IMPERIAL GERMANY.*
" GERMANY " has become so large and potent, that it requires an effort to realise what it was thirty years ago,—a. thing of "shreds and patches," the loosest Confederation the world ever saw, the fertile field for foreign intrigue, its name a "geo- graphical expression," almost as much as that of Italy in 1815. One generation has sufficed to set up a single Imperial ruler over all strictly German lands except those under Austrian sway, to knit the whole together, to exclude foreign intrigue, to provide a mighty Army, and create a respectable Navy. The dreams of poets, song-writers, and statesmen have been realised by methods and in a manner which none of them foresaw ; and although these were violent and practical, the idealist can, if he pleases, still point to the result as a triumph. In many respects it is the most astonishing, certainly the most dramatic event which has occurred in our time, this revival—or, rather, creation—of a real German Empire, very different from that which called itself "Holy Roman" for so many hundred years, and from its mumbling successor invented by the Congress of Vienna. All are, or should be, deeply interested in the new birth, the eighteen-years-old Empire, in what it is and whether it is likely to endure. Mr. Sidney Whitman is extremely anxious to increase such interest as may be felt, and his book on Imperial Germany, the latest report upon that country, may afford some help to those who desire an answer to these vital questions. Fairly written, succinct, suggestive, it does not omit the black shadows which dog the steps of the great as well as the small ; full, without pretending to be exhaustive, it is devoted more to morel and intellectual than material aspects, and, on the whole, may be read with profit by the general reader.
It does not alter the popular notion that the strength of Germany under an Emperor is still mainly lodged in Prussia and things Prussian. In other words, the nucleus of that powerful and flexible system which has been extended with more or less effectiveness all over the Fatherland, was made, or, rather, grew up, in the Northern region. This is not the same as saying that all the forces originated in Prussia, for neither Stein nor Scharnhorst were Prussians, although Kant, with his ." categorical imperative, the call of duty to be per- formed," was a born subject of Frederick the Great;- but it means that in the realm of the Hohenzollerns the great ideas and principles which have prevailed and made the Empire, were rapidly assimilated and vitalised. The ultimate shaping of the adequate energies was the work of Prussia, where, for example, Von Moltke, the Meeklenburger, found a home and a field for the exercise of his genius. The longing for unity • Imperial Germany : a Critical. Study of Fact and Character. By Sidney Whitman. London Trilbner and Co.
was felt and expressed in all parts of the Fatherland, but in Prussia only did it take that practical form, substance, and mobility which are essential to the triumph of ideas. More or less, perhaps less rather than -more, yet still in a very great and visible degree, the spirit which animated the mixed Prussian folk—for they are not pure German—has in the last twenty years permeated the several States, and is at this moment the cement of the Empire. To take one familiar example. Consider how vastly the fighting power of the South German States has been enhanced since 1866, when they came within the range of Prussian methods. The rigorous yet elastic system, applied for the first time in 1867, made the South Germans in three years excellent soldiers, and the German Army became solid all through. It is now more so than ever. So in other matters. The Empire, in the end, will be something different from the Monarchy : but the life of it for a long time will be Prussian thoroughness, and when that is exhausted, the Empire itself will crumble away.
To maintain it is a stupendous task. Apart from the perils of an external shock, and the disadvantages of a geographical posi- tion open, naturally, to all the winds of violence, the internal forces tending to disintegration are far from contemptible. Mr. Whitman, fresh from the study of his problem, puts and answers a crucial question,—" Is Germany's greatness," he asks, "a plant of recent and tender growth that requires constant care in order to enable it to develop in the future and stand on its own merits, a bulwark to the civilisation of Europe ?" And the answer is,—" We think it is." So far, there is no strong reason to suppose that the work cannot and will not be done ; but if it is done, the toil of contending with the influences which operate ceaselessly towards a fracture of the fabric must be equally continuous and more energetic. The Democrats and Socialists are not the only enemies of Unity and Empire. The chasms between classes, noble and not noble, middle and inferior; the survival of the political bias which bears the name of " particuLarismus ;" the religious differences, partially yet not wholly healed, and strangely almost ignored by Mr. Whit- man ; even the persistent efforts of those who are enamoured of British institutions, are chronic dangers besetting the Empire which is the synonym of "Germany's greatness." That the Imperial Government strives steadfastly against all these centrifugal forces is evident enough; but it does so, in the main, by means of what is called paternal rule exerted in all directions to an extent which Britishers cannot comprehend; and the question really is,—How long will obedience to Kant's "categorical imperative" enable the Germans to endure the sacrifices imposed by the military system, and the substitu- tion of State interference and State direction for responsible government by party, or otherwise, and that kind of individual freedom which found a home in these islands ? Judging from Mr. Whitman's presentment of the whole case, and our own observation, we conclude that, at present, the centralising and dominant force is too wise and too strong for all its adver- saries, especially as they cannot combine, and that this con- dition, coupled with abiding and redoubtable foreign menaces, coming from opposite sides, will keep the Empire, and the Unity it represents, firm on its base, and, so far, a bulwark to civilisation.
It would be impossible to touch even on all the large ques- tions affecting the problem which are dealt with in this book. We must pass by the interesting, though not always accurate, essay on the Army; the vigorous onslaught on the much-con- demned "Philistine," who is not unknown in other lands ; the instructive chapter on "Commerce and Manufactures," which hardly tells in favour of the moral side of the German indus- trial; the disquisition on "Womankind. and Family Life.;" and the account of the "Aristocracy," a misnomer for the noblesse, which, whatever its poverty and faults, has set so bright an example in, and done so much for, the Army. Mr. Whitman may well ask whether German Unity would have come about had it not, been for the splendid staff of poor but conventionally noble officers who have for generations devoted their lives unselfishly to the pro- fession of arms and the service of the State. , They form, however only a parts if the main part, of that corps of officers, 'Royal, noble, and middle class, which. being continuous,, is
• practically the Army ; and their conduct and, bearing is all the more admirable because merit governa proaaotion„ and a man's career' depends on the abilities Are possesses., Von
3foltke's brother-in-law and . aide de camp 1870, came.
out of the war a Captain only; and Mr. Whitman met a grisly-haired Count of the Holy Roman Empire, whose family figured' in the Almanach de Gotha, who was still leading a company, and was "the oldest Captain in the Prussian Army,"—his fitness having led him no further. Nor in the Army alone does the iron rule obtain. "From the moment responsibility attaches to a post," writes our author, "class privileges count for nothing; and whether in the army, in the civil service, or in any other walk of public life, untitled merit takes precedence of the highest birth." If that is a little too strong, it expresses, nevertheless, a reality. From Mr. Whitman's conclusions we may extract the following passage. which reflects his view of the bright and solid side of German life :—
" We have found a nation on a high level of education, and of healthy material prosperity, and whose best sons are imbued with a rare ideality of aim and purpose. The people are animated by a sense of duty, and an earnest devotion to work, which are hardly to be surpassed in the world. In this sentiment every difference of creed and party is submerged, until it becomes a paramount law of ethics of universal practical application. We see this par- ticularly in the honesty of the administration of the country as well as in the high standard of rectitude and honour observable in all the educated—notably the professional classes. It is the moral force underlying all this that is more instructive than any outward success which is merely a result."
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