j
| Germany’s Confession of
Responsibility for War
Being the Confession of Prince Lichnowsky,
German Ambassador to London
in 1914
uOhAikAAAi
(Printed under .authority of the Committee on Public Information;
l '. MIST"?7 7 23 ODK. tN
The famous memorandum of Prince
Lichnowsky, who was German ambas
sador to the court of St. James in
1914. at the time of the outbreak of
the world war, was made public in
this country some time ago, and cre
ated a profound sensation. The mem
orandum, written for private circula
tion among the friends and relatives
of the diplomatist, found its way into
the columns of a Swedish newspaper,
and extracts were published in So
cialist newspapers in Germany. The
document fixes beyond the shadow of
doubt the responsibility of Germany
for the deliberate provocation of the
war, and substantiates in every detail
the contentions of the British official
statement as to the negotiations
which led to the opening of hostili
ties by Austria and Germany. The
tollowing resume of the document has
been prepared for publication by the
federal committee on publication. It
is of interest to note that Prince Lich
nowsky, since the publication of the
startling document, has been a virtual
prisoner at his country estate, and
has been charged with high treason.
j.
(Continued from yesterday)
British Concessions in the Balkans
That this statement of England’s
policy Wjis not a mere pretense. Prince
Lichnowsky proves In his long account
of the negotiations arising out of the
Balkan war and the establishment of
Albania. “At the outbreak of that|
war," he says, "we (Germany) had un-(
fortunately declined the proposal of;
the French government to join in a|
declaration of disinterestedness and
impartiality on the part of the
powers." On the other hand, he says
of Lord Grey "From the beginning
the British statesman took the stand;
that England had no interest in Al
bania and was therfore unwilling to
lto involved in the war over this ques
tion. He wiRhed simply as an honest!
broker to mediate between the two]
groups and settle difficulties. Thus hej
in no wise placed himself on the side!
or the entente (his allies) and during]
(he negotiations, which lasted about;
eight months, by virtue of his good will!
and weighty influence, he contributed,
not a little toward bringing about ]
concord and agreement. Instead of;
taking a position similar to that of the
Knglish. we invariably assumed the at- j '
tit tide prescribed to us from Vienna.
* • * On c try point, including Al
liania, the Serbian harbors, in the Ad !
riatie, Scutari, and the definition of
flit1 Albanian troniiers. we were on the
side of Italy and Austria, whilst Sir
Kdv.ard Grey hardly over took the
French or Itussian point of view. On
the contrary, he nearly always took 1
our part in order to glw no pretext
tor war. it was with his help that
King Nicholas was Induced to leave!
Scutari Otherwise there would have
been war over this mutter, us we
should never have dared to ask our
allies to make concessions.
-Lord Grey conducted the negotta-j
tions with circumspection, calmness,
and tact Whenever u question threat ]
cued to become involved, he would
dralt an appropriate formula of agree-,
taent which invariably proved accept
alcle to all. 11 is personality com-:
munded equal confidence among till
lb, members ot the conference Once I
. . «e issued successfully from on*
of those numerous test- ot strength
■ which are chacteristic of our foreign
I obi y Itussia had hud I" yield to us
,t , wry point, -o that site was never
in - position to further Serbian am
lotions. Wbania was coaled an Aus
Irian \.i-- cl state and Serbia was
clrl-. --tt from tile sea. The result of
the , cent ore-nee was therefore a fresh
humiliation tor Itussian self-conscious
ness."
British Concessions in Africa
Similarly, when Germany sought]
concessions In the Portuguese colo
nies in Africa, Kngland. as the pro
tector of Portuguese interests in Af-j
rica, assisted Germany in obtaining all:
she wished. “Thanks to the obliging
attitude of tho British government,"
Prince Kichnowsky wrote, “I suc
ceeded in giving the new treaty a
form which fuUy coincided with our
wishes and Interests. All of Angola
up to the twentieth degree of lon
gitude was ualgned to us. so that we
reached the Congo from the south;
| and we received (hr* valuable island:
of San Thome and Principe, which 1 i<
north of the equator and therefor:
really belong to the French sphere o
interest a fact which led my Frencl
colleague to lively though fruitless
counter representations. Furthermore
we received the northern part of Mo
zambique. the Likungo forming tin
bou ndary.
