12. Essays from "Deutsche Wochenschrift"

The Week of March 14-21, 1888

The funeral of Kaiser Wilhelm is over; the aged hero, who reunited Germany and raised it to unimagined greatness, has been buried in the mausoleum at Charlottenburg next to his royal parents amidst an enormous crowd of people and an unprecedented attendance of foreign princes. Emperor Frederick, whose serious illness still prevents him from leaving the palace, especially as the temperature in Berlin has remained very low in recent days, watched the funeral procession pass by from the window of his room. A few days later he issued a message to the Reichstag and the Prussian House of Representatives, in which he announced his assumption of imperial and royal power and pledged in writing to uphold the constitution of the Empire and Prussia. At the same time, the proclamation to Alsace-Lorraine also took place, which we have included here as a new historical document of the utmost importance.

We, Frederick, by the grace of God, German Emperor, King of Prussia, hereby proclaim and declare: After our beloved Lord Father's Majesty, then Emperor Wilhelm, departed from this temporality according to God's decree, the German imperial dignity and thus, in accordance with the imperial laws, the government of the imperial lands has passed to us. We have taken them over in the name of the Empire. Determined to safeguard the rights of the Empire over these German territories, which have been reunited with the Fatherland after a long intervening period, we are aware of the task of cultivating a German spirit and German customs in them, protecting law and justice and promoting the welfare and prosperity of the inhabitants. In our efforts to fulfill this task, we count on the trust and devotion of the population, as well as on the faithful fulfillment of duty by all authorities and officials. We demand and expect conscientious observance of the laws, but we will also grant our imperial protection to everyone's rights. Through the impartial administration of justice and a lawful, benevolent and prudent, but firmly managed administration, the unbreakable connection of Alsace-Lorraine with the German Empire will once again become as intimate as it was in the times of our ancestors, before these German lands were torn away from the ancient and glorious connection with their fellow tribesmen and compatriots. We order this decree to be promulgated by the Gazette. Given Charlottenburg, March 5, 1888 Signed: Friedrich | Signed: Prince v. Hohenlohe

The House of Representatives and the Reichstag responded to Frederick III's message with an address of devotion that faithfully reflected the sentiments of the people; the Reichstag was then closed. The Emperor appointed his former highly deserving Chief of the General Staff, General Count Blumenthal, as Field Marshal.

In the meantime, an extremely important change took place in the Austrian Ministry of War, from which Count Bylandt-Rheidt resigned after a long and distinguished career, while the former commander of Vienna, Feldzeugmeister Freiherr v. Bauer, one of the most outstanding Austrian officers, was appointed Imperial Minister of War. The Emperor also systematized the post of Inspector General of the Infantry by special decree and appointed his son, Crown Prince Rudolf, to the same post, thus giving him a major independent post that would be decisive for the future of Austrian military power. In the meantime, the House of Representatives negotiated the extradition of the deputy Ritter von Schönerer, as demanded by the criminal court, which was approved almost unanimously. New municipal elections were held in Vienna, which generally ended in a defeat for the German-Liberal electoral committee.

In France, there was a greater Boulanger hype after all. The vain and ambitious general left his garrison several times against the orders of the Minister of War and went to Paris. As a result of this breach of discipline, the President of the Republic, at the request of the Minister of War, put him on trial; it seems, however, that the insistence of his friends, who certainly want to push him into an active political role, will result in his dismissal or retirement. After Thibaudin, now Boulanger, that is the course of the Republic. Lively debates in the French Chamber concerning Boulanger, particularly those provoked by Paul de Cassagnac, are devoid of political significance and merely arouse the interest of piquancy.

There has been no change in the situation in the Orient, but new Russian steps in the Bulgarian question are expected shortly. In the meantime, Prince Ferdinand is settling in somewhat more comfortably in Sofia.