Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - III. On the Way to the Fifth Army
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
78 WITH THE GERMAN ARMIES IN THE WEST
door. "Herein " I called with the voice of a corporal. In steps
the Crown Prince with a large volume under his arm, I ask
my august guest to be seated on the sofa. There we sat and
talked until it was time to prepare for the evening meal.
The book which the Crown Prince had brought with him,
and which he asked me to accept as a memento of him, was
entitled Deutschland in Waffen (Germany under Arms), and
contained, apart from reading matter by various authors,
a series of excellently executed coloured plates of different
German armies in being, in manoeuvres and sham fights, as
well as of German warships at sea. The work, produced by
the Crown Prince with the assistance of eminent experts, was
dedicated to his father the Emperor. The copy, which I
treasure in memory of the giver, contained a dedication
curiously historical in tone. The motto chosen by the editor
of the book was the following :
" The world does not rest
more securely on Atlas’ shoulders than does Germany upon
her army and navy." The introduction is written by the
Crown Prince himself and ends with the following impressive
and prophetic words :
" Doubtless diplomatic skill can and will, for some time to
come, defer conflicts and even dissolve them. Those called
upon in the solemn hour of decision must and will surely be
fully conscious of their terrible responsibility. They will feel
it their duty to make it clear to themselves that once the
match has been applied to the gigantic conflagration, it will
be no easy and no speedy task to quench it. But, as the
lightning equalises the tension between two air strata of
different charge, so will the sword, until the world comes to
an end, be and remain the deciding factor. And therefore
everyone who loves his country and who believes in the great
future of our people must gladly and readily do all in his power
to guard the old soldierly spirit of our ancestors from decadence
and from the sickly taint of thought. The sword itself is not
enough, it needs the practised steel-clad arm to wield it.
Every man amongst us must keep fit for service in our army
and navy and must in heart and soul be ready for the great
and solemn hour when our Emperor calls us to the colours, for
the moment when we no longer belong to ourselves but to the
country only with the whole of our bodily and spiritual
strength—the time when all these qualities must be strained
to the uttermost to attain the ’
will to conquer ’
which in all
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
