Page:Paul Samuel Reinsch - Secret Diplomacy, How Far Can It Be Eliminated? - 1922.djvu/88



sometimes you are, of the vast bearings of your foreign policy."

The German Emperor, having failed to obtain a treaty with England, now turned to his Rus- sian cousin with the design of inducing him to make an alliance. The Willy-Nicky correspond- ence which was published by the Russian Revo- lutionary Government in 1917, as well as the memoirs of Isvolsky, give us a complete insight into the action of William II in this matter. The correspondence shows that Emperor William neg- lected no means of arousing resentment and sus- picion of England in the mind of Nicholas, par- ticularly in attempting to show a complicity of England with Japan in the war against Russia. In November, 1904, William proposed the imme- diate signature by Russia, without the knowledge of France, of a defensive treaty of alliance, evi- dently directed against Great Britain. France was to be invited to join after the signature by Germany and Russia. The Czar, however, in- sisted that he could not entertain this proposal without first submitting it to his ally. William, in a long telegram, argued insistently upon the danger of informing France before the signature. He said: "Only the absolute, undeniable knowl- edge that we are both bound by the treaty to give