Stettin, September 23, 1898
A previous address shows that in the mind of the Emperor the idea of world-empire carried with it the idea of naval supremacy. In this period he was increasingly interested in the industrial and especially the naval and maritime expansion of Germany. A number of his speeches take up this subject; so, for instance, he was present at the opening of the new harbor at Stettin and delivered this address:
With full heart I congratulate you on your completed work. You began with a fresh spirit of daring. You were able to begin it, thanks to the interest of my departed grandfather, the great Emperor, who built the iron girdle around the city. After the moment when this iron mantle fell you could take a larger and wider point of view. You did not delay but carried it out with real Pomeranian recklessness and obstinacy. You have succeeded, and I am pleased that the old Pomeranian spirit has again come to life in you and has driven you from the land upon the water.
Our future lies upon the water, and I am deeply convinced that this work which you, Herr Burgomaster, have carried out with foresight and care and energy will always be linked with your name, even after centuries, by the grateful citizens of the city of Stettin and that your work will always be recognized.
But I, as lord of the land and King, express my thanks to you that you have brought the city of Stettin to such a flourishing position. I hope and expect, yes, I might say, I demand, that she shall go on developing at this same rate, not divided by party strife and with her glance fixed upon the great whole, in order that she may come to a state of development such as has never yet been achieved. That is my wish!
[THE JOURNEY TO THE HOLY LAND]
Bethlehem, October 30, 1898
On the 12th of October, 1898, the Emperor and Empress set out on their journey to the Holy Land, accompanied by many representatives of the church. In Venice they visited the Italian King and Queen and passed on by way of Messina and Constantinople. They reached Jerusalem on October 29. During his stay at Constantinople the Emperor obtained the rights to a piece of land, the Dormitio Sanctæ Virginis, and turned it over to the German Catholics in Jerusalem. On November 4 they began their return journey via Damascus. Though the dedication of the Church of Our Redeemer constituted the ostensible object of the visit, the Emperor had also other purposes in mind. He took the occasion to announce that he would protect the interests of all Germans of whatever faith. This is the more significant when we remember that up to this time the French had always been allowed to assume the duty of protecting the Catholics there. The Emperor likewise had in mind increasing his prestige in the East. One of the outward indications of the growing friendliness between Turkey and Germany which was then strengthened may be found in the fact that the building of the Anatolian railway was intrusted to a German company, to which was also granted a concession for a harbor and permission to extend the line through Bagdad to Bassora.
It will be noted that the approach to Jerusalem aroused a very unfavorable impression in the Emperor. Nevertheless, he had somewhat unusual preparations made for his entrance. The old walls of the sacred city were breached in order to allow him to make his entry in imperial state. In pursuance of his policy as a world-emperor he attempted during his visit, as we have seen, both by his acts and by his speeches, to conciliate all sects and creeds; the Catholics through the grant of land, which likewise pleased the Centre or Catholic party at home; the Evangelicals through the dedication of a church; and the Moslems incidentally and through his speech nine days later at Damascus, in the course of which he said: “May the Sultan and may the three hundred million Mohammedans who are scattered over the face of the earth and who recognize him as their caliph be assured of the fact that at all times the German Emperor will be their friend!” This friendship of the Emperor for the Sultan was not to be clouded by the Armenian massacres, nor did the assassinations in Asia Minor evoke any protest. Indeed, we are told by a well-known foreign correspondent that “five days after the great massacre of August, 1896, in Constantinople, when Turkish soldiers shot down their fellow citizens under the eyes of the Sultan and of the foreign ambassadors, William II sent to Abdul-Hamid for his birthday a family photograph of himself with the Empress and his children.” At Damascus, he likewise laid a wreath upon the tomb of Saladin.
After the service in the Evangelical Church at Bethlehem the Emperor gathered about him the Evangelical ministers and made them this address, which was reported by E. Bosse, who at that time was the Prussian Kultusminister.