughtsaid Henry Lichtenstein
fully
;

"no, indeed."
hope
will
!

" Well, child, I only

I

I shall

die before

see

Austria
that

entirely

Germany's
try

slave

mere pawn,
fine
is

she

and play one

!

day against Russia

pathetically
!

Poor Russia

she

much

too honest in her liking for us, and

sure

we pay her back in the Run away now Poor Russia same coin and dance, madam, and do not make an old man give away diplomatic secrets." He ended up jocosely, though he sighed and seemed
so
!

troubled.

He
I

need

not

have
the

pulled
as

himself
it

up abruptly,
the
past

understood enough

was

obligations

and

old

friendship

were forgotten, or remembered only by a very

few.
!

And the new course was inimical to And we ?we were blind and deaf us Be not blind and Oh Russia of to-day
! !

deaf

again

now

that

you are

risking

your

90
entire future
!

WHAT
as
to

KNOW
:

I said it before

you are

the

men
even
this

and women, whom

will
either

yet

unborn generations
or
!

have

curse

to

bless,

hundreds

of
it

years

hence

Never forget

repeat

never

forget

your tremendous

responsibihty.

Open your eyes

miracle

I
has

say

it

again

and

see

the

that

happened

Almost the whole world, forgetting its smaller interests, unites now in a combat of glory
against a

And
**

common enemy even to those who

!

call

themselves

practical reasoners," but are in truth nothing

egotists,
if

but

they wish really to be looked

let

upon as America

practical
!

them

again

look

at

You
now
best
!

accused

the

old

regime of

slackness,

not without reason.

Be not
me,
!

slack yourselves
brains,
all

Use your hands, your

abilities,

your
the

believe

in

strangling
I

Austro-German
least
(to

hydra

Have

not
at

shown
very

you the dragon's egg hatched,

the

my

knowledge) ten years before this

war actually broke out ten years' plotting and scheming at least stands to the discredit The plan of the Austro-German marriage. annihilate you dates at to attack you and
least

back to that time,

if

not farther

still.

AT THE COURT OF AUSTRIA

In
leave

91

those same years, whenever

to

went on
a

Russia,

did

ever

hear

word

mentioned as to any idea of aggression on our or even doubt, be it the very sHghtest, part
;

that
as

the

other
?

Powers were not as peaceful

Never,
never
:

we were

The
only

refrain

always
left

heard

was
are

this

" If

we

are

alone to accomplish our internal

!

reorgan-

ization
energ\^

We
and

so

big,

we want time and

do
one
it.

money

to

War

Who
last,
it

thinks seriously of war in the twentieth cen-

tury

The
If

Japanese

Avas

our

we
is

hope.

we

reorganize

the

army,
a

but

a
;

defensive

measure.

Enough
us

of

stupidity

the

Japs

taught

lesson

We

must work to put the country in order, organize and reform, and satisfy legitito We shall be demands everywhere. mate occupied in making Russia as prosfully perous and as rich as, with her tremendous
resources, she

should be.

Oh

yes,

we

shall

be
"
!

occupied enough for the next hundred years

And

people

smiled

hopefully

and
there

trustfully,

discussed

agricultural
all
!

and
the

other

questions

and that was

been people
Russia, as

No doubt
felt

who
as

danger

must have coming in

well

in

France,

England, Italy,

92

WHAT

KNOW
As a
sign

Belgium, and other States.

faith in

of good

what is to-day the combination of the Allies, you must, however, remark this the rare few, who predicted and foresaw the confusion and disaster of to-day, have been systematically " talked down " and treated as
:

little

better than
first

madmen
Allied

in their

own

countries.

The
was
of

time

Europe

really

conde-

scended to open one

after

sleepy eye to the truth

the alerte of Agadir in 1911, whilst

aggression

the preparations for the

Central
least
it

on

the

part

Powers
ten
years

must
earlier.

surely

have
all

begun at

People

say now that

still
;

must have been much longer and remembering the time of the Peace

Conference, I

am

inclined to agree.

At
mere
there

court,
^

after

my
I

somewhat
was
near.

violent

" sortie,"

the Anti-Russian explosions became

whispers
is

whenever

Yet
that

such a thing as atmosphere

electricity.

and

was charged with

the
preparations

And

because of

against
also

Russia,

my

other
large

country,
share
of

Hungary,
abuse

came

in for a

and

mistrust.

The
full

situation

during the years I was there was

of tension.
since

The court

had not gone to Budapest

'

Outburst.

COUNT JULIUS AXDKASSY (THE

SON).

To

lace p. 93

AT THE COURT OF AUSTRIA

the death of Empress Elizabeth
rightly).
(if I

08

remember

At all events, not for a very long time. The Opposition (or Apponyi-KarolyiAndrassy party as they were also called) worked
hard
to

gain

in

fact the

realization
in 1868,

of those

promises

made

to

Hungary
enough

but which
(Austria

had was

been
always

tacitly

withheld

since.

ready

to
?)

promise

but
Hun-

when did she keep her word

situation

My

personal

was
I

very uncomfortable.

In

gary some of
because

my
in

best friends tried to cut me,

their eyes

had

become

" black

and yellow."
at

In Austria they looked askance

I

me, because

was

"an abominable
though
It

cross

between a Hungarian and a Russian."

I

actually heard those words,

I
:

ex-

pect

was
I

not

intended

to.

happened

thus

had brought the young Archduchess Henriette to see her uncle, Archduke Rainer,
and her aunt. Archduchess Marie.
went
the
in,

My
an

charge
out
of

whilst

the Archduke

came

inner

apartments,

escorting

ancient

Lady-in- Waiting (Countess Marie Taaffe),

who

was on the point of leaving.

opening
the

The Archduke,
Taaffe,
said,

door

for

Countess
/

who
" Isa-

was very deaf (though

belle

wasn't),

has

picked

up

rare

plant

there,

an

94

WHAT
cross

KNOW
d
blood
!

abominable

between
Russian

d Hungarian
"

and

miserable
generally

Countess
in

Taaffe,

none too kind, yet said

child
!

my
really

defence,

" Poor
is

assure

your
girl

Highness she
!

a very nice and

old

simple

"
I

Funny

lady

In

my
me
!

wicked
because

moments
to me.

used to say she loved

a

her absurd parrot had taken

strong fancy

Nor was this quite untrue The same year the court finally decided upon a conciliatory move towards Hungary, and it was arranged that we were going for the spring
season
stock
to

Budapest.
in

phrases

was asked to teach Hungarian to the ArchI

duchesses, in order to

make

believe they
this

knew

the language.

It

was hoped was

friends

would enhostile,

hance their popularity.

circle,

In the intimate court

violently
in

the
of

feeling

spite

the

determination
best

to
(in

curry
the "
of

favour.

heard

my

Opposition
of

naturally)

quite

vilely

abused,
being,

one

the

oft-repeated
like

sentences

We
that

should

to

see

men and women

party

undressed
streets

and publicly whipped through the of Budapest, to constitute an example

others."
still

for

the

Tisza

(whom

considered

then and

consider the ruination of

Hun-

AT THE COURT OF AUSTRIA

gary)

9
skies
!

was
I

of

course

exalted
felt

to

the

Altogether
helpless,

never before

so degraded, so

unhappy in my life. Any protest on my part was quickly quenched in laughter and loud cries of " Hear the rebel " They
so
!

were

not

going

to

give
as

me
I

the

chance

of

standing

by

my

guns,

had once done,

sides that

upon a memorable occasion.

VMiispers reached

me on

all

one

had to make
a war
!

it

up with Hungary, in case of

give

One could not

!

them a pretext
the

of perhaps seceding altogether,

too dangerous

times were

When
ing,

went to Budapest, as Lady-in-Waitin

one

man

particular cut

me

dead.

It

was Count Michael Karolyi. I rather loved him for it, because I could understand his
feehngs so well
;

indeed I shared them, had

I did

he but known

catch hold of the lapel

of his coat one day, and told

friend,
in

him
;

was their
I

spite

of appearances
in

but

doubt
ex-

whether he believed
I

my

honesty.

Nor was
full

so placed

that

could give him a

planation.

When
of

the war broke out,

hope.

had

a second

breathless

Surely Kdrolyi

and

his

party would

not again

be

dupes of
Surely

Austria

and

her

damnable

pohcy.

96
they

WHAT
could

KNOW
this

would work against

stop
it

iniquitous

war

Hungary

and avenge centuries of insult and ill-treatment by threatening to secede now ! they would have
at

once,

merited
for

the
act

admiration
of

of

the

entire
civic

world,

an

unprecedented
!

courage,
pro-

truly
mises,

great

and heroic
insidious

What
once

brilliant

what
of

lies

flattered

the

easy
sacri-

vanity

Hungary

into
?

more

ficing herself for

Austria

And O
with
shed
!

ridicule,

bathos

Before

many months were

side

over she

was to stand
keep
blood
out
for

by
she

side

Turkey, to
her
best

whom

had
of at

hundreds

years
least,

Now
to

she her

was to
back
to

bleed, partly

keep

hereditary

enemy
this

Europe memorable spring

inside
!

But to go
season.
It

was queer to watch the unwilling Hungarians

come to
to heel

heel
all

slowly,
I

it

is

true,

but come
it,

the same.
as

hated to see

all

was used like a decoy-duck in this cursed comedy, like an unwilling tool One fete succeeded another, and the Highnesses from Vienna lost no time, spared no
amiability
in

the more

regaining

the

lost

ground.
the

All
devil

except
his

Francis

Ferdinand.

Give

due,

he was at least honest.

He

stood

AT THE COURT OF AUSTRIA

like

97

a statue,

and
neither

his

dislike

was quite
smiled,

ap-

parent.

He
for

talked,
instant.

nor

nor
said
Sla-

unbent
vonic

single

As
all

was
over

before, his policy

was to make love to the

(the

elements
It

majority
for

the
affec-

country).

was not

any particular

them in, but in order to stop the growing sympathy for Russia that this faction was accused of harbouring. For the war that was in his mind this tendency would prove
tion that he held

a serious drawback,

if

not a catastrophe.

Another queer piece of by-play, during the

two years I was at court, was the sudden and violent Anglomania displayed in Austria. Was it an order from Berlin, who thus made use of her more supple and charming ally to
last

try

to

counteract
Britain

the

nervousness caused in
ever-increasing

Great

by
?

Germany's
Because
to

naval expenditure
I

believe

it

now
in

one

certainly

went
This

very

far

trying

make England
loathed Prussia.

believe that one loved her,

and

was no mere comedy.

laugh
in

One

did detest

and
was
a
ing

at

everything
hands,
pieces
if

German.
there
!

their

But one was to be

accordnecessity.

tearing
to

to

of

Russia
this

And
a

Austrian

ideas
7

was

98

WHAT
also

KNOW
much upon what was
Were they unto
see,

One

counted

too

considered

the traditional enmity of England

Asiatic
politics.

to Russia in

aware,

or

merely

unwilling

that

saner spirit of
ing

World-Fraternity

was

spread-

among
wise

the nations, and that England, under

leadership
of

the

King
the

Edward,

was

slowly giving up her solitary state of splendour,

and

inclining
?

towards

Franco-Russian

The Agadir alarm, a few years her later, where Germany showed more of teeth than was clever, and was obliged to
Entente

withdraw ignominiously, did but cement

incipient

this

understanding.

Were
all

the
?

English
I

ever
afraid

the
so.

dupes

of

the

Austrians
blind
of
!

am
were

We
in

were

or

we

only

the
faces

position
in

children to
see

who
what
to

cover

their

order
?

not

they dislike too

pressions
of

much

To complete my imI

the

Dual Monarchy,

wish

and position of the various all were more or nationalities composing it less in conflict with the reigning Germanic caste
describe the feelings
;

of

Austria.

Hungary
her

was

dissatisfied,

for

reasons I have indicated before.

to

am

sorry

say

that

own unbalanced
in

condition

made her

commit

her

turn

series

of

AT THE COURT OF AUSTRIA

incredible
stupidities

99

and

cruelties

concern-

ing

the

Slavonic

population

under
of
felt

her

rule.

This conflict

between Hungarians proper and

an ugly but
abased, and
trait.

the Slav element arose out

very
she

human
looked

Hungary
one
her

for

weaker

than

herself

upon

whom

to

wreak
of

spite.

Her supher for-

pressed feeling
get the

nationalism

made

neighbourliness,

the

calm living side

fighting
side

by
side

side
too),

(and
that

the

loyal

by
races

had

united

the

two

through

centuries.

The

Slavonic

element

had been in the land long before the conquerors under Arpad came from Asia. The two races amalgamated peacefully enough, made
a

common

stand against the Turks, and were

necessary
true of to

mutually
especially

each

other.

This

is

the Rusnicks
of

and Slovaks,

inhabiting
as far

the

whole

the

north country,

down
of

as Budapest.

Slavs

the friction
history.

course
is

With the Southern was more frequent in the That is why my belief
to the greater issues
it

that Austria used Servia as a red rag before

a bull, to blind
at
stake. serious

Hungary
that
as
arose.

Be

may,
Then,

until

'48

no

trouble

Hungary's

national pride being humbled, she avenged her-

100
self

WHAT
on
the
others.
idiotic

KNOW
later

In

years

even I

witnessed
in

attempts

at

Magyarization
schools
erected.

the northern provinces.

forbidden,

Slavonic

were
Places

Hungarian

ones

that

thousand
presented

had Slavonic names for a years and more were suddenly with brand-new Hungarian ones.
had
disdainful

stupid,

attitude

towards

all

that

was

Slav

can

instance

of this.

My

you a good people came from the

give

north, from a place called

Okoliesna (whence
Well,

the

name
real

Okoliezanyi

of Okolieshna).

countless

times I was reproached with being

" no

Hungarian,
I
it

but
the

only
soft

wretched

Slavonian."

admit

with pleasure;
for

impeachment makes me the more Russian

paternal
I

that,

and

my

grandmother was
going to say

indeed a Pole.
is it

Wliat

am
I

now

very general hearsay, so

absolutely, but
I

do not vouch for have heard reliable people

In the army the treat-

say the same thing.

ment
be

of people of Slav nationality

was

said to

They were cruelly beaten for the slightest of reasons, and during the Bosnian campaign were used as " cannon fodder " most
a disgrace.
unmercifully.

So

much

for

the

Magyar-Slav

question

AT THE COURT OF AUSTRIA

now
were
as

101

to the Tschechs or Bohemians.

sick

These
of

deadly

of

the

pretensions

the

Germanic

part

of

the

population,

imported

The papers brought sufficient light into this affair, if I remember rightly, in 1908 or 1909. When a serried battle was fought in Prague between the German and Bohemian students, and the latter were victorious, it was unsafe for some time for Germans
into their midst.

to walk unattended in the streets of Prague.

The
against

Poles
us)

(in

expectation

of

using

were flattered

to their

them faces and

most unmercifully mocked and derided behind

their

They only existed as prospective preys, soon to become slaves when they had served their end. There was no disguise
backs.

whatever
Austria

about

it.

Only
the
Poles

the

Hungarians
In

sympathized
it

with

sincerely.

which
to

was but a huge comedy, through fancy the more enlightened Poles saw,
by
their

judge

plotting

and scheming
she
is

in

Vienna
provided

itself.

Russia,

now

free

and
the
the

rejuvenated, has indeed a fine task before her,

she

finds
it

both

the

will
I

and

tact to accomplish
liberation

successfully.

mean
enter

and

.sanitation of

her Polish brethren.

If

Try

and

understand

me

we

into

102

WHAT
advantage

KNOW
Poland,
I
it

a federative
her

State with

will

be to

and that the honest and

there
will
I

ours.
really

do not doubt
elements
ele-

patriotic

agree

with

me.

By

these

mean the Polish people and the unegotistical members of her aristocracy, finance, With a view to her own and commerce.
ments

and future peace, I wish this for her, because the Austro-German plan leaves out of
safety

the question the reunion of the entire country,

and means to use Russian Poland, as I have myself heard her statesmen proclaim, as " a buffer-State between them and Russia."
This latter plan carries a seed of discord in
itself

As
has

that need scarcely be pointed out further. " frondeur " and selfishly ambito the
section

tious

of

the

Polish
in
all

aristocracy,

that

been

at

fault

the

misfortunes
let

of that poor nation

go.

eliminate
gets
better.

them,
rid If

them
these

The sooner Poland

the

of

trouble-breeders

you
me.

doubt

my

words, then read the History of Poland,

will

and you

have

to

agree

with

The

Russian people should certainly shake hands,

in true fraternity,

with the Polish people, for

after all brother Slavs and were " " jointly sold by the Germans and Austrians.

they

are


AT THE COVET OF AUSTRIA
108

word more

about
have

the

Italian fraction of

the population of Austria.

other nationalities
hated, quite so
their

Perhaps none of the

been quite so much
Surely
of
all,

much

despised as they.
least
all

position

was the

enviable

scorned and derided on

trusted,

sides,

always mis-

given no freedom, unless they denied

their nationality, called every

bad name under

born " being

the sun

"

Cowards and

traitors

the most polite of them.

ideas,

According to Austrian
perhaps

no Italian could possess even a single virtue.

indeed
!

Allies

Officially

but they

were always treated as

Austria

enemies.

And when

had at
her
side

last

got

what she wanted

expected Italy to

the present war

fight

she

really

at

she

who had never had a

for

considerate

action,
in

a loving thought,
south.
If

her

neighbour

the
it

ever

a national

hatred existed,

and
vrai
si

Italy

I
:

was surely between Austria often remember old Count

deteste
si

Nigra's joke

" Oui, oui, on est Allies, et c'est

se

que Ton
^

cordialement

et

reciproquement, que cela devient presque de

la

sympathie."
"

Oh

yes,

wc are

Allies,

other so cordially and so

nearly in sympathy."

reciprocally that

and indeed we hate each we are very

104

WHAT
after
that,
said.

KNOW
May, and I fell ill strain and overwork,

My
soon

father died in 1905, in

from

the doctors
I

for

went to Russia, to my mother's people, several months then. Let me repeat

of warlike feeling

again and again, never a breath, never a sus-

was anywhere to be seen or felt. Had it existed, I must unavoidably have noticed some shadow of it,
picion
living as I did for

months and months entirely en famille, in the country, with most of my cousins in the army. But there was none, absolutely none How different it was when I People fairly fell upon me returned to court. " Did they prepare for war with questions. How was the feeling ? How did in Russia ?
!

the
it

'

Military

Party
"

'

there

work,

and was

influential ?

could only reply truthfully, that the I " war- talk " was entirely on this side of the Carpathians.
I never heard any of it in Russia. " a Military Party," they had it on in

As to
Russia,

the brain
it

Austria.

If

it

existed

at all in

was

certainly kept well in abeyance,

it.

one

never

noticed

I in

had numerous cousins

Administration,

them that I the army and in the

told
recall

but

cannot

single


AT THE COURT OF AUSTRIA
warlike speech of
106

any of them.

People were

much
such

too occupied with the

internal troubles

to think of a war.
satisfaction

This seemed to give

that
there.

them
been

should

have
as
it

warned,
sound,
I

then

and

Stupid
I

may
new
I

wasn't.
;

But
tried

noticed

one

departure
accuse

they

to

turn the tables and

Russia of

deep-laid,

hidden plans.

saw
tell

this

from the quality of the chaff that

:

was poked at me
us
not

"Of
She
is

course she will not

she

much

too

fond

of

her she

dear Russia to unveil

any of

the plots
fall

may have

discovered there.

Plans to

upon us and try to annihilate us, no doubt!" It was perfectly useless to protest; this nonsense went on ad nauseam.
Unfortunately,
I

did

not

attribute

much

what seemed to me empty jabber, then. I had become engaged to be married, and was in the spring of 1906 to go
importance
to
to

my
was
I

farewell audience in the palace of

in

the

Archduke
I

Vienna.

It

was the

last

time

to see them,

and

after the audience

was

over

was retained to lunch.

I

Then
avowal

heard the most illuminatingly brutal

hostility

of

towards
I

us

that

ever

came my way.

The man

consider in great

106

WHAT

KNOW
(then
as
his wife

part responsible for the war, Count

yet only Baron) Aehrenthal, and

also lunching

were

with their Highnesses that day.

His wife had been

as

my
to

immediate predecessor
Archduchess
Isabelle.

Lady-in- Waiting

Hence probably the intimacy of the will follow. Aehrenthal had just
been Ambassador for several years.
with the young
wife,
girls,

talk that

returned

from Petrograd, where, to our undoing, he had

I

conversed

whilst the Archduke, his

and Aehrenthal sat opposite upon a sofa. was struck by this phrase pronounced by
:

Aehrenthal
always
lie

"
in

Some
being
are

of

the
to

difficulty

will

able
so

provoke

them
peace"

sufficiently,
ful, placid,

they

annoyingly
!

made The next

I

" They ? and well-intentioned " it was Russia he meant. sure

phrase

confirmed

my

fears.
:

It

was

pronounced
indeed,

by the
because,

Archduke
of

" Very

annoying

course,

should

things crystallize,

we should
fatal

never want the

to us.

odium
might

of starting a

war attached
divergence

That
opinion

create

of

and might nationalities, amongst all our bring upon our heads the wrath of England,
which
is

undesirable."
:

Then Aehrenthal resumed

*'

Never

fear.

AT TEE COURT OF AUSTRIA

a
pretext
!

107

will

be

found
be
able

when
to

the

time

comes
look
will

We

shall

make
that that

some
will

move, somewhere
perfectly

in

the

Balkans,
yet

legitimate,

Russia
she

not

be
the

able

to

accept,
for

because

has
of

always
all

stood

up

the

brotherhood
Curse
her

Slavonic

people.

Only
garia
!

think

what she has done for BulEngland we shall always be able to

if

conciliate

we
to

stand

in

with

the

Turks.
to

She

has

too
ever

many Mahometan
change
her

subjects
in

consider
respect."

policy

this

Then the Archduchess put

internal

in

" Are
?

the

troubles really bad

in
?

Russia

What

about the

Revolution

there

"The
much
Russia.
sources,

people everywhere are but as sheep,"

;

returned Aehrenthal

"I would
a
total

not build too

in

hope She
that

upon
is

disintegration

so rich,

so full of natural relike

it

makes her
nine
lives.

cat,
will

with

many more than

manage
our
ing
to
fall

She
feet

always
unless

upon
liope

her

again,
true,
in It

most glorious
successful

comes
in

trouble

Poland.

makmust
Polish

be

done

slowly

and

systematically.

leaders can always

be llattercd or bribed into

108

WHAT
this

KNOW
the
is

anything.
to

One can end. The

to

also try to use

clergy

Catholic

clergy

prac-

tically international.

stupid enough
talk

The Polish people are be led by any fool who can

sufficiently

well.

We

can
fact

easily

blind

them
is

to

the

self-evident

that

Russia

the

only

Power that
not
the

has

made

her part

of Poland a rich country."

" But

is

Polish peasant

and the
?

commercial element there very anti-Russian

" Really, the

"

majority are not

at

all

so.

We
ful

must

not

be

foolish,

nor

indulge

in
sin-

illusions.

Russia did put a stop to the

of

exploitation
its

the land and the peasant

by

aristocracy.

The peasant

and
off

the
in

commercial element

were never better

Russia.

Poland than under the protection and backed

by

the

capital

of

But

don't

let

that worry you; they are an excitable people,

and can be persuaded by big talk into anyas I said before. Our line is carething, fully to put them up to it and irritate Poland
against Russia.

We
by

can always promise them

will

mountains
power.

of gold

they
are

never see them,

of course, but

that time they will be in our

pity

we

not ready to
is

fall

on

Russia now,

whilst

everything

fermenting.

AT THE COURT OF AUSTRIA

But
shall
it

109

will

be six or

seven years before

to risk

be

strong

enough

we that move

maybe more.
quite

safe
!

or

silly

Before all, everything must be we must do nothing premature Your Highness knows the German
;

Emperor intimately does your Highness never fear that we may have a disillusion in that That we may find ourselves desaquarter ? voues,' ^ politically, all of a sudden, by the me, and many displeases It Germans ? others here, that we should be so absolutely tied down by what they might do or say
'
I

We

are

practically

in

their

leading-strings

and we should try to become more independent, so as to be able to do things on our own
responsibility "
!

" Dear Baron, what you

mention

is

Francis
afraid

Ferdinand's pet grievance.

But

am
!

change
I

at

present

is

impossible

As

to

William,

have every reason to believe him

sincerely well disposed towards us

and our aims.

We
alte

might try a change

Herr,'
['

if

the old

man

['

der

out

meaning the old Emperor] pegged was the elegant Austrian abkratzen,'
but
to
'

expression],
interest
is

meanwhile
be
nice

William's
us.

private

to

Did

you

Left in the lurch.

110

WHAT
millions of

KNOW
man
pays
will

not know that our old

his

debts

many
hurry

them and he
his

be in no

to

part

from

milch-cow."

Some
soon

laughter and coarse jests followed,

after the party broke up.

and

That was the

at the court

last

itself.

I heard and witnessed The same year saw the

desertion of the only honestly peaceful politician

Count Goluchowsky, by birth a Pole, and married to a charming Frenchwoman, Princess Murat he was the only man
Austria had,
;

with brains and goodwill

of international politics
;

who had any

notion

he had for some time

current, but

been accomplishing the difficult feat of swim-

ming against a strong

at last to the

succumbed

intrigues of his

successor

that
con-

same Baron Aehrenthal whose edifying

versation

with

the

Archducal couple

have

just recounted.

His father had been of low

origin,

but had,
as

by

luck,

married a Countess
is

Thun, and

everything in Austria
of family
influence,

practically

an

affair
all

that
it

marriage,

with

the

high

connections

brought,

made
eaten

the

son's career a foregone conclusion, given brains

and

ambition.
latter,

Aehrenthal

was

up

with the

and did not lack the former.

AT THE COURT OF AUSTRIA

Indeed,
a

111

deep and

silent

but

immeasurable

ambition

was the keynote to his character. As long as he attained what he wished for, might fight, fall, or crumblewhat empires
cared

he

In

dark

hour

for

ourselves

and
at

Austria

he

was nominated
Modelling

Ambassador
in

Petrograd.
the

himself
(or

this

upon

Germans,
he

whom

rather

whose
himself

predominance)
into a clever

loathed,

he

made

provocateur.
the charm
liant

and unscrupulous spy and agent Through the good looks and
he maintained a
bril-

of his wife,
in

position

the social world.

:

His policy

was a queer double game preponderance over Russia in the Balkans, whatever the cost, united
to

greater
for

independence
Austria

from the dictates

in

of

Berlin,

and

this

case

for

himself.

He was

going to try to race

Germany

for

greatness (and perfidiousness), blind to the fact, or wilfully ignoring it (in the spirit of " apres

moi
have
his

le

deluge

"),

that
of

this

race
if

could

only

chance

success

he

gave

up

other aims, directed against us,

and kept
has often

up the friendship with Russia.

tainly

He

been called P'rancis Ferdinand's man.

He

cer-

seemed to

follow

the

same hesitating

! :

112
policy.

WHAT
He

KNOW
risks.

ran the same

Yet

per-

sonally believe he

worked more or
benefit

less alone,

and

for

no one

else's

except his

own

aggrandizement.

If

he met Francis Ferdinand

upon the same way, it was accidental or fatal, as you please. Two falling stars, gathered unintentionally into the same orbit One can!

not
"

but

remember,
in

considering
years,

the
the

Austrian
saying

politics

the

latter

Whom

the gods wish to destroy they render

mad."
policy,
telligent

The

fate

of
in

the
the

land,

its

foreign
in-

were placed

hands

of an

and unscrupulous adventurer, and one whom I believed to have no conscience at all After the annexations of Bosnia and Herzegovina
tickled,
{his

work)

his

ears

were

pleasantly

no doubt, by the
on him.

flattering title of

"an

Austrian Bismarck " which some short-sighted

fools

conferred

Its

indirect

conse-

quences are the present war.

a queer
as a

Aehrenthal was
distrustful

character altogether,
as a politician.
else to

both

man and
is

False himself,

he believed everybody
It he,
I

be equally
to

so.

have

every reason

know,

who, with the authority of one who said he

knew the land and the

the
final

people,
still

cleverly gave

push

to

the

wavering

public

AT TEE COURT OF AUSTRIA

opinion
pressed
in
in

113

Austria,

the
!

the feeling they ex" words Take care, Russia

(Vorsicht
I

means
uns

mischief

"

Russland

will

Kragcn 1). Until then Francis Ferdinand, backed by military party, his might plot and plan for a war with us some deeply initiated people might either approve
an

den

or

disapprove

of

this.

