The Former Foreign Minister's Reply
The former Foreign Minister of Germany, Herr von Jagow, published a reply to Prince Lichnowsky in the Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, in which he virtually confirmed the Prince's main assertions. He applied such phrases as "an unheard-of assertion," "a mass of inaccuracies and perversions," to Lichnowsky's memorandum, but he did not meet the former Ambassador's charges with any new evidence, merely referring his readers to former publications of the German Government.
Von Jagow's reply bears out the assertion that in 1913 England was prepared to enter into friendly agreements with Germany. She was "ready to meet us." A Bagdad railway agreement was almost completed when Germany drew the sword. Negotiations about the future of the African colonies of Portugal in certain contingencies had been resumed, and the German Foreign Secretary looked forward to further agreements in the Far East and elsewhere.
The former Foreign Minister refuses to adopt the Pan-German view that "England laid all the mines which caused the war." On the contrary, he bears witness with former Ambassador Lichnowsky to Sir Edward Grey's "love of peace and his serious wish to reach an agreement with us." He says that it is true that Sir Edward could have prevented war, but he is careful not to indicate how. Presumably he means he could have done it by following Germany's example and treating England's engagements as "scraps of paper."
He agrees that the war was not popular with the British people, and that Belgium had to serve as a battlecry. Germany, on the other hand, had to maintain her prestige. It had been damaged by her political defeat in Morocco. A fresh diminution of it would have been, he remarks, "intolerable for our position in Europe and in the world."
In one point of fact he corrects Prince Lichnowsky. He denies that he himself visited Vienna at any time between the Spring of 1913 and the outbreak of the war. He confirms, as far as he remembers, all the expressions attributed to him by Lichnowsky.
His only reference to the Potsdam Council of July 5, 1914, (when, it is asserted, the Teuton leaders made the final decision for war,) is not a denial that the meeting took place, but a single sentence: "On July 5 I was absent from Berlin."
In regard to Lichnowsky's main charges, Herr von Jagow talks of "unheard-of" assertions and "inaccuracies and perversions," but he does not bring forward any fresh arguments to meet the charges, and merely refers to the publications of the German Government concerning the conversations which took place in June, 1914, between the Kaiser and Archduke Francis Ferdinand. Herr von Jagow says:
At Konopischt no plan was laid down (festgelegt) for an active policy against Serbia. Archduke Francis Ferdinand was not at all an advocate of a policy leading to war, although he was often reckoned as such. During the London conference he advised moderation and avoidance of war.
Herr van Jagow here avoids the issue raised by Lichnowsky, who did not say that a definite scheme was arranged at Konopischt, but that the indication was, not that Archduke Francis Ferdinand was in favor of war, but that his death was a positive relief to the advocates of war.
In the course of his statement Herr von Jagow, who remained Foreign Secretary until late in 1916, says:
When I was appointed State Secretary in January, 1913, it seemed to me that a German-English rapprochement was desirable, and an understanding upon those points where our interests touched and sometimes even crossed, and this I deemed feasible. At least, it was my intention to work on this.
With regard to the Bagdad question Herr von Jagow says:
If England insisted upon excluding us from Mesopotamia, it appeared to me that a conflict would be avoided with difficulty. We were met in a conciliatory manner by the English Government, and an agreement had almost been reached just previous to the outbreak of the world war.
He meets Lichnowsky's assertion that Germany drove Russia "into the arms of France and England by our Oriental and Balkan policy" with the contention that the Pan-Slavism which governed Russian politics was directly anti-German. Upon the London conference on Algeciras he says:
We no more desired war on Albania's account than did Sir Edward Grey. That is why, in spite of our former experiences at Algeciras, we consented to the conference. The merit of a conciliatory attitude at the conference must not be denied to Sir Edward Grey, but it is going a little too far to say that he in nowise took up his stand on the side of the Entente. He certainly often urged St. Petersburg to give way, and found principles of accord (Einigungs Formeln) suitable to this end. But outwardly he represented the Entente, as he could no more leave his associates in the lurch than could we. Nor did he wish to do so.
On the other hand, the assertion that we adopted without exception the standpoint prescribed for us by Vienna is absolutely untrue. We played, as England did, a conciliatory rôle, and urged moderation upon Vienna far more than Lichnowsky seems to be aware of, or at any rate admits. Vienna thereupon made a variety of the most far-reaching concessions, Dibra and Djakowa.
ENGLAND EXONERATED
Mentioning the Serajevo murders as the climax of the continued Russian provocations against Austria, von Jagow says:
The prestige and existence of the Danube monarchy were at stake. We could not agree to the English proposal concerning a conference of Ministers, as it would doubtless have led to a serious diplomatic defeat for us.
I do not intend to adopt the theory now widespread among us that England was the originator of all the intrigues leading to the war. On the contrary, I believe in Sir Edward Grey's love of peace and his genuine desire to arrive at an understanding with us, but he had allowed himself to become too hopelessly entangled in the network of Franco-Russian policy. He could find no way out, and therefore failed to do that which had been in his power to prevent the world war. War was not popular among the English people, therefore Belgium had to serve as a battle cry.
At the end of his observations von Jagow restates his policy as follows:
I also pursued a policy which aimed at an agreement with England because I was of the opinion that this was the only road by which we could get out of the unfavorable situation into which the unequal distribution of strength and weakness of the Triple Alliance had brought us. Political marriages "until death us do part" are, as Prince Lichnowsky says, impossible in international relations, but in the existing state of affairs in Europe isolations are equally impossible. The history of Europe is composed of coalitions, some of which have led to avoidance of wars and some to violent conflicts. A loosening and final dissolution of old unions, which no longer satisfy all conditions, cannot be recommended until new constellations are within reach. That was the aim of our policy of rapprochement with England. As long as this policy did not provide trustworthy guarantees we could not abandon the old securities and obligations which they involved.
Our Morocco policy led to political defeat. Happily, this had been avoided in the Bosnian crisis and at the London conference. Fresh diminution of our prestige was intolerable for our position in Europe and in the world. Prosperity of States and their political and economic successes depend upon the prestige which they enjoy in the world.
A FURTHER ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Captain Persius, the military editor of the Berlin Tageblatt, in discussing the revelations of Prince Lichnowsky and the reply of Herr von Jagow in their relation to a possible peace by agreement, used these words:
"An understanding ought to be easier, now that we have heard from two opposing sources, from von Jagow and Lichnowsky, that England was not responsible for the war, as has been believed hitherto in wide circles in Germany."
Decrease of Birth Rate in Hungary
The following statistics were read by the Karolyist Deputy, Lodovico Hollo, to the Hungarian Chamber of Deputies, at the session of Jan. 16, 1918:
(1) Births.—Before the war 765,000 children a year were born in Hungary. In the first year of the war, 1914, the number of births was reduced by 18,000; in 1915 only 481,000 children were born—that is, 284,000 less than in time of peace. In 1916 the number of births was 333,000—that is, a reduction of 432,000. In 1917 the births amounted to 328,000—that is, the reduction was 438,000. Therefore our losses (in Hungary alone) behind the front reach the number of 1,172,866 individuals.
(2) Deaths.—Whereas in time of peace infant mortality for a period of seven years was 34 per cent., in 1915 the proportion was increased to 48 per cent. and in 1916 to 50 per cent.
These facts prove what sacrifices Hungary is making, to the prejudice of her own people, to continue the war.