My Four Years in Germany by Gerard, James W., 1867-1951

It is because in the dark, cold Northern plains of Germany there exists an autocracy, deceiving a great people, poisoning their minds from one generation to another and preaching the virtue and necessity of war; and until that autocracy is either wiped out or made powerless, there can be no peace on earth.

The golden dream of conquest was almost accomplished. A little more advance, a few more wagon loads of ammunition, and there would have been no battle of the Marne, no Joffre, a modern Martel, to hammer back the invading hordes of barbarism.

I have always stated that Germany is possessed yet of immense military power; and, to win, the nations opposed to Germany must learn to think in a military way. The mere entrance, even of a great nation like our own, into the war, means nothing in a military way unless backed by military power.

And there must be no German peace. The old _regime_, left in control of Germany, of Bulgaria, of Turkey, would only seek a favourable moment to renew the war, to strive again for the mastery of the world.

Fortunately America bars the way,--America led by a fighting President who win allow no compromise with brutal autocracy.

THE END

[Illustration: THIS AND THE FOLLOWING FIVE PAGES ARE A FAC-SIMILE REPRODUCTION OF THE TELEGRAM IN THE KAISER'S OWN HANDWRITING WHICH HE GAVE AMBASSADOR GERARD TO CABLE TO PRESIDENT WILSON.]

[Illustration: FAC-SIMILE OF SECRETARY OF STATE ZIMMERMAN'S REQUEST TO AMBASSADOR GERARD TO CALL IN ORDER TO RECEIVE THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF RUTHLESS SUBMARINE WARFARE AGAINST THE ALLIES.]

[Illustration: THE REMODELLED DRAFT OF THE TREATY OF 1799 BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND PRUSSIA, WHICH AMBASSADOR GERARD WAS ASKED TO SIGN WHEN LEAVING GERMANY AFTER DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS HAD BEEN SEVERED.]

[Illustration: A FAC-SIMILE REPRODUCTION OF A MULTIGRAPH SET OF INSTRUCTIONS SENT OUT BY THE GERMAN PRESS BUREAU TO THE NEWSPAPERS FOR THE PURPOSE OF ENABLING THEM TO WRITE UP THE LATEST ZEPPELIN RAID ON LONDON. THE INSTRUCTIONS WARN THEM THAT THEIR ACCOUNTS MUST NOT READ LIKE A REPRINT, BUT MUST SEEM TO HAVE BEEN WRITTEN INDEPENDENTLY.]

[Illustration: A PETITION TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, CIRCULATED FOR SIGNATURES AMONG THE AMERICANS IN EUROPE, OSTENSIBLY TO PROTEST AGAINST THE AMERICAN MANUFACTURE OF MUNITIONS OF WAR.]

[Illustration: FIRST PAGE OF A PAMPHLET FOR PROPAGANDA PURPOSES, IN WHICH WIDE PUBLICITY WAS GIVEN TO LISSAUER'S FAMOUS "HYMN OF HATE".]

[Illustration: AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF TEUTONIC EFFICIENCY. MINUTE REGULATIONS IN REGARD TO PRESENTATION AT COURT.]

[Illustration: A BERLIN EXTRA. GERMANY DISCLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE WAR.]

[Illustration: INVITATION TO SAIL ON S. M. J. "METEOR".]

[Illustration: INVITATION TO DINE ON THE KAISER'S YACHT, "HOHENZOLLERN," AT KIEL.]

[Illustration: INVITATION TO THE GARDEN PARTY AT KIEL OF PRINCE HENRY OF PRUSSIA, WHICH WAS GIVEN UP BECAUSE OF THE NEWS OF THE MURDERS AT SARAJEVO.]

End of Project Gutenberg's My Four Years in Germany, by James W. Gerard