It

was
it

in

the

air,

had not yet crystallized. Animosity there was, and a wish for aggrandizement at our expense. But it was Achrcnthal who, realizing the trend of
as I

have shown before, but

public feeling, took

it

He meant
Being the

to

rise,

upon himself to direct it. and saw his opportunity.

it

man

he was,

could

be foreseen
it.

that he would

make

the most of

CHAPTER

IV

MY MARRIAGE, AND FURTHER

SIGNS
I

AND TOKENS
I

WENT

to Russia to be married.

had no
I

really

near relations in

Hungary.
love,
in

Besides,

married a poor
popular
with

man
friends

for

a thing more

us

than

Austria-Hungary.
disapproved
of

Most

of

my

there

my

choice,

not without reason, as I unfortuto

see,

nately

came

too

late.
it

My

Russian
sur-

family stood loyally by me, so

prising that I

was not
to

went to them.
this

Oddly
gave

enough,

expedition

Russia

me

a very conclusive proof as to

how
aunt

entirely

one

was

trusted

there.
for

My

Paskevitsch had lent

her house at

me

my honeymoon
was
in the very

Temblin, at

the very doors of

It

the fortress of Ivangorod.

middle of the Revolution of 1905-6.

exact, in

(To be

June and July, 1906.)

114

FURTHER SIGNS AND TOKENS

One may
of Princess
well

115

argue that
that

I I

Paskevitsch,
like

was the niece and my hus-

band (who,

had never served in the army) did not know a gun from a teakettle. All this was true, but after all we were aliens, the times were troubled, and had anybody harboured feelings of animosity or
father,
fear,

my

they might easily have suspected us.

If

they did not actually wish to think us they might

only
as
still

spies,
if

have found us dangerous,

to

belonging

country

they

could

imagine inimical to them.

could
easily

In any case, they

have forbidden us access to the

of

fortress.
first

Nothing
used
to

the

sort occurred.

At
un-

we

drive

there

absolutely

challenged.
stores)

The
quite

only

good

shop

(military

being

inside often.

Ivangorod,

go
the

there

little

we used to later, when

became more threatening, a general order was issued that every non-miliRevolution
tary person had to have a permit before entering

the

fortress.

We
on

got

a
the

permanent
least
diffi-

laissez-passer
culty,

signed,

without

and

we
to.

went

shopping

whenever
the

we
least

wished

Wo
not so

never

encountered
as

hostility,

much

an unfriendly
simple

glance

or

a rough

word, nothing but

116

WHAT
a critical
time,
in

KNOW
And
this

trust
in

and kindness from everybody.

the

midst of a Revo-

lution.

Oh

yes

would any
call

day rather
us,

be at the mercy
barbarians," as

inhuman the Germans

representative

of "

Asiats," " rough

than at

that of any " Kultur."

of

the

famous
another
plea for

Talking of
digression.
I

revolutions,

allow

me

wish to

make another

unity, for safeguarding the beauty of the present

Revolution as
living
far

it

stood in the beginning.

in

am

from Russia,

a neutral country,

and I have heard the unanimous expressions of awed admiration that our Revolution drew
from every one at
its start.

Even some

of our

enemies, as I heard indirectly, were astonished

and admiring, and

felt

secretly

envious.

No

superfluous bloodshed, no

unnecessary cruelty,
all

minimum Where were

a
barians,

of disorder,

things

considered.

the despised Asiats, the cruel bar?

our enemies had described

Where
Russia,

were

they

now

Ah,

Russia,

my

you were magnificent and all the world bowed before you. in wonder Do not ever sully an absolutely unique page in the world's history Your shield was fair, among the
!

fairest of the nations

never,

never disgrace it!

FURTHER SIGNS AND TOKENS

One must
merciful
as
feel

117

very strong to

be as

just,

as

you were.
!

Only, for God's

the

sake,

remain

so

rccocrnized

fundamental
I

beauty of
it

your national character, as

it

knew

and loved

always, in those
one's
soul

first

glorious

days.
to

As

said,
so,

must be strong
of
strength,

behave

and
for

that

sign

where they looked

frightened

disintegrating weakness,
else

our enemies as nothing

could

have done.

Therefore they set to work at once

to
it

and

tried

slay

the

newly born Freedom

by poisoning

with discord.
is

Too

well they

know
death.

that

harmony
life,

the
is

very essence
essence
of

of
its

a nation's

as

strife

the

They wished to destroy the beauty of your unity and tried their best thank God, so

far

fruitlessly.

Criminal

propositions

were

made
were

to you,

agents provocateurs like

into

Grimm
Be on

dispatched
;

your

midst.

your guard
unite you
of
!

they

may
to

try other tricks to disin

Stand firm

unaltered strength
:

purpose.

Say
for

yourselves
for

These

are

the

same

people us

who

years
allies,

have
into
all

laid

death-trap

and our

which,
fallen.

out of blind

trustfuhiess,

we have

Nothing

will

change

them but

defeat,

abso-

118
lute

WHAT
and indisputable.
to-day

KNOW
To
inflict

this

is

our

duty of
plish
it

let
go
step

us

rise

up and

accomI

But I must can show you,

the way,
regarding

on

with
step,

my

story.

by

year by year,

how they were working

a queer
thing

for our undoing.

By

comes

my
a

wedding.

My
in

back to me, husband had

the

nephew,

army,
also,

last

come to Russia At the in order to be best man. moment he was forbidden by his milihave
authorities

who

young was to

officer

Austrian

tary
leave,
to

to

go.

He might have

his

he might go

wherever he liked except

Did they fear he might give something away, being young and indiscreet ? I do not know, but the unfriendly fact remains, and caused us much wonder and worry at
Russia.

the time.

In what I

am

going to

tell

you next,

wish

to say that I do not exonerate myself.

I
else,

was
not

an
I

idiot, fit for

an asylum and nothing

I

to have seen things coming more clearly than

did.

Looking back,

can follow the pre-

liminary events
will trace

of the war, step

for you, year

by
year.

step.

them

by

FURTHER SIGNS AND TOKENS

1906-1907

119

I
fell

was married
dangerously
of

in

June, and in This

November

ill.

illness lasted until

the

We transMarch of the next year. ported our Lares and Penates to Venice as soon as I was well enough to be moved, and there I stayed recuperating until the end of the Except for the blatant animosity year 1907. of the Italian people towards all that was
month
Austrian,
I

did not

hear or see anything of

any

interest

politically.

Perhaps

was too
and when

weak and weary

to notice much.

We
I

settled in Venice for five years,

I

had to engage servants

found myself up

against the difficulty of their disliking to come to what they would call " an Austrian house."

had carefully to explain that both my husband and myself were Hungarian subjects, and, what is more, my mother had been Russian,
I

so that they could serve us without

dishonour-

ing

their

national
for

prejudices.

This

was
I

all

very
to

well
fair

me

personally,

because

tried

and kindly to them, and so was absolved from being a *' Maledetta Austriaca."
be
Unfortunately,

my

husband took up the

tra-

120
ditional

WHAT
overbearing

KNOW
towards them,
our

attitude

with the result that

he was frankly detested.

I

In

my own mind

am

convinced

that

Itahan Allies could not have kept out of the

The war even had they wanted to do so. popular mind was made up. Either war with
Austria or a
affair, if

Revolution

Their part in the

they ever had any, was determined by

the Voo! populi

1908

Two
from

events

of

world-interest

roused

me

my

apathetic attitude of mind, the result

of ill-health

and sorrow.
28th.
Its

with the terrible

The year 1907 ended earthquake of Messina, on

repercussion,

December
far north

even

as

as

Venice, was felt

on the 2nd of
dis-

January.

On New

Year's

Eve we were
five

cussing this horrible disaster, and at about three

o'clock in the

morning we had four or

bad
in

" quakes "

ourselves,

and a
It

terrible

panic

the

whole

fact that
elasticity

we owed the Venice escaped serious harm to the They swayed of the foundations.
town.

seems

under the shocks, and so saved the

edifices

above

from

destruction.

Many

houses

had

FURTHER SIGNS AND TOKENS

was
all.

121

wide cracks, ours among the number, but that

We
Of
rible

had another shock a few

catastrophe.
all

days

later.

course, all Italv felt the effects of this terIt

was a

sort

of national

mourning

over the country.

The Austrian
of
lies

Press chose this very occasion to proclaim that

now was the moment

and
pretences,
to
fall

to

make an end
an
Italy
entirely

break

useless
her,

alliance,

and to

upon

and smash

for she would, to a great extent,

be financially
be

ruined.

How
hinted,
print, 1

such

lunacy was ever

less

allowed

to

much
in

permitted to see daylight in

I

cannot say.
Italy.

can only vouch for the

results

Dangerous manifestations of
the Austrian Consulates, and
all

popular anger took place before the Embassies

in

Rome and

all

a fearful wave of rage and loathing swept

over the country

stifled eventually,

Of

course,

the thing was

the Press muzzled, the articles

and lame enough But excuses made on the part of Austria. a great deal of harm was done, and the bad
in question repudiated, belated

feeling rankled.

On
intense

the other hand, something else gave

pleasure,

me

namely,

that

it

should

have

122

WHAT
when the

KNOW

been our navy that was at hand, by the merest

chance,
disaster at Messina happened,

our

sailors,

along with the English (though

first),

we

what and whom they could out of the very hell that it must have been. Every heartfelt word of thanks,
were the very
to help save

uttered with the peculiar poetry of diction of

the Italians, was balm to me, and

my

Russian
of

heart beat high with pride and joy.

The same year came

the

the

thunderclap

annexation

of

Bosnia

and

Herzegovina.
the two years
first finger

Aehrenthal had not been

idle in

during which he was in power.

The

of the dirty glove that was to be thrown to us

had been detached, and smuggled within the

vicinity of our toes.

use this ridiculous language advisedly, for the chivalrous " geste " of
I

honestly

throwing
of

glove
act,

and
a

taking

the

consequences

the

like

gentleman,

was not in the nature of this clever, subtle, He would always and dishonest politician. work subterraneously first, and seek some Now afterwards. glory in a coup d'Etat

nobody had any

nexation in
itself.

serious objection
It

to the

an-

had long ago been in But the the nature of a foregone conclusion. method by which it was done roused the ire


FURTHER SIGNS AND TOKENS
even
that
of of Austria's
128

present

ally

and

tyrant

Germany. If I remember rightly, after the Bosnian campaign and the temporary was signed between occupation, a treaty
Austria,

Germany, and Italy, respectAs a mere matter ing a future annexation. Powers most conof formality, the three
Russia,

cerned
together
place.

in

Balkanic
the
of

affairs

were

to

consult

before

actual

annexation
fulfilling

took
these
cer-

Instead

honestly

conditions, Austria

took a senseless

and

tainly useless step,

and

set

an accomplished fact
Further,

before

the

other Powers concerned.

this

about three weeks before

thal

happened, Aehren-

came
of

all

the

way

to

Rome
further
I

to

assure

Tittoni that Austria had entirely given

idea

up every
lies

annexation.
to

What
Powers
Italy

were

offered

the

other

do not know,
in

but

know

that

was

fine

rage.

Influential
it

people

kept

talking

to

me about
Grazia,
of

(among others the

surely

old

Duca
of

della

who
was
fait

could

not

be

accused

being

anti-Austrian),

and the

gist

their
rien

words
par
avoir

always

" L'annexion

n'est

elle-meme, mais
la

pourquoi
d'un

diable

novs

crasse

mcnsonge,

parfaitement
?

inutile, et

deshonorant pour I'Autriche

Pour-

124

WHAT
?

KNOW
?

quoi

"

Why, indeed
later
in

When
the

went to
im-

Vienna
pression

the

year,

general

was not unlike that of the glee of naughty children who have successfully tricked A faint uneasiness was a severe governess.
perceptible,

however, as regards Germany.

It

appears that " Big Brother " was

indeed,

very angry

and

about
as

this

there

was

some

anxious shaking of heads.

a downright

lie,

Germany published happen to know, when

admirable
forbearance

she said that she had been consulted in secret.

Russia

behaved

with

and

cool-headedness in ignoring the insult for

Still,

the sake of peace.

shock,

believe

it

was a

and it made people at Petrograd less I supcertain about Austria's good faith. pose that Germany was especially furious
because
Austria,
in

her

stupidity,

had

pre-

maturely opened our eyes.

It

also

came

to

my

certain

knowledge

that the Kaiser at the time rebuked his " dear friend " Francis Ferdinand in violent
terms, ending with the words
:

you

in

future

not
is

to

rattle

"I will thank my sword "

!

"

The annexation

nothing in
off
?

should we have been put

itself, but why on earth with a perfectly useless lie,

and one that dishonours Austria

Why

"

FURTHER SIGNS AND TOKENS

The whole
tion
affair

125

was a deep
but

moral

humilia-

to

Austria,

Aehrenthal

was happy.

He was
I

created a Count and the Press hailed " him as the Austrian Bismarck "
!

can fancy the sardonic smile of the Gerbefore

mans when the event was mentioned

any of them.

Yes, the " great Aehrenthal " had done his

best to realize
his

dangerous ambition

that

of slowly trying to

annoy us into declaring war

(Only he called it, and alienating Germany. " independently strong.") Yes, making Austria
all

things considered,

can imagine Germany

dancing with rage at the wonderfully brainless

move
is

of

her
is

ally.

For,

give

the

Boche

his

due, he

not always stupid and he certainly

deep

Fancy
the
if

losing a trick so

idiotically,

and
far

putting

" Ideal

Enemy
yet,
in

"

upon

its

guard, even

ever so slightly.

For we were
spite of the

from really awake, as

trial

and subsequent suicide of a highly placed accused, truly or officer in Vienna who was In the same year, falsely, of spying for us.
I

was

startled

by hearing some Austrian

officers
:

(my
**

them) say casually nephew among When we have war with Russia, so-and-so " will happen So the feeling had spread, it
!

126

WHAT

KNOW

had penetrated to a wider circle, just as I Yet I could not, would had feared it would. not beheve that the dawning horror could ever

become

true.

1909

We

passed the autumn of this year in the

North of Hungary, with some relations of my During the yearly autumn manhusband's. oeuvres some officers were quartered in the
house.

The youngest of them,

by

birth

Tschech,

gloomy
the

struck me especially as being both and " big with a secret," though

behaviour of

the

elder

officers

was

also

They would not even dine constantly to for they had in the castle, attend to the field telephone, somewhere outWe were one day walking up and side. down in the courtyard, after dinner, when I was for an instant left alone with the young I quite innocently asked him what lieutenant.
strangely nervous.

was the matter,

seen

as

had

seen

officers

in

manoeuvre quarters previously and had never

them

in such a state before.

On

the con-

trary, they

were generally sociable enough.

face

The young man's

became very grave

as

FURTHER SIGNS AND TOKENS

he asked
Countess,
in
his

127

turn

"

But

is

it

possible.

anything
I

that you "

really

have no inkhng of

said

" No,"

but

wanted to know what

believe
this
all

was going on.

"

Do

you, then, simply

?

to

be a manoeuvre
I

"

was rather
but
If
if it

nettled,
isn't,

I
is

do,
it ?

"Of course and said what in Heaven's name

:

you cannot

tell

me,

you needn't,
it

but then stop hinting."

" Well,

madam, you
Russia.

will

hear

sooner

or later, without a doubt.

zation
lieve
it

It is

secret mobili-

against

The

soldiers

also

be-

to be an ordinary manoeuvre, but we

have been told we

It
is

may have war any moment.

we stand
incidents
to
for

the same in the South, where

against
'

mobilized

Servia

and

Montenegro.

They told us up north here.'

there

were

frontier

Cossacks are

said

have
one

crossed the Galician frontier.

But /
sister

know
in

that these are

lies,

to excuse an eventual

attack on our part.

Russia.

have a
are

married

She
the

is

in

the very frontier town

said

near which
crossed,

Cossacks

to
it,

have
as

and she must have known

is

her

husband

active

in

the

Russian

army.

128

WHAT
I

KNOW
race,

Madam,

am
;

of

Slav

with far

more

sympathy and behef in Russia than in Austria. Pray for me for if there is a war, I shall have to fight and perhaps die for a cause alien to

my
I

heart."
!

was thunderstruck I could neither say a word nor make a movement, until I felt the poor boy take my hand and kiss it. To my further horror, he was actually crying. He was certainly absolutely sober, and I cannot quite understand what made him confide

in

me, never even asking for

I

my
day,
life

silence

(which
could

kept faithfully

to

this

as

it

easily

have

cost

breathed a word

of

him his what I had

Russia,
his

had

I
I

heard).

subsequently thought he might, besides a

sister,

have a sweetheart
the
terrible

in

to

account for
I
lost

depth

of

grief.

no

time in telling him that

my

mother had been

he did.
This
the consolation

Russian and that

I felt exactly as

seemed to bring him at

of fellow-feeling. of lead, full of

least

But I myself carried a heart fear and of terror, and was unable
Those were days of
to

to speak to a single soul.

agony,

forever

be

remembered,

and that

went
first

far

towards turning
of relief

my

hair grey.

My

feeling

came when,

three weeks

FURTHER SIGNS AND TOKENS

later,

120

the

papers announced

that

*'

the mansatis-

oeuvres

had
end."

come
I

to

brilHant

and
the

factory

concluded

that

danger
enough,

had, at least for the moment, blown over, and

I

relegated

the

subject,

stupidly

to

the

nightmares

that

could

never

become

reality.

You who

read

all this,

will

you kindly count

upon your fingers ? It was exactly five years, less a month, before the war actually started. Will any pacifist still have the courage to stand up to me and utter his lukewarm sentiments about " every
;

Power having been in fault, more or less the sooner we make peace the better," and more stuff like it? Can you still not see how deeply treacherous was the behaviour of the Central Powers ? Who " dare affirm that they did not want war " ? I have shown you one instance of how they
were

on

the

qui-vive

for

war.

There

is

more

to come.

1910
In the

month
I

of

May

of this year

my

sister

was married
Cantacuzene.

to an officer in our army.

Serge

was to have gone to Petro9

180

WHAT
of

KNOW
it

grad for the wedding, and

will

always be

one
to

my

great

regrets

that

was unable

do

so.

I should

leading

have come into contact with many people, and could perhaps have I
if

helped them
in truth I

had opened
it.

their eyes.

Yet

doubt
far

am

sure that, in spite

of a sufficiency

of

signs

and warnings, people

were

still

from seeing the danger clearly

as,

enough
one

in

Petrograd,

by the way,
I

in

all

other Entente countries.

should have been

among

the

many

called

mad, and

con-

sequently
object to
like

Not that I need ever the company, for it contained names

derided.

Roberts

and
in

Kitchener
Belgium,

in
etc.

England,

General

Leman

Had
fresh

gone to Russia, I should certainly have spoken,

as

the

mobilization

story

was

still

in

was not to be. My motherin-law fell dangerously ill, and I could not leave my husband, who was like a child in my

my

mind.

But

it

hands, to give
to

way

(under the stress of emotion)

drinking-bouts.
its

one
I

of

his

fatal

Never
order

have

obeyed
at

the marriage law, in

to cleave to one's husband at the expense of

all else,

more personal

sacrifice.

had

my

portrait painted as a wedding-gift to

my

sister.

FURTHER SIGNS AND TOKENS

For
this

11

reason I had to be in Vienna, going

to Gratz, so long as

up constantly
in-law's
life

my
;

motherIn
the

was
he

not

in

actual

danger.
for

Vienna
second

met

Count

Berchthold
to

time

was
of

replace

Aehrenthal,
that

who
to

had

sickened

the

illness

was

him subsequently, and who now had to relinquish his power, however unwillingly, Berchthold had succeeded him as Ambassador in Russia, and now he was to succeed him For some one as Minister of Foreign Affairs. about to become one of the first men in the Empire, Berchthold was strangely depressed; it was a very generally accepted opinion that he did not like the position into which he was
kill

forced

many

said

he

only

accepting

finally

had refused it twice, at the Emperor's perI

sonal request.
I

can beheve

it

from what

know
fool,

of him.

He was
cither
it.

a decent

man and
like

no
or

though

not strong enough,

to

Goluchowsky had been,

turn

the

current
this

swim against

suppose he

felt

and more, to wit:

that

he was soon to become a mere name, a cipher, covering the actions of the true " man at
the wheel "
;

this

was a certain Count Forgach,

" creatures

one

(jf

Aehrenthal's

"a

tremend-

182

WHAT
" even
tale,

KNOW
I

ous Russophobe, and hating Servia for personal

reasons

unto

madness."

heard

lengthy

the ins and outs of which I

fail

to remember, as to

how he almost broke

and
never
forgave
of

his

neck

at

Belgrade,
this
fiasco.

the

Servians

The

mention

the

authenticated fact
I

may

suffice here.

By what

know of the man, and I know him wellwe enjoyed his presence as my father's secretary at The Hague for two
personally

mortal years

that

is

just

the sort of feeling

he

would

harbour.

He
I

was

one

of

the

most dangerous men of a bad stock, too.

honoured
nected
his

ever

met.
father

He came
had
fraud,
dis-

His
'66,

name
a
not

in

having been
the

conof

with
I

huge

army-supplies

which
brother

do

know

details.

His

had been turned out of every club in the monarchy, it was said for cheating at cards, and in one case for forgery. I am not giving away secrets this was all common talk. He himself kept within the law he would
;

in

any case have been too clever to do otherwise. But I think him, next to Aehrenthal,
responsible for the war.

Berchthold I hold responsible only on account

of his weakness.

Yet even had he been

stronger,

FURTHER SIGNS AND TOKENS

could an honourable

133

man

ever stand out against

a fanatical intriguer, entirely unscrupulous and

withal ambitious
at
?

Perhaps not

At

all

events,

the time of his

nomination as Minister of

Foreign Affairs Berchthold did not wear the air

of triumph that might have been expected, and even went so far as to say " he did not care
for Aehrenthal's political inheritance."

To
grew

return

to

my

affairs,

my
I

mother-in-law
left

worse

and
for

worse,
Gratz,
old

defmitively

and where

Vienna

my
a

husband
fortnight

needed

me.

The

lady died

afterwards, and after the funeral

to Venice.
sister
I

we returned

Six weeks later

to

my

newly married

came
the

stay with us,

to
see

and once more

had

occasion

how unconscious
talked

of danger

Russia

was.

sorts of subjects,

my

upon all brother-in-law and I, and

he
often

We

among

other

things,

spoke of

how

necessary peace

was to Russia, and that her only wish was to be left alone, to work out her own salvation through reorganization and
internal regeneration.

He

himself was going to

marriage, a thing he

leave the

army

after his

would not have been allowed to do, or have dreamt of doing, had any one imagined a war
to

be

pending.

He had

been brought up

in

134

WHAT
and Paris
if

KNOW
mother
Entente
is

Petrograd

(his

French),

and

the

Russo-French
as

hostile to
infallibly
for,

Germany
said,

had been she asseverated, it would

in his conversation,

have leaked out

as

my

brother-in-law,

my
for

sister,

and myself talked upon every

possible subject.

And my
and
all

sister

knew my

feelings

Russia

had no My husband was quite need to be careful. an anti-militarist, and though during his drinking bouts he was jealous unto madness of my sister and my Russian relatives, and
that was

Russian,

so

they

effectually stopped
in

my

ever going to see them,

spite

of

all

my

efforts,

during

my

married

life,

yet personally he liked Russia, since he

there,

had been

very much.

Another reason

for his not allowing

me

to go to Russia
life

was the

fear that in the intimate family

we should
hell

lead there his vice would be detected, and that

my

people,

if

they found out what a

.

my

existence really was, would try to separate us.

He was

probably right in this too.

Well, this only went to prove that apparently

in the year

1910 an

officer in

the Russian

army
must
/
tell

feared no aggression from any quarter, or I

have noticed at

least
lips

an unnatural reserve. a thousand times to

had

it

upon

my

FURTHER SIGNS AND TOKENS

135

him the mobihzation story of the year before. But the newly-wed couple seemed so happy, I
dared not disturb their peace of mind.
I

often

thought

in

after-years

that
in

they

might have
manner.

remarked some constraint

my

1911

The year
civilized

of the Agadir incident

The whole

world was in a turmoil, and trembling

brink of

on

the

war

Here was the shock

the
eyes
of
all

that should
us,

have opened

of

and which should have shown us whither

were tending.
I

things

will

not waste

many

words about
written

this incident.
it,

Volumes have been

about

and about the subsequent

London Conference. Besides, it is so recent that it must still be present to every mind. I will
only return to
1913-14,
it

in

my
in

record

of the
to

years

when

was

Germany,

show how

unpopular the peaceful solution had been there,

and how the public desire was

of war.
In Italy
factions,
I

in the direction

heard the loud clamour of different

deploring
Italy,

many

" the

chains

of the

Triple Alliance."

feeling secure for the

"

136

WHAT
the

KNOW
from her "
ally

moment from any

in

interference

had started her Tripolitanian campaign, accompanied, however, by the growls of the Austrian Press, which again took the tone it had displayed during the Messina disback,"
aster.

However, these vaticinations were more

sharply repressed this time, for the need was

felt

of renewing the Triple Alliance, that had

its

held in
three
other.

bonds for a quarter of a century

born
held
for

nations

to

misunderstand

each

Germany
hand,

Austria in check with

separatist

an
all

iron

the

policy

of

Aehrenthal and Francis Ferdinand was not at

to her
liking.

have reason

to

believe

that the most intimate Austro-German relations

were somewhat strained,

break of war in 1914.

even until the out-

After what they considered their " defeat

at Agadir, the

Germans were not slow to

in our

cast

covetous

eyes

direction,

with

the dis-

loyal intention of luring us out of the Entente

Cordiale.

This

was
it

Austria, otherwise

manoeuvred unknown to would have meant immethe dismemberment of

diate war, resulting in

Austria and ultimately our entire dependence on

Germany.
never

It

was only a momentary impulse,

expressed in

really

practical

change

FURTHER SIGNS AND TOKENS

of policy.

137

And we
!

stood

loyal

to our

word,

thank God

Our treason, had we consented, would have meant bringing Russia entirely under German rule and to know the pleasures of that, ask our brother-Poles from Posnania and the Alsatians. But more of this, too, in a later
chapter.

1912

Tlie

Balkan

War

To

tell

the truth, this was

such a nightmare year for

me

privately,

that

my

sensibilities for
I

world-events were somewhat

held

blunted.

figuratively
I

my

head,
not.

asking

myself whether
left

was going mad or

We

Venice for a God-forsaken place up in the

north of Hungary, near Kaschau, in the month

of May.

must therefore have been in March or April that the German Emperor came to Venice to meet the King of Italy. The general opinion was that he came personally to persuade the King to renew the Triple He succeeded, as we know, but for Alliance. the short term of three years only. The wise
It

Italians

were

not

going

to

bind

themselves

down

for

any

longer, after the aggressive attitude

of their allies in the crisis of Agadir.

Had

it

138

WHAT
they

KNOW
have
calculated

not been for the murder of Archduke Francis

Ferdinand,

would

the

time exactly, the aggression of the Central Powers

having been prepared for 1915.

My

husband had scarcely arrived

I

in

Hungary
delirium

when he had the worst attack

tremens that

of

had ever witnessed. It was breakdown, and he narrowly a complete escaped death. For some time after his recovery he used to go to Kaschau to see
a doctor.
agitated

One day he came back woefully (he was still very weak from his

recent illness) and told

me
an
in

the following tale.

old

He had come
an
officer,

across

acquaintance,
great

who

was

hurry,

having just been called up because there was

a secret mobilization against Russia, and there

would
told

probably

soon

be

war.

My
so
I

husband
always

me

to pack, and proposed going to Russia

sister,

to

my

a thing he had

far

opposed with might and main.

about
"
to
his

would do,

was surprised agitation, and asked him what he once there, if there was war.
naturalized Russian," he replied,

Become a

my

great astonishment, " for I

if

know enough
is

of politics to be sure that

in

Austria

involved

war with Russia

it is

entirely her fault, nay.


