THE NENANA DAILY NEWS
Application made April 1. 1918, at the postoffice at Nenana, Alaska,
for entry as second class mail matter, under the Act of March ,3, 1879.
“WHERE RAIL AND RIVER MEET”_
Published every afternoon except Sunday, by the Nenana Printing
Company, at First and B Streets, Nenana, Alaska.
R. G. Southworth...Editor and Manager
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The Associated Press is exclusively entitled to the use for re-pubii
catioii of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in
this paper and also all the local news published herein.
THE KAISER WHO WAS
Biographical Sketch of the Ambitious Monarch who Failed
ll
WILLIAM HOHENZdLLERN
The following biographical sketch
of the deposed German kaiser was
prepared by the Associated Press
during the early months of the great
war, wihch came to ao end this
morning. The United States had not
become involved in the great conflict
when the sketch was prepared, and,
viewed in the light of more recent,
developments, is extremely compli
mentary to the man who plunged
the world into a struggle of a mag
nitude hitherto unrecorded in world
history. The sketch was written
when the United States government
was still striving to maintain neu
trality and before the full magnitude
of the kaiser’s devil-inspired am
bition had become known to the
American people It gives the war
mad monarch all the best of it and
shows (he greatness of his fall—from
the high-road to world domination
to the seclusion of a fugitive.
On June 25, 1914, Emperor Wil
liam of Germany, as a British Ad
miral of the Fleet, commanded for
an hour a British squadron at Kiel.
Within a month afterwards he was
speeding back to the same port from
Bergen, Norway, in response to the
ominous rumblings from an inter
national storm that was to envelop
the world in war and array him and
his Austrian ally against a combina
tion of pow:ers that represented
practically the entire world.
Always a lover of the sea, the
man who was to become the fore
most figure in' the world war then
on the verge of its outbreak, had
left Kiel aboard the imperial yacht
Hohenzollern on July 7, for his an
annuai cruise along the coast of
Norway. Quickly gathering war
clouds caused him to keep in close
touch with Berlin, and on July 25,
it was said unofficially that because
of “bad weather” he probably would
return home soon. On the following
day came news of his hurried de
parture on the Hohenzollern for
Kiel. His yacht swept at top speed
over the northern seas and on its
arrival at the German port the
emperor found a special train await
ing him. With scarcely the loss
of a moment he boarded it and was
rushed to Potsdam, where on July
JO he presided over a meeting of
the cabinet and received the latest
information of the strained inter
national relations that had resulted
from the Austro-Serbian complica
tions.
World history was then made with
startling rapidity. With the report
of the meeting of the cabinet came
the story that a censorship had been
established over all telegraph lines
at Berlin. This was interpreted as
implying preparations for a general
mobilization of the German military
forces and it appeared probable that
within a few hours Europe was to
be involved in general warfare.
As speedily as he had hurried
across the water frgm Norway, the
emperor hastened on to Berlin
There he was received by cheering
thousands to whom he delivered from
a window of the imperial palace a
message in which he declared that
“the sword had been forced into
Germany’s hands.”
“I hope”, he continued, “that if
my efforts at the last hour do not
succeed in inducing our opponents
to see eye to eye with us and in
maintaining peace, we shall, with
God's help so wield the sword that
we shall restore it to its sheath
again with honor.”
Events were rapidly leading up to
war, and war soon came. On Aug
ust 1, the day following his speech
from the palace, he telegraphed
Emperor Nicholas of Russia that his
own responsibility for the safety
of the German nation forced him to
tajee the defensive step. Then he
ordered the mobilization o f the
troops of the empire and two hours
later Russia was officially notified
that war on her had been declared.
Simultaneously an official communi
cation said that from July 29 on
while Emperor William had been
seeking, at the behest of Emperor
Nicholas, to avert war, the Russian
troops were being mobilized.
Thus but a little more than a year
after Emperor William in celebrat
ing the twenty-fifth anniversary of
his accession to the throne had been
hailed by men of mark in various
quarters of the globe as perhaps the
chief peacemaker of his time, came
the war surpassing all others of
historic record in its" scope and the
numbers involved.
