d that His Majesty was in love with the beautiful Princess of
Pless, an Englishwoman by birth. When von Hindenburg took his
headquarters to the big castle there, the Princess was exiled and sent
to Parkenkirchen, one of the winter resorts of Bavaria.

On previous birthdays of the Emperor and when questions of great moment
were debated the civilian ministers of the Kaiser were always invited.
But on the Kaiser's birthday in 1917 only the military leaders were
asked. Dr. Helfferich, Minister of Colonies Solf, German bankers and
business men as well as German shippers were not consulted. Germany
was becoming so desperate that she was willing to defy not only her
enemies and neutral countries but her own financiers and business men.
Previously, when the submarine issue was debated the Kaiser wanted to
know what effect such a warfare would have upon German economic and
industrial life. But this time he did not care. He wanted to know the
naval and military arguments.

In August, 1914, when the Chancellor and a very small group of people
were appealing to His Majesty not to go to war, the Kaiser sided with
General von Moltke and Admiral von Tirpitz. During the various
submarine crises with the United States it appeared that the Kaiser was
changing--that he was willing and ready to side with the forces of
democracy in his own country. President Wilson and Ambassador Gerard
thought that after the downfall of von Tirpitz and von Falkenhayn the
Kaiser would join hands with the reform forces. But in 1917 when the
final decision came the Kaiser cast his lot with his generals against
the United States and against democracy in Germany. The Chancellor,
who had impressed neutral observers as being a real leader of democracy
in Germany, sided with the Kaiser. Thus by one stroke the democratic
movement which was under way in Germany received a rude slap. The man
the people had looked upon as a friend became an enemy.

III

The Break in Diplomatic Relations

On January 30th the German Government announced its blockade of all
Allied coasts and stated that all shipping within these waters, except
on special lanes, would be sunk without notice. Germany challenged the
whole world to stay off of the ocean. President Wilson broke
diplomatic relations immediately and ordered Ambassador Gerard to
return home. Gerard called at the Foreign Office for his passports and
said that he desired to leave at once. Zimmermann informed