HERR VON SCHOEN'S MEMOIRS.
THERE are some interesting passages in The Memoirs of an Ambers. sailor (G. Allen and Unwin, 10s. 6d. net), written by Herr von Schoen, who was the German Foreign Secretary from 1907 to 1910, and then represented Germany in Paris up to the outbreak of the War. In regard to the Bosnian crisis of 1908, he says that Germany did not present an ultimatum to Russia, but merely used " very forcible " language, saying that if the Tsar did not recognize the Austrian annexation of Bosnia " we should be obliged to leave things to take their course." The famous Daily Telegraph report of an interview with the German Emperor, published in October, 1908, was, it appears, drafted by Colonel Stuart Wortley, and then carefully revised first in the German Foreign Office and afterwards by Prince von Billow himself, but without reference to the Foreign Secretary. The article caused much annoyance in Germany, and the Emperor, not unnaturally, was angry with the Chancellor for exposing him to criticism and " betraying " him. The Ministers, it appears, had discussed " the idea of persuading him to abdicate," as he was half inclined to do. Herr von Schoen's account of the Agadir incident of 1908 is incomplete, but shows that he counted upon the earnest support of M. Caillaux in obtaining large territorial cessions in French Congo. The author's narrative of the negotiations preceding the War is temperately written. He is, of course, wrong in declaring that Lord Grey of Fallodon had " concluded military agreements " ; Lord Grey's domestic critics make it a complaint that he had not done so. Herr von Schoen is much too sensible to apologize for his Government in ordering him, in the unlikely event of France agreeing to remain neutral in a Russo-German war, to demand the temporary cession of Verdun and Toul. He did not, in fact, present the demand. He sees, however, that if France had desired to be neutral, such an insulting request from Berlin would have compelled her to take up arms. Germany " had more reason for offering than for demanding something " for French neutrality, and the proposal
• Lessons from the Old Testament : Senior Cowie. By Canon Glazebrook, 8 volumes. London Rivingtana. [Si. each.]
could only have been made by " parties with no political train- ing "—in other words, the German General Staff. Herr von Schoen admits that the German declaration of war was based upon false reports of French air attacks on Nuremberg; " that my name," he says, " should be coupled with a serious mistake, which gives the impression of having been an untruth, is the most painful recollection of my official life." He declares that he did not know, when he left Paris late on August 3rd, 1914, that Germany had declared war on Belgium, nor that Germany had ever intended to do so. He condemns in the strongest terms the attack on Belgium, which was responsible for " England's decision to intervene " :-
" It may be quite correct, from a military point of view, to carry the horrors of war successfully into the enemy's country, but crushing a weak country, protected by sacred treaties, is a crime against which the world's conscience revolts, and for which it demands reparation. Germany will have to bear the burden of this reparation for a century to come."
Herr von Schoen is the most honest and reasonable of the high German officials who have written on the causes of the War.
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