And the Kaiser Abdicates. By S. Miles Borden. (Yale University
Press ; H. Milford. 10s. 6d. net.)—Mr. Bouton, who had represented the Associated Press in Britain before the war and with the German armies until America joined the Allies, was at Copenhagen in the autumn of 1918 and returned to Berlin on November 18th, 1918. He was thus in a position to observe the German revolution closely. His account of it is interesting and contains some details that will be new to English readers. Mr. Bouton leads us to believe that if the Cabinet headed by Prince Max of Baden had had any spirit, and if the Emperor had not abdicated and fled like a coward, the insurrec- tion in Berlin might have been suppressed at the outset. Further- more, the Majority Socialist Cabinet which took office was responsible, through its culpable weakness, for the rioting and loss of life caused by the Spartacists. The Government had plenty of armed men, especially the Berlin police, who were trustworthy. " But here was again that peculiar impractical kink in the Socialist mentality ; the guards were directed not to shoot." Mr. 13outon describes how the Independent Socialists distributed arms, supplied by the Bolshevil envoy Joffe whom the Imperial Government had allowed to reside in Berlin. Thus the Emperor, who incited the Bolshevik Terror in Russia, was hoist with his own petard. As soon as one capable man was found, in Herr Noske, to lead the Government forces, the anarchists were quickly suppressed, much to the relief of the vast majority of Germans. Mr. Bouton dwells again and again on the extreme incompetence and impracticability of moit of the German politicians.
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