Of Frederich Wilhelm Victor Al
bert, who became Emperor William
11. on the death of his father, Fred
erick III., June 15, 1888, volume
upon volume has been written. Of
his recreations, his tastes and temp
erament, his likes and dislikes and
of his doings as a ruler up to the
j outbreak of the great war the world
knows if not everything, a very great
deal. But since the start of hostili
j ties, the cessation of direct com
j munieation between Germany and
the world outside, together with the
restrictions of a rigid censorship,
prevented any connected and coher
ent record of the emperor’s activi
ties from being kept. Reports of his
movements came thick and fast from
day to day and had him flitting like
a will-o-the-wisp from one point in
the vast European battlefied to an
other- Few of these reports, how
ever, were authenticated and many
cabled accounts of his doings and
sayings had either to be rejected
or accepted with reserve.
But out of the mass, so largely
chaff, it is possible to gather some
grains of real information of what
the German ruler had been about
while his armies were fighting on
the several battle fronts along the
outposts of the empire, and such
may serve to give something of an
idea of how he bore himself under
the strain.
Alter tfte declaration of war, for
instance, the cables, then still work
ing, told how 50,000 persons gath
ered under the windows of the im
perial palace and cheered and sang
patriotic songs and how the emperor
appeared in response to their demon
strations and urged them to enter
the combat as German brothers, ceas
ing all factional strife.
It was seventeen days later, when,
according to available records which
seem reliable, Emperor William made
his first of a number of picturesque
dashes to the battle line or the head
quarters when the war operations
were being directed, going on this
occasion to Mianz with his three
sons, including the crown prince.
In the weeks of warfare that fol
lowed frequent dispatches from the
front told of the emperor suddenly
appearing here and there among his
men. These trips coming as they
did when the emperor was working
under terrific pressure, undoubtedly
had much to do with undermining
his health.
Late in September the strain of
hard work began to tell on him.
There first came reports that he was
suffering from a severe cold. Fre
quently thereafter followed similar
stories. Despite these indications of
inroads upon his health he continued
to go from one scene of action to
another just so long as his physical
state would permit, and his dogged
determination to keep in touch with
his troops caused conflicting reports
of his condition to be spread broad
cast. It would frequently happen
that a dispatch from one point would
report him ill, and within a short
time another would tell of his pres
ence among his men in a distinct
section of the far-flung battle line.
Early in September found the
emperor visiting his troops around
Brussels, Charleroi and Mons, trav
eling by motor. On September 6 he
was reported behind the battle line
on the French border where high
on a hill beyond the range of the
hostile artillery, he stood for several
hours, glasses to eyes, following the
progress of the engagement- His
staff had remained in the back
ground and the emperor finally left
alone in a motor car. A few days
later he was reported with the gen
eral staff in Luxemburg.
Definite information as to the
emperor’s whereabouts during the
greater part of many weeks follow-,
ing is lacking. Accounts of his trip
to the Eastern front, however, bear
official verification as an announce
ment on November 29 from Berlin
said that he was with the German
army “in the East”, which placed
him along the line of contact with
the Russians. After having traveled
' by motor car through East Prussia
and visiting the headquarters of
General von Hindenburg in Russian
Poland, the next offical information
showed him to be along the fighting
line in the vicinity of Czenstochawa.
While in Poland he could not have
been far distant overland from the
ruler of the empire his troops were
then engaged in fighting, for re
ports given out concurrently placed
Emperor Nicholas of Russia with his
own troops on the fighting front
in his northern Polish dominions.
Back on German soil early in Decem
ber found Emperor William in Bres
lau, and on the fourth he was again
in Berlin, when his illness was offi
cially announced on December 8.
Besides following the career of
his armies in the field, Emperor
William kept his eye upon the dip
lomatic situation with regard to the
mighty conflict. September 4, for
instance, found him voicing a vig
orous protest to President Wilson
that the British forces in France
were using dum-dum arvi explosive
bullet The sentence, “My heart
bleeds for Louvain,” which was
quoted throughout the world, re
ceived its inception from his mess
age. The emperor mentioned Lou
vain and declared his heart bled for
its people. From that statement was
coined the sentence.
