"This was a real help to the cause of international peace, a contribution that far outweighed any amount of mere talk about it in the abstract, for in this, as in all other matters an ounce of performance is worth a ton of promise."
Though Emperor William has been accused of having precipitated the war, he was off on his yacht taking a vacation when the murder of the Austrian nobles took place, and Germany faced the question of war through her alliance. It is said that the Emperor broke down and sobbed like a child when he met his sons in his study after war had been declared.
As Andrew Carnegie recently explained: "The Kaiser himself is a marvelous man, possessed of wonderful ingenuity. He has done more good for Germany than any other man before him. He has built up a great foreign commerce and a marvelous internal business."
The trouble was started by the German military caste that rules the country. They are responsible for the war. The Kaiser gathered around him a group of men who, unknown to him, acted in concert, and in his absence took the action that could not be altered.
The Kaiser has always been devoted to his home and his children. He has given much time to their education, for he believes firmly, "Spare the rod and spoil the child." Though he has the reputation of being severe, he is far more lenient with other people's children than his own.
His sons were trained to serve in the army quite like the sons of the poorest peasants, and when the war broke out they were the first to hurry to their regiments. Though one of his sons had just been married, he had to leave his bride like all other young lovers.
The Empress has been a splendid check on the Kaiser's strong and determined nature, for though she is submissive and tender, she has great poise and is extremely restful. She has never worried him about her domestic affairs and still she has taken a keen interest in all his doings.
The Crown Prince is different from his father in build, as he is in all other respects. He is tall and slight, good-looking and gracious, and acceptable to his people. Next to taking an active interest in his wife and children, America appeals to him most.
Though he is much more of a soldier than a diplomat or statesman, he is more democratic than his father, and he is tremendously popular with his people on that account. This he has shown to his men ever since he went to the front; the comfort of his soldiers is constantly before him. He makes it a point to see that his men are provided with socks and shoes. When a student at the University of Bonn he had the reputation of being a good mixer. In spite of his fair hair and blue eyes he has always been closer to the war party than has his father. He is a fearless horseman and has a deep knowledge of military tactics. The Crown Prince received his first military training when he was hardly large enough to mount a horse. He and all his brothers have continued this training all through their boyhood. First the Crown Prince went to the Prince's Academy Military School at Ploen, and completed this work at Danzig. Though a severe leader, he has always been the idol of his regiment, for he never asks his people to do the things he is unwilling to undertake himself.
He has always been as popular with women as with his soldiers. He is exceedingly fond of American women and has been admired by many an attractive American girl. Several times he had his heart set on taking one for a wife, but his father showed him the impracticability of such a venture. But he is extremely fond of his home and devoted to his wife and four lovely boys. They are splendid comrades, much more so than the average German woman is with her husband. When the war broke out Princess Cecilie said that she would join her husband at the front just as soon as she could. One of the dispatches sent by way of The Hague from Berlin says that Cecilie, the German Crown Princess, accompanied by her two eldest sons, left Berlin to join her husband at his headquarters in France. She proposed personally to bestow decorations upon officers of her dragoon regiment. Though the Crown Princess is naturally delicate, having inherited tubercular tendencies from her father, she and her husband, along with the children, devote much of their time at winter sports in Switzerland. She and her children toboggan, ski, skate on the ice, and partake of all winter sports. She is so fond of exercise that she sometimes neglects the question of handsome costumes. On more than one state occasion she has had to devise something in a hurry because her wardrobe had run low. She takes more pains selecting her sporting costumes than her evening toilettes. The first time the Emperor laid eyes on her he was charmed by her beauty and grace; as he told one of his friends, "I might look the kingdom over and I could not find a lovelier wife for my son."