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Bernhard Heinrich Karl Martin von Bülow (May 3, 1849 – October 28, 1929), named in 1905 Prince (Fürst) von Bülow, was a German statesman who served as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs for three years and then as Chancellor of the German Empire from 1900 to 1909. Bülow
was
described as possessing every quality except greatness. He had a
round face with smiling blue eyes and a carefully trimmed moustache. He
spoke several languages, was a charming conversationalist and was
comfortably at home in high society with a capacity to entertain and
impress even his opponents. Although highly ambitious, he was also vain
and once he obtained power and position in the German government had no
overaching ambition what to do with it, allowing others to guide
policy. His character made him a good choice to work well with Emperor
Wilhelm
II, who required agreement and flattery from his senior
ministers even if sometimes they then ignored his instructions.
Bülow was a fine judge of mood and an expert flatterer, but could
equally be cutting and contemptuous of both friends and enemies to
others. He wrote four volumes of autobiography to be published after
his death, which markedly altered public perception of his character as
they included his candid and malicious descriptions of others. He was a
fine debater in the Reichstag, although generally lazy in carrying out
his duties. He was described by Friedrich
von
Holstein, who for 30 years was first councilor in the foreign
department and a major influence on policy throughout that time, as
having "read more Machiavelli than he could digest". His mother-in-law
claimed, "Bernhard makes a secret out of everything." He was
born at Klein-Flottbeck, Holstein,
now
part of Altona,
a
part of Hamburg. His father, Bernhard
Ernst
von Bülow, was a Danish and German statesman.
His
brother, Major-General Karl Ulrich von Bülow, was a cavalry
commander during World War I who took part in the attack
on
Liège in
August 1914. Bülow
later
attributed his grasp of English and French to having learnt it
from French and English governesses as a young child. His father spoke
French, while his mother spoke English as was not uncommon amongst
Hamburg society. In 1856 his father was sent
to the Federal Diet in Frankfurt to represent Holstein and Lauenburg, when Otto
von
Bismarck was
also there to represent Prussia. He became a great friend of Bismarck's
son Herbert when they played together. In Rumpenheim
castle he also
played with Princess
Alexandra, later Queen of England. At age thirteen the family moved
to Neustrelitz when his father became
Chief Minister to the Grand
Duke
of Mecklenburg. There he attended the Frankfort gymnasium,
before attending universities in Lausanne, Leipzig and Berlin. He
volunteered for military service during the Franco-Prussian
War and became a
lance-corporal in the King's Hussar Regiment. In December 1870 the
squadron was in action near Amiens, and he later described charging and
killing French riflemen with his sabre. He was promoted to lieutenant
and invited to remain in the army after the war, but declined. He completed his law degree
at the University
of
Greifswald in
1872. Afterwards, he entered first the Prussian
Civil
Service and
then the diplomatic service. In 1873
his father became Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in the German
government, serving under Chancellor Bismarck, and Bülow junior
entered the diplomatic corps. His first short assignments were to Rome,
St. Petersburg, Vienna and then Athens. In 1876 he was appointed
attaché to the German embassy in Paris,
attended
the Berlin
Congress as a
secretary and became second secretary
to the embassy in 1880. In 1884
he hoped to be posted to London but instead became first secretary at
the embassy in St.
Petersburg.
On the way to his new assignment he stayed for a couple
of days at Varzin with the Bismarck family. Bismarck explained that he
considered relations with Russia much more important than Britain, and
this was why he had posted Bülow there. Bismarck reported himself
impressed by Bülow's calmness and demeanour during this interview. In Russia he acted as chargé d'affaires,
in
1887 advocating ethnic
cleansing of Poles
from Polish territories of the German Empire in future armed conflict. Bülow
wrote regularly
to the Foreign Office, complaining about his superior, Ambassador
Schweinitz. Schweinitz, however, was well liked, and Bülow only
earned for himself a reputation as a schemer. In 1885 Holstein noted
with admiration that Bülow was attempting to have Prince Hohenlohe removed
as ambassador to France so that he might replace him, all the while
exchanging friendly letters with Hohenlohe. On the
9th of January 1886, while still at St. Petersburg, he married Maria
Anna Zoe Rosalia Beccadelli di Bologna, Principessa di Camporeale,
Marchesa di Altavilla, whose first marriage with Count Karl
von
Dönhoff had
been dissolved and declared null by the Holy See in 1884. The princess,
an accomplished pianist and pupil of Franz
Liszt, was a stepdaughter of the Italian statesman Minghetti and daughter of Donna Laura
Minghetti (née Acton) who was highly respected in Roman society.