No official action on the protest
was taken by Preident Wilson, who
replied with a friendly declination,
as a neutral, to express judgment
between one nation and another
German achievements at arms at
various stages of the war led the
emperor to write numerous letters of
congratulation and deliver addresses
laudatory of his troops. One of his
earliest congratulatory messages was
to General von Hindenburg, on the
occasion of the latter’s victory over
the Russians in East Prussia. “You
accomplish a deed of arms almost
unique in history, which assures you
and your troops immortal glory,”
telegraphed the emperor to his gen
eral. It was this same leader of
an army whom the emperor, late in
November, congratulated even more
fervently, if possible, for his feat
in the notable German drive against
the Russians in the operations in
Poland, and promoted him to be
a field marshal of the empire.
Perhaps the chief of his speeches
luring the early stages of the war
ivas that delivered at his war head
quarters while the swift German ad
vance on Paris was at its height. It
again revealed the emperor in the
role of the leader of his men, urg
ing them on to heroic deeds, and
expressing his conviction that they
would have the help of the Almighty
in their struggle.
“We are determined to win and
we must win,” he said. “We shall
not lose our faith and trust in our
God above.”
Germany's triumphs on the water
which were so wounding to British
susceptibility because of that nation’s
pride in its navy, were the occasion
of particular pleasure to the emperor
as is evidenced, by a telegram he
sent in answer to congratulations
from the Bremen Senate on Novem
ber 10, over the German victory
in Chilean waters. In this the em
peror alluded to the “splendid proof
of the true German sailor spirit,”
furnished by the outcome of the
engagement, but that he considered
defeat against odds no disgrace was
equally shown by his message on the
fall of Tsing-tau, wherein he spoke
of the “heroic defense" of the
stronghold as bringing “new laurels
to the spirit of faithfulness until
death which the German people have
so often shown since their army and
their fleet have been in defensive
warfare against a world of hatred,
envy and covetousness—a war which,
if God wills, will not be in vain.'1
In similar vein he wrote of the loss
of the German cruiser Emden, fin
ally cornered and sunk after record
breaking exploits against British
merchantmen in Oriental waters,
when he alluded to “the brave ship
in her last fight against a stronger
foe” having “earned new laurels for
the German ri!Sal colors.”
Indefatigible as he was in the per
formance of his own duties as head
of the German nation, and careless
of the wearing on his own health,
Emperor William was solicitous at
all times for the welfare of his
children. While anxious that they
should do their part and more in the
struggle in which the empire was
involved, he objected to their taking
leckless chances- This was shown
by the reprimand he was reported
as administering to the crown prince
for needlessly exposing himself to
artillery fire while taking a position
where he could watch operations
closely-. At about the same time he
journeyed to Virton, near Longway,
and paid a surprise visit to his son
Oscar, who was in a hospital there.
To the wounded of the rank and
file he paid close personal attention,
seeing that they wore as well cared
for as they possibly could be and
frequently visiting the field hospitals
and those farther back from the
battle line. A typical visit was one
he paid- to a hospital at Virton on
the occasion of his call upon his son.
T hrough the rows of wounded he
walked, shaking hands w-ith the men
unable to rise, sending roses to those
whom he did not have the oppor
tunity to see, and distributing Iron
Groses with lavish hand upon the
maimed soldiers lying helpless on
their cots.
Such, as nearly as can be seen
through the clouded glasses of cen
sorship and the haze of uncertain
communication, was the German em
peror of the war period. What he
was in the long years of peace as his
reign witnessed an unparalelled
period of progress and prosperity
lor the German nation, historians
innumerable have recorded with
varying opinions. Of his mentality
however, there was no division of
opinion. Possessing a vigorous in
tellect, a studious, inquiring, ana
lytical mind he came out of the
Univeristy of Bonn fully prepared
to enter tie school of statecraft with
an insight that quickly made him a
master of that difficult art. Set *o
work in the government bureau, he
was early taught the routine of
official business under the tutelage
of the great Bismarck. His train
ing in this Bismarckian school, how
ever, was not with the idea that he
would soon have occasion to use his
knowledge as occupant of the throne
of the Kingdom of Prussia and the
German Empire, for his father then
Crown Prince Frederick was thought
to be of vigorous physique and not
unlikely to live as long as the then
occupant of the throne, the Emperor
William I.
