Page:The guilt of William Hohenzollern.djvu/103

Rh —the chief anxiety was that by a temporary, apparent yielding on the part of Russia we might be morally compelled to wait until Russia and France were really ready."

It is characteristic of the eagerness for war among these circles that when it actually broke out it was received, not with anxiety or with grief as a fearful catastrophe, but with jubilation as a deliverance.

On June 7th, 1915, the King of Bavaria stated: ""Russia's declaration of war was followed by that of France, and when the English then fell upon us I said:

"'I am glad, and I am glad for this reason, that now we can settle accounts with our enemies and that now, at last, we will obtain a direct outlet from the Rhine to the sea.'""

Such was the desire for peace of the reigning German princes on the outbreak of the war. But it is certain that all were not so stupid and wanton as to long for war. The arbitrators at the Foreign Office "risked" it, to be sure, but hoped that events would take the turn they did in 1909 and 1913, when Russia drew back owing to inadequate equipment. They did not consider that, this time, the Russian Empire was subjected to a particularly severe test: she was required to evacuate all her political strongholds in the Balkans and to hand them over entirely to Austria.

Meanwhile, by taking prompt action, leaving Russia no time to come to an understanding with her friends,