s of such men, it would assuredly have made an impression on the
Emperor. It is equally true that of all the inhabitants of the earth the
German is the one least capable of adapting himself to the mentality of
other people, and, as a matter of fact, there were perhaps but few in
the immediate entourage of the Emperor who recognized the growing
anxiety of the world. Perhaps many of them who so continuously extolled
the Emperor were really honestly of opinion that his behavior was quite
correct. It is, nevertheless, impossible not to believe that among the
many clever politicians of the last decade there were some who had a
clear grasp of the situation, and the fact remains that in order to
spare the Emperor and themselves they had not the courage to be harsh
with him and tell him the truth to his face. These are not reproaches,
but reminiscences which should not be superfluous at a time when the
Emperor is to be made the scapegoat of the whole world."

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 4: "Betrachtungen zum Weltkriege," Th. von Bethmann Hollweg.
"Erinnerungen," Alfred von Tirpitz. Both translated into English under
the Titles: "Reflections on the World War," and "My Memoirs."]

[Footnote 5: In both cases I am writing with the books before me in the
original.]

CHAPTER IV

THE MILITARY PREPARATIONS

When more time has passed and heads have become cooler the critics will
have to decide whether Great Britain was as fully prepared as she ought
to have been for the possibility of the great struggle into which she
had to enter in August, 1914. Hundreds of speeches have been made, and
still more articles have been written, to demonstrate that she was
caught wholly unready. On the other hand authoritative writers in
Germany have made the counter-assertion that she had prepared copiously,
not merely to defend herself, but to join in encircling and crushing
Germany.

I shall venture to submit some reasons for saying that neither of these
views is the true one. During the whole of the period between the
commencement of 1906 and the autumn of 1914 I sat on the Committee of
Imperial Defense and took an active part in its deliberations. For over
six of these eight years I was Minister for War, and I was in continuous
co-operation with the colleagues who were, like myself, engaged in
carrying into execution the methods which we had gradually worked out.
Such as the plans were, the preparations which they required were
completed be