Maria had been married for sixteen years and had three children.
Bülow previously had numerous love affairs, but the marriage was
intended to further his career. In 1888 he was offered the choice of
appointments to Washington or Bucharest,
and
chose Bucharest as Maria objected to the prospect of traveling to
America and leaving her family behind. He spent the next five years
scheming to be appointed to Rome, where his wife was well connected.
King Humbert was persuaded to write to the kaiser saying that he would
be pleased if Bülow became ambassador there, and in 1893 he duly
did. On 21
June 1897 Bülow received a telegram instructing him to go to Kiel
to speak to Kaiser Wilhelm. On the way he stopped at Frankfurt while
changing trains and spoke to Philip
zu
Eulenburg.
Eulenburg explained that the kaiser wanted a new
State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and urged Bülow to take the
post, which was the same one his father had once held. Eulenburg also
passed on tips about how best to manage Wilhelm, who lived on praise
and could not stand to be contradicted. In Berlin, Bülow first
spoke to Holstein who advised him that although he would have preferred
the present Secretary, Adolf
Marschall
von Bieberstein, to stay in the job, the kaiser was
determined to replace him, and that he would prefer the successor to be
Bülow. Marschall himself said that although he did not want to go,
it was inevitable and he would rather see Bülow as his successor.
Perhaps Bülow might be able to find him an ambassador's post in
due course? Chancellor Hohenlohe, desperate to retire because of old
age, urged Bülow to take the job, with an eye to succeeding him as
chancellor. Bülow urged Hohenlohe to continue in office for as
long as he could. On 26
June Bülow arrived in Kiel and met Wilhelm. The kaiser advised
that it would be one of the new secretary's main tasks to set about
building a world class fleet capable of taking on the British, without
in the process precipitating a war. Bülow asked for time to
consider the offer, and on 3 August accepted. The two men formed a good
working relationship. Rather than oppose the kaiser, as some of his
predecessors had done, Bülow agreed with him on all matters,
though sometimes privately relying on Wilhelm's bad memory and frequent
changes of mind to take the action he thought best rather than what the
kaiser had instructed. The post of Foreign Secretary was subordinate to
that of the Chancellor, and in the time of Bismarck's chancellorship
had been only a functionary. Under Bülow this was largely
reversed, Hohenlohe being content to let Bülow manage foreign
affairs with his principal adviser, Holstein. Wilhelm would call on
Bülow every morning to discuss state affairs but see the
chancellor only rarely. Bülow
also
held a seat in the Prussian government: Although Wilhelm was
emperor of all Germany, he was also king of Prussia. As Foreign
Secretary, Bülow was chiefly responsible for carrying out the
policy of colonial expansion (or Weltpolitik)
with
which the emperor had identified himself. He was welcomed by the
Foreign Office because he was the first professional diplomat to be
placed in charge since the forced resignation of Bismarck in 1890.
