Berlin, March 14, 1891
On this occasion a deputation from Alsace-Lorraine presented a protest against the continuance of the Passzwang, a rule which made it impossible to leave Alsace-Lorraine except under very special circumstances and on receiving a pass from the imperial agent. The rule was particularly obnoxious, and the strictness with which it had been enforced was much resented, even by subjects favorably disposed to the empire. It was, however, merely one of many grievances. Since the time of the Franco-Prussian War, Alsace-Lorraine had been governed like a conquered province—by a governor appointed by, and responsible to, the Emperor alone. Up to this time the policy had been one of repression, save for a very brief period. It is possible that the Emperor might have been inclined to give them some relief had it not been for the unfortunate result of the visit of his mother to Paris. After a visit in London, the Empress Frederick, in February, 1891 (it is supposed on the advice of her son), visited Paris and, while there, was to ask certain of the French artists to exhibit at the Berlin exhibition. It had evidently been assumed that the time had come for a rapprochement. The Empress descended at the German embassy very quietly and had received promises from several artists, when her presence in Paris became known to the League of French Patriots and to the germanophobe Déroulède, who immediately started a violent agitation and demonstrations against Germany. The artists withdrew their promises under the pressure of outraged patriotic opinion, and the situation became so tense that the Empress was forced to depart very hastily in a manner that suggested flight. The incident tended to make bad feeling on both sides and reacted unfavorably upon the attitude of the empire toward the former French provinces. The difficulties of circulation were increased, and the regulations about passes were made particularly trying. These difficulties were removed in 1899, but the provinces continued to protest, as they were not given equal rights with the other German states and have not enjoyed them up to the present. In May, 1911, a new so-called constitution was given to Alsace-Lorraine. The executive power is exercised by the Emperor in the name of the empire; the province has three votes in the Bundesrat, which are so restricted that they give very little satisfaction to Alsace-Lorraine and are so far under the control of Prussia that they give considerable dissatisfaction to other German states. The Emperor appoints officials, including the Statthalter, or governor, and the delegates are instructed by the Statthalter and must vote according to instructions. The votes do not count in any vote concerning the imperial Constitution. There was much protest because the new constitution did not grant the provinces sufficient independence. The previous Provincial Assembly (Landesausschuss) had been summarily closed on the 9th of May, 1911. Affairs were but little improved under the new arrangement, and the Emperor came to Strasburg in great anger, May 13, 1912, and made the following threatening address: “If this keeps up I shall knock your constitution to bits. Up to the present you have known me from my good side, but you can perhaps learn to know me from the other side also. If things do not change, we will make of Alsace-Lorraine a Prussian province.” This speech of the Emperor’s is not printed officially, but it was made the subject of an interpellation in the Reichstag on May 17, 1912, and the burgomaster of Strasburg admitted that the sense of the imperial utterance was properly given. With regard to Alsace-Lorraine, the Emperor has tried both kindness and severity. The Zabern incident proved that in neither of these policies had he succeeded in winning either the love or the subjection of the inhabitants.
The following is the estimate of Dr. H. A. Gibbons on the situation in Alsace-Lorraine immediately before the outbreak of the European War:
“One could easily fill many pages with illustrations of senseless persecutions, most of them of the pettiest character, but some more serious in nature, which Alsace and Lorraine have had to endure since the granting of the constitution. Newspapers, illustrated journals, clubs, and organizations of all kinds have been annoyed constantly by police interference. Their editors, artists, and managers have been brought frequently into court. Zislin and Hansi, celebrated caricaturists, have found themselves provoked to bolder and bolder defiances by successive condemnations and have endured imprisonment as well as fines. Hansi was sentenced to a year’s imprisonment by the High Court of Leipsic only a month before the present war broke out and chose exile rather than a Prussian fortress.
“The greatest effort during the past few years has been made in the schools to influence the minds of the growing generation against the ‘souvenir de France,’ and to impress upon the Alsacians what good fortune had come to them to be born German citizens.
“Among the boys, the influence of this teaching has been such that over twenty-two thousand fled from home during the period of 1900-13 to enlist in the Foreign Legion of the French Army. The campaign of the German newspapers in Alsace-Lorraine and, in fact, throughout Germany was redoubled in 1911. Parents were warned of the horrible treatment accorded to the poor boys who were misguided enough to throw away their citizenship and go to be killed in Africa under the French flag. The result of this campaign was that the Foreign Legion received a larger number of Alsacians in 1912 than had enlisted during a single year since 1871!
“Among the girls, the German educational system flattered itself that it could completely change the sentiments of a child, especially in the boarding-schools. Last year the Empress of Germany visited a girls’ school near Metz which is one of the best German schools in the Reichsland. As she was leaving she told the children that she wanted to give them something. What did they want? The answer was not sweets or cake but that they might be taught a little French!
“The former French provinces have been flooded with garrisons and have been treated just as they were forty years ago. The insufferable spirit of militarism and the arrogance of the Prussian officers in Alsacian towns have served to turn against the empire many thousands whom another policy might have won; for it must be remembered that by no means all the inhabitants of the Reichsland have been by birth and by home training French sympathizers. Instead of crushing out the ‘souvenir de France,’ the Prussian civil and military officials have caused it to be born in many a soul which was by nature German.
“The Prussian has never understood how to win the confidence of others. There has been no Rome in his political vision. As for conceptions of toleration, of kindness, and of love, they are non-existent in Prussian officialdom.”
It gives me great satisfaction that the committee of the provinces has turned to me in an important question concerning the interests of Alsace-Lorraine. I see in this fact a valuable proof of the increasing understanding which my good-will and my interest in the development of your home country has begotten in the minds of its representatives. I am also pleased to accept this assurance that the people of Alsace-Lorraine, satisfied for the time being with the existing political relations, spurn every interference by foreign elements and look to the empire alone for the protection of their interests.