‘It must be jolly nice for you to be in your native town …’ may just hint of some
longing after almost seven years working in Germany. Even so, Robert felt he
was ‘getting on very well …’ at the ‘Auer’, an opinion reflecting his young
family, prestigious home, financial stability and professional respect. His
transition to ‘a real German’ however was clearly still a work in progress.
Hodsman was to remain at Leeds despite Robert’s letter, as his reply to Haber
in the Leeds Special Collections
15 shows. Robert on the other hand was to be
bound even more closely to Germany when Emily gave birth to their second
son, Peter Walter, in Berlin on the 22 August 1913.
16
12.5 The Prelude to War
Little Peter Walter was born into troubled times. Germany was unsettled
socially, politically and militarily. The 1912 Reichstag elections had resulted
in the return of 110 Socialist Democrat deputies,
17 making Chancellor
Bethmann-Hollweg’s task of liaising between the Reichstag, the autocratic
Wilhelm II, and the right-wing military high command almost impossible.
To the ruling elite, the German peoples’ vote upset the natural ‘order of
things’, but they did not allow this ‘red’ majority to have any influence on the
social, educational and governmental systems, for Germany was not ruled by
the Reichstag, but by the Kaiser. The German experience was not isolated.
Europe was a continent of social division, simmering resentments, jealousies
and rivalries, of national anxiety, fervent nationalism and for some, a thirst for
revenge. As a consequence, in the five years up to 1913 expenditure on arms
by the major powers had increased by 50% and the foundations of a pan
European conflict had been established. Its roots were historic.
Otto von Bismarck, the grumpy, hypochondriac Prime Minister of Prussia
and architect of the young Germany had formed his ‘nation’ from independent states with ‘blood and iron’ in two devastating wars, against Austria in
1866 and France in 1871. The first brought a collection of German speaking
states previously dominated by Austria, into a ‘north German federation’.
Having created a united assembly in the north, Bismarck determined to
achieve the same in the south and so unite all of the German speaking states
under Prussia. He therefore ‘engineered’ a war with the French by attempting
to place a German prince on the throne of Spain. The French, fearful of the
prospect of a war on two fronts, responded by declaring war against Prussia in
July 1870 but the Prussian military machine quickly demolished her forces.
There were lasting consequences of this war. Aside from territorial gains—
France ceded the coal rich regions of Alsace and Lorraine to Prussia—the
southern German states agreed to an alliance with their northern counterparts,
12 Berlin 1911–1914
231
longing after almost seven years working in Germany. Even so, Robert felt he
was ‘getting on very well …’ at the ‘Auer’, an opinion reflecting his young
family, prestigious home, financial stability and professional respect. His
transition to ‘a real German’ however was clearly still a work in progress.
Hodsman was to remain at Leeds despite Robert’s letter, as his reply to Haber
in the Leeds Special Collections
15 shows. Robert on the other hand was to be
bound even more closely to Germany when Emily gave birth to their second
son, Peter Walter, in Berlin on the 22 August 1913.
16
12.5 The Prelude to War
Little Peter Walter was born into troubled times. Germany was unsettled
socially, politically and militarily. The 1912 Reichstag elections had resulted
in the return of 110 Socialist Democrat deputies,
17 making Chancellor
Bethmann-Hollweg’s task of liaising between the Reichstag, the autocratic
Wilhelm II, and the right-wing military high command almost impossible.
To the ruling elite, the German peoples’ vote upset the natural ‘order of
things’, but they did not allow this ‘red’ majority to have any influence on the
social, educational and governmental systems, for Germany was not ruled by
the Reichstag, but by the Kaiser. The German experience was not isolated.
Europe was a continent of social division, simmering resentments, jealousies
and rivalries, of national anxiety, fervent nationalism and for some, a thirst for
revenge. As a consequence, in the five years up to 1913 expenditure on arms
by the major powers had increased by 50% and the foundations of a pan
European conflict had been established. Its roots were historic.
Otto von Bismarck, the grumpy, hypochondriac Prime Minister of Prussia
and architect of the young Germany had formed his ‘nation’ from independent states with ‘blood and iron’ in two devastating wars, against Austria in
1866 and France in 1871. The first brought a collection of German speaking
states previously dominated by Austria, into a ‘north German federation’.
Having created a united assembly in the north, Bismarck determined to
achieve the same in the south and so unite all of the German speaking states
under Prussia. He therefore ‘engineered’ a war with the French by attempting
to place a German prince on the throne of Spain. The French, fearful of the
prospect of a war on two fronts, responded by declaring war against Prussia in
July 1870 but the Prussian military machine quickly demolished her forces.
There were lasting consequences of this war. Aside from territorial gains—
France ceded the coal rich regions of Alsace and Lorraine to Prussia—the
southern German states agreed to an alliance with their northern counterparts,
12 Berlin 1911–1914
231