eginning of the war. They
stated that they had urged the invasion of Belgium because if Belgium
had not been invaded immediately France could have seized the Rhine
Valley and made it impossible for Germany to manufacture war munitions
and thereby to fight a war. They said they were in favour of an
unlimited, ruthless submarine warfare against England and all ships
going to the British Isles. Their opinions were best represented in an
inspired editorial appearing in the _Rhieinische Westfaelische Zeitung_,
in which it was stated:

"The war must be fought to a finish. Either Germany or England must
win and the interests here on the Rhine are ready to fight until
Germany wins."

"Do you think Germany wants war with America?" I asked Thyssen.

"Never!" was his emphatic response. "First, because we have enemies
enough, and, secondly, because in peace times, our relations with
America are always most friendly. We want them to continue so after
the war."

Thyssen's remarks could be taken on their face value were it not for
the fact that the week before we arrived in these cities General
Ludendorf, von Hindenhurg's chief assistant and co-worker, was there to
get the industrial leaders to manufacture more ammunition. Von
Falkenhayn had made many enemies in this section because he cut down
the ammunition manufacturing until these men were losing money. So the
first thing von Hindenburg did was to double all orders for ammunition
and war supplies and to send Ludendorf to the industrial centres to
make peace with the men who were opposed to the Government.

Thus from May to November German politics went through a period of
transformation. No one knew exactly what would happen,--there were so
many conflicting opinions. Political parties, industrial leaders and
the press were so divided it was evident that something would have to
be done or the German political organisation would strike a rock and go
to pieces. The Socialists were still demanding election reforms during
the war. The National Liberals were intriguing for a Reichstag
Committee to have equal authority with the Foreign Office in dealing
with all matters of international affairs. The landowners, who were
losing money because the Government was confiscating so much food, were
not only criticising von Bethmann-Hollweg but holding back as much food
as they could for higher prices. The industrial leaders, who had been
losing money because von Falkenhay