Kelly Millers History of the World War for Human Rights | Page 6

all she had accomplished to the formation of the empire as
simply a station reached in a career of progress which was to end in a
World empire as greatly surpassing that of Rome in her palmy days as
the world of the twentieth century surpasses the known world of
Roman times.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE EMPIRE.
The empire enjoyed a brief span of national life. In less than fifty years
it ceased to exist, a republic of an uncertain nature takes its place. To
outward appearances the development of the empire was a brilliant one.
A colonial empire was established--mostly in Africa--nearly five times
as great in area as the home empire; she had large possessions in the
Pacific and had gained a foothold in China. The rich potash and iron
deposits of Alsace increased her wealth and marvelously built up her
industries and she became one of the greatest manufacturing nations of
modern times. Her population doubled, her foreign trade increased four
fold, her shipping grew by leaps and bounds. Her army became so
perfected that it was acknowledged to be the greatest military machine
the world had ever seen; she was building a navy that threatened the
supremacy of England on the sea.
BUILT ON A FOUNDATION OF SAND.
In spite of this brilliant development, the empire rested on a foundation
of sand. You will never understand the World War unless you grasp
this thought and its justification. The government was autocratic,
though under the form of a constitutional government. The entire
military class in Germany held to theories of government, of national
rights and wrongs that belonged to the middle ages. Theories of
state-craft which the world long since outgrew were proclaimed and
taught, and enforced by every means at command of the government,

the military class, the professors, scientists and theologians of Germany.
Education and religion were state controlled. As a consequence, every
German child from his cradle to his grave was under the influence of
state officials and never allowed to forget reverence for the kaiser, the
glorious military record of Germany, German supremacy in every
department of culture. Such a government was hopelessly behind
modern ideas.
WILLIAM II.
William II was the third emperor of Germany,--also the last. His reign
began, in pomp and ceremony, June 15, 1888, it ended in the darkness
and gloom of night, shortly before the signing of the armistice,
November 11, 1918. Other reigns have been longer in duration; none
surpassed his in deeds. When his reign began he said he would lead his
people to "shining days." He did so; but "shining days" ended in
despairing night.
Personally, William II was an able man, but he was not well balanced.
In the early days of his reign, Bismarck confided to a friend that it
would some day be necessary for Germany to confine William II in an
insane asylum. We must remember his lineage, his long line of
ancestors dating back to the Robber Knights of the Middle Ages, all
used to the exercise of autocratic power. Medieval conceptions were his
by inheritance. He believed he was divinely commissioned to rule
Germany; he said so in his speeches. He believed he was a man of
destiny who was to advance Germany to the zenith of earthly greatness;
he himself, not someone else, asserted this. He asserted that while
Napoleon failed in his great scheme of conquest, he, by God's help,
would succeed. Every prominent military leader in Germany applauded
such beliefs. He said that when he contemplated the paintings of his
ancestors, and the military chiefs of Germany, who advanced the
insignificant Mark of Brandenburg to the rank of the most powerful
state in Europe, they seemed to reproach him for not being active in
similar work. But we now know that he was not idle.
ACTIVITIES IN WHICH HE WAS INTERESTED.

One year after the accession of William II he paid a spectacular visit to
"his friend" (as he called him) Abdul Hamid, Sultan of Turkey, the
head of one of the most cruel, licentious, incompetent, blood-thirsty
governments that ever cursed the world; greeted him with a kiss, put on
a Turkish uniform (fez and all), and assured the Mohammedan world
that he was henceforth their friend. The ignorant Turks actually
supposed he had become a Mohammedan and native papers spoke of
him as "His Islamic Holiness." In the light of history, the meaning of all
this is so clear that he who runs may read, and the wayfaring man,
though a fool, need not err therein. This visit was repeated in 1898. For
more than twenty years every effort was made to extend German
influence in Turkey, because that country with its minerals, its oils, its
wonderfully strong strategical location was vital to the success of a vast