FURTHER SIGNS AND TOKENS
her crime
!

139

"

had

for years felt

nothing for

my

husband but an immense

I

pity.

At that
sorrow,

moment

almost loved him again, because at

least in this

he

felt

as I did.

To my

however, I could not accede to his request, for

was not strong enough to undertake the journey, nor was he in a state to be shown
he
to

my

family,

from

whom

had hitherto
and
his

suc-

cessfully hidden
tion.

my

misery

degrada-

The thundercloud, too, dissipated quickly this time, and no rumour of manoeuvres even got so far as the Press. Soon after this, I and my maid went to Kaschau to do some necessary shopping. To my astonishment, all the
stations

down
were

the small

side-line

that led to
police

our place
soldiers.

guarded

both

by

and

On meeting

our notary next day, I

asked him what on earth this display of forces " Oh, madam, as you know, there are meant.

rumours about that a war with Russia

is

coming.

The Slavonic part of the population do not They prefer leaving the country. They like it. take the train to some frontier place in Galicia, and then they calmly walk over into Russia
desert,
in
fact,

for

that

is

the

last

one ever
soldiers

hears about them.

in

Most of them are

wives and

reserve,

with

their

children,

or

140

WHAT
boys
with

KNOW
be
called

young
year.
fight

who would
people

up

this

They have no

inclination

towards

whom

the

fools

consider

their brothers."

This last story of mine you can verify,

suppose.
It

was

in the first

days of September,

or the last days of August, in 1912.

You must

know whether many Hungarian

their

Slavs took up

abode
or

in

Russia

or
it

Poland about that

period.

Also

whether
the

was
of

continued

stream,
panic.

only
I

effect

a
is

momentary
all

What
it.

have told you

know

about

Well, unlike the war-cloud,

my own

private

thunderstorm materialized and broke over

head.
I

my

had to leave

my

husband, and I meant

to divorce him.

He

followed me, and worked

at

upon

my

pity

till

we patched up an attempt
separately.

agreement.

This brought us to the year 1913,

I

with which

must deal

1918

After

my

unfortunate

husband, quite

mad

with drink, had attempted to poison me, even

the most long-suffering patience seemed to be

FURTHER SIGNS AND TOKENS

of no avail,
old
soul,
life,

141

and

my

doctor in Vienna, a dear

energetically.
I

interfered

owe him

and probably my sanity. He successfully terrorized my husband into letting me the only place go to a sanatorium in Munich

my

where

my

husband could not follow me, for the had been forewarned.
all

chief doctor
I

accepted this solution with

the more
rela-

pleasure as

my
I

husband

had very nice

tions living in

Munich, of whose sensible help

Nor was I disappointed. I was treated by them as entirely one of the family, and however hard it must have been for them to side with an alien against one of their own blood, they did what they considered their duty very loyally and unconditionally. It is largely to them that I owed the greater facility of my divorce. Even now, when the war separates as by an unand advice
expected much.
bridgeable
gulf,

my
love

thankfulness goes out

to

them, and

my

makes an

island for them,

wherein they dwell apart from the noise and

the discord of these troubled times.

Forgive this digression

explain

it

was necessary to

Germany. Russia was out of the question, as I was far too weak
I settled

why

in

and

ill

to live through

a severe winter there,

142

WHAT
as I

KNOW

and
I

was short of money, Munich had the

additional advantage of cheapness.

was struck by the talk of several peaceable

people,

elderly

who were not a

because

little

puzzled

and

nervous

introduced to run for

in the

war tax had been two years. A war tax

a
officially
it

middle of peace-time (at least

as

proclaimed

such)

even

in

Germany

roused murmurs of discontent

Whilst
**

until

We

have the

now one had always heard most glorious army in the world,
it ?

why don't we use

this

"

the cry had changed

:

into one less bellicose

and more anxious

"

Why

taxation ? Do we really intend going to war ? " And they shook their heads somewhat

The monster they had suckled and nursed and adored, seemed, now that he was
in
fear.
full

grown,

less

splendid, less
close
It

entirely glorious

to

them,
in

viev/ed

at

hand,

than

he

was only the most rabidly military elements that went on ravin -^ like lunatics about " the stain upon Germany
had
the distance.
'i

shield since

the diplomatic defeat of Agadir,'*

of
I

the

necessity

" washing

off

this

stain

in

blood," etc.
ful

have said before that the peaceheard and saw

ending of this incident had rankled in Gerall

many, and

now proved

me

right.

FURTHER SIGNS AND TOKENS

148

The Entente had indeed dared to doubt Germany's absohite right to be first among all nations. They had committed the unpardonable offence of thinking that they
too

had a word to say. And, in consequence, as Count Miinster had predicted, " Germany's sword At was ready to fly out of its scabbard."
least
it

years
coffers

Two was prepared to do so in 1915. of enormous taxation were to fill the

of

would

the State to overflowing, and then follow " some pretext in the Balkans

that Russia could not tolerate," as Aehrenthal

had

said.

to plans,

The further development, according was an easy victory, because the other

nations were asleep.

I

see all this now, all too clearly, but in 1913

my own

tragedy

partly blinded
asleep,
:

me.

I,

too,

was unfortunately
nightmare to
danger to
straight
fight
life

and

had

my own

otherwise, gratitude or no,

my
now

or none, I should have gone

to Russia, and, alive

!

or

dead, should
self

be

there

My

subconscious

alone

seemed somehow awake and

to

acting, for I tried

become naturalized

as a Russian, even then.

Unfortunately this could not be done until

divorce was actually pronounced.
Also,
for
it

my
was
year

necessary for

me

to

go and

live

144
in Russia.

WHAT
in

KNOW
in

This was the reply I received at our

Embassy
During

Vienna and our Legation

the

Munich.

all

summer

of this year, at least

once or twice a week, I was awakened by the

noise of muffled steps, or artillery rattling by,

or an endless stream of cavalry passing in the

dead of night.
reply

To

all

was asked whether it was always so ? The answer " No was but we all hear we are going to have a war, and one must be ready prepared."
that
it
:

my questions I got the " night manoeuvres." I

There was, too, a strange depression hanging

over the people,
especially
in

the commercial

and
one

financial

world.

There was

no general

enthusiasm for the " Idea of War,"

felt

now

that

the

proaching.
has to
lie

shadows of death actually apThat is why Germany had and still

and keep them blind to the fact that it was their Government that was the aggressor. It would have been a very disto her people,

united

Germany

indeed, one the mihtary party

would have had a difficult task in dealing with, had their eyes been open. But the legend of
our aggression was well prepared, as you will

soon

see.

The

feeling of depression

in

the

autumn of
in

1913 was even

more pronounced

Austria,

FURTHER SIGNS AXD TOKENS

where
I

145
in

talk

was

less

restrained

than

the

pohce-regulations bound precincts of Germany.

passed the month of October in Vienna with

Russian

cousin

who had come

to

see

her

She and I did a lot of shopping and we were struck by the low prices of everything that year. As I spoke the language, I asked here and there for the reason, especially in shops where I used to deal regu" It was larly. There was only one answer
together,
:

doctor there.

better to get rid of things, as every one

knew

war was coming before long " The logic of this was not very clear to me, but I asked on War with whom ? The reply was as in" With Russia " The variable as the first
a
!
:

only slight variation lay in the rea,son.

gave none, others

pressing Austria to
less
!

this
it,

" that

Some Germany was

and Austria was help-

"
I
I

that

but

Now, not a soul will be able to say defend the Germans or their methods, wish to be truthful, and must therefore

say that this legend, behind which the Austrian

Government hoped and still hopes to hide, is a complete and rather cowardly lie. The plot was hatched between the two countries, carried out by them both, and the responsibility lies
every bit as

much

at the door of Austria.

10

146

WHAT
here,

KNOW
prepare for a shock,
later, in

And
such as
ber, I

my

friends,

I received

when, a httle

Novem-

returned

to

Vienna from fetching

my

and things from Hungary. I met a friend I had known for many years, who had been Aehrenthal's, and at that period was
furniture

Berchthold's

secretary

at

the

Ministry

of

Foreign

Affairs.

He

petits papiers of all

was therefore dans les that happened in the way

of
to

international

politics.

He
and

proposed

going

a theatre,
I

and

afterwards

having supper

together.

accepted,

we had a
until

nice

evening,

talking about old times,

about

the middle of the supper.

discussion

Then we
chief,

started a

about

his

late

Aehrenthal,

whose death he seemed to deplore very much, and of whose merits he spoke very highly. We promptly found ourselves at opposite poles,
as

he

confessed

to

deep

admiration

for

Aehrenthal, whilst I playfully maintained that

was the only attraction about him. Then came the thunderbolt " Anyhow, he was a very great man, and ideas his have lived after him and will prevail, for whether Germany helps us now or not, we are ready and quite strong enough to attack
his

wife

Russia by ourselves, and even without Germany

FURTHER SIGNS AND TOKENS

we are sure
(an
to beat

147

her with the left hind leg

"

Austrian slang
").

expression

for

" with the

utmost ease

"Before two years have passed

of having

we
I

are

now
all

certain

our war with

"
!

Russia, and

thanks to Aehrenthal's wisdom

remained
:

claimed " Not

"
at
;

numb and dumb. You must be mad "

!

Then

ex-

all,

not

at

all

everything

is

arranged

it

will

merely be a walk-over, even

should Germany hang back." " Well," I said after another pause, during which horror had held me speechless, " if you
really
believe

you are mad.

over here.
If

what you You have

ever

say,
'

tell

you that
'

la folic

des grandeurs

you attack Russia alone, you may be certain that you can write Finis
'

Austria}

'

at the

same time."

He
the

still

went on about the strength of the

army, the disorganization of Russia,

Austrian

gUny of conquering our part of Poland. I had heard enough I let him talk on. There could be no shadow of a doubt our ruin was resolved upon as the kernel of the Austrian programme. Soon afterwards I retired to bed not
!

to sleep, however.
ing,

kept thinking and think-

until

the whole of
P'inally,

my

brain felt like an

open wound.

with

the

idiotic^

incur-

148

WHAT

KNOW

able optimism of one born and bred in peace-

having gathered her notions of war and what might happen before it only from memoirs and other literature of past ages, I came to a perfectly wrong conclusion. My friend " Even if Germany does not help had said
time,
:

us," etc.

Was
policy
!

it

possible there
allies ?

was a

serious

rupture between the

Had

Aehrenthal's
?

double

been

doubly

successful

It

For the moment I forgot the must be so war tax in Germany, and all I had heard and seen there, to grasp at a last hope. I remembered a striking incident the Kaiser's daughter was to marry the only son of the Duke of Cumberland that spring, and the Emperor Nicholas was, as first cousin of the bridegroom, to come to the wedding, accompanied by the Empress-Mother. I will tell you both versions of the tale On our side, it was said that we had at last got wind of the continual armaments and mobilizations of Austria against us, and that the Emperor very properly refused to meet Francis Ferdinand, whom all knew to be the military instigator of this hos:

tility.

Austria

frankly

said

that

Francis

Ferdinand was afraid of meeting Nicholas II " For what could he find to say face to face.

FURTHER SIGNS AND TOKENS

to

149

him

"

Be the

truth as

it

may, the Kaiser,

with the choice before him of having his " dear

friend " or the

Emperor
to

of Russia at the wed-

ding, unhesitatingly chose the latter course.

He

was even
the fact

said

have

had another violent

!

quarrel with Francis Ferdinand

is

At
of

all

events

that Austria was represented at the

ceremony
I

don't

by a secondary remember which.

sort
I

Archduke,
indeed

should

have known better than to pin

my

hopes to

any
of

action, friendly or otherwise, of William II

I

Germany.
actor,

should have realized that this

like

brilliant

Nero,

would probably be
throat

twice

as

amiable to a

man whose

he

meant
the

to cut.

Perhaps, of the knaves answer-

able for this war, Francis Ferdinand

was

still

Hence the if quarrel there was. That all was not sweet concord between the two allies is indisputable fact but how far did the quarrel really go ? Of that I am ignorant. How can
honest
of

more

the

two.

quarrel,

forgive

myself for

my

stupid,

shortsighted
us
alone,

conclusion

? Austria would

attack

and
left

in

that case she was done for; and that

quite cool, as long as Russia was safe.

me

If she

could

be so
!

silly,

let

her ruin herself

rebellious

for all / cared

Hungary was more

150

WHAT
the

KNOW
ever,

at

moment than
^
!

and

believed

her Hkely to leave

reste m'^tait egal

Austria in the

lurch.

Le

My
haps

excuse must be that I was morally and

physically run

that

down a perfect wreck. Permade me more apathetic than I

should otherwise have been. I found rest in " It is too awful ever to happen. the feeling
:

have gone through so much, surely

limit,

have
be

reached the
spared me."

and

this last horror will

Well, nothing

was spared me, and

that

learnt
is

the

bitter

lesson

human endurance

practically limitless.
I

The

rest

was

indifferent to

me.

CHAPTER V

THE EXPLOSION-1914
The
full

year of terror dawned for

me

calm, and
I

of the hope of better things to come.

I

was glad
for

had decided to
cousins
I

settle

in

Munich,
feel,

my
first
i

husband's
time since

made me
lost

for

the
if

had

my

mother, as

had regained something of a family. doubt their first impulse was pity for
misery and utter loneliness
of
;

No my

but

in the course

the last wretched year

it

had changed into

mutual respect and a deep personal friendship. They were fair representatives of the very
best

German element
a

of the old school.

As they

were interested
brother was
tlirough
artists

in art of

every description
painter

one
came
great

very
to

famous
all

them

know
was
*'

the

really

that have their abode in Munich.

life

This pleasant
friendly stjuabbk*

first

interrupted by a
fantastic
1

we had concerning the

Saverne Affair."

incident called the

had a

152

WHAT
is

KNOW
German
brain
if

rather interesting glimpse then of the rotten spot

that

to be found in every

the

possessor thereof has at any time of his hfe had " the honour to belong to our glorious army."

The and

artist-brother,
I
all

the

women

of the

family,

were entirely agreed upon the subject.

called
it

We
and

a brutal taking advantage of

national

the armed force, vis-a-vis of helpless civilians,

most

useless
left

provocation
to
sleep.

of

differences
artist- cousin

better

Indeed,

the

allowed

himself

to

poke
to

gentle

fun at the very idea of raising the question

of French of State.
I

or

German matches

an

affair

suppose outside of Germany, too,

all

people
this

know
:

about the absurd beginning of

Still,

whole wantonly provoked scandal.

it is

here

In the town

of Saverne in Alsatia
cafe

(Zabern

in

German) there was a

used
to
frequent.

that
probehis

The prietor of the place (a placid German, I lieve) had one unlucky day placed upon
officers

German

tables
terrible
to

matches of French make

crime

This truly

was

magnified
case

into

an

insult

the

army.
Allies
^

A
call

clearer
*'

of

what

our

French
heures "

chercher

midi a quatorze

has never in the annals of the world

^

Looking

for

noon at four

o'clock.

THE EXPLOSION
been seen before
proprietor
protest
!

158

In vain did the wretched

that
sold

the

usual

matches of
only-

German make were

taken the
first
all

out and he had

to

hand.

He was

flung

into

prison, with

his family.

bragging " Lieu-

tenant," not yet twenty, insulted some civihans

who were
spirit

discussing the event.

They had the

the
affair

to protest against his insult, only to be

locked

up

at

once.
it

And

so

grew
battle

and

grew,

until

became a
alien

sort

of

between

the

detested

military

element
of

and
I

the

population.

The

Governor

the

Provinces, Count Wedel, a nice old

man whom

in

had known formerly as German Ambassador Vienna, was accused of laxity, and distitle

patched from his post with the

applied as a plaster.
all

of

*'

Prince

"

To a
teapot,
like

foreign spectator,
all

this

storm
asylum.

in

this

hubbub
from
a

about
lunatic

nothing,

seemed

scene

seriously
nilicant.

enough

But it was evidently taken Germany, which is sigin

of

The

younger
liad

my
in

''

cousins-by-

courtesy,"
retired

who

served
of

the

army and
was
right,

with

the

rank
artistic

major,

the

only
that
they

one of our
the
niiUtaj-y

set

who maintained
were
that

authorities

had

not

even

been

severe

enough.

We

154

WHAT
him, tried
to

KNOW
see
!

chaffed

make him

the ab-

surdity of his point of view

this subject

all

in vain

Upon
was
in

he had the attitude of mind that

savours of the fixed idea.

daily
life

a kind and just

influence

And man
;

this

judge, then,

what an
in
this

ideas

generally propagated

sense

must
It
is

have

upon a man, the

ever so
little

slightest

bit of a martinet, with

cruelty in him.

always dangerous to erect

In this case,
it is

any one idea as a

stuffed with straw

fetich.

if

not
in

and sawdust,

filled

with wadding

and often supported by

figures

stays.

Think of the
officers

of the average
!

German

Finally, after no end you have met of fuss, the incident seemed to have blown over, though we were reminded of it when the war

broke out,

" to prove

that France's

attitude

had always been hostile." I must not forget to relate that this winter had met an old friend, and his (to I Dutchman, married to me) new wife a He had served in a very pretty American.
the
his

German army,
marriage,

retired

upon the event

lovely

of

and

bought a
I

property

near Berlin.

Their station was Luther's Wit-

temberg.
to

His wife and

other,

took a great fancy

to

each

and she asked me

come


TEE EXPLOSION
and
stay
155

with

the summer.

them for a month or so in That is how I eventually found

the war-vortex

myself

in

the very heart of

of our enemies.

It
fell,

was upon a Sunday that the 28th of June and I was dining with my cousins, as on
Sunday.
I

every

lived

quite

close

to

them,

at the corner of the Arcis

and Theresienstrasse.

To

reach their house I had only to cross the

gardens of the old Pinakothek.

corner from

At the next

my

house, that of the Theresien

and Barerstrasse, were the barracks of some

regiment
generally
streets

or

other,

and
the
people,

the

bulletins
I

were

stuck

upon

wall.

saw the
curiosity

black

with

and
I

my
tried

was

aroused.

Though
the

late,

to

force

my way
successful

through
in

crowd,
I

but

being

un-

my

efforts,

went straight
porch
I

on

to

my

dinner.

In

the

met

my

nephew, a boy of seventeen, who had also vainly

tried

to pierce the crowd. to

He had
both
of

only been
sentences

able

catch

some
the

disconnected

about
stairs

" a

murder."
told

We
rest

hurried

up-

and

the

family

what

we had seen. They seemed to be more curious than wc had been, for they dispatched the

156

WHAT

KNOW

youth down again to try and find out what had really happened. About half an hour passed, after which he returned and told us

news of the murder of Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife. " Good The two brothers at once exclaimed
the awful
:

God,

this

means
that

warunless
!

it

is

not

true, or wildly exaggerated

"

conversation

evening

As most of our was nothing but

guesswork and conjecture about the

if

murder

doubted it is not worth When the next day brought the confirmation of the shocking news, I drew
true,
still

which we

recording.

an entirely erroneous conclusion. My opinion was that perhaps it' might still save Austria,

and that by the sudden disappearance of the man who worked, lived, and breathed only for war, his party would lose strength and disintegrate, and that a saner policy would
take the place of
This
his.

was largely confirmed by all had from Austria-Hungary about the tragedy, also by the conversations I had
theory
I

the letters

with the daughters and the widow of a late

Minister
of State,

who were then

staying in

Munich,

and
all,

also

with other Austrians there.

One and

after having said or written the

THE EXPLOSION
'*

157
:

conventional words of horror and regret, added

But

for

our country
this

it

may mean
too,

salvation

to

have

war-hungry element out of the

on,

way.

Later

the

succession,

will

be
in-

infinitely simplified, for

without a doubt he

tended his issue to reign one day, and that

would

have

meant a

civil

war,

and endless

other disorders."

You can

ask anybody
in Austria,

who

had correspondents or friends

that
date,

about
of

whether they did not hear similar

opinions
Serajevo.

from
I

there,

after

the

tragedy

put

especial

value

upon

this,

because, except for the military and the Govern-

ment party, the majority no more wished for war in Austria-Hungary than in Germany at that
time.

And

it

is

simply absurd to pretend that

its

a whole nation and

ally

went to war because

of the murder of a Prince whose death every-

body more or

less

thought a good riddance,

who had been hated even by those who out And Prineip, his of ambition followed him.
murderer,
a
terrible

boy under age, was nothing but

of fatality,

weapon
for

no more

really

responsible
in

the

war than a grain of dust

certain

a whirlwind.
It

came

to

my

knowledge, too, that

the

Servian

Government

had

warned

the

158

WHAT

KNOW
had gone to Serafor the Arch-

Austrian Government that some uncertain and

possibly dangerous elements
jevo,

and that
is

it

would be better
his visit there.

duke to postpone
If this

not a sign of good faith and a wish

to keep peace, I should like to

know what
in

is.

More,

the

Archduke was

warned

Vienna,

was even implored not to go. But, like many other ambitious and arrogant men, he had
the

redeeming

quality

of

physical

courage,

besides

an

obstinacy

and

captiousness

that

touched the confines of abnormality.

of
his

Some one
told

immediate

entourage

often

me,

whilst I

him to
that

was at do one

court, that
thing,

when he wished
counselled

he always

the opposite course, with the invariable result

Archduke wanted of him. The

the

did

what

was
no

really

secret of his morganatic

marriage

with

Sophie

Chotek had

other

foundation.

Everybody disapproved, and implored him not to marry her so of course he

did.

Had
his

the liaison never been detected,

its

it

would have run

of

course,

like

many
if

others

amours

before,
girls,

with
as

far

prettier

and

more fascinating
His

well,

not better,

born than the Chotek.

own words

to

the

unfortunate

burgo-

THE EXPLOSION
though
ruling

159

master of Scrajevo show clearly enough why,

able
to
collect

powerful
his
It

party

by
he

other

ambitions

through
feared.

own,

was so much disliked and

the
first

was

after

abortive attempt upon him.

Instead

of finding a few kindly,

comforting words for

the
in
*'

poor man,
his

whose heart must have been

:

boots from fright and anxiety, he said

Well, you keep fine order here, I

for a peaceful visit with
fired at

must
wife,

say.

come we get
I

my

and

"
!

Indeed, in these closing lines of their book

of
life,

he and his intriguing wife show both at

their worst

and at

their best.
for

At
last

their worst,

her arrogance could not

stoop to find a kind word or thought at the

to

leave

to

history.
fear,

At

their

best,

because, without

showing
the
first

they recrossed

the

town

after

attack

upon them.
of the say:

They once more proved the truth

ing

born during the French Revolution

ils

"
!

II

n'y a pas a dire,

meurent bien

les aristos

"

At
fear

once, after the assassination, I

began to
a

my
war.

cousins would be right in their prophecy

of
'

The

Austrian

Press
it,

started

vile

" There's

no doubt about

these aristocrats do die

well."

160

WHAT
us,

KNOW

campaign against
clearly

saying that " this murder

showed the black hand of Russia." Princip (who incidentally was an Austrian subject,

of

Servian

nationality)

was hysterically
instant

magnified into a Russian agent of the blackest

dye.
or

One did not

to
tell

for

an

consider

attempt

the

truth,

namely,

that

an
like

over-excited
himself,

boy,

with

other

mere boys,

by the very real sufferings of his people at the hand of Austria, chose this criminal and hopeless way of (as he imagined) setting things right. It must have been pretty clear to every Servian and Montenegrin that Austria meant to swallow them, sooner or later, and had only been held in check heretofore by Russia and Italy. I believe every
excited
honest diplomat

who

has been in the Balkans

during the last ten years will agree with

in this.

me

it

But once more the Press was silenced, after had done its work of agitation. In general, what struck one most was the
silence.

all-pervading

Had

Austria

for

once

been straightforward, had she indeed had reason

to believe that Russia had a hand in this das-

tardly crime,
belli

at once

why did she not declare it a casusWas no one but myself struck ?

THE EXPLOSION
by the time they took
that
in,

161

let

us say, realizing
?

they

had been offended

to

It

took

them

almost four weeks

the

do

so,

though they had caught

he frankly de-

murderer red-handed and

him.
Stay,

clared

having no other confederates but those

I

caught with

believe

there

was

one other, also a mere boy.

Princip was not

even hanged, and surely Austria was never before

backward
talked

in

hanging

? I

His youth was

believe

much
still

about.

Indeed,

he

is

overcoming that defect

in

an Austrian prison.
ever

What
lute

passed in those four weeks between Berlin

?

and Vienna
truth
pletely
I

Who
it ?

of

know the absoTo show you how comwill

things

had

apparently
for

calmed
visit

down,
to

left

without a qualm

my

the

country,
to

and had
cousins'

arranged for

my

next one,

my

place.

Even

journalists

had

exhausted the

Francis Ferdinand subject.

all

He

had become to
teresting

intents

and purposes as unin-

and as dead as a door-nail. The unanimous feeling seemed to be, especially in court
that
it

circles,

his

death was a blessing

in

dis-

guise, as

succession
out,
I

away with the much discussed question. Now, when the war broke
did

and several other people had a theory which seems corilirmed by what ultimately hap11

162

WHAT
exclaim
at
its

KNOW
it

pened.

But you must examine

madness.
to be

coolly,
is

and
this
:

not

It

Neither Austria nor

as

Germany was
their talk.

as yet quite

ready

as

she

meant
all

before attack-

ing us, in spite of

year, per-

haps more,
before the

of the
financial
it

war taxes was still due, position was as secure as

they wished

to be.

The coup had been decided for the year 1915, if not '16. The Emperor of Germany, if chiefly a clever and versatile comedian, is sly and cautious too, and would have preferred to be entirely ready. The Emperor of Austria, or his counsellors, imagined that Russia was
so

absolutely

unready
she

that

they
able

could
to

eat

up
nity

Servia

before

was
lost.

interfere

seriously.

And they
good to be
the

considered

the
I

opportuhonestly

too

Now,

think
back,

that
if

Kaiser tried to
temporarily, for

keep Austria
a year
or so,

only

believing this to be the safer course.

He was under
ceeded,

the delusion that he had sucoff

and went

for

the

famous

cruise

that

is

always brought forward by the German

Press as a sure proof of his being innocent in

the making of war.

at

But he

forgot
son.

some one
In court

home namely,

his

precious

THE EXPLOSION
circles
it

I6d

known that he had " gone to " pray at the tomb of the murdered Archduke as soon as " Papa " had left Berlin. I can imagine those prayers The inheritor
was
!

of

all

the vices, but of none of the intelligence

father,

of his

the
in

hope and the

idol

of the
of
its

military

party

Germany,

especially

younger

and

more hot-headed

members,

the

Kronprinz was not much

less disliked

generally

than Francis Ferdinand had been, and hoped to

rise,

like

him, to instant popularity, fame, and

at

greatness,

the

expense

of

his

father,

by

making a coup d'Etat. He was greatly helped thereto by the ambitious folly of Austria. The quarrels between father and son are almost an historical tradition in the House
of Hohenzollcrn.

William II and his son make

this
rule.
I

no exception to
wrong,
so

may have
have
did.

been
in
is

may the Germany who thought

least

others
as
I

been

But

it

at

theory

wherewith to explain
with

the

meteoric

promptitude

which

Austria

adopted a warlike attitude towards Servia while

the
Kaiser's

back was turned

the

impossible

ultimatum, written and composed by Count For-

gach

the sudden return to Berlin of the Kaiser,

to
lind

who came only

that

things had

pro-

164

WHAT

KNOW
Before the war-hys-

gressed beyond his control.

teria

had spread to everybody, many people talked sotto-voce about the Kronprinz and
his

party,
least

saying, not without bitterness, that

at

he

would be pleased

broke

out.

Everybody
is

will

war actually admit that the

if

Jewish
as

haute-finance
possible

usually

well-informed
hostess,

to

events.

My

being

American,

had interests other than purely German, and as soon as the threatening ultimatum became known, she at once called up
Jewish
financier

on the

telephone to find

out whether there was more likelihood of war

or peace. Besides, her

husband would be

called

up on the second day of the mobilization, and it was very much to their interest to be kept
informed.
let

Their
as

banker
soon
It

friend
as

promised

to

them know
for

he himself knew
all

anything

certain.

depended upon

whether Servia accepted the ultimatum or not. This was about lunch-time. At seven o'clock
the telephone rang.