Bülow had been wary of accepting the post if Holstein remained as
First Councillor, as Holstein had in practice held great authority in
recent years. However, Holstein (nicknamed the 'monster of the
labyrinth') was regarded as indispensable because of his long
experience in office, rank cunning and phenomenal memory of affairs of
state throughout his time. Eulenburg advised Bülow to stake out a
firm working relationship immediately on his arrival, and the two
succeeded in working together. In 1899, on bringing to a
successful conclusion the negotiations by which the Caroline
Islands were
acquired by Germany, he was raised to the rank of Count. In
October 1900 Bülow was summoned to the kaiser's hunting retreat at
Hubertsstock. There Wilhelm asked Bülow to become Chancellor of
the German Empire and Prime Minister of Prussia. Bülow queried
whether he was really the best man for the job: The kaiser admitted
that he would have preferred Eulenburg on a personal level, but was not
sure he was sufficiently able. On 16 October Bülow was summoned
again, this time to Homburg, where his train was met personally by
Wilhelm. Wilhelm explained that Hohenlohe had announced he could
continue as chancellor no longer, and this time Bülow accepted the
job he had been seeking for many years. A replacement State Secretary
was necessary, and the job was first offered to Holstein, who as
expected turned it down, preferring not to take a job which required
appearing before the Reichstag. The post was given to Baron von
Richthofen who had already been serving as under secretary to
Bülow. It was made clear that the State Secretary's post would now
revert to the subordinate role it had played in Bismarck's time, with
Holstein remaining the more important adviser on foreign affairs. Bülow's
good
relationship with the Kaiser continued as chancellor. His mornings
were reserved for Wilhelm, who would visit the chancellery every
morning when in Berlin. His determination to remain on Wilhelm's good
side was remarkable, even amongst those accustomed to the kaiser's
manner. Wilhelm's household controller noted, "Whenever, by oversight,
he expresses an opinion in disagreement with the emperor, he remains
silent for a few moments and then says the exact contrary, with the
preface, 'as Your Majesty so wisely remarked'". He gave up tobacco,
beer, coffee and liqueurs and took 35 minutes of exercise every morning
and would ride in good weather through the Tiergarten. Sundays he would
take long walks in the woods. In 1905, aged 56, he led his old Hussars
regiment at the gallop in a parade for the kaiser, and was rewarded by
an appointment to the rank of major general. Wilhelm remarked to
Eulenburg in 1901, 'Since I have Bülow I can sleep peacefully'. His first
conspicuous act as chancellor was a masterly defence in the Reichstag of German imperialism in China.
Bülow
often spent his time defending German foreign policy before
the parliament; to say nothing of covering for the many gaffes of Wilhelm
II. In
1903
Edward VII paid a visit to Paris. France and Britain had been colonial
rivals and had a long history of conflict, but Edward was determined to
boost British popularity in France by a personal tour. President Loubet
was invited to make a reciprocal visit to London in July. In Germany
there was skepticism amongst senior ministers that anything would come
of this apparent new friendliness, but serious negotiations for a
formal alliance began between Cambon and the British Foreign Secretary,
the Marquess of Lansdowne. As part of settling differences, France
agreed not to dispute British control of Egypt, if Britain supported
France's claims to Morocco. On 24 March 1904, France formally informed
the German ambassador of the new Anglo-French Convention. Prince
Radolin, the ambassador, responded that he felt the agreement natural
and justified. The German press noted that the deal in Morocco did not
harm German interests and that French intervention to restore order in
the country might help German trade. Bülow assured the British
ambassador that he was pleased to see Britain and France settling their
differences. He informed the Reichstag that Germany had no objections
to the deal and no concerns about German interests in Morocco. Holstein
had a different view. Intervention in Moroccan affairs was governed by
the Treaty of Madrid made in 1880 between Germany, Britain, France,
Italy and Spain. Holstein argued that Germany had been sidelined by not
being included in the negotiations, and that Morocco was a country
which showed promise for German influence and trade, which must
eventually suffer if it came under French control. Previously he had
dismissed any possibility of agreement between France and Britain.
France now offered military assistance to Morocco to improve order in
the country. Bülow responded by supporting the position of an
independent Morocco, encouraging the United States to become involved
and threatened war if France intervened. He was now convinced that the
new friendliness between France and Britain was a threat to Germany,
particularly should the accord deepen. France was ill prepared for war
with Germany. Russia, a possible ally, had suffered recent defeats in
the Far east and was already overstretched. Britain's strength was in
its navy rather than any army which might intervene, and war in Europe
on France's behalf went beyond the terms of the Convention. Despite
possible risks of assassination, Bülow persuaded the Kaiser to
make a visit to Tangier in 1905 where he made a speech supporting
Morocco's independence, although his presence there simultaneously
demonstrated Germany's determination to maintain its own influence. The
situation had changed from a colonial dispute to a matter of
international alliances. A German military presence or naval base in
Morocco could threaten the nearby British naval base at Gibraltar, or
important trade routes through the Mediterranean. In Britain King
Edward continued to support the beleaguered French Foreign minister, Theophile
Delcassé. Lansdowne had been surprised by the German
reaction, but now Britain became increasingly determined to continue
the alliance with France. First Sea Lord, Sir
John
Fisher, suggested this was a golden opportunity to take on the
fledgling German fleet before it grew too large. On 3 June the Sultan
of Morocco, at German prompting, rejected the French offer of
assistance and called for an International conference to discuss the
future of his country. On 6 June 1905 the French cabinet met to discuss
their position. Delcassé could get no support for the
continuation of his policies and resigned. News spread to Berlin: the
following morning Wilhelm visited Bülow in his office and raised
him to the rank of prince (Fürst).
