Page:Paul Samuel Reinsch - Secret Diplomacy, How Far Can It Be Eliminated? - 1922.djvu/115



VII. THE CRISIS OF 1914
IF secret diplomacy exhibits its drawbacks even in a country where parliamentary government is so highly developed as in England and where po- litical intelligence and independence of judgment exist, we shall not be surprised at the continuous prevalence of devious methods in diplomacy in countries where the conduct of foreign affairs is considered quite frankly a matter only for the initiated, and where little pretense is made of an appeal to public opinion except in the sense of holding it in subjection by vague general ideas of national danger, necessity, and honor. The main faults of German diplomacy were due to its bureaucratic point of view and its lack of con- tact with public opinion, both at home and abroad. It was distinctly an expression of the authorita- tive will of the state, guided by a supposed inner knowledge of its dangers and needs, but without any real effort to strengthen itself through con- tact with the public mind. The Reichstag was indeed occasionally informed of foreign develop-