My

hostess ran to take

up the receiver. I followed her, and anxiously watched her face. It became gradually radiant " Thank God, no war as I heard her say no, no; of course not." Then some words of thanks, and she turned to me, hanging up
:


THE EXPLOSION
the
receiver
:

165

"

My

friend
all

tells

me

that

Servia has accepted almost

the conditions
that unless

imposed upon her by Austria, and

we on our

side

want a war, which

for a

is

too absurd
there
this

an idea to entertain even

can be no reason for
is the

moment,
all.

a war at
^^

And

opinion of
it

all

the finance.

Plow does
to

strike

you

Does

it

not seem

you that Germany stands condemned out

of her

own mouth
remember

I still

vividly

how gay we
even

all

were

that

evening.

My

host

pagne

for dinner,
!

and we
full

ordered chamdrank " To Peace "

!

Oh

irony

Next morning, the 24th of July,

of " the impossibility of

the papers were

Austria's

being content with the modified acceptance of the ultimatum by Servia." " Her

honour
me,

was
!

too

deeply
rage

involved,"

etc.,

etc.,

ad nauseam
I

With

burning hot within

:

repeated violently to myself

!

" Fudge

a thousand times. Fudge

If

they had said

dis-

honour, that would have been nearer the truth

their

dishonour

in

plotting

twenty years or more."

to

and scheming for Everything came back

of

mc

then,

and the truth stood revealed to

lightning flash

me by

the

memory.

The

speeches of Staal, VVelsersheimb, Milnster, Stead,

166

WHAT
I

KNOW
his

Pauncefote, Aehrenthal and

secretary,

all

came back, and

saw

the

events

predicted

rushing towards their inevitable accomplishment. Germany and Austria declared the " partial
mobilization "

upon the 26th. We went to Berlin that same day, and lunched at the Automobile Club with
the brother of the Minister

of Foreign Affairs, Police-President von Jagow,

and the Austrian charge d'affaires. Many words were wasted about a mobilization not meaning war. And there, too, I

me hundred and Mty thousand men

heard

thing

that

made

gasp.

Two

were already standing on the confines of Belgium, " just far

enough from the frontier not to be suspected."

For " one could not repeat the mistake of 1870

in sparing

Belgium."

New

plans were

made

to

attack France from two sides at once. " a necessity of war !

" It was

France
I

was
?

dreaming
that
all

Belgium
the

had
had

not

understood

Powers
?

signed a treaty to protect her neutrality

Had

/ gone

no I was at last sane, getting saner every minute At last my eyes

;
!

mad

no,

were completely opened to the hideous truth,

only
all

too clearly.
I failed

Men whose names

to catch,

in

the

THE EXPLOSION
hubbub
rently of talk

167

and the hurry of introductions, but certainly of some importance and appawell-informed,

talked

with the
talk
as
if

men
it

of

our

party

talked
;

criminal

were

their daily bread

and so

had a sudden and

complete insight into the plot of death and

ruin,
I
all

as
it

contrived
in
all
its

saw
its

by Germany and Austria. naked horror yes, and in

Briefly,
it

shortsighted stupidity too.

was to be war with France and Russia. Even Jagow said that he here I wish to be just. and his brother still hoped the disaster could be averted. Whether he meant what he said
is

another

question.

And my

host

said

the

same.

They were
also
said,

called fools

by some

others,

when, " cndlich," the occasion seemed so fine.

Jagow
one
never

dolefully

enough,

that

his

fear
let

was

that the

military

party would

pass such a beautiful pretext " losschlagen " (to hit out).

zum
I

A
heard

great discussion arose about England.

came through a gramophone, from a long distance "If you have war with France and Russia, you
voice,

my own

as

if

it

will

have England to reckon with,

is

also.
I

She

also
I

one of the Triple Entente."

talking

was told

was

" Unsinn

"

(nonsense).

And

168

WHAT

KNOW
foulest

England got such an avalanche of the

abuse as made
if

me hope

she would go to war,

for nothing else, at least to

throw the Ger-

mans' contempt of her back into their teeth

and show them her true worth I was asked " When had England ever been true to her word ? Could I not remember the Crimea, the Boer War, the Sudan Campaign ? " England was cowardly, greedy, treacherous, and in this instance would let all the nations fight and
!

make her
I

profits out of

them.
the

retorted

that

all

wars

they

had

mentioned did not, to

to

my

understanding, carry

the logical sequence that England

fight.

was afraid

But

as

an answer

following

astounding

only got the " We announcement

I
: !

need not discuss the thing any further

are at
will
all

We

events perfectly assured that England

maintain a friendly neutrality towards us.

"

She won't ever dare to draw her sword against

ws
/

"

And Belgium

further.
Is

I ventured to ask " Oh, Belgium will let us pass through

?
!

"

not her King of

German
if

origin,

and the Queen

should

also ?
traitors

And
(?),
!

if

not,

they

prove

of course

her

door

we have our army at What can she offer in the way

?

of resistance

Everything

is

foreseen, as

you

"
;

THE EXPLOSION
see
!

169

Italy will keep the French

navy

in check,

and

engage

part

of

the

French

army

in

Savoy.

We

do

not

count

upon
is is

the

Italian
;

army
but,

as a serious asset

it

quite wretched

thank God,
not

her

navy

good
proper

Russia
fighting

has

one

army corps
can
be
!).

in

order,

and
as
I

Austria

settle

Servia
into

before

the
(just

Russians

need

taken
This

account

thought

last

insult

made

me

return with asperity that they were prob;

ably mistaken

could not accept that Russia

all

would be so disorganized as
told in reply
:

that.
?

was

" WTiat do you expect

In Russia

everybody

is

thief,

from the Grand Dukes to

the meanest soldier.

pline nor guns,

They have

neither disciis

and a disorganized mass cannon-fodder the more the merrier "

mere
I dis-

more strongly thoughts, I was silent

agreed
I

still,

but,

on

second

in

order to hear more.

anyhow not stop their disgusting talk as well hear them out. They were all agreed on these points that England, come what might, would never move that Italy would on their side, of course. The whole war would last but three months or so, at the end of which Germany would dictate peace in Paris and Petrograd. About Russia they had a catchcould
:

170
:

WHAT
!

KNOW
first

word " Russia must be beaten

afterwards
field

"

And

"

What

and exploited a tremendous

for

our energy and industry, lying right

at our doors.

We

can double and treble our

to

riches at their expense, for they are great fools, entirely

unable to govern or
"
!

make

their

land pay

Take this well to heart, you " great fools who would fraternize with your neighbours you that they are " great knaves." I tell " Russia must be beaten first and exploited How do you like hearing this ? afterwards." What particle of gain do you imagine would be yours if you were at the mercy Cannot you find the sharks ? these of
!

"

to reverse the the decision " Beat them first, and exGerman motto Not that I would ploit them afterwards " ?

courage

and

ever
find

recommend the
yourselves

latter course

You might
your

homes before
Boche,
a
unless

away from you knew where you were.

persuaded
kept well in
variety
of
order,
is

The
always

dangerous

the

human
a
the

g-nimal.

In those early days there was not

of

particle

doubt that

they considered

question

war or peace to be entirely in their own hands. They were frankly aggressive, and adof

THE EXPLOSION
mitted
as

171

The jeremiad of their having been attacked was only served up later in order to fool and frighten
much,
if

only

tacitly.

their people into believing themselves in danger.

And

in this

they were surpassingly clever and

successful.

After a while, the

men who had congregated

one

round
original

our table
party

left

by

one,

and our

remained.

My

silence

must
ours,

have struck them, because the Austrian charg6

d'affaires,

turned to

who had been an old friend of mc and said " Well, Madame
:

Olga,

what do you think

Again
myself,
this
:

you
:

are so very quiet."

felt

as

if

my

voice

were outside of

as

I
is

replied
not

Russia
will

you ask me, so dead as you imagine

Entente,
;

" Since

England

join

the

especially
lastly,
if

if

you
can
will

fall

upon
Italy

Belgium
even

and
I

keep
be
I

neutral
!

lucky
I

indeed

"

you to the end you was laughed at,

as

knew

should be.

Finally

we broke up

the party, whilst everybody seemed to repeat,

in

an absurd chorus, that a mobilization did

not

mean war

as yet

For a few fleeting days

from the attitude of

my

had hoped much own country, Hungary.

I

172

WHAT
The

KNOW
dislike

There were rumours as to her

turn of events.
if

of the

possible,
in

more

Archduke had been, detested in Hungary even

late

than

any other part of the monarchy. I hoped that her constant affirmations of independence were no mere empty cries, like
of

those
in this

ever

dissatisfied
affairs

children,

but

that

medley of

she would really see

herself
in-

to

her

own

interests,

and declare
had, without

dependent

of

the

machinations

of

her

old

enemy,
her,

Austria,

who

consulting

made such havoc of their common affairs. The war-hysteria, the legend of But no having been attacked, made as much of a fool Comof Hungary as of the other nations.
!

pletely

blinded,

blood again, for

was going to shed her the hundredth time, in the cause

she
unjust,
I

of a country ever
her.
It

ever ungrateful to
to

was then
I,

resolved

change
breath

nationality.
political

for

one, could not change

my my
of

convictions

with
as
I

every

had always been, whilst everybody around me had gone crazy. It is a disappointment to lose faith in, and
wind.
I

remained

respect

for,

a country

that

has

been

yours.

For whilst I always have loathed Austria, and, with a few exceptions, the Austrians, I at

THE EXPLOSION
least

17i

believed
spirit

in,

and

loved,

the

indepenin

dent

and

the

pride

of

nationality

But if they chose to become willing slaves, that was their affair I have neither the mentality nor the temperament of a slave. WTiat I feel I feel, what I say I say, and as
Hungary.
!

must act
in
!

act

said a sad good-bye to

for
it

Hungary
no longer

my

soul,

was

my Hungary

You
also,

all

know how

after the

26th of July

things went at a gallop.

partially

France, and Russia

mobilized.

The
Russia,

proposal

to

mediate between Austria,

and
Italy

Servia,

made by England,
the

France,

and
before

to

lay

matter

in

question

court

of

arbitration

every
voice
too, in

peaceful means, was refused

behalf.
!

by Germany on Austria's
this

And
Austria

surely

should
longer

make one think

in

had

no

the

matter,

apparently.

The terms,

which Germany clothed her

:

expression of tutelage were ridiculous enough

"Our
fere

ally

cannot

so far

debase

herself ^i)

as

to submit to a

mediation which would international

pride

with

her

and

indepen-

dence

(?)," etc.

Then came the impossible demand

of

the

174

WHAT
On

KNOW
they ordered the
our

Kaiser that we should demobiUze, whilst they

did not.
general

the contrary,
before

mobilization

answer

ever

came.

The

last

telegram of Tsar Nicholas to

the Kaiser, in which he implored

him

to stop

and think before causing a

as

world-disaster, was,

we

all

know now,
of
it

suppressed.

The German The ultimatum

people, except those living in a neutral State,

know nothing
to

to this day.

Belgium,

her

proud refusal to tread the

declaration
this
is

path of dishonour, the invasion that followed

at

once

new

of

war

follow-

ing every day

all
is

matter for history,

and

is

written

down

in the

Blue book, the

Orange book, and books of every hue of the

rainbow.

What
is

less well

known, but rather

that so certain were the Germans that Albion was going to live up to her " tradition

amusing,

day or so before her declaration of war the Germans still considered

of perfidy," that

the

English

their

" dear brothers,"

manifestations

and enplace

thusiastic

popular
British

took

before

the

Embassy.

have

often

wondered

what the feeling of Sir Edward Goschen must have been. He must have had the declaration of war practically in his pocket It appears that the same thing happened in

TEE EXPLOSION
front

175

of

the

Japanese

were
with
in

Germans that them. Bedlam was

the

Embassy, so Japan would

let

sure
side
felt,

loose.

my

antagonism,
in
so,

as

if

were

the

only

sane person

a gigantic
I

madhouse.

During
Servia

a week or

studied the following distinct

phases in the Press.

the
blackest

Phase one was

there

sheep

ever

was
for

among
had she

the nations,

the veriest criminal,

not
this

set

everybody
?

by the

ears

and caused

awful war

etc.

Next, the refusal of the Tsar to demobilize,

Germany and Austria did into a hostile act. But

if still

not,
in

was construed
to
side
:

order

make
was
"

surer,

an

" invasion "

I

on our

promptly invented.
Russians were
that
in

quote textually
fall

such a hurry to
not

The upon us
formal

they

did
of

even

wait

for

declaration
hostilities

war,

but have already begun

frontier

by passing our northern

to

and

thus desecrating the holy precincts of our Fatherland.

Needless

say that these barbarians

committed horrible outrages,

less

murdering helpburning

women

and
"

children
!

(?),

down

houses," etc.
iilled

Germans

your hearts must be

our Government

with righteous indignation against so vile

foe.

However

peaceful

(?)

17

WHAT
etc.

KNOW
and

our nation, we must punish this treason

defend our right,"

For quite twenty-four hours we were much

blacker

than

any

devil

was

ever

painted,

and ours exclusively was the fault of this war. Servia became merely a child, misled by us. Then came the turn of France A French invasion in Alsace was invented, to inflame the popular hatred against France. It was much upon the same lines as the diatribe
!

against us. Still, let " The policy of a it

:

me

quote something of

Government without the

after

shadow of a conscience,
years

having for forty

encouraged a criminal wish for revenge

(?),

against the best, the friendliest of neighbours

has

to-day

signed

France's

doom.

It

was

not for nothing that she allied

herself to the

most bloodthirsty Power

poor Russia],
chose

in

Europe [that was

This should

and as

a supreme insult to us
(?).

an Alsatian

President
us.

have been a warning to

short

It

was nothing
itself,

of a declaration
rightly

of

war in
it,"

had we

Can you, in your sober senses, believe that upon such foundations was built what they called " France's responsibility for the war " ? Can you believe that such nonsense should have
but
understood
etc.

THE EXPLOSION
people
?

ITt

been written, and actually believed by an entire

It

sounds incredible, yet so

it

was.

Yesterday Russia had been an image of pitch

to-day we became merely a dark-grey accessory,

and France had its turn of black infamy. " Having for years Next came Belgium plotted and schemed with our enemies to
:

aggrandize herself at

our

expense,

having sold
(?),

her honour to those

who hated
for
I etc.

us

Belgium
outbreak

must be made responsible

of
this

the
will

terrible

war,"

spare

you

more of

this idiocy.

Upon
the

the 4th of August, immediately after

of

violation

Belgian

neutrality
also

by

the

German

invasion,
If

England
it

declared

war

you any pleasure, dear countrymen, I can tell you that after this event we all became but faintly grey. Here was the archfiend that had instigated the whole thing At last he had unmasked and shown his hideous face, bent upon the destruction of mankind. The others were
upon Germany.
gives
!

merely his instruments,

etc.

remarked that
to

it

seemed to
of

When I meekly me most unfair

belligerent

accuse

England

any
was

pro-

pensities

or intentions

a
12

land whose available

barely

army,

reserves

and

all,

150,000

"

178

WHAT
who had

KNOW
refused
etc.

men,

steadily

to

pass

the

law of compulsory service,

face of their absurdity, I got

was almost

torn to pieces, and, as I stuck to

my

guns in
!

no further answer

but furious and rather forced " Ha-ha-ha's

I

asked

how they

reconciled their present state-

ment with

their certitude

that England would

But they turned their back upon me, vouchsafing no further explanation. Well, England has remained their " pet foe " until this day, and you owe her deep respect for this. She must be very strong and very loyal thus to merit their boundless hatred. Even in those nightmare days, when I heard and read about nothing but disasters,
remain neutral.
except for
sense
I

a few successes

on our
faintly

side,

my
and

humour remained sometimes managed a wan

of

alive,

smile

articles

with

headlines

like

when I read Bruderthese

:

MORD. (An article expressive both of hatred and sentimentality, as to how the Germans and the English were in fact brothers, and

how
poor,

this

war was a

fearful crime perpetrated

by the

perfidious

English brother against the

innocent,

unsuspecting German.
extenso,

H.

S.

Chamberlain was quoted in

of course,

and

history

from

the

time

of

our Father

THE EXPLOSION
Adam
served up to us.)
;

1T9

The next article went even further it was headed Carthago. This was mania, pure and unadulterated England would be entirely destroyed, so that not one
:

stone

would remain upon the

of a
as

other,

by the
lads

invasion

" saner,

younger, and healthier

Kultur,"
in

represented

by

" our

fine

grey."

But the conquerors,

their
soil

after
their

having
backs
of
mtcst

achieved

object,

would turn

upon
be

that

had
in

been

capable
race

breeding

such
!

treacherous
ten

it

poisonous

And

years

from that

day nothing would remain of all that people had called " mighty Albion " but a waste of sandy dunes. No living creature would remain,
but the seagull might

moan

in vain over the

" verfluchte Insel " (damned island).

Had

this

not been the case of Carthage

so with

why
I

not even

England
I

Here

make no comment, and

will

spare
Press,

you further quotations from the

unless absolutely necessary.

Hun
true

Two
one

of

my

prophecies had
tlic

come

the

about England and

one about Italy,

who, never having signed a treaty for aggression,

now remained
in

neutral.

No

abuse
this

was
latter

allowed

the

Press

concerning

180

WHAT
But
it

KNOW
loud

development.

was

and

violent

enough privately.
In general the word " treason " flew about
in

those days,
all

upon

and

a poisonous fly, to settle sundry who " had prevented

like

Germany from taking her

rightful place in the

sun " (whatever that might be).

That Germany wished to undertake the

of

role

the

moon

during a total

eclipse

was but

a small detail, unworthy of the attention of the " children of Kultur " Why, we might
!

all

have sworn

(like

so

many

wives) to love,

cherish,

until

and obey Germany and her War-Lord death us did part, and then have marched
their noses with a negro minstrel, " " the betray ed-husband wails and howls

away under
for all

that would rend the air in consequence.

You
Austria.

will

notice

that I have said

is

little

of

One reason

that I was not there

the second, that as soon as she had attacked

Servia
at once

and war was generally

sank
into

declared,

she
I

secondary importance.
last realized her

even believe she at

position

awkward
it.

and

tried,
it

too

late,

to back out of of

Be
in

that as

may,

her

declaration

war

followed later,

Vienna,

and our Ambassador remained and en pourparlers, I think a

THE EXPLOSION
week
after
all

181

the

other

Allied

Embassies

were empty.

For
obliged

the
to

first

month
in
civilians.

of

the

war

was

remain
took

the
I

country,
shall

because
all

no
life

train

my
a

look

back

upon
in

that

time
friend,

as

upon

monstrous

nightmare.
truth

My

though an

American, and

married to a Dutch-

was the most rabid German I She either could or would ever came across. I was very fond of her, and not see reason.

man by

birth,

terribly

sorry

for

her,

too.

She

adored

her

husband, and he was gone to the war.

I tried

my

best to

comfort her, but I

because

am

afraid

it

was a
cause.

failure,

my

heart was too des-

perately sad, and

too entirely with the other

tried to speak in defence of
I

At

first

knew all too well that this war was none of her making or wishing. But it upset her so much that I was forced
Russia, about
into
silence

whom

at

last.

think

it

can be put
us that

down

to

the

credit

of

both

of

we

never had a quarrel, and that each respected

the other's feeling sufficiently to avoid
ing on dangerous subjects.

touch-

One other fond illusion of the Germans was that America was entirely, heart and soul,

182

WHAT
their side.
I

KNOW
to the conat
fear
I

upon
trary,

knew nothing

and so was filled with views. You must remember

but

these

German

newspapers,

so

saw nothing America must

fears
I

forgive

my

doubt
set

of
rest

her.

These

of

mine were
as I will

at

sooner
later.

than

hoped,

show a
this

little

During

time of moral pain and

study at

stress,

I could at least

my

leisure the afore-

said cleverness of the

German

Press in hood-

winking

its

readers entirely.
far
is

easy one,
concerned.

so
It

was an as announcing victories was not difficult for two men,

Its task

armed to the
so

teeth, to

be victorious over ever

many

children,

armed with popguns.

measure of
it,

That
our

was

practically the

at the begin-

ning.

We

were

many upon
inferior

paper,
as

but

armaments were so
convince
likely
is

to reduce the
else will

proportion to this figure.

the
doubters,

If

nothing
should.
?

this

Who
is

is

to

become an aggressor
wished for

the

man who
not
it,

entirely

prepared or the one that

a war, and

To have
Russia,

begun

on

our side would have been a suicidal idea, for

if

not

as

disorganized

as

the

Ger-

mans

believed,

was yet

sufficiently so to render

an aggression on her part a very dangerous

TEE EXPLOSION
folly
;

188

France and Belgium were unable even

their
frontiers,

to

defend

and

England

had

nothing better in the

" contemptible
little

way

of help

than her
blindest
lie

army."
efforts

Even the
war
itself,

must
within

realize

that
period

our

towards war

the

of the

and are
It

therefore a purely defensive measure.

But

to return to the

utterly vile in this,

that

German it made

Press.
all

was

Germany's

enemies out to be cravens.

My
or

blood boiled

when
"
all

read that Russians, English, and French

to
their

took

heels

surrendered as

soon as the Germans but showed themselves,"

etc.

Not that I ever believed a word of it. But it was very clever in other things. For
instance
:

not to publish

any of
been

the enemies'

communiques
have
thing
a

would
to

have

dangerous,

because even the police-ridden Teutons

might
one

begun
they

think,

which

was
to

the
do.

were

expected
device
perfectly

never

So

really
side,

brilliant

was

found.

Upon

one

under

gigantic

headlines,

their victories
side,

were recorded.
less

Upon

the other

under a headline no

enormous, stood
fully

our

communiques,
tlie

as

believe,

given,

omitting only

tremendous

losses sustained

by the Germans.

The genius

lay in the wording

184

WHAT
:

KNOW

of the headline
(the foreign

" Die fremden Liigenberichte "

lies).

Reassured beforehand as to
he

the fact that

all

would read under that

where
lay

heading
in

was
answer

untrue,
it ?

the

danger
this I

publishing

do
every

not

say

that

would
into

with
it.

nation

indeed,
is

greatly doubt

But the German

anything
that

so drilled

beheving
its

his

Govern-

ment and
believe,

organ, the

Press, wish

him to
indepenthick

that

the

idea

of

thinking

dently for himself does

head.

not enter

his

As to personally comparing and weighthat

is

ing events,

a thing he has forgotten,

under the rule of the Hohenzollern

goosestep.

and

his

But the adroitness of the Press went further still. They were up against the England two greatest democracies in Europe and France. The latter was of course not was a Republic, therefore its It spared
:
!

President could be described with impunity as

an unmitigated blackguard. But the case with England and Russia.

this

If

was not the King

blamed,

and the Emperor were even

it

slightly

might

make a few
enterprising
?

astonishingly
spirits

dent

and

indepen" And think

:

our Kaiser
are

And
too.

old Francis Joseph

They

monarchs

Might

it

not be just pos-

THE EXPLOSION
sible

185

that they
of

also

were
that

not free from the

their

taint

wishing
?

to
!

enlarge

sphere

of

domination

"

No
Tsar,

would

never

do

And

so
:

the the

following

two legends
peace-loving

were

in-

vented
testing

man,

pro-

against

war,

suddenly

found

himself
the

surrounded
military

by an
(?),

party

armed force sent by and constrained at

the

point
of

of the
!

bayonet to sign the declaration

war

As to the King of England, he was a mere

puppet
worst
in

the

hands of
the

evil

counsellors,

the

among them being

brunt
abuse,
whilst

Sir

Edward Grey.
and Kitchener had
the
foul

This latter bore

dastardly
his

of

Lord

share.

As

have showed, they defended,

even

in their

enemies, the principle of "Gottes-

gnadenthum " (by the grace of God), this comer stone of the monarchical principle " The king can do no wrong." The infer:

ence

is

clear

in

whitewashing
of

as

far

as

possible

the

sovereigns

enemy

countries,

they shut the

door to criticism of their own

feudal system of mediaeval severity.

cannot

tell

you the exact date of

the

my

deit

parture

from

country.

only

know

186

WHAT

KNOW
disaster

was upon the day that the news of the of Tannenberg reached Berhn.
I

said

good-bye to

went to the capital

my kind hostess, and on my way to Munich.

!

An
it it

unimaginable journey
less
six.

In ordinary times

took
took

than an hour to reach Berlin, now

with

officers

Every compartment was crowded and soldiers, and as German

its

politeness

has

limits,

my

maid
the

and

stood for quite a long while in

until,

corridor,

in fact,

she requested an officer to give

as I

me
At

his place,
last I

was

delicate

and

felt faint.

had a
series

seat,

regular

of

but was put through a " Madame, interrogations

:

you do not look German: may we ask where you come from ? " " Do you wish to see my passport ? " I
inquired.

" If
I

we may."
it

handed

over.
ally

"

Ah

Hungarian an

then
"

"

" I suppose so." " What do you

mean by
I

that
I

" I

mean what

say.

suppose I must

pass for an ally, being a Hungarian, but this

war having none of

afraid I

my

sympathies,

am

am

not really one."

THE EXPLOSION
"

187

Ah

fair

pacifist
call

then,"
it

with a sneer.

" If you choose to

so."
:

Thereupon they became confidential

fism was " Unsinn " (nonsense)
;

paci-

a fme, splendid
life.

war Hke the present

'*

one,

that was
I

Unless

it

is

death,"

retorted

grimly.

*'

Well, well," they said, with a pitying smile,

fancies."

*'

women must have

figure

Then, looking

my

up and down, in the peculiarly insulting way they have in Germany and Austria, " For of course, madame, you they added
:

have no children."
I

happen

to

be

slight,

and the idea that

a
is

woman must become

children

shapeless

bundle

when she has had

out,
it
is

a deeply ingrained

conviction of the Teuton male, generally borne

true,

by

their

womenkind.

replied

"

No

" as shortly as I could.

insight, satisfactorily

Having, with wonderful

set

me down

in

the

category

of

childless

females (therefore harmless lunatics or hobbyists),

they became communicative.

to

It

was enof

lightening

hear

them

talk.

Most

the

conversation can be put into a single sentence

that
'* One must say, came back as a refrain we have managed this affair very neatly " (Nett eingefiidelt ") meaning the forcing of this
:

188

WHAT

KNOW
No word
!

war upon the

entire world.

of having

That was talk to blind the The one point rabble with they were officers upon which they felt sore, however, was that
been attacked.
;

England had joined

were sure
of

forces with us, though they " extinguishing " her completely
vertilgen).

(vom Erdboden
were to do
this,

As to how they they seemed a little vague,

Zeppelins,
at

though
guns
(to

submarines,

long-distance

be
like

fired

England

from

Calais),

and other
front,

amenities played a

great part
to our

in their talk.

They were on the way

wished
I could

and

have

killed

them

when they

started

bragging about

how they

would show the Russians what real soldiers were, as compared with a horde of savages. Among other things, they seemed to imagine that the whole Russian force consisted of
Cossacks only, and as the efficiency of cavalry

weapon was an exploded theory (?), would be easy to make them flee in it They were also much more instrucpanic. tive than mere newspapers concerning the
as

Austrian

army.

learnt

that

the

desertion

among
will

the Slav contingents was enormous (you

this)
;

be able to verify

that the Germans

as

had had a huge

disillusion

to

the

actual

THE EXPLOSION
fighting value

189
officers

of their ally

that the

were bad, and the commanders worse.

They
fear,

wound up by saying
end

" Well,

it

will

have to

by our taking them

will
!

over.

Never

make them march About a thousand hanged and as many shot, and all will go most
we
excellently."
I

suppose

they

fulfilled

their

promise when they actually did go

command
And

of

Austrian

affairs,

if

and take all I have

which
the

heard since be true.

this

was
the

the

country
of

of

secretary

of

Minister

Foreign

Affairs

had proclaimed before me, not quite a year

ago, that even
if

Germany did not

left

help

them

they would beat us " with the

Finally,

hind leg."

to

my

intense

relief,

an orderly ap-

peared, to call the officers in

to

my

some
I

General
never

travelling

compartment upon the same

saw them again until Berlin was reached, where they bowed and scraped their last to me upon the " perron."
train.