"The British government showed the
greatest obligingness in behalf of oui
interests, (irey wanted to manifest hi:
good wll toward us. but he was alsr
Interested in furthering our colonia
expansion, it being the English idea to
divert the developing German strength
away from the North sea and western
Europe out Into the open ocean and
Africa ‘We do not begrudge Germany
her colonial expansion,’ said a member
of the cabinet to me. Great Britain
originally proposed to Include the
Congo in the treaty as well. This
would have given us a right of pre
emption and an opportunity for eco
nomic penetration However, we de
clined this offer, ostensibly out of re
gard for Belgian susceptibilities * * *
The sincerity of the British govern
ment in its efforts to respect our
rights was shown by the fact that
Grey, even before the treaty was com
pleted or signed, referred to us cer
tain English promoters seeking Invest
ments of capital in the territories as
signed to us by the new treaty and
desiring British backing in the matter.
He did this with the remark that the
enterprise contemplated belonged
within our sphere of Interest."
British Concessinos in Asia Minor
Prince Lichnowsky continues: "At
the same time I was carrying on in
London negotiations regarding the so
tialled Bagdad treaty. * * * *
The real purpose of this treaty was
to divide Asia Minor into spheres of
Interest, although this expression was
jarefully avoided out of regard for the
rights of the Sultan Sir Edward Grey
-epeatedly declared, however, that
here existed no agreements with
I> ranee and Russia tor tan purpose
tf partitioning Asia Minor.
"After enlisting the aid of a Turk
slt representative, in the person of
iakki Pasha. all economic m>estk«is
•onnectcd with the German enter
irises were adjusted essentially rn
lecordanee with the wishes of tfc*’
teutsche Bank The most important
•oncession that Sir Edward Grey made
o me personally was the prolongation
if the railroad to Basra, for this
mint had been given up by us in
avor of the connection to Aliexan
Iretta Bagdad had hitherto been
(instituted the terminal point of the
oad. An international commission
vas to attend to the navigation on the
?hatt-el-Arah. We also had a share
n the harbor construction at Basra,
ind obtained rights in the navigation
ii the Tigris which had liithto been a
nonopoly of the firm of Lynch, tin
ier this treaty the whole of Mesopot
imia as far as Basra came into our
iphere of interest in so far as this did
mt encroach upon prior British rights,
is in-the case of the Tigris navigation
ind the Wilcox irrigation plant, and
he whole territory of the Bagdad f. j
Anatolian Railroad "
British Not Jealous
The English felt "uncomfortable," i
Prince Lichtuiwsky says, about the!
great increases in the German fleet
lie admits, however, that "England
would no more have drawn the sword j
solely on account of our navy than on
account of our commerce, which is j
supposed to have aroused her envy
and brought the war to a head * * * ;
Tlie talk of English commercial jeal
ousy, oi which one hears so much
among us. is based upon a wrong
judgment of conditions Germany's
rise as a •commercial power after thy
war of the seventies and in the fol
lowing decades was certainly a men
ace to British commerce, whose Indus
tries and export houses enjoyed a sort
of monopoly. But the Increasing trade
with Germany, which ranked as Eng
land's best customer, made It desir
able for England to remain on good
terms with her best customer and
business friend, and gradually sup
planted all other considerations. The
Briton is matter of fact; he reconciles
himself to facts and does not tilt
against windmills. It was precisely!
V.
In commercial circles that I met with
the most friendly reception and ob
served an effort to promote economic
Interests common to both countries.
