66 graphed to the Grand Duke of Weimar: "To me has fallen the post of officer of the watch upon the ship of state. We shall keep the old course; and now full steam ahead! A few weeks later at Bremen he said, "It is a tradition in our house that we regard ourselves as chosen by God to govern and guide the people over whom we are appointed to rule, so that we may promote their welfare and further their material and spiritual interests. . . . We Germans shall succeed by vigorous striving toward the goal in accordance with the good maxim, 'We Germans fear God, and nothing else in the world.'" These three utterances summarize well his reign from 1890 onward: A devotion to the army and navy; a restless striving to push forward in every field of activity, quite unaware that in so doing he could not possibly keep to the old course" of caution which Bismarck had steered; and an unlimited confidence in himself as the chosen of God. Endowed with an active mind and extraordinary energy, he sought to lead the way in political, social, and economic matters, to furnish the inspiration in literature, art, and science, and to develop the intensely modern materialistic Germany, with its overwhelming discipline, its progressive efficiency, and its expanding power beyond the seas-Deutschland über Alles. By his ceaseless visits to brother sovereigns he may have supposed that he was knitting the ties of friendship and preserving the peace of the world, although these visits were often a burden to the recipient and his efforts for peace were neutralized by sensational speeches which caused embarrassment to his ministers at home and concern to his neighbors abroad. See Autocracy; "Hun"; Kaiserism; Militarism; "Willy" and "Nicky" Correspondence. 999 William II, Ambitions. "I hope it [Germany] will be granted, through the harmonious cooperation of princes and peoples, of its armies and its citizens, to become in the future as closely united, as powerful, and as authoritative as once the Roman world empire was, and that, just as in the old time they said Civis romanus sum, hereafter at some time in the future, they will say, 'I am a German citizen.' (Quoted by Christian Gauss, The German Emperor as Shown by His Public Utterances, 1915, p. 169.) In 1900 William II boasted that "without Germany and the German Emperor no great decision dare henceforth be taken." And again: "It is to the Empire of the World that German genius aspires. God has called us to civilize the world; we are the missionaries of human progress. The German people will be the block of granite on which our Lord will be able to elevate the civilization of the world." (Quoted by Herbert Adams Gibbons, The New Map of Europe, p. 31.) See "Place in the Sun." William II, Surrender to the Militarists. In November, 1913, the French ambassador in Berlin reported: "The German Emperor is no longer in his [own] eyes the champion of peace against the warlike tendencies of certain parties in Germany. William II has come to think that war with France is inevitable, and that it must come sooner or later. Naturally he be15963°-18-20 lieves in the crushing superiority of the German army and in its certain success." (French Yellow Book, No. 6.) See Mili tarism. 66 Will to War." A phrase used often by German militarists as a companion to a "place in the sun." "The will to war," they say, "must go hand in hand with the resolution to act on the offensive without any scruples, just because the offensive is the only way of insuring victory." See "Place in the Sun"; War, German Ruthlessness; War, German View; "World Power or Downfall." "Willy 99 ånd 66 Nicky "Correspondence. The name applied to a series of letters and telegrams exchanged between William II of Germany and Nicholas II of Russia in the course of the years 1904-1907; and made public by the Provisional Government of Russia. The series illustrates the efforts of William II to rescue autocratic power in Russia from the discredit into which the defeats at the hands of the Japanese in eastern Asia had plunged it, and also to bring Nicholas secretly to make alliance with Germany against Great Britain and to treat Russia's alliance with France, if need be, as a "scrap of paper." In case of war with England, Denmark was to be treated as Belgium has been in the present war, except that a preliminary effort was to be made to cause the Danes to see and accept the inevitable. The German Emperor telegraphed on August 2, 1905, from Copenhagen, whither he had gone on one of his numerous visits: "Considering great number of channels leading from Copenhagen to London, and proverbial want of discretion of the Danish court, I was afraid to let anything be known about our alliance, as it would immediately have been communicated to London, a most impossible thing so long as treaty is to remain secret for the present. By long conversation with Isvolsky [Russian ambassador to Denmark], however, I was able to gather that actual minister of foreign affairs, Count Raben, and a number of persons of influence have already come to the conviction that in case of war and impending attack on Baltic from foreign power Danes expect-their inability and helplessness to uphold even shadow of neutrality against invasion being evident-that Russia and Germany will immediately take steps to safeguard their interests by laying hands on Denmark and occupying it during the war. As this would at the same time guarantee territory and future existence of dynasty and country, the Danes are slowly resigning themselves to this alternative and making up their minds accordingly. This being exactly what you wished and hoped for, I thought it better not to touch on the subject with Danes and refrained from making any allusions. It is better to let the idea develop and ripen in their heads and let them draw final conclusions themselves, so that they will of their own accord be moved to lean upon us and fall in line with our two countries. Tout vient à qui sait attendre. . . .