I deposited

my

luggage at the station, only

taking a small trunk and

my
out

bag to the Hotel

everywhere, and

Esplanade.
people
It
in

Flags were
the
streets

seemed madly excited.

I

boded no good, and as soon as

destination
I

had reached

my

flew

to

the

reading-room,

190

WHAT
my
not
passport

KNOW
to

turning

over
all

my maid
Even
the

and

leaving her to
I I

make
table,

further arrangements.
so.
all

need

have

hurried

before

reached

the

where

evening

papers were spread out, I could see the enor" Hindenburg's tremendous mous headlines
:

Victory in the East," " The Battle of Tannenberg," " 80,000 Prisoners, the rest drowned in the Marshes," " Every Guards Regiment annihilated."
I

am

not in the habit of fainting, but at that

instant the world

I I

went round before me, and blindly caught hold of a column near by, or should have fallen.
I

sat

down

finally,

staring

straight

before

had never known my heart before, without a doubt I knew it then. Every particle of me was torn by a pain I had never felt before. I do not know how long I sat there. My maid apparently grew alarmed and came to fetch me. Anyhow, I had to pull myself together. I must go to the Austrian Embassy, to have my passport vised. I dragged myself to the telephone and called up the charge d'affaires. Luckily he was in, and I took a carriage and drove there.
me.
If I

In moments

of great

soul-torture
force

one has
does

sort

of

numb, mechanical

one

THE EXPLOSION
things
correctly,

11

but

in

later

years
I

cannot

imagine

how one
to

ever did

them.

saw

my
we

man,
be

and

formalities

being

dispatched,

arranged

dine

together.

Anything
in

would

better than

sitting alone

a hotel room

and brooding miserably.

Solitude can be borne,

may
or

even be desirable, in one's

own
of

house,
nature.

out
in

somewhere
a hotel room

in
!

the

midst

But
I

No

felt

more
all

in

sympathy with
of
his
I

him,

too,

because

the

conceit

earlier

days

seemed to have gone out of him.

that
all

told

him

my men

in

Russia were in the Guards,

and that the news of the battle of Tannenberg had given

me an
a

awful shock.
that
I

could
felt
it

not very well explain to him

so

dreadfully

for

far

bigger

reason

than

only a family one.

He was
losses

kind.

He

told

me

that reported

enemy

were generally grossly exaggerated.

to

He
via
in

promised

send

a
if

letter
I

to

my

sister,
it

Denmark,
his

for

me,
I

would

write

presence.
I
tell I

did

so.

Poor woman, what

could

her, thus

constrained, of

my
I

real

feelings ?

could

only

repeat

that

loved

her more than

ledge of

ever,

and trust to her know-

me

to understand the rest.

IM
It

WHAT

KNOW

makes me shiver even now to recall those Whilst we had had this dreadful disdays. aster in East Prussia, we had some successes That was why my friend at in Galicia. He the Embassy was not quite himself. He seemed serious and rather depressed. "If only we can manage to push back said
:

the Russians beyond our frontiers

I

You
it

see,

have become modest.

For

if

not,

will

be used by the Germans as a pretext to come and help us, and you know what they are.

Once there, we shall never see their backs again, You can get and that will be the end of us rid of lice more easily than of Germans, once they start bossing you " (Man wird eher noch Lause los, als die Deutscher, wenn sie einem
!

im Genick sitzen) I refrained from saying " I told you so " when he further added that
he, for
it.

his

part,

wished

Austria
again,

well

out

of

and said " Bah We must nonsense I am depressed. be victorious, and if we are, even the Germans

Then he cheered up
!

will

owe us so humanize them."

*'

much thanks

that

it

will

You

are

mistaken

they

are

disappointed

in

you as it is," was my parting shot. Our dinner was not destined to take

place.

THE EXPLOSION
I

198

was
tell

called

up on the telephone by
that an unexpected rush

my
of

friend

to

me

work
res-

kept
late

him at
for

the

dinner.

Embassy until I went down

it

was too
the

to

by myself. I was not sorry, for it was, by mere chance, a most interesting extaurant
perience.
I
let

the waiter place

me

anywhere,
yet

and
it

ordered the shortest

menu

possible,
it

was an endless meal.

(Not that

seemed

so to me.)

Chivalry certainly does not extend to waiters, my experience as a " lone female "
being that luncheon usually lasts an hour and
a half, and a dinner anything over two hours,
in spite of

generous tips by

way

of persuasion.
to

My
of

seat
officers

happened to be next
of

couple

high

rank,
for

evidently connected

with

the

War

Office,

an orderly brought

them telegrams
service)
I
I

or notes every quarter of an hour or so, yelhng " Dienst, Dienst " (Service,
!

as he went.

heard them ask the waiter quite loudly

:

who

was
"

Who

is

that

woman ? she

does not look

German."
Whilst mentally eja/!ulating " Thank God " I was angered at their rudeness. As my passport
I

had to be shown to the manager upon coming to

18

194

WHAT
my
names and

KNOW
poured into the
Evidently
re-

the hotel, and I was at once registered, I soon

heard

dignities

ears of these Httle

War-Lords.
:

assured, they started

" That

damned
(I

Russia,

that

thrice-damned
ears.

Austria."
so

pricked

up
any-

my

They talked

loud

could

how not
knew
that,

help overhearing what they said, and

their rudeness

my

became doubly insulting, as they name now, and had every certitude
they were swearing

being a Hungarian,

what they must believe to be my country.) verflucht was [damnable] that Pourtales [the German Ambassador at Petrograd] had been so badly informed. It had been generally believed that Russia was upon her last legs, and here she was, with not only an enormous force, but quite decent guns too. True, she was badly defeated at Tannenberg,
at

" It

'

'

but we hear now she has endless resources,

and our own losses were For we can indeed print

cowardice,
true
!

very
stories

severe

also.

about their

but

that

does

not

make

them
all

They
"
!

fight

like

devils devils

of

them Then the other man began

no,

" Devils

or

we

shall
fair

have to beat them, conquer their

land by

means or

foul.

It

is

an impor-


THE EXPLOSION
tant economic necessity for
195

Germany
wichtiger

to spread

over Poland, the Baltic Provinces, and generally

exploit

Russia"

(ein

Lebensbe-

lang).

" Talking of Poland," resumed the first speaker, " Austria will never let us have it
our own way there ! " Austria be damned," snarled the first speaker " I said so once already. Should she
;

"

interfere,

we should break her head

us,

for

it.

She has cheated

force in the field.

anyhow, as to her

real

If I

Russians will be in
[he

make no mistake, the Lemberg before a fortnight

in

was quite

right

this

prophecy, by the

way].

To think that we
last

we

have

been such
her.

unspeakable idiots as to be fooled by

the

For
us
1

ten

years

she
as

actually

made
1

believe her
I

army was
is

good as ours
good

Pfui

wish we had an alliance with Russia instead

The
there

cannon-fodder

[meaning
arc

the
if

soldiers]

even
they

their

ofTicers

not bad,

were

only

command
will

more of them. Under our would do wonders Well, it

! !

come to that, once they are well beaten They will make useful slaves. Slavs arc anyhow slaves born there is only a letter's difference between two the words" (in
;

196

WHAT
:

KNOW
unterschied

German
es
ist

Slaven sind doch geborene Sclaven

ein

nur

Buchstaben

im

Wort).
" Talk about Then the other started again Pourtales but Lichnowsky [the German Ambassador at London] was even more of a fool not to have reported that we had to reckon with England. Not that England will ever be of any serious importance. We can easily smash her miserable little army, and at the first re:
!

verse she will

fall

to pieces.

India, Australia,
will
all

Canada, South Africa, Egypt,

to her,
little

be

lost

and she

will

be nothing but a wretched

island

shivering in the

North Sea

"
!

This was the gist of their conversation, often

interrupted,
as
I

said

before,
calls

by telegrams
telephone,
as

from the
etc.

War

Office,

to the
bill

was just paying

my

my

friend

of the Austrian

Embassy made a tardy appearance. He bowed to the men at the next table. I got up, and we sauntered out. I had meant to ask him who those officers were, but refrained, for
I should

have got into very hot

water had he told them what

pathies

my

real

sym-

were.

He

found

it

out,

of

course,

because he asked

me

a straight question, to
In

which

gave an equally straight answer.

TEE EXPLOSION
general,
I
it

107

take some

pride

in

the

fact

that,

though
so,
I

was

manifestly
I

dangerous

to

do

when asked,
is

always answered truthfully.

often kept silent

that

when not questioned, but another matter. Surrounded by nothing

in

but enemies,
stuck to

the political sense at least, I

in

my

guns

saying
I

that

my

heart

was
It

in Russia,

and that

hoped and believed

for

in the victory of the

Entente.

was
that
told

probably

lucky

me

that

the

Germans
sure

were
they
I

so

self-satisfied

did

not

and so cockI was believe me.

this

often

had only taken up

this

attitude

out of " pose."

At
light,

all

events,
if

if

book ever
ever read

sees

day-

and

any of

my

acquaintances or friends
it,

on

the

other side

should

they
will,

cannot convict me of treason (though they

no doubt,

accuse
in

me

of

it).

All

my
or

life
;

have stood firm

my

defence of Russia

and

no personal danger made

me

shift

waver

war or no war
I

had to stay three days in Berlin, for no train taking civiHans went South before that.
Dreadful days they were
ing
to
!

woke one mornI

the shouts of the populace.

looked

198
out,

WHAT

KNOW
!

and saw the first prisoners I had ever A few captured perceived from our front cannon followed. Every street was lined. The

poor, miserable prisoners, in the midst of their

jeering,

hooting,

laughing,

insulting
footsore,

enemies,

stumbled along,
in

dusty
their

and

prodded
I

the

back
been

by
been
so

captors'

bayonets.

have
life

never

much
hard

given to tears.
that,

My

by the unanimous verdict of the doctors, it would have Yet I landed most people in a madhouse. can never remember a tendency towards hysBut at this instant I fell on teria before. my knees near the window, overwhelmed
had

by
the

such

a frenzy
into

of

pain

that

stuffed

curtains

shrieks that rose

my mouth to my hps.
uttered wild

to strangle the
I

can only
us

re-

member
prayers

that

and incoherent
revenge
!

that
all

God should grant

vile

that
in full
;

their

all their cruelty,

and schemings, should be paid back to them

plottings

that in the end, at least, the victory

I

should be ours

knock at the door roused me. The mask had to be resumed, the armour buckled on. I shall always be grateful It was my maid. to her for her silence and tact in those try-

THE EXPLOSION
ing

IW

Though herself a Moravian, she never spoke a word that could hurt me. More, when she heard the Russians abused, " They she silenced the speakers by saying
days.
:

are

not

wicked.

have been with a Russian

lady
too
:

[my mother], and know other Russians they were the kindest people I ever came
Poor,
faithful
I

across."

old

thing

We

are

parted now, but

shall

always be grateful to

her for her generous behaviour.

I

wish

to
I

say

something

about
I

a general

impression
to go
I

received in Berlin.
to
!

hope never

any nearer
it

hell
I

than the foretaste

cannot ever hope to
distinct
evil

received of

there

explain
sensation

satisfactorily

the

and violent
that

of

all-pervading
in

above the German capital

felt
it

hung those days. One

Berlin
hell

clearly

it

was

everywhere.

seemed the
loose,

very

centre

where
evil

was
joy

let

and where
concentrated.
in

every

emotion of

man
was
were

was

The
!

populace's

drenched

hate

When
number

the

bulletins

posted up, giving the

vindictive
shrieks
?

of prisoners taken,

of delight

went up.
let

What
all
it

was the cry

starve
;

" Hurrah,

we can
!

them

they

are at our

mercy

"

Moreover,

was not one voice that uttered

this

monstrous

200

WHAT
!

I
it

KNOW
was the
It

cry of triumph

No,

entire mass,
their

the

whole of the people.

was

joint

voices that

made

this

horrible clamour.

Every shop-window that

English
inscription

had

had a French or been smashed or

fists

papered over.
them.

People never passed these withat

out swearing loudly and shaking their

The

war-hysteria
I

was

in

full

force.

had the impression of being the only sane human being in a crowd of lunatics. And within me, I felt a strong power protecting me against this madness that was in the very air one breathed. Through my own different mentality I was able to feel what the emotions must be in the Entente
countries.

More than ever

Sorrow and anger there must be

:

Joy, too, at a success

would take, prisoners. might be raised in hatred

everywhere.

we too had taken, or Some isolated voices

there

are evil
people,

men
with

But that a whole

I

one voice, could utter the cry I had heard in

Berhn,
looking,

that

refuse

to

believe

Deadly
at

huge grey motors- swept

powerful

along

mad

pace, blowing

horns

or sirens.

Everything

had

to

make

place

before
cars.

them

immediately: they were military

Posters

were up, inviting the people out to the Thier-

THE EXPLOSION
garten,

201

where they would

vileness

be

and Russian prisoners^'n cages

shown EngUsh Everywhere !

in

some new
" alone in a

stared

one

the

face.

People often

talk

about the feehng of being

crowd."
full

Has any one ever

of
it ?

ex-

perienced the

atrociousness
;

did

then

am

a Catholic
churches.

in despair

entered

one

of

my

Here, at least, hatred

must remain outside the door. A priest was Hate was even here ! My preaching. Ah no unwilling ears heard a sermon such as I hope Hatred was glorified, never to hear again. Not a word of love or exalted, encouraged. Nothing but hatred and mercy was spoken
!
!

vengefulness.

great light seemed to sweep through

my
I

brain.

Germany would eventually be doomed

because
she

doomed
good,

proclaimed

evil

her

and adored Satan instead of Christ. (I had an exactly similar experience in Munich, later on, and when I came here, into a neutral country, I heard Dutch people tell me that they too had fled from German churches, not wishing to hear such blasphemy as was uttered
there.)

At

last

those

three

mortal
I

days
able

in

Berlin

wore to an end, and

for

was

to
this

board a train

Munich.

was lucky

302

WHAT
My
maid and

I
I

KNOW
were
able to get into

time.

a
in

half-compartment
it.

with

only

another

lady

No
tive

one has any idea of

people were.

how communica-

They were probably under the impression that at last the tension was over, the bomb had burst, and nothing else mattered. The poor woman we sat with had evidently wept quite recently.

question as to shutting or opening a win-

dow broke
ing tale
slightly
:

the

ice,

and she told me the

an
officer's

follow-

she was

wife

he was

wounded, and she had just seen him in Berlin. She was going on to their country
place
to

prepare

for

his

reception.

He had

been kept in the capital for some report or

and would join her in a few days. Oh, madame," she said, " we all fancy that the war is something splendid, and of course men must fight for their country, but the actual struggle must be terrible. My husband he never is back from Belgium, and he says
other,
*'

before
fellow,

regretted

being

decently

but

he

did

there.
is

He

says

humane the way

our troops behaved

simply scandalous.

And
They

some of the
killed

officers

were even worse.

women and

children in cold blood, so as

THE EXPLOSION
to

JOB

be able freely to loot their houses, which

finally

they

burnt down.

good many had

gone entirely
officers

mad
shot

with drink

and
their

lust.

Many

were

down by
ones.

own men,
re-

and those the best

escaped."
ceived
so. (I

My

husband barely

suspect

that

was

how he

wound, though she would not say Neither would she tell me where this had
his

happened, as her husband had made her swear

never to mention places.)

She went on
his

"

He

had to shoot down three of

were
vilely

own men who

torturing

girl,

a mere child of

and who refused to let her go when he ordered them to. It must have been ghastly and we imagined we had the best disciplined
fourteen,
;

army
should
I

in

the

world
"
!

One

cannot
that

but

be

ashamed,
gently

deeply

ashamed,
her

such

things

have been
asked

whether

there

was

no

provocation on the part of the Belgian population,

as the
articles

German papers were overflowing

about
the
so-called

with

" Belgian

horrors "
soldiers

soldiers
poisoned,
at

shot at from
their

the

windows,
out,
etc.

eyes
:

put

She looked
'*

me

pityingly
still

Madame, do you
say
in

believe
?

everything
things

they

our

newspapers

These

204

WHAT
atrocities

KNOW

were invented afterwards

after

our

men had
to
justify

committed
they

beyond words or name

to

were

invented

motivate,

the horrors perpetrated by our men.

Because
He.

everything cannot be explained

away by a

Some
in

trace

is

bound to remain

for later genera-

tions to see of our passage

fire

passage written
that

unhappy country. No, I am a German woman, and cannot but wish there were an excuse. But there was none. The people were simply
and blood, throughout
butchered
like

lambs

(wie

Lammer

dahin-

geschlachtet).

As I told you, my husband is a humane man. Well, his wound is less than
nothing,
effects

but

he

got

a
will

nervous
carry

shock,
all

the
life.

of which

he
has

his

And
and

they are only giving him

a short
the

leave,

then

he

to

go

to

Eastern

front."

Poor soul
one's
wife,

It

must have been

idol.

terrible

to

have been so

disillusioned in one's

own
an

people,
officer's

favourite

For,

being

of course the
idol,

army had

until then

been

was that of a thousand others. She again began weeping bitterly. What could I felt helpless, and yet very I do for her ? She was terrified, also, at her sorry for her.
her
as
it

THE EXPLOSION
husband's being sent
to

205

our front.
I

We
tell

had

been given a nice character,

According
to

our prisoners,
to live. to

you the Germans we murdered all and tortured those we allowed

can
other things,
into

Among
In
this,

we were reputed
to

make them up
!

teams
I

drag
able

our
to

guns
(with

at
I

least,

was

reassure her.

As

know our
of

national character

the

exception

few

brutes,

who

flourish everywhere),

we

are certainly not cruel

(Witness our Revolution now, as by nature. compared to those in other countries.) She felt a little comforted at this, and told me that what I said was borne out by what she heard from
her brother,

who had been

fighting in the East

from the beginning.

she had
a

She had thought he only

fears.

wrote thus to abate her

brother on
interest

When

heard

our front, she became

of supreme
certain

to

me.

wanted to

as-

matter
rage,

that

had

daily

made me

fume and
the

when reading

the papers, namely

accusation of cowardice, the affirmation that " the famous Russian courage was a thing of the past."
I

put

my

question to her.
returned,
?

" But,

madame," she

" surely you

just

never beUeved UuU nonsense

But

wait

206

WHAT
:

KNOW
from

second

have a
textually
I

letter

my

brother

here,
I like

and you can read

translate
:

for

yourself."

" The creatures fight

demons.

sincerely wish

we had them

as friends rather than as enemies, for they are

They stand as one man, and go on even when badly wounded had almost written, when dead." I thanked
rather splendid.
fighting

the lady for her courteous kindness in showing

me

her

letter,

and
still

was inwardly glad

She

that

even in this devil-ridden country a few were

left.

honest souls

seemed a
sounded

good

woman,
and
at

and
the

her

two
not
call

men
of

honourable
themselves
of

straight,
first

having divested
the

trumpet
like

every

semblance
lady

of

humanity,

so

many

others.
little

My

left

me
:

all

too soon, having

I

to change to a branch line.

asked her name.

She reddened a little " Madame, you will

portrait
in

perchance

see

my

some illustrated paper some day, then you will know. But even then I trust you will not give me away. These are
evil

times in

Germany

for

who
It

dares even to

whisper the truth, and you

I
let

seemed so kind,
is

myself go too

far.

not that

"

THE EXPLOSION
;

207

but Heaven alone mind for myself so much knows what they would do to my husband knew what he told me had leaked if they Will you out And that I cannot risk shake hands and tell me you forgive me ? " Of course," I said, extending my hand. And so, even if I knew the lady's name
!
!

(which

don't). I could never disclose

it.

She

was a

nice,

honest woman, beyond

a doubt,

and she trusted me.

During
I
all

the time

was talking to her

had seen two gentlemen patrolling up and

the
I

down
places.

corridor,

apparently unable to find

also,

noticed,

that
in

they

had

American
holes.

" rosettes "

stuck

their

button-

Wlien

and

my

maid remained
might
" step
*'

alone, they

knocked at the door, and very

politely asked
in." If

me whether
of

they

one

them sat down upon the compartment could just hold us

entirely

strapontin " the

all.

was
since

delighted

For
I

the

first

time
to

what seemed
English,

ages,

should

be

able

talk

instead
in,

of

German.
I

WTiat
in

joy

They came them what

But,
unlike

and

lost

no time

asking
war.
first

their feelings

were about

this

the

Germans, they were at

208

WHAT
you
will
see.)

KNOW

very cautious.
as

(They had good reason to be,

They said, " Madame, that you are no German we can see with half an eye still, you talked fluently in that language to the lady who has just left. Now you talk equally fluent English to us. Now, what might your nationality be, if we may inquire ? On sight we should have guessed English or American. But in the first case you would not be going about freely, and you cannot
;

be

the

second,

on

account

of

your

foreign

accent."
I

showed them
!

" Hungarian

my How

passport.

odd
I

We

have never
re-

met one Then

before."
I

told

them
that

was not a good

for
I

presentative

of

race,

took

after

my
"

mother's family, and she was Russian.

so
!

You don't say make you must

comfortable
I retorted
I considered
?

feel

But then this war uncommonly unmore

the

"

that

it

did

than that,

for

the

Entente cause the good one

and

the

German cause
was
faces

bad

one,

and

officially I

tied to the latter.

in their
brilliant.

was

as

The change instantaneous as it was

TEE EXPLOSION
"

90

You

don't
talk
!

say
This

so ?
is

But then
I

we can

actually

splendid

You know,
minute

we have become
our
opinions
;

rather
see

nervous about airing

in

you'll

why.

Upon

the

day

war
lot

was
officer

declared

we were
slightly,

waylaid by a German

we knew
'

and wc heard a

about the
'

glorious cause,'

and the
ventured
of

'

thrice-glorious

German army.
about
the

We
of

gentle

hint

\iolation
lot

Belgian neutrality, only to

hurled
at

have a
did
telling us

explanation
plain

us

that

not ex-

what nation the Germans were. Every invention that was ever made was made by them. Now, that was a stiff one, as quite a lot of brilliant ones, we consider,
anything.

He went on

an

altogether wonderful

stand
Stripes.

to

the

credit
!

of

the

old

Stars

and
only

Steam
the

We

objected

Fulton,

to

be promptly told Fulton had stolen

stolen

mind
!

you,

invention
!

nounceable old Teuton

dared

from some unproThe telephone We

to

mention

Edison,

only

be

informed

that another worthy Teuton had been robbed

of
his
riglits

by

our
!

Edy

story

about

radium
filched

M.
before

The same old and Madame

its

Curie

had but
poor,

it,

time, from
I

some

innocent,

unsuspecting Deutscher

210

WHAT
began to get
tempers,
so
I

KNOW
of
'
:

We
our

sick

this,

and to
I

lose

said

You know what

!

you did invent was gunpowder was a German monk, called

Schwarz,

beheve
a

it

Berchthold
mistake^

who found
him
"

it

out

by

which

blew

almost

into

kingdom-come,

where we hope

you may soon follow him

Good-bye
since

' I

I believe I

had my first hearty laugh then the war had started. The story was
inimitable
it.

told with

" verve "

one

could not

help enjoying

" Well,"

they

went on,
us,

" the

brute

pro-

bably reported

because

next day,

bright

and and
and

early,

we were awakened by a detective policeman looking down upon our

innocent slumbers.
follow

We
*

were told to get up

gleich
'

them,

aber
'

[but
spies.'

at

once],

because

we were
neutral,

English
free-born

We

said

we
;

were

American
papers,

citizens
letters

we

showed

our

passports,
:

nothing home augenblickWe were to come availed [this very instant]. As we were in for lich apparently, there was no harm in riling it them a bit, first We fetched some hot water
addressed to us from
I

'

from the bath-room next door (followed there

'

THE EXPLOSION
by one of the Germans,
in

111 didn't escape

to see
;

we

our

pyjamas,

suppose)

then we calmly
all

began to shave.
'

We
loss
'

were told
of

this

was

Unsinn,'

and a

time
'

we had been
once].

told

before to

come

sofort

[at

We

turned looks of wide-eyed wonder upon them.

'

Listen,

we

are to

American gentlemen, and as

go even to
jail
'

such are

used

clean

Is

this not the fashion in

'

Germany ? There was a murmur of verdammte englische Spione [damned English spies], but we were allowed to proceed with our toilet. We made it as long as
possible,
finished,
I

can

tell

you.

When

had at
the
:

last

again

moved towards
'

bath'

The policeman barred kommen, aber nun schnell

room.
'

my way

Mit-

[Come along, but quickly now]. We again looked upon the pair in mild wonder But we want our bath: Bad ? Wozu ? Haben die Herren so
:

'

lange nicht gebadet

'

[Bath

Why

Have
?]

the gentlemen not bathed for such a long time

This was intended as a scathing sarcasm, but

it

rather missed

fire

when we informed them

that Americans, as well as English, were used

to

bathe every day.

this

At

happily

Were not the Germans ? they collapsed, growling, and we dawdled away more than an hour.

212

WHAT
that
faces

KNOW
off

After
their

we were marched like thunder. Our

telephone
to

to

quod,
to

request

be

allowed

to

our

Embassy had
!

of course

been

refused.

Well

ruder

lot

we never wish
short,

to see

To make a

long story

Gerard hauled us out, provided us with

American badges, and here we are. But, you see, we have become a bit careful about airing our views."

My
two
got

first fairly

contented moments since the

I

turmoil

had
of

started

passed

with

these

kindly,

cheery boys.
other

hold

than

They had evidently German news, and

certain
in

they
tually

seemed
the

delightfully

that

even-

of
tell

the

game must remain Entente. They were

that

the hands
first

the

to

me

Lord Kitchener

had promised

to have an

army
year.

of

one million

men ready
Russia,

within

the

They

considered

happen what might, practically unbeatable. The money and the sympathy of the United States
were
freely
in

at

our

disposal,

" as
dirty

the
lot,

pro-

Germans
All this

America were

and

quite in the minority."

encounter gave

was lovely to hear, and this chance me back a lot of my courage,

needed
it.

and

really I

Niirnberg being their

THE EXPLOSION
goal,

218

American friends got out. So did we, because we had to change our train. We got into a tremendously crowded compartment
for

my

eight

persons

this

time.

There

was

factory

director

from

Stuttgart,

an

aeroplane officer in his oilskins, two

nurses, as

Red

Cross

and two Bavarian heutenants, as well

Again
I

ourselves.

was struck by the

in-

credible communicativeness of everybody.

flying officer

The

began the process of fraternization

by producing a lot of photos he had taken from his machine. They were views of the coasts of England and Flanders. The snap-shots were handed round, everybody made some comment, and this started a general conversation. The airman told us
about
about
as
I

his

flight

from

Kiel,

explaining
it

lot

his

machine and how

an
idiot

worked.

But
I

am
me

about

technical

details,

am

afraid I cannot repeat this sensibly.

AVhat
outside

struck
Prussia,

at

once

was
tone

that,

once

the

very

of

the

guard

had
from
recon-

changed to one more polite and

less conceited.

The

airman
lie

was
said

of

Danish
did

origin,

Holstein.
noitring

he

not

mind

work

it

was

interesting

and pretty

dangerous.

But he hated the

idea of having

WHAT
bombs on
for

214

KNOW
a thing that was being

to drop

cities,

planned.

He seemed
that the

to

hope he would not

of

come

in

sort

work,

as

it
it.

was
His

expected

zeppelins

would

do
at

machine was of the Fokker type.

Wiirtemberger

Next the
first

began

talking,

also

about machines.
frightful losses the

Then he

told us

about the
regi-

Suabian and Bavarian

ments had sustained, the two lieutenants chiming

in.

Each of them had

close friends killed.

tales

about relations

and
the

It appears that
notified,

though

families

were privately

most of

the losses were never published

officially.

The

Government was
" dispirit

afraid to

do

so,

lest it

should

the
to
in

people."

The

real

amount,
terrible,

according
especially

them,
the

must have been

non-Prussian
:

States.

The
as

unanimous murmur went up

saving their always " They
are
skins
all

" The Prussians our

at

expense
in

seemed

agreed

this.

