German Foreign Policy, 1888-1913, by Count Ernst zu Reventlow, Berlin, 1914.
Fourth Section.
“Moreover, since 1903 the German plan for the Baghdad railway, accepted by Turkey, has been a dangerous spectre” (p. 314).
“If one adds that the main purpose of the Balkan Committee was deliberate political propaganda, it needs no further proof that this Committee, disposing of large sums of money, was a powerful but at the same time irresponsible assistant of official British policy” (p. 314).
“The similarity of motivation behind the Sanjak railway and the future Baghdad railway was obvious” (p. 317).
“In 1906 the Paris Revue Slave wrote that the Slavs of Central Europe and the Balkans ought to strive for a big customs union with Russia, Hungary, Rumania and Greece. ‘All these peoples would doubtlessly benefit much more from it than from a customs union with Germany.... Russia’s revived strength will be unconquerable once all Slav elements, united under her moral aegis, come out in resolute opposition to all policies of brute force’” (p. 318).
“From the outset the movement bore a strong Jewish imprint, which brought it into association with the centres of European capital. The Young Turk movement was always supported and promoted by France and Great Britain, especially through the Balkan Committee” (p. 319).
“On July 19, 1908, King Edward VII paid a visit to the Russian tsar, meeting him in the Reval roadstead. This meeting marked the culmination of Anglo-Russian rapprochement and caused a sensation in the political world of Europe” (p. 319).
“At any rate, one must recall the mood of disquiet prevailing in Europe during the years 1906-08, particularly in Germany. We have seen how in 1906 and 1907 King Edward’s Entente policy of ‘encircling’ Germany gained more and more political reality. With the Mediterranean agreements and the agreement with Russia that policy, it seemed, had run full circle” (p. 320).
“There was talk of a far- reaching plan for the partition of Turkey” (p. 322).
“London was taken completely by surprise, as was also Paris” (p. 327).
“There can be no doubt that if Germany supports the dual monarchy only conditionally and with reservations, this monarchy will be exposed to the strongest pressure by the Entente powers. At a certain point Great Britain and Russia will try to achieve the reverse, that is, convince Austria-Hungary by their pressure that she would do better to join the Triple Entente, that this would prove more advantageous than alliance with the German Empire” (p. 332).
| | |
| | | | | | | ||||||