—WILLY.” Another series of similar letters exchanged immediately before the outbreak of the war shows that the Kaiser strove to bring the Czar to stop the Russian mobilization, while the Czar 66 Wilson, President, Quoted. Aim of United States, page 8; was "Windber." An American vessel, from which, while it 66 Wireless Stations. In order to prevent the American coast the President, on August 5, 1914, issued a proclamation forbidding all radio stations within the United States "from transmitting or receiving for delivery messages of an unneutral nature.” This order having been indifferently observed, one month later the Government took over the station at Siasconset, while the one at Sayville, which had been put by its owners practically at the disposal of the German Government, was closed. See Base of Naval Operations; Panama Canal During War. Woman's Committee of the Council of National Defense. A group of 10 representative women of the United States, appointed by the Council of National Defense, April 21, 1917, to coordinate and centralize the war work of women. The members are Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, of New York, chairman; Miss Ida Tarbell, of New York, vice chairman; Mrs. Philip N. Moore, of St. Louis, secretary; Mrs. Stanley McCormick, of Boston, treasurer; Mrs. Josiah E. Cowles, of California; Miss Maud Wetmore, of Rhode Island; Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, of New York; Mrs. Antoinette Funk, of Illinois; Mrs. Joseph R. Lamar, of Georgia; and Miss Agnes Nestor, of Illinois. The organization has State divisions in 48 States, and acts as a mouthpiece of the Government, sending messages to women, stimulating patriotic service, and supplying a channel for effective prosecution of war work. There are 10 departments or subcommittees finding their counterpart in State, county, and civic units, namely, registration, food production and home economics, food administration, women in industry, child welfare, maintenance of existing social service agencies, health and recreation, education, Liberty Loan, and home and foreign relief. Headquarters at 1814 N Street NW., Washington, D. C., is clearing house for war activities through organizations and through individuals. Woman in Industry. A department of the Woman's Committee of the Council of National Defense working through the State divisions in close cooperation with the Department of Labor to deal with questions directly affecting the work and welfare of women in industry. Occupational surveys constitute part of the work. Women's Activities, Coordination of. The Woman's Committee of the Council of National Defense made the initial movement in the coordination. of women's activities at the meeting of the presidents of national organizations at Washington, June 19, 1917, when 73 organizations pledged their cooperation and a coordination of their various activities with the woman's committee. Previous to this time these organizations had all been more or less actively engaged in war work, which they were not asked to give up but to make more effective by cooperation with activities of similar nature. Works of Art, etc. Article LVI of The Hague Regulations reads: "All seizure of, destruction, or willful damage done to institutions of this character [religious, charitable, and educational institutions], to historic monuments, works of art or science, is forbidden." See Louvain; Rheims. World Peace and World Opinion. "The nations of the world must unite in joint guarantees that whatever is done to disturb the whole world's life must first be tested in the courts of the whole world's opinion." (President Wilson, speech of acceptance, Sept. 2, 1916.) "They must combine with one another so that no nation shall go to war on any pretext which it is not willing to submit to the opinion of mankind." (Music Hall, Cincinnati, Oct. 26, 1916.) See Arbitration; League to Enforce Peace; Peace Treaties; Permanent Peace, American Duty. "World Power or Downfall." The title of a chapter in Bernhardi's famous book on Germany and the Next War. The meaning of the phrase is made sufficiently clear by the following sentence from the chapter: "We have fought in the last great wars for our national union and our position among the powers of Europe; we must now decide whether we wish to develop into and maintain a world empire and procure for German spirit and ideas that fit recognition which has been hitherto withheld from them." Yet, farther along in the same chapter, Bernhardi writes thus: "No people is so little qualified as the German to direct its own destinies, whether in a parliamentarian or a republican constitution." For whom, then, is world power sought-the Hohenzollerns? See "Conquest and Kultur"; "Der Tag." Y. "Yarrowdale." A British merchant ship captured by a German raider in the Atlantic and brought safely into a German port by a prize crew on December 31, 1916. A large number of sailors serving as members of the crews of various ships sunk by the raider were taken to Germany on the Yarrowdale and were interned as prisoners of war. Among these were 60 or more Americans, who were finally released and arrived in Switzerland March 12, 1917. They complained strongly against the hardships and the treatment they had received at the hands of the German authorities. Y. M. C. A. The work of the Young Men's Christian Association during the war has undergone great expansion. Millions of dollars have been raised for use among prisoners of war in the belligerent States, in France (at the base camps near the English Channel and immediately behind the zone of fire on the western front), in Mesopotamia and East Africa; and now (November, 1917) a great campaign to raise $35,000,000 for use in our own National Guard and National Army camps has just been completed. There were said to be, at a recent time, more than 100 recreation halls or "huts," as they are called, for base troop units in France; at least 50 at the battle front, and the number is being increased as speedily as possible. In the "hut" the soldier in his recreation hours may read the newspapers and magazines, write letters home, play games, see moving pictures, listen to lectures, and attend religious worship. The "huts" among the prisoners are often erected by the prisoners them |