The

nurses,

who came from some

received,

small place

in Bavaria, recounted horrible tales

about the
their

ghastly wounds

and how
the
sacrifice

poor
of

charges
their

complained
the

about

brutality

officers,

useless

of

life,

and

the

absolutely

callous,
all

merciless

indifference

generally

towards

those

who had been

THE EXPLOSION
disabled.
listened
*'

215

The two
meekly,
so
in

lieutenants, to

my
that

surprise,
it

only protesting
Prussia."

more

The

refrain

was was
:

Of course one may say nothing, but it is " so, all the same The nurses w^ere going to Munich, like myself, to meet a lot of other nurses bound for Vienna. This news surprised me into a
!

"

question
nurses

" \\Tiy

Had
"

they
all

not

sufficient

in

Austria
for,

They

seemed

emI

barrassed,

upon looking at

my

passport,

the porter had growled out

my

nationality.

turned to the two nurses, telling them not to

mind me, as I had offered myself as a nurse and had been refused because " the profession was overcrowded." (I did this in the first
days of the war,
to
in the

hope of being allowed

attend

the

Russian

wounded.
realized,

The hope
as
I

would never
afterwards
near

have been
ladies

heard

no

were

allowed

anywhere

wounded prisoners.) I was rather staggered by the reply *' No wonder, madame, that you were re:

fused.

You

are

decent

lady.

When

the

war broke

out,

the staff of nurses in Austria

all

being insufficient, they took

that offered within the
first

the volunteers
hours.

forty-eight

216

WHAT
all

KNOW
the loose

These proved to be
net
result

women from

Vienna, Budapest, and other big towns.

accidents.

The was a bad series of scandals and The authorities packed these gay

birds home, and, unable to supply the shortage

at once, applied to

Germany

for at least

two

hundred competent war-nurses.

That

is

why
wild

we are going," they concluded. At first I was inclined to doubt story, though corroborated by all my
companions.
It

this

travelling
talk.

was

evidently

common
down
Austria)

Later on I received the undoubted confirmation

of
this

tale

(which I had put

to the

animosity of the

Germans

for

from

a high military authority in Munich.

CHAPTER
MUNICH
At

VI

eight o'clock, after an interminable journey,

during which

one piece
(war
size)

maid and I had only eaten of bread and a couple of sausages

between
us,

my

we

arrived

exhausted
(There

and ravenous at
were no

my

house in Munich.

more dining-cars on the

trains,

and
sell

the station restaurants

an>i:hing

were forbidden to
platform
to

upon

the

civilians).

My

housemaid and cook received

fight,

me

in tears.

Each had brothers gone to

that

not but pity the poor things.

and I could was informed

several times

my
the

cousins had called

telephone.

me up

on

because
I

my

train to

They was so

had grown
late.

alarmed

talked

them,

and was told that the

His wife would
I

married one had been operated on a few days

before and was
call
in

the hospital.

next day, to take

me
'in

to see him.

went


218

WHAT
bed,
busily
I

KNOW
out a plan
of cam-

to

thinking

paign.

would try to sublet

otherwise
I could

come to terms with not stay in Germany any

ten years in Holland,
friends.

my flat, or my landlady.
longer.
I I

lived

for

where

had had

legions

of

There
there

could

live
feel

my
as

own
I

life,

think

my own
I

thoughts,
also

really

felt.

And

hoped to be

able

to change

my
got

nationality to

what
I

I felt

was
not

my

true

one.

Tired as

was,

could

and wandered through my flat. Everything reminded me of my mother and of Russia. Near my bed hung all mamma's icons. The bedroom had once been hers. It was the same in every all I owned other room had come to me from Russia. And there I weighed the scales of my life truly and justly my early hapcome from mother, my early piness had misery from father. Where had I felt at home ? In Russia Where an alien ? In Austria For the Hungarian side of me I had sacrificed my health and my youth
sleep,

but

up

again,

first

at

court,

at

my

father's

bidding

next
I

through
stood
so

my own
utterly
settle

folly,

to

my

husband.
alone

and completely
destiny

that

I^could

my own

henceforward

MUNICH
without hurt or harm to any hving
only
side.

219
soul.

My

close
I

relatives
I

were

felt

must
sister,

ground
certainly

as

my
be

upon the Russian stand upon the same whose husband must
for

fighting
I

Russia.

In

the

German
was
false

camp

could

never

be

anything

better than a suppressed traitor, for

entirely

my

heart
it
is

with their enemies.

to

Surely

always

better

be

frank
pulse

friend.

desired

And German
I

every
defeat

enemy than a in my body

and the victory of

the

Entente.

knew

too

inner workings of the " glorious

much about the German cause "

talked
into
ac-

ever

to

be

hoodwinked
I
!

and

quiescence.

knew
I

they

were

wrong,

their

enemies right

had seen everything planned,

side,

upon the
expressed
hysteria

'*

Central "
action.

long before
for

it

was

in

Not
fault

me
a

the

sudden
funda-

of

enthusiasm

for

cause
the
of

mentally
side

bad.

The

upon

Entente
foresight

was merely slackness

her

lack
me
?

and of preparedness.

condemn
that

/,

Yet how could / ever who had a thousand reasons

on

ought

to

have put

my
until

guard,
it

ought to have warned

too late
ostrich.
I

me

Yet

was

took up the imbecile attitude of the

220

WHAT
me
still

KNOW
me
;

That was a morning found

I

sleepless night for

but the

resolved.

was,

friends I

and had

in

am, sorry to lose the few Austria and Germany. First

among
by me
wished
cousins,

these

were

my

cousins

and Princess
I

Clementine Metternich.
as a true

She had always stood

have always
to
I talked

and

loyal friend.

I could talk to her as

tell

my
lie.

and nor now do That is why

taking the

her the truth.

Neither then

wish to hide behind a tacit

I sign

my

full

name

to this book,

full

responsibility for

what

have

was sad, too, in thinking of my Hungary. But they, not I, had friends in given up their independent ideals. Let them condemn me I feel myself truer, more faithful, than they are. They allowed Hungary to be
put down.
I
:

sold into

German
I

slavery, whilst
it.

my

hope, even

to-day,

is

to see her free of

saw my cousin in the hospital. " Now, Olga dearest, His first words were you must get properly Germanized and give

Next day

up your
*'

fatal

Russian sympathies

"
!

That,

my

dear friend," I replied, " never

"
!

The women, as before, in the Saverne affair, were by far the most sensible. They understood my feelings, and I told them frankly

COUNT JULIUS AXDRASSY (THE FATHER).

To

face p, tii.

MUNICH
I

Ml
I

intended to become a Russian.

eyes,
I

said that
I

this

At first they tried to keep me in Munich, and they were both kind and helpful. They sent me upon one wild-goose chase, in spite of my fighting against it. They insisted that I must
felt

war had opened my give no patriotism where

and

could

none.

go

and

see

the

Austro-Hungarian

Minister,

Baron
I

Velics, to consult

with him about

how

to

correspond with

my

sister, etc.

To

please

them
better

gave

in

and went, much against

in foreseeing that

my

judgment.
I

was right

no help would
quarter.

ever

come
I

to

me from
first

that

WTiat

happened
sions.

was beyond was

in
soul,

my

wildest

apprehen-

received

by the Baroness,
trouble

who, poor
her

was wild with anxiety about

I
I

boy

the navy.

did not

her

with
office.

my
I

affairs.

began

went to the Baron's "As you know, my mother

Then

was a Russian, and

my

sister

"
:

He
just

interrupted
hasn't
got

me

roughly

" Well,

one

a Russian

mother, and when

"
!

one has that misfortune, one doesn't talk about

it

but
I

denies her, renounces her

in
tliat

learnt

minute that one can

feel

sudden

impulse towards

murder

It

came

 "
!

222

WHAT
me
at that

KNOW
The mean, cowardly,

to

moment.

snarling cur before

desire

me

roused in

me

the instant

to

kill,

annihilate.

There he stood, a
!

worthy

symbol

of

Austria

He had

been
in-

amiable enough, as long as I had had an

teresting position
I stood alone

and many
helpless,

friends.

Now

that

and
is

he insulted not only

me, but, what

far worse,

my
as

defenceless dead,

even her
he
never

whom
your

formerly, to ingratiate himself,

of

spoke

but

" the

beautiful

Princess,

dearest

mother."

He

might

have struck me; it would have been no worse. The red haze slowly receded from my brain as I answered him, with the iciest contempt "I am proud of my mother
as well
:

make no
always

mistake
been,
see

about

it,

very

proud.
shall

have
;

and

always
the

be
!

Good-bye
It

you

me
was

for

last

time

was
the

my

official
;

farewell to
also

more than that

particular brute

it

my

" good-bye "

to

country

he
I

represented.

From

that

was even more open than before towards all my friends. I told them out that straight I was going to Holland to become a Russian.
Indeed,
I

minute onwards

alarmed a sincere well-wisher of

mine, a retired General, to such an extent that

MUNICH
he implored

MS
lest
I

me

to keep
I

silent,

should
little

come
as
I

to serious harm.

wish to say as
in

can about these three weeks

;

Munich.
even
as

A
a
as

few people were kind

they

the majority,
treated

before

knew
Russian

my
as

views,

me

leper.

Neither
a

so-called
I

ally

nor

half

could

expect

anything

else.

to

A hysterical female damned my mother my face some others were scarcely more
;

polite.

You

see,

Austria at that period was

Germans very bitterly. We had taken Lemberg and were advancing toMy heart rejoiced But the ward Przemysl. They swore ! The time had come Germans
disappointing the
!
!

when the
in

fear of the Austrian charge d'affaires

Berlin

was

realized

the
"A
A
of

Germans had to
difficulty.

go and help Austria out of her

I

often heard her abused like a pickpocket.

She was alluded to as

with
vain-glory,

Power puffed up
hard
truth.

with nothing to justify this

pride."

attitude

of

silly

judgment,
Further,

perhaps,

but

not
''

devoid

Austria

was

unskilful,

unpractical,

going

to pieces altogether."

About the same time,

were
doleful

I also got letters

from
These

a retired captain in the Austrian navy.

enough.

He was an

old

friend,

gS4

WHAT
transcribed
:

KNOW

and here are some of

ally

his complaints, textu" Unfortunately, we have

!

underrated

enemy terribly imagined he would show so much

our

We

never

fight,

nor

have such good guns, nor so much ammimiWhere is the famous disintegration of tion.
Russia,

upon which they fed our courage

far.

for

years
ties,

It does not impair her fighting capaci-

so

Another, or rather several,

dis-

we have had upon our side. I dare " not put it more clearly, for fear of the censor To return to the Germans. In their rage
illusions
!

against their " dear allies," they again repeated " What a damned what I had heard before
:

pity

we did
!

not, long ago, let Austria take the

is

road to perdition, for which she

suited

so obviously

What

does this alliance with a corpse

[ein eingebildetes

Kadaver] bring us in now

instead

?
!

If only

we had an alhance with Russia

Barbarians they

may

be

all

the better, they

would not annoy us with pretensions, at least they would be obedient slaves, easy to rule " and at least they can fight I wish to draw your attention to this, you
!

pacifists

in everything I ever

heard said in

Germany about Russia (when they condescended

to
find

any virtue

in

us),

there

was always

MUNICH
that predominated.

225

the hope of exploiting us as fighters some day

The fixed idea of the Germans was that we had been created to be ultimately ruled over by them. We apparently had 710 other reason for existing at all Take this fact and digest it, if you can. Perhaps
!

it

may open
to

the eyes of the Extremists even

as

the value of the

German peace propa-

Those who preach liberty are the very ones to lead the Russian people into a worse sort of slavery than they ever have been bound in before. According to them, we are
ganda.

born slaves (with only a

Russia,

letter's

difference,

in

German, between the words Slavs and

always
a
also

slaves).

Germany's
cause
of

favourite

prey,

was now
England

fresh

hatred

against

had dared to " filch the friendship of Russia from us " from Germany, who, being her nearest neighbour,

England,

who

should by right have ruled over her supreme

If in

England there should

the
alliance

still

be people

who

consider
if

with

Russia a mistake,
still

in

Russia there should

consider
let

be

politicians

who can
for
I

peace,

Germany honest in her wish them all listen to me now, for

in his rage

have heard the Teuton

is

the

only

moment when he

honest.
15

And what

he

226
said

WHAT
then,
in
his

KNOW

Press covertly, in conversa" The combination of tions openly, was this

:

England and Russia must be broken

one combination that
stands in the
is

It is the

too

strong for us,

that

way

of our

becoming the first

it

World-Power.

And

as

long as

lasts,

it

will

always stand in our way.

deal with each of them.

we can Together, they make

Separately,
life

an

iron

ring that chokes the

out
it

of us.

Therefore,

by fair means or by foul,

must be

Even should an evil miracle happen should we lose this war we can recuperate in
broken.

ten years sufficiently

If only

to

be

ready for another

by that time we have managed to part England and Russia Then, at last, we shall Go, you doubters, be the masters of the world ! " and thank the shade of Edward VII, the
!

live

Poincare and
exists.

Sazonoff,

that

the

Triple

Entente

And go

on, every one of you,

giving your best, your most loyal efforts that

it

should

go on

existing

otherwise

But

you heard the Germans them faithfully.

just

now.

quoted

Do

not

let

yourselves be deluded into suppos-

ing that the leopard has changed his spots.

He

has not, he cannot

give

Unless you skin him and

him a

different fur.

In other words, you

MUNICH
can believe
all

227

those on our side

we

are fighting not so

much
It
is

the

who tell you German people

So long

as the

German

regime.

quite true.

as the hollow idol of the

War-Lord, backed up
fall,

by

his

war-machine, does not

and does

not break into a thousand pieces, just so long are we in danger of " another war in ten
years
in the

or

so."

For

governing

caste

that

very midst of a war as terrible as the

is

present one
to

capable of turning
is

its

thoughts
re-

a war
?

to

come,

there

any hope of
?

demption
the

Must

it

not be annihilated
to

put

question

fairly

Not later avoidably came across a German

thought.

any man capable of than six weeks ago I unofficer,

once

a friend of mine,
Holland.

who
to

has large properties in

He

too,

my

utmost horror, exof

the

pounded to me the

theory

next

war.

You can
we ever

see the danger for

yourselves should

cease to

stand firmly allied together.

too, lest in com-

And

let

Poland have a care

pletely severing herself

in the

from us she lands herself

worst quandary imaginable

free

She should be
first

and

German rule am the reunited

I

to say so.

But

closely allied to us.

role
in
is

For
this
:

Germany's idea as to her future

" Poland

must remain a card

our

hand.

228
to

WHAT
be

KNOW
Russia

played

against

Russia, whenever

should dare to act independently of us in the " Poland is to become a buffer-State future."

between

us."

nice
!

look-out

for

you,

my

poor Polish brothers

In you
!

lies

the

German

hope of future

conflicts

wisdom from the intensive study of German papers and from the hatefilled diatribes of German " leading men." But I am digressing. Three weeks saw me ready to leave Hunnia my tearful household
I culled all this

dismissed,

my

furniture

stored,

the necessary

good-byes said. At the last I had a sudden " succes de peur." Almost every person I said farewell to recommended me " not to

abuse

them

[the
:

Germans]

in

neutral

country."
there is

I smiled

" But, according to you,

nothing to abuse, you are so supremely

!

perfect

In

that

case,
?

main

for

me
;

to abuse

what does there reDo you by any chance

think me dangerously inventive ? " " No, no but you have a very disconcerting,
is

perverse " obvious

!

way

of not

wanting to see what

" Obvious,
are
in
it

Again

I smiled, repeating
it
is

how

"

" Well,

obvious

we

in this war,

but you refuse to see

the "
!

right

MUNICH
" Tell

229

me,"

retorted,
in

"

why you

intro-

duced a war tax

discuss

peace-time, " the question further

!

then we can

" Oh, that was but a precautionary measure

our
a

enemies
year
!

would
two,

have

done
not

the

same

in

or
It

had

we

been

before-

hand

is

the
it

we not
years."

started

same with the war. Had now, they would have been

ready, and would have attacked us, in a few

me that you condemn yourselves, unwittingly Had we not started now So you admit it was Germany who started
I replied
; '
:

" It seems to

'

the war."
I
it

After a violent disclaimer from them, " No, of course you donH admit went on
:

know that

but

it

seems to
'

me

that

all

what your enemies would have done in a number of years to come.' Meanwhile, they did nothing, and
you
not
did
so

your theories are based upon

great

deal.

If

your

people

were even

hypnotized

(idiotized

would

be

a better word), you would in a large measure

defeat your
wise,

own ends

in

the Press and otherrailing

by always mocking and

unpreparedncss.
that

at your

enemies'
to

Let

me

point

out
of

you

upon

the

self-same

page

newspaper you can read these two statements.

230
side

WHAT
by
side,

KNOW
:

that

your

one is and they do not agree enemies attacked you wantonly

'

next to this you read that they were

crously
prise.'

ludi-

unprepared,'
I

'

stupidly

taken by sur-

suppose your famous

German

logi-

cians
all

have died so long ago that you forget

I

about their teachings.

groaning
all

seem to hear
place,

their

ghosts

over

the

but ap-

parently I
I

am
I

the only one to do so."

convinced
to.

expect

no one, of course, nor did I only talked to get them off their
silence

subject.

was not to be gagged into

by any promise. avail them now.

No
friend,

belated

coaxing

could

My
got
called

poor

old

the

retired

General,

more and more

anxious about what he

my

" ill-timed honesty."

He

feared to
!

see
It

me

dangling from a tree, before long

the

was under
for

circumstances

no

easy

thing
alone,

woman, absolutely and

(I

entirely

to

undertake this journey

had

dis-

missed

my

maid, sending her back to her old

cousins I was truly grieved

mother

in Moravia).

From my kind
to part.

The one who was well (the artist) took me to the station, and there we saw an A train of wounded Germans sight. ugly

MUNICH
fortunate

Ml
marched,
on

from the front had just arrived, and the unwretches

tlie

were

foot,

through
them,

crowd that had gathered to see

and that respectfully made way.

in particular,

One
bent

man,
the
in

seemed to be shot through

stomach,

and could scarcely walk,

place

two by
in

his

agony, and holding the band-

ages

their

with

his

hands.

He
to

groaned terribly at every step.

He ought
of
course.

have

been

upon

stretcher,

military doctor tried to push

him along

faster

but at this sight even the long-suffering German

public began to
result

murnmr
was
that

in anger.

The only
always

of

this

the

police,

ready,

always present,

first

ordered and
I

then
pro-

pushed
vided
the
ally.

them
with a

off

the

platform.
lasting

was

final

and

impression of
gener-

brutality

of

the

German system
that
?

And we
to

are

astonished

they are

unkind
stand

our

prisoners
for
all

We
that

must underthe
military
far de-

once
is

and
them,

system

so all-pervading,

and has so
have
even
give
on.

humanized

that

they

forgotten
to
their

how own

to

be

decently

humane
I

flesh

and blood.
of
this

will

you more

instances

as

we

go

Both

my

cousin

and myself were

shaken with

disgust

382

WHAT
pity,

KNOW
do nothing.
to

and

but

could

We,
I

too,

were pushed away with the rest of the crowd.

The
hastily

train

stood

ready
to

depart.

was

recommended

the care of an officer

decorated with the Iron Cross (he would have

been a wonder had he not possessed

so,

it),

and

with

last

cousin,

I left

wave of the hand Munich behind me.

for

my

COUNTESS LEUTRUM.

To

(ace

p.'

233,

CHAPTER

VII

THE JOURNEY
I

WAS lucky

to be able to reserve a compartfirst

ment.
military

This was the

passport.

blessed effect of
iron-be-crossed

my
one,

The

with

few

of

his

brother-officers,

similarly

had the compartment next to me. He came to ask whether he could do anything
decorated,
for

me.

do not know how he would have

ordinary circumstances, but before the wonder of a lady with a " Militarpass '*
in

behaved

he was certainly extremely

only

polite.
I

As
sit

it

was
not

about half-past seven, and

I

could

go to sleep so early,

asked him to

down

and talk to me. He was a comfortable,

pleasing
to his
in

stoutish

Bavarian,

of perhaps twenty-eight or thirty.

What was
attitude
as
really

him was

his

derisive
it

Iron Cross.
to

He

said that

had

ceased

be a distinction,

and he would be

384

WHAT
decent
thing
I

KNOW
got
it

embarrassed to say
only
saving a

why he

at all

" The

remember

doing

was

woman and
Louvain.
after
in.

a child out of a burning

house
the

near

My own men
the

had

lit

fire,

locking

two
of

unfortunate

creatures
feat,

But
the

I got small

thanks for this

the

except

blessings

wretched

woman

herself."
I

"But,"

exclaimed,

astonished,

"did you
"

not get your Iron Cross for this occasion ? " No, madame I got tied to indeed not
; !

a gun for it " What ? " I cried in horror. " Yes, madame but do not " it is dangerous talk ! of it
!

"

let

us speak

dared not question him further, so that

in ignorance as to
is

remain

what

sort of punish-

ment
gave
the

it

to get "tied to a gun."

He, too,

me

a lot of information as to the terror

entry of the

German army

into

Belgium

must have caused. It appears that the men had shot blindly at everything and everybody at the civilians, at their officers, and at each other entirely drunk, with hquor and Some of the officers were as bad as blood.

their

men, and worse.

tale

All
little

this

corroborated
I

the

of

the

nice

woman

had

THE JOURNEY
travelled

9t5

with from

Berlin.
exists

The main points

a
sufficiency

were
books

identical.

There

of

about

this

subject,

reeking
facts

of

blood
I

and relating unbelievable need not add anything to

tion the fact that I heard

of cruelty.
I only

these.

men-

even the apparently

wildest

stories
in

roborated,

by the Belgians corshame and in anger, twice, by

stated
It

Germans
this
is

themselves.

seems
enough,

to

me
it

that

a
also

matter
said,

not

without

interest.

This
did

officer

grimly

that

not
ful

do to try to be kinder or more merci" than

of

were

the

orders.^'
life

It

became
you
got

question
lives

your
*'

own
to
soft,"

as

against
If

those

you
for

tried

protect.

name
was
to

being

the

next

accusation

" that you were a coward or a traitor."

after that,

The next move,

was to send you

an exposed part of the front, from which

Several of his favourite you never returned. comrades had gone that way. " Softness," once suspected, was rapidly eliminated from

the

German army
It

He

also

told
it^

me

that

the " Feldgrau " uniform had

disadvantages.

dangers and

had happened several times

that one liad destroyed one's

own men,

mis-

taking them for

tlie

enemy

in

hazy weather.

286

WHAT
claimed
that
the

KNOW
also
sus-

He

tained losses

enemy had from the same cause.

about the origin of the war. His opinion was that " it was in the air, anyhow," that it was unavoidable, but had in
also talked

We

the last instance been precipitated by Austria.

He
a

thought
as

the

Austro-German
as
I

cries

of

" treason "

absurd

did.
is

He seemed
commonly
cannot say
In

good representative of what called " a sensible man," and

I

found

many

of this

kind in Germany.

his

patriotism,

he too believed that Germany

was predestined to win, and eventually to rule the world. But on other points he was sane enough, and seemed to see things pretty reasonably. Taking everything into consideraI might call myself fortunate in the tion, choice of a chaperon made by my cousin. At half-past nine we separated, and I got
out

my

cushions and other

paraphernalia for
stopped,

the night. The train had heard " Niirnberg " called.

and

Then we moved
I

on again.
of

was beginning to divest myself

my

outer garments,

when

heard a loud
I

staccato knocking at my door. " Wait a second," and resumed

called out

my

discarded

blouse and skirt.

Then

opened, and beheld

THE JOURNEY
a sight of misery such as would melt
of stone.

237

a heart

A
there

young

his
his

boy of perhaps twenty stood face drawn and yellow, the colour

of old wax,

upon
pair

and two bright fever-spots burning upon a cheeks leaning wasted

of

crutches,
all.

evidently

scarcely

able

to

stand at
bandages,

His right side was bulging with

the

from

waist

downwards.

He

reeked of iodoform. " Madame," he said miserably, " unless you take

me

in

and
the
"

let

me

sit

down a minute,
in

must
for I
I I
it

pass

night

lying

the

corridor,

cannot stand any longer

said
:

"
!

Come

in,"

of course.

asked
could

him for an explanation happen that a wounded

very
ill,

And then as to how

soldier,

obviously

should

find

no seat

in

none-too-crowded train.
" Oh, there
is

room enough," he murmured,

"
!

" but not in the third class

" But

what

does

that

matter

"

asked,

bewildered.

" Madame,

you
I

do not

know Germany^

if

you ask

that.

am
off.

the son of people from

D
I

quite well

When war was

From
that

declared,

volunteered

at

once.

instant

238
I

WHAT

KNOW
I

became a common soldier, such as to-day. As such, I have the right to third class only. Since I am wounded,

am am

travel
I

badly handicapped in a scramble for places.

The
are

third

class

is

as full as an

egg

soldiers
in the
is full

standing in the
I tried the

compartments and
second
class.

passages.

That

of
I

officers,

their

wives,

and
of

their
first

orderlies.
class,

dragged myself as far as the

see.

as

you
are

Here,

many

the
four
I
let

compartments
officers,

half-empty
in

three
while,

or

with

their ladies,

one of them.

asked every-

where

if

they would at least

for

me
all

sit

down

and

rest

but

they

refused,

and I that. As " if I ever could move quickly again he added " tearfully. Then he went on It was useless to object that the third class was full to overflowing they told me that was my affair, not theirs." The poor boy started crying in
telling

was in the third was to get there, and quickly at

place
!

me my

class,

earnest.

Slow, painful tears

of despair rolled

down

his cheeks. I
said,
;

" Never mind,"

fere

choking

" I have
inter-

reserved this compartment

nobody can
I
;

with you here.

See,

will ]^ give

cushion and one of

my

rugs

you can

lie

you a down.

THE JOURNEY
and
you
"

289
aconite,
for

you

had

better

take

some
in
t/ow,

feel feverish."

His

eyes

opened

wide
that

astonishment.

You do

not

mean

a lady,

would

not mind passing the night in company with

a

common
be

soldier,
?

ill,

bandaged, and smelling

!

of iodoform

It

is
!

not possible

Besides,
is

it

would
see

useless

The conductor

bound

to come, and then he will turn

if

me

out again,

he doesn't

"
!

But I set my lips. " Lie down, and don't talk any more nonsense. I am a match for any Schaffner,' ^ believe me I shall be able to manage him, even if w^hat you say should
'
;

prove true, which " You will see

protege.

seems
!

to

me

impossible."

"

wearily

repeated

my
cut

However,

after

few

more
lifting

protests,

short by me, he obediently lay down, evidently

sadly embarrassed

at

my

his

leg

into

comfortable
rug.

position,

arranging

his

pillow

and

Well,

the

incredible

actually

happened
at

The conductor appeared,

charge
*'

and,

perceiving
yelled

my
:

comfortably extended,
!

him

Hinaus

[out

with
'

you]
Guard.

don't you

know

240

WHAT
the
place
for

KNOW
'

that

Gemeiner
!

'

[common

same individual who has pestered all the Herren Offiziere, whining that they should take you
soldier] is in the third class

You

are the

in,

and now you

this

force

yourself

in

here,
I

to
say,

pester

lady
I

and fast, or machen !). you wounded ?

not
see
If

Hinaus with you, will lend you legs "

!

(Beine

" Schweigen Sie [be silent]," I cried

that
I
this

" can-

man
to

is

ill,

badly
in,
it

choose
it is

take

him

seems to

me

that

nobody

else's

business,

considering I reserved this berth.

else is

If anything

necessary to regularize the arrangement,

trouble,
tell
firstit

so

that you should not get into

me

the difference I must pay towards a

ticket
for
this

class

man.

will

pay

willingly."