* * * I became convinced soon
after my arrival (In England) that |
we did not in the least have to fearj
an English attack or English support
; of a foreign attack, hut that England,!
i under all clrfumstanees, would pro
tect France * * * I never ceased
to point out that as a commercial
nation England would suffer enor-,
mously in any war between the great
European powers, and would therefore,
seek by every means to prevent it.
but Hint in the interest of the Euro
pean balance of power and in order
to prevent a preponderance of tier
man power she would not tolerate
the weakening or destruction of
France laird Haldane had told me
ibis soon after my arrival. Every
person in authority expressed him-'
! self to Ihe same effect "
latte in June of the fatal summer of
1 ;t 14. Prince l.tchnowsky was sum
| moned to Kiel by the Kaiser, and he,
was on board the imperial yacht}
1 Meteor, when word was received of
the murder of the Austrian Archduke.
"Being unacquainted with the Vienna j
viewpoint and what was going on!
i there." he says, "1 attached no very
| far-reaching significance to the event;
j hut. looking back, I could feel sure!
] that In the Austrian aristocracy a
! feeling of relief outweighed all
others.” As for the Kaiser, "His
i Majesty regretted that his efforts to
J win over the Archduke to his ideas!
j had been thus frustrated" by the;
| Archduke's assassination.
Klchnowsky went on to Berlin and
saw the Chancellor, von Bethmann-i
Hoilweg. "[ fold him that I regarded
our foreign situation as very satlB
factory its It was a long time indeed,
since we had stood so well with Eng
land. And In Trance (here was a
pacifist cabinet. Herr von Bethmann
Hoilweg did not seem to share my
optimism. He complained of the Rus
sian armaments, f tried to tranquil-!
Ifze hint with the' argument Hist it
was not to Russia's interests to at
tack hr. and that such an attack would;
never have English or French sup-j
as both countries wanted peace.}
“T went from him to Dr. Zimmer
man (the under Secretary), who was
acffng for Herr von Jagow (the For
eign Secretary) and learned from him
that Russia was about to call irj, nine
hundred thousand new- troops. Hi*
words unmistakably denoted ill humor
against Russia, who he said stkiod
everywhere in our way. Ih addition,
there were questions of commercial
Itolicy r,liar had to be settled. THIt
General' von Moltke was urging war
was. of course, not told to me. I
learned, however, that Herr von
Tschirsi ftky (the German Ainbassa-j
dor in Vienna) had been reproved be
cause he said Chat he half advised
Vienna to show moderation t/iwanih
Serbia."
(To Be Continued)
-» _
SPLENDID OPPORTUNITY
I hereby offer for sale 7.291 shares
of the Covtiova Mill & Lumber Ocm- -
pany stoclt at 75 cents per share
CHARLES J. GOODALL.
■-•
That lit tie Lang range In the North
western llardw-are Company's window
is just the thing for newlywed*
The Red Dragon
CORDOVA. ALAS* A
Headquarters of Cardova
Chapter American Red Cross
Club House founded in 1908
by Episcopal church. Open
trotn 1 p m to 10 p a>.
REV E P. ZIEGLER
Supt
/
Aunty
Keating's
■ ■ - - •
Our Bank
Service
Is of the kind
that includes the require
ments of every
individual.
Ovr Facilities
enable us to render
the service efficiently.
Security
Service
Satisfaction
The First Bank of
Cordova
Established 1909
U. S. Depositary for Postal Saving Funds
Territorial Depositary
Mr. Business Man—
Our JOB PRINTING DEPARTMENT is com
letely equipped with the latest and most up
to-date type faces—How about your order?
Our prices are RIGHT—Better call us up.
Cordova Daily Times
. . * ■ ■ ■ . ... ■ ..—
Why be satisfied with the wear you |
get from ordinary boots
when you get so much more from “I I i-Press r*
This is no idle claim, but a fact proven by miners,
farmers and construction workers from Masha to
Mexico. “ITi-Press” is made by a new end better
method—the greatest advance in footwear in fifty years.
We use the toughest rubber ever evolved —actually the J
same hind that goes into Goodrich \uto 1 irer. 1 here D
seems to be no wear-out to it. And the boot is niohfed
_i
'x*|pS(l vSf jjgp, ^^^k
•» • k 1' T
■ ^.X-U^ ^ ■"■■ ‘’ •
„ r*. •• '•