But the unexpected happened, ^n
1888 came the death of the aged
emperor, while three months later
Frederick 111 followed him to the
grave, the imperial throne thus de
volving upon William 11, who was
then but twenty-nine years of age,
having been born in 1859. Bis
marck continued as chancellor but
not for long. Though the great
statesman had made every effort to
instill his young pupil with his own
ideas of government and diplomatic
policies, the new emperor soon found
| that he disagreed with his grand
i father's former close advisor in many
important respects. In 1890 the dis
; agreement of the two men reached
! a crisis, a rupture came and Bis
! marck went. The relations between
j the two men remained strained for
j several years, although the emperor
always expressed a cordial personal
. feeling for the former chancellor,
| but before the latter died mutual
peace was made between them.
With the passing of Bismarck, the
j emperor's real reign began. Re
garded by perhaps the great major
ity of mankind as the greatest mod
ern exponent of militarism, his
friends and defenders have long in
sisted that the military side of his
reign, remarkable though it was in
making Germany the wonderfullj
well armed and well-prepared nation
that she was in a military way, was
not the one which most deserves
the attention of the student of hu
man progress as exemplified in the
German empire.
Germany’s wonderful industria
and commercial strides have beer
credited by many to the initiative
and insight in great measure of the
German ruler. An encourager of
art and culture, his influence to
ward broadening and uplifting the
German people along these lines was
j regarded as one of the notable
I forces of the period in the empire
As for the claim to the title of
peacemaker made for him several
occasions in the history of Europe
for the last quarter of a centurj
1 are cited to show him as conciliatoi
land mediator, when a single word
from his lips, a single stroke of his
pen, might have embroiled all
Europe in war. As for the per
sonality of the man, countless trib
utes have been paid to his wort!
as a friend, his geniality as a com
panion and his lovableness as a mar:
! in the home. That, despite thi
j record accredited to him as a peace
maker, he was a soldier first and
foremost, is not denied. Buf, as
one German writer of prominenct
has put it, he was "a soldier of tht
Spartan, duty-loving kind, not thi
blood-thristy military monster he ha
been pictured.”
: As a military man he was a
(sticker for efficiency, discipline ant
j the observance of etiquette to thi
! last detail. And of the details of
I all these components of army lift
; and training he was familiar to the
; smallest point. It is related of him
i during military reviews he was able
! to detect the slightest imperfection
j in the equipment or training of a
j regiment or squadron and was not
[hesitant in calling attention to tht
I dereliction sharply to the man oi
; men at fault. With the principles
I of tactics and manoeuvres, too, he
j was thoroughly acquainted. But
i with all his exacting demands upon
| his men as soldiers he was fully
j sympathetic with them as human be
; ings, frequently taking occasion to
| relieve them from undergoing un
! necessary hardships and planning to
| seen that their comfort was con
| served in very possible way. To his
! officers he was at once sovereign
| and father, making it his duty to
look after their individual interests
and personal welfare as well as their
military records.
Besides being well versed in army
matters, the emperor was thorough
ly familiar with naval affairs, hav
ing a technical mastery of the de
tails that go to make up the effi
ciency of a fleet. Study of naval
problems was one of his pet occu
pations, his investigations frequently
extending far into the night, as he
sat up in bed making sketches and
calculations. When the substitution
of turbines for reciprocating engines
in naval vessels arose it is said to
have been the emperor who supplied
the most convincing arguments for
the change. Other studies, however,
occupied much of his time. These
were for the most part scientific,
including physics and technology in
general, with a special bearing upon
the applied forms of these sciences
in their modern aspect.
It: everything he was described as
: thorough and, withal, one of the
hardest workers in the empire. His
rising hour was six o’clock sharp,
and a long day's hard work, which
frequently extended well into the
night, followed Stated hours were
devoted to the task of informing
himself on the progress of events
at home and abroad through reading
! of the principal German and foreign
I newspapers. He was not satisfied
with official presentation of things
He wanted the popular view as well
: and sought it in the press.
I
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, 1917; taken by Johnson, of Fair
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i _ _____ ___ ___
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