At
torted
if

first

the conductor looked at

insolent,

me
as

flabber-

gasted.
:

Then he became
" It
is

he

re-

true

it
'

is

none of
with
'

my
a
his

business

a lady wishes to
as

sleep

common
fare first

soldier,
class,

but you cannot pay for

it
is

entirely

against

every

and regulation that he should be here at all At this degrading insinuation, I saw my
!

order "

woimded man

flush

scarlet,

trying in vain to

TEE JOURNEY
get

241
I

up

"

You

see, I

mu^t go
"
!

cannot expose

you to insults by remaining As he could not get up without help, I only " Lie down, and keep quiet " answered Then I dived into my handbag for my " Mih" Look here," I tarpass " and five marks.
: !

said to the conductor-brute

" here

is

a military

passport
of

for

me,

signed

by the commander

and here are five marks. My take the money quietly, advice to you is and let us hear no more of the matter, for
Munich,
:

otherwise

will

go

at

once

and

find

the
this

highest military dignitary travelling

train,

upon

and report your insulting conduct. At the same time, I will ask for permission to keep this wounded soldier here. Do you understand me ? "
be,
I

whoever he may

suppose I looked unpleasantly determined,

brute crumpled up at once, extending

for the

filthy

hand
as at

for

the

bribe,

murmuring aborders."

ject

excuses

to
last,

" only

obeying
I

He went
what
I
I

and

proceeded

to
I

do
lay

could

for

the

patient.

Then
sleep.

down upon
was,
I

the opposite bench, but, dressed as

didn't

hope

for

much

lay

awake,
that

reflecting

upon the unusual

16

situation

made

me, an alien, play sister of mercy

242

WHAT
man who had
" the great

KNOW
cause."
I

to a
in

fought and been wounded never had

German

had a high opinion of German mercifulness, but unless it had happened to me personally,
as
this

experience

did,

could

never

have

believed their military hierarchy to be so persistently stupid

and

cruel.

Truly, the " super-

men

" had renounced Christ and His teachings

with a vengeance, and with elementary

believe
feelings

them, the most

I

of humanity.

honestly

what I have just related could not have happened outside the frontiers of the " Fatherland." Discipline ? It is an enormous strength, no doubt but I do not believe in strength based merely upon a tyrannical classprejudice. It is bound to crumble and dis;

appear one day.

Thus
of

I lay,

wide awake, philosophizing and

I

staring before me.

my
I

was roused by the voice wounded soldier " You are an energetic
:

lady,

madame

"
!

turned

my

head

"

Why
I

don't you sleep

"

am in bad Do let me talk

could
least,"

" I

pain.

have just woken up.

to you,

madame
then,
for

perhaps I
a
bit.

forget

the

pain

At
'

he added more

diffidently, " if
'

do not mind talking to a mere

you really Gemeiner ? "

THE JOURNEY
First
I I

248

gave him some medicine again, for

was afraid the fever would return.

Then
as

told

him he was once and

on
his

for all to

stop in-

sisting

being from the ranks,

that

was a matter of supreme indifference to me. He was a human being, he was in pain, and as long as I could do anything for him, I was
entirely willing to

do

it.

" I wonder where you come from

" Oh,"

" he said,

opening widely astonished eyes at me.

I

replied,
INIy

smiling,

*'

that

is

a mixed

proposition.

mother was Russian and

suppose you have people
is

my

father Hungarian."

"

Oh

then

fight-

ing on both sides,

a heart for
"

and that everybody ? "

why you have

When
War
?
is

they are hurt, yes, certainly," was

" he suddenly exclaimed.

my
"

diplomatic rejoinder.
hell
!

" Yes " Yes,

"

madame, unmitigated
soldiers
I

hell
is

And

the

way our

get treated

a disgrace to

civilization.

We
I

are

come from the Rhine Provinces. used to talk more freely there we are
;

not quite Prussianized as yet, nor ever shall be,

hope.
I
;

can

tell
is

wounded

there

you I am glad I am so badly no chance of my ever being

244

WHAT

I It

KNOW
is

forced to fight again.

I

cruel, horrid

work.
are

am

glad to be out of
officers

it

for

good.

We

nothing to our

but beasts

they lead

to slaughter (Schlachtvieh)

so

many
:

thousand.

many hundred, have seen men ill with

almost

so

enteric

men so weary and footsore they

well,

dropped

they were driven on as long as

left lying

they could drag themselves, and then

on the road as cold-bloodedly as if they had been bundles of clothes. There is no pity, no
humanity, in
our

army.

None

said
led

just

now we were no more than beasts Nobody It is worse. slaughtered.

insulting those, at least, whilst

to be of

thinks

you need never

wish to hear a choicer selection of oaths than

those at the
*

command

of one of our officers,

'

damned cowardly sow-hound [verfluchter feiger Sauhund] being the gentlest among them. And
they are always
at our heads.

ready with a pistol pointed

!

Always
to us

And

I,

for one,
it
is

know
even
I

that they

lie

when they say

worse in the armies of our enemies.

present

was
hurt,

when a French boy was badly

and his officer sprang forward to help him. They were both taken prisoners in consequence. I do not see one of our officers doing anything I understand a little French, and the like it.

THE JOURNEY
French
officer
;

S4S
'

kept
will

repeating

Courage,

my

poor boy
of.'

you

soon

be taken good care

Well, he wasn't." " Wasn't what ? " I asked.

" Taken

care

of.
?

He was
They
one
so

finished,

instead.

You
that."

understand
with

were
badly

not

going

to
as

be troubled

wounded
soldier

Horror kept
on
for
:

me

silent.

Then the
enemies

went
told
fate

" Yes,
it
is

my

illusions

have certainly gone,

not only

our

we

are

to finish off: our

own men share the same

too
far
I

when

they

are

gone.

When

lay

had fainted from loss of blood, and I heard them deliberating about me. I couldn't move, or speak, or open my
wounded, they thought
eyes
hear

was held as
I

in a trance

but

could

\Vhat they said was enough to convince

any man,
I

can

tell

you

Finally, they decided

was young and healthy enough to recover sufficiently to do field work, and they let me
live.

And

here

am.

But one does not

?

forget,

madamc.
I

No

"
!

What was

to say

The

atrocity of

what

heard far surpassed

story
is

my
me

wildest
then,

imaginings.

came back

to

the truth of

which

beyond doubt.

It

happened to one

U6
of

WHAT
my
fall

KNOW
knocked
dead
senseless

husband's relations during the war of

1866.

Wounded,

and

by

the

of his horse, at the battle of Koniggratz,

faint.

this Austrian officer lay in a

Luckily

for him, one of his comrades, in getting killed,

fell

across him,

drenching his tunic in blood.

lain so for

He must have

many

hours, for

it

was evening when he was roused by groans, He raised shrieks, and the sound of voices. himself slightly from under the weight of his two fallen friend, and this is what he saw German officers, a military doctor, and four soldiers deliberately " finishing " the wounded with their bayonets, and then robbing the dead.
:

Their

only response to agonized screams for " Unsinn, je mehr von Euch mercy was Schweinehunden krepieren, desto besser " (" Non:

sense, the

more of those pig-hounds

is

die "

the
story

French " cr event "

a better translation, but

has no equivalent, to

" the
short,

my
To

knowledge, in English

better ").

make
"

long

the

man

am

talking of only escaped

death himself by

He

believed, too,

shamming dead." that they were in some hurry,

skilfully

and didn't as he was

like to investigate his case

too closely,

entirely covered with clotted blood.

Besides, his purse

and watch had been thrown

THE JOURNEY
out by the
fall

U7
hira,

and were lying near

so

perhaps

was not really worth their while. The world has wondered at the inhuman way Yet we ought in which the Germans fight. Tales such as I have just to have known.
it

told

were,

up

to
in

the

beginning

of the

war,

common
believable

gossip

Austria.

They

have
for

not un-

changed through
horrors
these

all

these

centuries,

have

been

verified

about

them
truth

in

our days.

Martens spoke the

the

when he
soul.

said one could not change one's

Certainly,

national

Germans have The Berserk carried theirs through the ages. has remained a Berserk, and to all those still inclined to hold out a friendly hand to them
I

would say

this in

warning

There

is

a deep

cleft,

a profound soul-difference,
all

between the
is

Teuton and
is

the other races.

That

why he

what I call the " psyEvery other nation can chology of nations." be modified by contact with other races. Each
so entirely lacking in

brings a sort of

goodwill towards the

under-

standing of those with

whom

they have to deal.

certain servile-

Not
ness

so the Germans. of

Though a
education)

nature

(or

assimilate the outer form (thus

them rendering them

makes
it

the more dangerous), and whilst they think

548

WHAT

KNOW
themselves into your

to their interest to

worm

confidence (even, to serve their

own

ends, take

upon themselves another

nationality), yet wher-

ever they are placed they fundamentally remain

Germans

Germans
and

in

all

their

appalling
Similar

self-

satisfiedness,

obtuseness.

things
their

have been said about the English.

sympathetic
In
the
heart,

But

outward coldness generally covers a warm and

if

you

can

but
:

find

it.

Germans it is the reverse a lot of effusion and outward warmth too often hides a perfectly cold and unfeeling heart. In
spite of the

Germans'
to see

cries of

outraged brother-

any apparent sign of relationship between them. The very manners of the two nations show the fundamental difference I have pointed out. The English loathe outward manifestations of affection, outward sentimentality. The Germans fairly wallow in it. They prove to my entire satisfaction what I have said all my life that sentimentality is
hood, I
fail
:

absolutely no sign of real feeling or true kindliness of spirit.

In a

moment

of stress, of

all

the

painfully

acquired

outer

lacquer

virtues

disappears

from a
in
skins.

the

original

and leaves him barbarian, armed with a club

German,

and clad

THE JOURNEY
His famous
range
" Kultur "

849

covers

the

widest

between

outer

polish

and almost un-

Not for nothing is Berlin reputed to be the most immoral city in the world. (A saying corroborated by the two
believable savagery.

Americans

travelled

with,

who

assured

me
one

that, provided

one paid, one could indulge in

if

the most abhorrent and incredible vices,

so chose, within the

German
I

capital.)

myself

know

this

to be true.

can give you a few

instances, as they

came within
anecdote

my

personal exillustrates

perience.

The

first

only

their tactlessness.

The two
will

others are delicate

'*

subjects,

and you

have to understand

demi mot."

Everybody who knows Venice will agree with me in this apart from their everyday religion, the inhabitants have a sort of religious adoration for their beautiful city. Foremost among the edifices especially holy to them stands St. Mark's Cathedral. Even the stranger feels irresistibly drawn towards its almost super:

human
can,
feel

beauty.
fill

One
it,

enters

it

whenever one
splendour, and

to

one's soul

with

its

happier for
-we did,

for

awhile.

That
trains

is I,

just

what

my

husband, a friend, and

upon
dis-

a glorious June day,

when the

had

260

WHAT

KNOW

gorged their usual number of newly wedded pairs,

who were walking up and down the Piazza. One of these couples Germans had also found their way into the cathedral. The girl-wife obediently murmured according to Baedeker *' Ach wunderschon " (Oh wondrous !) The

male, who,
his hat
off

by the way, neglected even and was, to judge by his

to take
erratic-

looking costume, an officer in mufti, delivered himself of the following incredible speech " Ja,
:

ja,

eine ganz nette Bouticke

little

" (Yes, yes, quite

a nice

shop

!).

Our
little

Italian friend unfortu-

nately understood a

German.
!

We
la

caught
brutta
!).

hold of him, none too soon

of rage
bestia
!

He

uttered a cry

"

Ma

lascia
let

mi ammazzare
kill

"

(But

me

the ugly brute

The

anecdote explains

itself.

Walking

in the streets

of Venice, as often as not I overheard

remarking upon the

cluding

dirt,

the smells,

Germans and conreally,

that

" Berlin was

place
?

much
(?),

finer,

than

this

overrated
Berlin

and

certainly

much
cities

tidier."

that to every beauty-

loving spirit
as

must forever stand out among the

monument

of

parvenu,

nouveau!

riche tastelessness

and

soullessness too

The second
to the

story concerns their art.

went

Glaspalast in Munich to see an inter-


THE JOURNEY
national
exhibition there, in
151

Russian friend.

We

section for sculpture,

company with a were nearing the German when my escort suddenly

very
embarrassed.
;

stopped

short,

seemingly

" I will let you go in alone," he said

"

it

might

embarrass you considerably

at

if

you had to look

what you will fmd there in the presence of a man." Now, I am no chicken, and other visits to German exhibitions had prepared me for much. Amongst other things, I still remember a picture called " The Cardinal and the Nun," which I
decline to describe.
ject

Let

it

suffice

that

its

sub-

was

hair-raising.

However, what

saw

now was much

worse.

In the middle of the

room stood the marble representation of two women reclining, life-sized. They were scantily The draped. The title was " Widows "
!

rest I leave to

your imaginations.

can only

add
if

that, at thirty-three years of age, I fled as

shot,

a cry of horror and disgust upon

unnatural
vices

my
is

lips.

That

should

exist

horrible enough, but to flaunt such a thing in

life-sized

marble,
that
I

tfuit

passed

my

comprehension

passed

all

had hitherto admitted as being

always remember a woman's
derisively as I bolted,

possible.

I sliall

laugh following

me

and

St

WHAT

KNOW
it
:

the mocking cry that accompanied

" There

runs a heroine of offended virtue

eine entsetzte Tugendheidin).
I

"

(Da rennt

am
I

not ashamed
could

of

it.

ran

ran
!

as

fast

as

away

from that iniquity My friend laid his hand " Do you on my arm as I joined him again
:

realize the

fundamental depravity of a nation

exhibit

that

can

anything

like

that

openly,

shamelessly,

without rousing one comment in

?

the Press or amongst the general flow of visitors

Do you know He was one

not discuss

the sculptor
of

is

herself a

woman
I
silent,

"

my
He

best friends,
I

but

could

it

with him.

kept

and

shook
more.
I

my

head.

understood, and said no

questioned

my

artist

cousin

about

how

such a hideous depravity could be shown so

freely.

He

only answered that the talent of

the lady was undeniable

of indifference
(?).

subjects were a matter

:

The

third story I will put into a sentence

A man who
on

had had

sufficient respect

for

me,

so long as he

knew me

of independent means,

becoming almost penniless with the war, proposed buying me. He made no bones at all about it I think any further comment
!

my

superfluous.

THE JOURNEY
To
return to

258

my

journey, however.

wounded boy

slept

The poor and talked fitfully until we

There he

arrived, at seven o'clock, in Cologne.

had to take an exclusively military train back to D He thanked me almost tearfully,

.

until

became quite embarrassed.

My
again,
It

Iron

Cross lieutenant took charge of

me

and was

we had
saw
I

tea in the railway restaurant.

there I saw the one

close

by,
in

and only prisoner I ever during all the months of war

passed
to

Germany.

He
was
a

sat

at

the

table

next

ours.
it

He
struck

young

French-

man, and
not

me

that four

men were

guarding him.

In his brilliant uniform he could

anyhow have escaped, it seemed to me. Unwittingly, he made me experience one of

the most horrid sensations of

my

life.

would

have given worlds to have been able to say a

word of cheer and kindness to him

tongue,
his
I

in his native

and have told him

I

was

entirely

on
it,

side.

Perhaps, without being aware of

stared at him.

got back such a glance of

concentrated

hatred

and contempt
officer,
I

as

made
:

my
I

very soul shiver.

with
a

His inference was clear

sat

German

on good terms

with him apparently, and

talked the language,

the very sound of which he

must have loathed.

254

WHAT
taken
I

KNOW
for a

He must have
imagined
curiosity.

also, and mere vulgar looked at him out of

me

German
never

Poor boy, he

will

know
I

it,,

but his look then hurt

his eyes

me

like

a knife.

was

surely feeling lonely and miserable enough, but

seemed to thrust me farther away, into gulfs of solitude and sadness immeasurable. My escort left me at Cologne. He had to
remain there, to become a part of a new formaI was tion of troops going back to the front.
left reflecting

on the number of rapid, cinematothese

graphic impressions one got and acquaintances

one made
of eternity.

in

unusual times
to

acquainthis side

tances probably never

meet again

The rest of my journey, in parts at least, was pure farce. I had two hours to wait until
the next train would take
dorf
(it

me

as far as Diisselin those days).

seemed quite a distance

as I

As soon

was seen not to be under the protection of a uniformed Teuton male any longer, I became the object of distrustful curiI sat near an inner window, with the osity. view on to the station, when I saw a man looking like a station-master, accompanied by
in

another creature
several times.

uniform, patrol

past

me

At

last the

stationmaster came

THE JOURNEY
into the waiting-room

255
stiffly

and bowed

to

me
?

"

Madame, you

are evidently

no German

"

" No." " Could I see your passport ? " " Yes." I fished out the required article.

A
in

grunt, then

your toilet-bag

" Could I see what you have "

Now, this was rather awkward, as I had kept some letters of my sister and of a friend in the English army, and others from another friend in the Italian navy, and they were all in that
very bag.
culties
?

\Miat

if

this should get

me

into

diffi-

True, they dated from before the war

!

and were entirely non-political

pute was even more certain
still

However, a
I

dis-

if

refused,

and

had a trump-card up
into

my

sleeve.
I

spirit

of mischief entered

me, as

brandished

combs, brushes,
nose
of

and

tooth-brushes under the

my

tormentor.
asking

Then

opened

my

jewel-cases,

to stand in

him with owlish solemnity front of me and the bag, to screen

the contents from the passers-by.

He

consented,
figure.

never remarking the reflection upon his

But, as I had feared,
that interested him.
"
it

was

solely

my

blotter

Any

letters ? "

he asked.

" Yes."

256

WHAT
said,

KNOW
I

Whereupon he
signed to the

" Wait a moment," and

man

that

had seen walking

with him to come in

he came, " Show bristling with importance, he ordered

also.
:

When
all,

me

all

your

letters,

madame
?

you under-

stand."

What was to be done " From Russia, from

hauled them out.

Italy,

from England,^
all

he gasped apoplectically. " Look here," I said, smiling derisively, "

these were written before the war, as
see
if

you

will

you glance at the

dates.

Besides

me

credit for so

much

intelligence
I

give
have
their

if

they con-

any dangerous matter I give you destroyed them.

tained

should

my

word

contents are entirely private."

This was strictly true, but, as I had expected,

he did not believe a word of

to be

it,

and smacked
the Iron Cross

his thick lips in anticipation of

won by
spy

laying his hands

!

upon a

really

dangerous
screamed,
object

myself as he " Ha you purple and important

I

did

enjoy

to
:

my

seeing

them

hand them over

"
?
;

at once you hear ? at once " Will you look at this first

voice

of

Mosaic meekness
dates,

" I uttered, in " then I will

else
!

show you the

and nothing

"

Out

THE JOURNEY
came

237
I

my

military

passport,

which
"

handed

to him.

His jaw
the

fell,

his eyes

bulged.
of

You know
most

military

commander
?

Munich,

gracious Countess

" (I

had suddenly become a

!).
;

" most gracious Countess "

"I do
mine.

indeed, very well

I said,

he

is

a friend of

But, as

am

quite willing to set

your soul at

rest

by showing you the dates of

but he only

those letters."
I suited the action to the words,

murmured
And,
military

" It

is

quite

unnecessary

quite."
The

in fact,

he barely glanced at them.

it.

But presently he espied something else, at the very bottom of my bag. It was a few German newspapers I had collected for the amusement and enlightenment of my friends in Holland. The one
passport had done

with

the " Fratricide " article in it, another with the " Carthago " idiocy I told you about.

Then a few containing the

because

violent championing

of the annexation both of Belgium

and Holland,

Germany had a

right to the

mouths of

the Rhine and the Scheldt, and the possession " of these two " small and unimportant countries

would provide her with an excellent " military

basis" against England.
17

Then, too, they were

258

WHAT
possessors

KNOW
bigger

the

of

much

and

much

richer colonies than those of which " dastardly-

England " was robbing Germany. Such colonies were merely " absurd " in the hands of small
Powers, but they would be generally beneficent
in the
effect.

hands of Germany.

And more

to this

My

papers were confiscated, and in spite

of the mellowing effect of the military passport,

my
"

inquisitor's voice

became

stern once more.

?

Why

have you kept these

idiotic

"

My

look of innocence must have bordered

as
I

upon the
interest

replied

*'
:

Oh, out of
aims,

for

your

glorious

political

of

course."

My
fiture,

mischievous soul rejoiced in his discom-

but otherwise

my

infamy availed

me

nothing.

asked
papers

The papers were lost to me. I was " Did you not know that these newsare
?

not
I
will

allowed

to

be

taken

into

Holland

accept the excuse that

you

erred from ignorance," he ended

I
I

up

majestically.
:

could

not

resist

last

question
freely
the

"
to

But
all

thought

your

papers
to

went

neutral

countries,

spread

truth ?

"

had ended
the

ironically,

with a commonplace of

German

Press.

He

looked

at

me

doubtfully,

then

said

THE ^JOURNEY
curtly
:

259

" Not

tliese,

madame.
of

Excuse us

for

disturbing you."

And
sheaf

and,

alas

my

then he stalked away, " "

German

truths

went with him. At all events, I was now certain of a fact I had always suspected, that two different copies
of their papers were printed, one for their

own

consumption, one for that of neutrals.

Well, I

had had
ference
:

my

and that was at

fun,

was

rid of further inter-

least so

much
I

to the good.

An
the
into a

interminable time seemed to pass before

arrived.

expected train

was

bundled

compartment where two hideously smart

and unmistakably Prussian officers were already seated. One was a major, the other a lieutenant.
stare.

They gave me a long and impertinent

I sat

on

stolidly, looking at

the tips of
"

my

boots.
:

Suddenly the major bent forward

Madame

you do not look

at all

German."

By

this

phrase,

had got used to this inevitable and hailed it like an old friend. I
time
I

replied demurely,
'*

" No, neither

am

I."
?

Oh

are

you perhaps an American

Englishwoman,
married

"

" No." " Then

an
"

to

German

;:

seo

WHAT

ENOW
:

" Neither."

The second man now banteringly interrupted

*'

Cease bothering the gracious lady,

my

dear

Kamerad. If you knew anything about women, you would have seen that madame was a Pole she moves like one. Am I not right ? " This
directly to

me.
I

" No,
travelled

wrong,"

replied

shortly.

had

Germany and knew this type of man. It was one best kept upon short rations in the way of amiability. This
alone before in

proceeding generally answered, and one was

in peace at last.

left

But I had reckoned without the change the war had brought about. If an officer was a demigod before, he was a fuUgi'own divinity now.

The
*'

major
of

thrust

his

fat

face

within

a
a

few inches
Pretty,

mine,

and
;

said

trenchantly

but

unamiable
It
is

but

we

have

cure for that.

perfect

right
us.

thrust

upon

we have to know whose company is For all we know, you may

war-time, and

be a spy."
I

was

fast getting

angry as

I replied

"

You

could,
for

without any preliminaries, have asked

passport
:

my

so far

you are

in

your

right,

and no further

Here are

my

papers,"

as

THE JOURNEY
handed him

261

my two

passports,

the

civil

and

the mihtary one. " Ach, how altogether lovely

[herrlich]

we

have the honour to travel with a beautiful

ally
!

Look

here,

Kamerad

" as he passed

my

papers on to the younger man. " Most gracious Countess, you must excuse
the major soon afterwards, in more " the times are queer, and deferential tones
us," said
;

ladies

of

your rank do not generally travel

having
inspected

entirely alone."

After
existence,
rid

my

warrants

for

the two officers had apparently got

first

of

their

impression

(truly

German)

that any

woman

travelling alone
fair

a spree,

and therefore

was out for game. But they

were talkative, and

asked

nothing remained for

yiolens volens.

me

but to converse with them,

me why
I

They was leaving Germany, and

why

went to a neutral country instead of returning to my own.

was best to be truthful, and I replied that I had a married sister in Russia, and as she was the only close relation remaining to me, I did not want altogether to be cut off from her
It

perhaps for years.

Derisive

laughter followed
!

my

words

" Years^

madame

You

are pleased

262

WHAT
!

KNOW
!

to joke

You do

indeed underrate our forces

Before the winter has seriously

in

the beginning of October

" we

begun "

we were
have

shall

dictated peace to all our enemies." " I doubt it," was my reply. " You you seriously doubt it ? "

They were evidently thunderstruck by this " But you must at statement of mine then
;
:

least

be certain of our victory

I contradicted
:

"
not
;

Again
reverse."

" I

am

quite the

"

Madame, excuse
?

us,

but

you

must

be

papers

strangely ill-informed. "

Do you
think,

never read the

"I do

but

also

which nobody

here ever seems to do."

Consternation was written upon their faces. They evidently considered me a lunatic. " But,

you think, you must notice that there are no two ways of looking Just count up all we have done. We at it have swallowed Belgium like an oyster, the what North of France also, and Russiabah
Countess,
if,

as

you

say,

real

resistance
?

can
are

she

ever

oppose
all

to

our

attacks

We

beating her

the time

She has
shall soon

forgotten

how

swallow her up

to fight, "
!

and so we

THE JOURNEY
At
this

263

caution was flung to the winds, " Have a care. for I was boihng with rage
:

my

Russia
will

is

somewhat
in

larger than

an oyster

she

stick

your

throats

and choke you."

I

(I just

managed

to keep back " I hope," which

was going to add.)

" Besides,"

went

on,

" as
bers

my
of
will

brother-in-law and

many

other

mem-

my

family are in the Russian army,

you
that

do well not to say again before

has
forgotten

me

Russia

how

to

fight

Remember Lemberg, and several other places we have taken " For the moment they looked angry and dis!

comfited,

but

then

they
:

horridly jocose
tess
is

manner
by

returned to their " The gracious Coun;

evidently a devoted sister

we

will

not

offend
truths.

her

further

telling

her unpleasant

But remember, Countess, always remember Germany has a wide throat [eine weite " Gurgel] when once she starts swallowing " A I got really rude at this, and returned
: ! :

big mouth, certainly

"
is

(I

said

" Ein grosses

to
translate,

Maul, gewiss,"

which
to

difficult
1

but

it

refers

bragging.)

quite

expected

to be torn to pieces, but to

my

utter astonish-

ment they roared with laughter instead. " Madame, you have wit you should never
;

264

WHAT
allowed
"
!

KNOW
Germany.

be

to

leave

We

want
to

just such

women

as you,

who know how

amuse us
"

Amuse you ? "

I

I said,

somewhat mystified

" I assure you,

ing

you.
"
!

And

had no intention of amusam most certainly leaving

Germany
" But,

madame, come, be reasonable now Germany will very soon mean the greater part of Europe. Why fly from us, when we are so certain of following you, wherever you
go
?

Listen

sensibly

to
of

us

for

a
are

minute.
already
will

Belgiimi
ours.

and

a part
rest

France
be.

The

soon

will

There

probably be no need for us to attack Holland,

where you are going now,

from
over,
all

for

we understand
war
is

we hear
will

that,

as soon as the

she

be

only

too
'

honoured,

too eager, to become a

(I
if

German

only " Bundesstaat.

'

had read as much in their Press you remain in Holland we

Should you
also
far

!)

"So
your

that

shall

meet
sister

again in Holland.
in Russia,

visit

you
lives
!

will

find

us there, unless

the

lady

too

north
1

or
race

perhaps

is

in Siberia

Ha, ha, ha
the
I

We

have no wish
entirely

to

exterminate

Russian
thought).

"

(how kind of them,

"Only they

THE JOURNEY
must
fair

265

be

pushed
at

back
!

into
So,

Asia,

become

frankly Asiatic Power

Countess,

au revoir to you,
Schwester's,
if

the

Frau

you should go to what was once Russia Should you go to England there will be no England as such to go to, by the way. But what remains of her must become ours too.

For
our

it
'

will

make an
boys
time
! '

excellent naval basis for

blue
this

"

By

had become speechless

swollen
to

No
size

one could successfully cope with such gigantic

conceit,

with
!

heads

the

very

of the globe
agents,

popular
Prussia^

And these men were no Presspaid so much a day to inflame the they were what, for imagination. No
!

passes

muster as cultured gentlemen.

One was a Baron, the other a " von " something. Next they referred to an abominable article signed by any amount of German doctors of
medicine, which had some weeks before caused

immense
briefly

enthusiasm
in

throughout

the

country

and roused

me an immense
their

disgust.

