Blood and Iron Part 35

Hurrah! Hurrah!

Hurrah, Germania!

-- The words, "Auf, Deutschland, auf, und Gott mit dir!"--"To arms, Germany, and G.o.d be with thee!" is a National hymn breathing the solemn thought that Germans are not slaves--

Old feuds, old hates are dashed aside All Germany is one!

-- Bismarck's work, raw as it may seem in many respects, was consecrated to the great central idea that the German race is one, or as the poet Freiligrath puts it in one of his stirring lines, "Das deutsche Volk ist Eins!"

-- The whole thing comes down to the inner meaning of the word "patriotism." Tolstoi calls patriotism a frightful vice; Was.h.i.+ngton regarded patriotism as a virtue of virtues.

-- Take your choice.

-- He is even now brooding over the element necessary for the perpetuation of a free and United Germany. He reads his Bible and prepares for the French war.

-- Bismarck used the ma.s.ses as the gardener uses manure. The blood of the peasantry manured the ground, out of which was to grow the harvest.

CHAPTER XV

The Great Year, 1870

56

Bismarck and Von Moltke, over a bowl of sherry punch, discuss "these poor times"--The Emperor-hunt begins.

-- Volumes have been written to explain the origin of the Franco-Prussian war, and the intricate and inter-related facts are gone over again and again, now with emphasis here, again on the other side.

-- It is trite to say that Bismarck foresaw that a war with France was inevitable. Behind this simple statement is a world of intrigue and ambition. The French still hold that the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine was the price not of war but of Bismarck's brigandage. The French also believe that the candidacy of Prince Leopold Hohenzollern for the Spanish throne was a Prussian intrigue against France. The controversy on these points will never be settled, till the Doomsday Book is opened.

-- When Bismarck sees that his work of unifying Germany cannot be completed without another war, the war comes!

His amazing insight into complex political, military and historical situations, in which with a few words he is able to divert public opinion to his own peculiar view, has been shown never with more diabolical cunning than at the time of the breaking out of the Franco-Prussian war. We refer here to the "Ems dispatch," that played a startling part in bringing on the war; but the telegram, in itself, was really a simple thing.

-- For four years, Germany had been increasing her military power by ten-fold. The greatest military martinet of all time, Von Roon, had the men up at three and four in the morning drilling them as human beings were never drilled before. Von Moltke, "with the battle pictures in his brain," was planning every detail against France.

-- The preparations were now complete. The Germans were thoroughly organized, led by generals guided by a single brain, von Moltke, master of tactics and strategy.

-- Just the day the war broke out von Moltke, who was always as taciturn as the Sphinx, "and in times of peace ugly and crabbed," was sitting in his garden moodily declaiming against these poor times--with no war in sight!

Bismarck greeted his compatriot, bravely. Von Moltke ordered sherry punch and the two cronies began drinking each other's health.

-- "You are not looking well, Chief?" began Bismarck.

-- "No, I have not been well, lately!"

-- "But you must cheer up. War is your business and you will now quickly mend. I remember when the Spanish war was the burning question you looked at least ten years younger. When I told you that the Hohenzollern prince gave the thing up, you became at once ten years older. This time, the French have made difficulties, and you look fresh and younger by ten years."

-- In this light-hearted way Bismarck spoke of the oncoming strife--up to the year 1914 the bloodiest in the history of the world.

57

The bugle blast "For G.o.d and Fatherland!" again resounds throughout Germany--The great host crosses the Rhine.

-- Up to 1914, there never was such a disciplined army since the world began! Neither Napoleon, Caesar nor Alexander ever had a power like the United German swarm, now numbering 1,200,000 men, counting advance and reserve; however, the total strength was never called, as the war was practically over in seven weeks.

The hosts of Germany, 800,000 strong, helmeted, machine-like, moved silently and swiftly toward the Rhine, carrying their trusty needle-guns which had done such destruction at Koeniggraetz. As they marched they sang the war songs of their race, and swore to guard the Rhine.

Zum Rhine, zum Rhine, zum Deutchen Rhine, Wir alle wollen Hueter sein; Lieb Vaterland magst ruhig sein, Fest steht und treu die Wacht am Rhine!

-- The King immediately left for the seat of war, Mayennce being the first headquarters of the royal party. Bismarck was always close to the King.

-- Bismarck had been only a few days in the field when his health began to improve. Like von Moltke, Bismarck looked ten years younger.

The old-time biliousness and vein-swelling from which he suffered, now pa.s.sed away; the irritability vanished; he was cool and collected.

-- He was attended throughout the war by a corps of cipherers, decipherers, cooks, privy counsellors, secretaries, and couriers.

Faithful Dr. Busch, head of the Bismarck press-agency, was one of the busiest men of the hour. Bismarck, who learned the power of the press in shaping public opinion, kept Busch constantly employed sending out telegrams, giving the German side of the war.

-- The Chancellor wore the white uniform of Heavy Landwehr Cavalry, with white cap and top boots.

-- Bismarck and his staff camped along the line of advance, wherever night fell--sometimes in the chateau of a French n.o.bleman, again in the hut of a French peasant. The company ate at a common table, and had the same fare. Bismarck was called "Chief."

-- Often the table was made by taking doors off their hinges and placing them on barrels or boxes; then waiters spread the cloth and brought out pewter plates and huge tumblers of a silver-like metal, lined with gilt.

Candles were stuck in empty wine bottles. Thus the great man worked during the war, week after week.

Dr. Busch, although a very busy man, managed to gather two volumes of table talk, minute details of what Bismarck said, ate, drank, preached, the whole set forth in spirited style, affording an intimate picture of the Iron Chancellor to which all historians are henceforth under obligations.

-- Firing was going on around the royal party, often dangerously near by, and now and then a battle would take place close to where the King was encamped, with his faithful minister. They would ride out, to see the fight. Bismarck read dispatches, made notes, talked to His Majesty, gave instructions on state matters, counseled with von Moltke on military matters, received visits, and studied maps. This continued all day and sometimes all night.

58

Germans drink 2,500,000 bottles of champagne at Rheims--Bismarck's ironical revenge!

-- The high tension of war was relieved by amusing episodes, from day to day. In the evening of the arrival at Rheims, Bismarck humored himself trying various brands of champagne. Word was brought that the day before a squadron of Prussian hussars had been fired on from a leading hotel. Bismarck ordered that the house should at once be torn down and the landlord sent to prison; but when it was explained that none had been injured, Bismarck waggishly decided to let the landlord off if he would give 2,500 bottles of champagne to the squadron--an obligation which the man quickly proceeded to settle.

-- The Prussians drank, in and around Rheims, some 2,500,000 bottles of champagne; and, for that matter, the highways all the way to Paris were marked with long lines of empty bottles!