My Four Years in Germany | Page 9

of the Crown Prince has been
his eagerness for war; but, as he has characterised this war as the most
stupid ever waged in history, perhaps he will be satisfied, if he comes
to the throne, with what all Germany has suffered in this conflict.

The Crown Prince was very anxious, before the war, to visit the United
States; and we had practically arranged to make a trip to Alaska in
search of some of the big game there, with stops at the principal cities
of America.
The second son of the Kaiser, Prince Eitel Fritz, is considered by the
Germans to have distinguished himself most in this war. He is given
credit for great personal bravery.
Prince Adalbert, the sailor prince, is quite American in his manners. In
February, 1914, the Crown Prince and Princes Eitel Fritz and Adalbert
came to our Embassy for a very small dance to which were asked all
the pretty American girls then in Berlin.
It is never the custom to invite royalties to an entertainment. They
invite themselves to a dance or a dinner, and the list of proposed guests
is always submitted to them. When a royalty arrives at the house, the
host (and the hostess, if the royalty be a woman) always waits at the
front door and escorts the royalties up-stairs. Allison Armour also gave
a dance at which the Crown Prince was present, following a dinner at
the Automobile Club. Armour has been a constant visitor to Germany
for many years, usually going in his yacht to Kiel in summer and to
Corfu, where the Emperor goes, in winter. As he has never tried to
obtain anything from the Emperor, he has become quite intimate with
him and with all the members of the royal family.
The Chancellor, von Bethmann-Hollweg, is an enormous man of
perhaps six feet five or six. He comes of a banking family in Frankfort.
It is too soon to give a just estimate of his acts in this war. When I
arrived in Berlin and until November, 1916, von Jagow was Minister of
Foreign Affairs. In past years he had occupied the post of Ambassador
to Italy, and with great reluctance took his place at the head of the
Foreign Office. Zimmermann was an Under Secretary, succeeding von
Jagow when the latter was practically forced out of office.
Zimmermann, on account of his plain and hearty manners and
democratic air, was more of a favourite with the Ambassadors and
members of the Reichstag than von Jagow, who, in appearance and
manner, was the ideal old-style diplomat of the stage.

Von Jagow was not a good speaker and the agitation against him was
started by those who claimed that, in answering questions in the
Reichstag, he did not make a forceful enough appearance on behalf of
the government. Von Jagow did not cultivate the members of the
Reichstag and his delicate health prevented him from undertaking more
than the duties of his office.
As a matter of fact, I believe that von Jagow had a juster estimate of
foreign nations than Zimmermann, and more correctly divined the
thoughts of the American people in this war than did his successor. I
thought that I enjoyed the personal friendship of both von Jagow and
Zimmermann and, therefore, was rather unpleasantly surprised when I
saw in the papers that Zimmermann had stated in the Reichstag that he
had been compelled, from motives of policy, to keep on friendly terms
with me. I sincerely hope that what he said on this occasion was
incorrectly reported. Von Jagow, after his fall, took charge of a hospital
at Libau in the occupied portion of Russia. This shows the devotion to
duty of the Prussian noble class, and their readiness to take up any task,
however humble, that may help their country.


CHAPTER II
POLITICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL
My commission read, "Ambassador to Germany."
It is characteristic of our deep ignorance of all foreign affairs that I was
appointed Ambassador to a place which does not exist. Politically,
there is no such place as "Germany." There are the twenty-five States,
Prussia, Bavaria, Württemberg, Saxony, etc., which make up the
"German Empire," but there is no such political entity as "Germany."
These twenty-five States have votes in the Bundesrat, a body which
may be said to correspond remotely to our United States Senate. But

each State has a different number of votes. Prussia has seventeen,
Bavaria six, Württemberg and Saxony four each, Baden and Hesse
three each, Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Brunswick two each, and the
rest one each. Prussia controls Brunswick.
The Reichstag, or Imperial Parliament, corresponds to our House of
Representatives. The members are elected by manhood suffrage of
those over twenty-five. But in practice the Reichstag is nothing but a
debating society because of