They
'*

explained

certainty of victory by
:

medical evidence such as the following

How
of

can the other Powers compete with us when

it
is

medically
is

proved
up,

that

three-quarters
rotten,

France

eaten

absolutely

with


WHAT
;

KNOW
are
just

266
syphilis

that

the

EngUsh people
and unnatural
would

as

rotten

to the

core,

owing to the general

vices ?

practice of abominable

"

(For the Germans to write such a thing; precisely the

Germans
where

recall the

Eulenthe

berg

case,

the

scandal

touched

Imperial Throne so nearly that the procedure

was never allowed to go

rupted under the
Italian
allies

on,

but was
pretexts.

inter-

flimsiest

of

Our
a

could

also

furnish

us

with

good instance, regarding the murder or forced suicide of the late Herr von Krupp in Sicily.)

To
at

go

on
she

"

And

Russia,

who might be
is

imagined to be healthy, as she

all
is

not civilized

devoured by scorbutus and tuberlarge scale."

culosis
I

upon a

abbreviate

somewhat, but

this

was the

gist of the

article,

so foul, so disgusting, that

do not know of another country where it would have been allowed to appear in print.
I

nice, clean

way

of warfare, the

German one
!

even the one conducted with the pen

the

Well,

two
the

officers

were just going to

right

demon-

strate

German

to

world-domination

upon the principles of this article when, to my unmixed relief, we stopped at Ouf Diisseldorf and I got out.
as founded
!

THE JOURNEY
Again
the
distinct
kill

267

impression

that

in

some
If

had made me uneasy. a wish could have killed, my two companions

cases I could
shrift.

would have had but short

In
Diisseldorf
I

was once more inspected, declared not to look German, asked for my
papers, and treated with sudden respect

upon

showing them.

Truly
in

my

old

friend

had reason to bless Munich How I should

I
!

have travelled through the length of Germany

unprovided
alone

with
I

a military
should

passport

Heaven
arrested

knows.

have

been
!

and locked up, without a doubt The news the stationmaster gave me was rather appalling. The next train in the direction two hours, not due for of Holland was
and
with
this
it

only

went as

far

as

Duisburg.

But
Only,

from there there was constant communication

the

Dutch

frontier,
last train

with Elten.

would be the

going to Duisburg for

at least a week, as troops were being transported

again to the \Vcstern

civilians
either,

front

and

travelling for

was forbidden.
this

He

did

not

know,

whether

last train

was not already

authorities,
1

" requisitioned "

by

the

military

which meant,

in in

other words,

that

should

remain stuck

Diisseldorf for a week,

and as

268

WHAT

KNOW
soldiers, it

the whole place was

crammed with
I

was doubtful whether

could

get

even
It

one

room
I

in the

whole of the town.

sounded

a nice, promising prospect.

took some slight refreshment, wrote a letter of thanks to my relations in Munich, sat on,
with as
the

much

patience

as

could muster, in
stale

restaurant,
beer.

which reeked of

smoke
After

and

The waiting-rooms had been cona

three

verted

into

temporary
hours
of

hospital.
this

more
time

than
the

enjoyable
tell

stationmaster at last
train

came to
as

me

the

was

signalled,

but,

he had
I

feared,

it

was
rash

already

" requisitioned."

made
by
it

the
all

statement

that

would go
a superior
of

the same.
that

He
was

smiled in
entirely

way,

saying

out

the

question.
I

retorted

that

we should

see.

made

the solitary porter carry

ling

my

trunk and travelsitting

case

to

the^

platform,

upon the
ruins of

former

much

as Marius sat
I did
in.

upon the
but

Carthage.

Only

my

lamenting inwardly.
soldiers
I

The and

train
officers

dashed
!

Nothing
sank.

My

heart

Suddenly

espied

He

an ancient General getting out of it. was evidently the " Great Top Chief,"

THE JOURNEY
body, and I

fOO

judging by the salutes and scrapings of every-

made
I
is

straight for him.

said,

" Excellency,"

" I

have a military
If

passport.
I

It

signed by General V. d. T.
it

make no

mistake,
of

recommends me
authorities.
letting

to the

protection

the

military

You

would greatly oblige me by

" Quite
irregular,

me board
!

your train as far as Duisburg."

quite
irregular

H'm,

h'm,

let

me

see

"
:

He
"
I

carefully inspected
as
it

my
is

documents, then

can take you,

only a very short distance; but you are surely

encumbered by a
take that."
I

lot of luggage,

and

cannot

pointed
is

to

my
I

small

and

solitary trunk

"That
"

all,"

said.

Not "Yes,

really ?
really:'
his

"

He

called

Bursche,

into

whose
'*

hand

managed to smuggle two marks. Johann, do you think we have space enough for the
Countess's trunk
?

"
;

" Jawohl, Exzellenz

gewiss,
!

Excellenz."
1

Thank the powers above It was settled But you really ought to have seen the faces of all those who remained upon the platform,

my

friend

the

stationmaster

included

270

WHAT
Germany was
once
impertinent

KNOW
going to rack and
thus
females

Surely
ruin,

fast

played
actu-

fast-and-loose

with

live

Generals

and

ally were taken upon trains that were " requi-

sitioned."

It
it

grinning
illegally,

was terrible was funny

!

could not help

My

newly, and thus

acquired General offered

(there

me

luncheon
a diningoriginally

very
car).

politely

was and

actually

We

got on very well.

He was
I

from
it

Wiirtemberg,

when

told

him

had been one of my late father's posts and I knew Stuttgart very well, conversahe knew by my tion ran upon oiled wheels name that my husband's family had also
:

come from Wiirtemberg, and so we talked He talked, too, of families and ancestors. the year 1870, when he had been on active Now he was going to fill some post service. The commander in Belgium. military as town he was not allowed to name. Nothing of real interest was said, and I thankfully
took
It

leave

of

my

protector

at

Duisburg.

had

certainly been the pleasantest bit of

my

whole journey.

From Duisburg
and
I

on,

everything
the Dutch

was

plain

sailing,

crossed

frontier at about eight o'clock in

the evening.

I shall never forget the absolute rapture with

THE JOURNEY
which
the
I

271

heard the
with
read

first

Dutch words spoken,

I

dehght

which
that

opened

Dutch

paper
into

and

the

German advance

France was actually as good as stopped,

and many other things that made

beat joyfully.

my

heart

have almost done.

In Holland I found

all

my
to

old friends, as kind as ever,

and
acts
I

breathed

freely again.

One

of

my

first

the

Russian

Legation,

where

was to go was also

treated with
after they

much

kindness and consideration

I asked for had heard my story. ways and means of changing my nationality, and six months later myjardent patriotism in the Russian cause was rewarded, and I took my

oath of allegiance to your cause,

my

brothers

and
oath
mine,

sisters.

And
of

can truly say

conviction and

that

no
a

will

ever be more faithfully kept than

both out

out of

deep and abiding love.

CHAPTER

VIII

THE HAGUE
July 11, 1917.

In the preceding pages

as just
as
I

have

tried

to

be

could

be.

have effaced myI

in-

self as far as I could,

without interfering with

of

the

complete
to
I

picture

your enemies

tended

present

to

you.

Do

not

blame

me
ever

if

once more
faults

the

you that, whatof your late Government, it

assure

certainly did not err

ness.

on the side of aggressivewriting

Since

started

you have

re-

sumed your

offensive,

and
it

retract

much

of

my
how
of

preaching.

Yet
I
feel

let

stand, to
sort

deeply

any
part.

of
I

show you unworthy

prouder

attitude

upon your
ever.

Now,

am

you than
Let

you one more word of loving exhortation and advice, one more plea towards unity. I see so clearly myself, having
give
272

me

THE HAGUE
seen
so

378

many
life.

sides

of so

many
all

questions

in

my

varied

We

must

keep before our

mental eyes the unbearable horror a Germanruled world would be.

Once more

I tell

you I know.
towards

A German
will

victory,

which
is

every

single person believing in

Mr. L^nin

helping,

mean
war
never
for

the

glorification

and

justification

of

perhaps

another
for

hundred years
will

or more.
as

Preparations
before.

war
had

flourish

For

will

not

war have
wished

brought,

to

those
for
?

who
it,

long

and
than

prepared

all

they

hoped

The

and even money, the

more
land,

that should

country
tria,

will

make you a peacefully prosperous belong to Germany and to Auswill

who, bloated with success,

conquest.
principle

promptly

prepare for further

help
to
kill

If

the

of

you do not war, as emcaste

bodied by the aristocratic and

of

military

Germany and
root
alive

Austria,

you
war.

will

but become
will

blind tools for the next

You
seed

leave

the

to

bear
really
will

the

of

further
illusion

conflicts.

Do you

harbour the

that your enemies

be quite satisfied with

having alienated

Poland, eaten

up the Baltic
?

Provinces, Rouniania, Scrvia,

18

and Montenegro

":

274

WHAT

KNOW
for

Perhaps for the moment.

L'appetit vient en
sently

But not mangeant. They

long.

will pre-

want

all

Southern Russia, only to fasten

their greedy eyes next

upon the Oural and the

?

Caucasus.
you.

Why
they
as

should they ever stop

will not.

ask

And

And now,
fighting as

to

the

ways

and
as

means of
lies,

counteracting this danger.

bravely,
as

It only

first in

unitedly,

you can,

when you wish to. Next, you must be, you must remain, powerful as a nation. You have not even to think out a new scheme for yourselves. But copy You need only copy
!

well

Do you
mean

not

see

that

any

separatist

policy will
tually,

that you will become, evenitself

a series of small States, each in

itself,

unable to defend

whose fate

will inevit-

ably be to get " swallowed up like oysters

by Powers long jealous and envious of a great and united Russia ? Svu:ely, to disintegrate would be rank folly Why not, as I said, copy, and copy well? Have you ever talked to an American, and "I have you noticed his pride in saying am a free-born American citizen " ? What hinders you from following the road thus
! : !

indicated,

so

that

your

children

may

say

THE HAGUE
**

a7fi

We

are
?

citizens

of

the

Great
to
all

United
the
all

Slav

States "
alities

Give

freedom

nation-

within

your
:

frontiers,
religious,

by
the

means,
poli-

complete Freedom
tical.

linguistical,

Let

each
it

State,

within

State, be

as

free as

pleases.

In
less,

America

the

laws

of every State,
different

more

or

are fundamentally

from one another.

not so with us
the
?

Why
ceases,

When

the constraint
small
ani-

small

differences,
if

the

mosities,

cease too, as

by magic.

The mosaic of the American States holds good, cemented by mutual respect and interchange of necessary goods, mental and otherwise. It stands firm, an enormous and powerful unity, made apparently out of the most
conflicting material.

W^hat

debars

us

from

doing

the

same

Nothing

but

our
if

and
feels
is

blindness,

own egotistical smallness we do not eventually come

Surely no State in America
its

to this conclusion.
less

important than

neighbour

Nor

it

less

of saying
all

needful to the whole. The pride " My State is the fmest State of

"

is

surely

pardonable,

and,

in

spurring

on competition, even laudable.

Poland, Finland,
Lievland,

Russia proper,
Ukraine,

Esthland,

376

WHAT

KNOW

them be independent States as long as they work loyally together towards freedom and prosperity for the united whole. Where is the trouble, if you bind yourselves down all of you faithfully to work towards this end ? Take even an individual. When does he (or she) begin to feel strong and inthe Caucasus, let

wardly free?

When
all

he has
the

blended

into

harmonious whole
faults

conflicting
soul.

emotions
Isolated

that tear and agitate the

human

and virtues are generally useless, whilst, united and disciplined, even what was originally
a fault can be commuted into good.
without strength
is

Kindness
intelligence

useless,

so

is

without balance, and thus one could multiply

the instances into thousands.

You
your

must

try

to

grasp
the

the

problem

of

nationalities
it

upon

same

principle.

That

should be a principle of wide charity

reciprocal

and a

wish to love and to undergoes without saying.

for

stand each
Russians
passive

other,

You
lot

proper,
strength,

instance,

have a

of

patience,

idealism,

kindness,

courage.

On

the other hand, you lack the more

:

assertive virtues

the spirit of enterprise to be

that
of

found

in

Poland,

matter-of-factness

in the Baltic Provinces, the

Southern brilliance

THE HAGUE
of the

277

Ukraine,
of

the

artistic

Eastern sense of
unspoilt
fresh-

beauty
ness of

the

Caucasus,

the
?

Siberia.
in

And they
turn,

Will

they
as

not

need need

you,

their

as

much
?

you

them,

to

reach

perfection
singularly

Together,

you
I

may become
Is

a
it

perfect

and
all

beautiful whole.

not a worthy heritage

propose

your leaving to your children,

Cease to think of your

of

you
!

own
of

small

selves

Think of the coming generation, you

in

men and women

children.

Russia

Think

your

Do you
are the
cessfully

realize

that, keeping together,

you

only nation

that

can eventually suc?

hnk East and West

stand
of
!

You
virtues

between

the

two,
of

having
both

the
too,

both.

The
forget

faults

perhaps
retrieved.

Yet

faults

can
that

he

corrected

and

Never

supreme

conso-

lation.

Remain
a
built

united,

and show the future

that

generations

great

and wonderful race

you have

up,

you men and women of

the present day.

Disunited, you can do nothing.
ing
loyally

But standthrow
caU

together,

you

can

back

the insult of
vile

the Germanic Powers into their

faces.

They

contemptuously

you

278

WHAT
!

KNOW
:

new State, the regener" Ex ated race, and answer them back Oriente Lux " And you can become a Light, to shine upon a century of peace and goodCreate the
!

" Asiats "

and earn the thanks and the blessing of a renewed world.

will,

dare to prophesy, for I know you to be

all
is

great at heart, and

possible to you,

my
God

countrymen
will

bless

women. If you but it, the dream must come true you and help you on your way; it
and
!

truly

is

not

an easy one,
if

know, but

all

can be achieved

you keep your faces turned to the coming Light I have seen it, and can faithfully keep my post and point to it. Look all of my beloved brothers and sisters look you,
!

towards the rising sun, your sun.

Ex

Oriente

Lux

POSTSCRIPTUM
July 30, 1917.

Alas, that
short

should have to

write

it

In a
long

fortnight

we have

travelled

the

road from glory to disgrace.

Yet
I

will

retract not a
it
is

word

will

let

everything stand as

written

down
life
is

here.
that,

said that the one consolation in

late,

however
sins

we

can

always

retrieve

our
you,
in

and

our

mistakes.
die
!

My
But

love

for

Russia,

can never
lies

my

pride

you that
ashes.
in It

dead,

buried

under

dust

and

shows

me how
warnings

terribly right I

was
for

my

agonized

and pleadings

discipline

and unity.

As a further warning, I will translate an extract from a book that was published two months ago in Germany in the very period, trying to bamtherefore, when they were boozle you with honeyed promises as to a
golden

peace

orve

in

all

points

advantageous

280
to

WHAT
To understand
did,

KNOW
the
full

you.

significance of

that book having been allowed to see daylight

when
censor

it is

one must realize that the German

so severe, and so
if

much
he
lets

in the

hands

of the Government, that

such a book

must be with the entire approval of the said Governmentthe approval of all It the ideas which that book represents.
appear
it

may
I

be different in other countries, but

its

can

absolutely vouch for

being so in Germany.

know

it

all

too well.
:

the German GovernOnce more I repeat ment and the Austrian Government are dishonest, and only wish you an irreparable
disaster.

Listen,
title

here

is

my
is

proof
of
the

The

of the book
;

The Object
one
in

War
Class

in
;

Germany
the

the

author,

Heinrich

publisher,

Lehmann

Munich

twenty thotisand copies (in two months).

war has been forced upon us but Our seemHindenburg promised us a victory
" The
!

ing
for

misfortune
it
is

is

but a blessing

in

disguise,
all

going to provide

Germany with

want more land, more raw material, more food-stuffs, and heaps The very number of our more money.
she has hitherto lacked.

We

POSTSCRIPTUM
enemies
guarantees
us
all

281

this,

and
in

more

We

shall in future

have everything
in
is

an overlazy

flowing measure.

Everybody

Germany whose
against a
'

brain

is
'

not entirely addled

(fauler
is

peace

Friede).

"It
by
the

understood

by

all

thinking people,
that

great

majority

also,

we

must

keep Belgium, that has so

(Here
**

vilely

traduced us."
similar

spare
as

you
such,

pages

of

abuse.)
cease
to

Belgium,

mu^t

absolutely
in It

exist.

Words
It

are

wasted
for
itself.
'

explanation

of

this.

speaks

would be an
'

insult

to

our
at

other

Bundesstaaten
of

were

we

ever,

the

instigation

dreamer-fools,

to invest

Belgium with such an honour.

;

We
is

conquered her
ours.

by

right

of
go,

conquest

she

Her

King

must

and

her

people

must be allowed no freedom whatever, political The Flemish part of the popuor otherwise.
lation

may

in

time

be

allowed
it

to

retrieve

itself (?),

but for the

it

moment

needs an iron

hand to keep
born
in the

within

bounds.

The

idiocy

head of other dreamers, that part

be given to Holland, only

of Flanders should

merits contempt.
" France

paralysed.

must onc^ and for We must take all

all

be completely

of that country

282

WHAT
we

KNOW
its

that

need, but without

population.

France

may
it.

take that, and see

how

she compensates

That

is

her affair.

This will be our ven-

geance for the devastation of East Prussia by

the Russian hordes.
*'

England's
once

world- domination
all.

must

also

cease,
will

and for

Therefore

Germany

have an outlet upon the western coast of

Gibraltar, Cyprus,

Europe.
course

and Egypt must of

be

evacuated

we

shall

do to

by the English. What Japan depends largely upon

America
will

our success against England.

be

punished most through her finance.

We

shall

be there to see that

thoroughly.
of

it

is

done properly and

the

Russia must

still

land-hunger

Germany.

The

Baltic

Provinces
to

must

be

liberated,

by annexing them

Germany.

Lithu-

ania will

be the land-bridge between us and

(?)

those liberated
land,

provinces.

Lie viand, Esthbe

and Finland must

so

likewise

annexed,
(Didn't
I

as
tell

well as the whole of

Ukraine.^'
!

you
did

?)

As to Poland
to

**

Let her not

for

fancy

that

we have
give

liberated

her

love

We

this

death-blow

to

our

Russian enemies.

But

the safety of the

German

Empire imperiously demands

that

Poland should

form a part

of

it !

POSTSCRIPTUM
'

288
be divided be-

Servia

and Montenegro must

tween Austria and Bulgaria.

" Italy will

have to change her

frontiers in

favour
to

of

Austria,

who

will

further

be free

punish
**

Italy^s treason as fearfully as she likes.

Roumania, with all her riches, must divided between Hungary and Bulgaria.
*

also be

Germany

is

forced
to

circumstances
People,

(?)

by her own miserable become not only a World-

but a World-Power.
further
Djibouti,

To

attain

this,

we

must

have

Tangiers,

Bizerta,

Damietta,

Somaliland,

Goa,

Ceylon,

Labang, Laygon, and San Diego-Suarez.

'*

In

all

these enumerations I have not wholly

counted
Allies.

up
(Oh
?)

all

the

remunerations

for

our

"
to

Luxemburg must a greater Germany !

writer
is

also

be annexed to

us,

"

The
leaves

modest,

as

you

see

He
point
not

me but
to

little

to add, except

to

out

you
in

that

the

Germans
years,

have

changed
they

these

three
to

however much
so.

may

pretend

have done

It

is

practically the

same talk I heard in the first months of the war, when I was in Germany. I give you credit for enough intelligence to

284
see

WHAT
for yourselves

KNOW
fraught with danger a
(or
is,

how

Pro-German
ganda,
if

propaganda
prefer
it)

anti-war
at
it

propapresent

you
I

the

moment.
gold.
If

guessed right, too,

appears, as

to the connection of Mr. Lenin with

German

you do not rise, gird your loins, do your duty, fight and conquer the Teuton monster, you will be materially helping to
realize the
*'

Pan- German " dream, as set out

will

above.

You

help

tJiem

to

attain

their

modest wishes.
Incidentally,

you
for

will
:

lose

all

that

you

have ever wished

comfort."

"

Land and reasonable

For Heaven's sake, awaken out of your nightmare, open your eyes, and act.

Do

not

let

Holy Ricssia go down to an

death.

inglorious, cowardly

Make

her rise again, like Phoenix, out

of her ashes, to be better and greater than she

was

before.

Wash

clean,

and wisdom, the stain by the latest events. Ah, give us

be proud of her

by deeds of valour made upon her shield

all

reason,

once more, not only to love her, but also to

INDEX
Aehrenthal, Count, 106, 107, 110,
113, 122, 125, 131, 136, 146, 147, 148, 165 Agadir, 92, 98, 136, 136, 127, 141 Alsaco, 176

Budberg, Baron, 80, Bulgaria, 107, 283

82. 84

Cantacuz^ne, Prinoe 8erg, 129,

134 Carnegie, Andrew, 69 Caucasus, 276. 277 Ceylon, 283 China, 68 Chotek, Coimtess Sophie. 88, 168 Cologne, 253, 264 Cossacks, 127, 188 Crown Prince of Germany, 161, 164 Cumberland, Duke of. 148

America,

36,

39,

68,

181,

182,

212, 276, 282 Andrdasy, Count, 27, 93 Apponyi, Count, party, 93 Asia, 41, 51, 63, 99 Austrian Press, 121, 136, 160 Austria's ultimatum, 163, 164

Balkans, The, 43, 63, 67, 107, 111

Balkan War, 137

Baltic Provinces, 43, 276, 282 Belgian atrocities, 234, 236 Belgium, 19,92, 166, 168, 171, 174, 177, 183, 202, 203, 262, 264, 281 Belgrade, 132 Benedek, CJeneral, 29 Berchtold, Count, 131, 132, 133, 146
Berlin, 57, 97, 111, 164. 161, 186,
189. 197, 201. 260

Cyprus, 282

Damietta, 283 Djibouti, 283 Duisburg, 270 Diissoldorf, 267

Edward

VII, 98, 226

Egypt. 282
Elizabeth, Empress of Austria, 92 Entrland, 39. 40, 41, 44. 47. 48, 62,
63, 64, 91, 97. 98, 106, 107, 167, 168, 171, 173, 177, 178, 179, 183, 184, 188, 196, 226, 226,268,266, 282 Esthland, 276, 282 Estournollcs do Constant, M. d', 59, 60 Europe, 41, 61, 63, 96 Extrumiatfl, Rusaian, 226

Bernard. M., 66 Bothraann-Hollweg, Von, 61 Bismarck, Prince, 47 Black Embiissy, 26 Boora. 41. 63, 63 Boor Wnr, 48. 62, 63 Bosnia and Herzegovina, 112, 12t Bosnian campaign, 100 Bourgoois, Li'ion, 69, 60
Budapoflt, 17, 27. 69. 92. 94. 96,
99. 216
'986

286

INDEX
Italy, 23, 39, 40, 48, 91, 103, 120, 123, 125, 137, 160, 169, 171,

Finland, 275, 282 Forgdch, Count, 131, 163 France, 39, 40, 44, 47, 60, 91, 166,
167, 169, 173, 176, 183, 184, 262,

173, 179, 283

Italy,

King

of,

137

264, 265, 281

Ivangorod, 114, 115

Francis Ferdinand, Archduke, 56, 85-8,96,109, 111,112, 113, 124,

136, 137, 148, 149, 155-9

Japan, 68, 176, 282

Kapuist, Coiint, 80 Karolyi, Cotint Michael, 96 Kaschau, 137, 138 Kitchener, Lord, 130, 186, 212

Francis

Joseph,

Emperor

of

Austria, 24, 25, 58, 76, 86, 162,

184 Frederick, Archduke, 76, 76, 77, 79, 81, 82, 84, 105 Frederick the Great, 67

Labang, 283 Laygon, 283

George V, 184, 186

Leman, 130
179,

German

Press,

162,

182-4,

Lemberg, 195, 223, 263

Lenin, 273, 284

267, 258

Germany,

19, 38-40, 43, 44, 46,

Leutrum, Count,
140, 141

119,

134,

138,

62, 55, 57, 60, 64, 65, 68, 70, 71,

75, 81, 83, 84, 85, 87, 98,
6,

123147,

136,

138,

142,

145,

173-5, 169, 223-5, 227, 218, 247, 248-73, 280, 283 Gibraltar, 282
162, 180, 166, 167,

182,

Goa, 283 Goluchowsky, Count,

86, 110, 131

55, 67, 85,

Lichnovsky, Prince, 196 Lichtenstein, Prince Henry, 86, 87, 89 Lichtenstein, Prince Rudolf 85, 87 Lievland (Livonia), 276, 282 Lobanov-Rostovsky, Prince Alexis, 21, 59 London Conference, 136
,

Gorgey, General, 25, 26 Goschen, Sir Edward, 174

Gratz, 131, 133 Grazia, Duca della, 123 Grey, Sir Edward, 185

Magyars and Slavs, 100 Maria Theresa, Empress

Austria, 28 Marie, Archduchess, 93

of

Habsburg, House of, 25, Hague, The, 30, 37, 69

29, 73, 79

Henrietta, Archduchess, 93 Holland, 218-22, 264, 271, 281 Hungarian Revolution, 22

Martens, M. de, 69 Merey, Gaetan de, 46 Messina, 120, 122, 136 Metternich, Prince, 18 Metternich, Princess, 220 Montenegro, 127, 273, 283

Hungary,

23, 24, 26, 27, 146, 149,

171-3, 220, 283

India, 41 Irrendentista, the Italian, 61
Isabelle,

Munich, 141, 142, 151, 186, 201, 215-17, 221, 223, 232, 260 Murat, Princess, 110
Miinster, Count, 40, 47, 48, 49, 60, 52, 54, 58, 59, 143, 166

Archduchess, 75, 79, 88,

93, 106, 107

Nicholas L'3, 79

I,

Emperor

of

Russia,

INDEX
Nicholas
II,

287
164, 168,
169,

Em;

eror of Russia,

162,

173,

178.

34, 148, 149, 174, 175, 1S4, 180 Nigra, Count, GO, 103

180, 273, 283

Nurnberg, 212
Okoliczanyi,

Siberia, 277 Slavs, 20, 55. 67

Somahland, 283

Mme, nee

Princess
1"
i

Spain, 39
Staal,

Lobanov-Kostoveky,

Okoliczanyi, Monsieur, father of Countess Leutrum, 100 Okolicsna, lOO

Paris, 134

Baron de, 38, 45, 46, 49, 68, 59, 62, 83, 166

Stead, William, 62-5, 165

Paskevitch, Princess, 114, 115 Paskevitch, Field-Marshal, 24, 26, 79 Pauncefote, Sir Julian, 62, 63, 64, 66, 166 Peace Conference at The Hague, 30, 68, 72 Petrograd, 106, 130, 184 Peine a r6, -i6 Poland, 19, 43, 57, 102, 107, 108,
147, 195,

227,

228,

273,

276,

Taafe, Countess Marie. 93, 94 Tangiers, 283 Tannenberg, 186, 190, 191, 194 Temblin, 114 Thun, Countess, 110 Tittoni, 123 Tisza, Count, 94 Tolstoy, 20 Triple Alliance, 61, 135, 137 Triple Campaign, 13t) Tschechs, 101 Turkey, 55, 69, 96 Turkhan Pasha, 60
Uhlric, Mile, 77, 78

282
Pourtales, Count, 62, 64, 66, 194, 196

Ukraine, 275, 277, 282

V61ics, 221 Venice, 119, 120, 133, 137, 249,

Prague, 101
Princip, 157, 160, 161 Prussia, 97

Przemysl, 223
Rainer, Archduke, 93 Roberts, Earl, 130 Rome, 25

250 Vienna,
101,
146,

17, 21, 27, 28, 69, 79, 80,

105, 146,

124, 158,

131,

133, 180,

161,

141, 216,

216
Vilagos, 25

Roumania,

273, 283

Russian Poland, 102 Russian Revolution

1906. 114, 115

Wedel, 163
of

1906136,

Russo-French Entente,
143

134,

Wolserhturab, 40. 46. 48. 54, 66. 59. 165 William II. ICmpiror of Germany,
40, 61, 64, 65, 84, 87, 80, 109,
124, 137, 149, 162, 174, 184

Ruaso-Japancso War,

76, 86

Wittemborg, 154

San Diogo-Suaruz, 283

"Savemo"

Aflair.

Ifll.

182.

220

Yellow

Peril, 63, 67

Sazonoff, 226 Serbia, 19, 84, 99, 127, 132, 187,

Zom,

Professor, 47

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