The
occasion coincided with the marriage of the crown prince and echoed
the elevation of Bismarck to the rank of prince in
the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. Germany
continued to press for a conference and for further French concessions.
Bülow carefully instructed Radolin and also spoke to the French
ambassador in Berlin. However, the effect was somewhat the reverse of
what he intended, in that it hardened the resolve of the French Premier, Maurice
Rouvier,
to resist further demands. The international conference
commenced 16 January 1906 at Algeciras Town Hall. During the
conference, the British fleet of twenty battleships with accompanying
cruisers and destroyers visited Algecira and all the delegates were
invited onboard. The conference went badly for Germany, initially with
a vote against German proposals 10-3. Holstein wished to threaten war
against France, but Bülow drew back from this outcome and Holstein
was ordered not to take any further part. No satisfactory outcome for
Germany was in sight by April, leaving Bülow the only course of
winding up the conference quickly as best he could. It was agreed that
France and Spain would jointly supervise the Moroccan police force,
with a Swiss inspector general appointed to command the force. France
would control the Moroccan - Algerian border region. President
Roosevelt
congratulated the Kaiser on an 'epoch making success'. The
result was received badly in Germany, with objections raised in the
press and in the Reichstag. On 5 April 1906 Bülow was obliged to
appear before the Reichstag to defend the outcome, and during a heated
exchange, collapsed and had to be carried from the hall. At first it
was thought he had suffered a stroke and that the attack would be
fatal. Lord Fitzmaurice in the House
of
Lords compared the incident with that of the death of Chatham, a compliment much
appreciated in Germany. However, fears that he had suffered a stroke
proved groundless and the collapse was ascribed to overwork and
influenza. After a month's rest the chancellor was able to resume his
duties. State
Secretary Richtofen had died shortly before the conference and been
replaced by Heinrich
von
Tschirsky. Tchirsky and Holstein had disagreed, now culminating
in Holstein offering his resignation, something he had done before when
his advice was refused. On this occasion with Bülow ill, no one
objected to his resignation and it was accepted.
In
1907,
during the Harden-Moltke scandals, Adolf
Brand, the founding editor of the homosexual periodical Der
Eigene, printed a pamphlet alleging that Bülow had been
blackmailed for engaging in homosexual practices and was morally
obligated to oppose Paragraph 175 of the German
penal code, which outlawed homosexuality. Sued for slander and brought
to trial on 7 November 1907, Brand asserted that the Chancellor had
embraced and kissed his private secretary, Privy Councilor Max
Scheefer, at all-male gatherings hosted by Philipp
zu
Eulenburg. Testifying in self-defense, Bülow denied any
such act but remarked that he had heard unsavory rumors about
Eulenburg. Taking the stand, Eulenburg defended himself against Brand's
charge by denying that he had ever held such events, and against
Bülow's insinuation by claiming that he had never engaged in
same-sex acts, which subsequently led to a perjury trial. Despite
concluding testimony by the chief of the Berlin police that Bülow
may indeed have been the victim of a homosexual blackmailer, he easily
prevailed in court, and Brand was sentenced to prison. In
November 1907 Wilhelm made a long planned state visit to Britain. He
attempted to cancel the visit because of the recent scandals, but it
went ahead and was so successful that he decided to remain in Britain
for a holiday. He rented a house for the purpose from Colonel Edward
Montague Stuart-Wortley and spoke freely to its owner while he was
there. After he left, Stuart-Wortley wrote an article intended for
publication in the Daily
Telegraph about
his
conversations and submitted it to Wilhelm requesting approval for its
publication. Wilhelm passed the English manuscript to Bülow asking
whether there were any objections to its publication. Wilhelm had asked
that Bülow not pass on the article to the Foreign office, but he
nonetheless did exactly this, sending it unread to State Secretary
Schoen with a request to prepare an official translation and add any
amendments that might be necessary. Schoen was away, so instead it went
to under secretary Stemrich, who read it but passed it without comment
to Reinhold Klehmet. Khlemet interpreted his instructions as meaning he
should only correct any errors of fact and did not otherwise comment.
It was returned to Bülow, who returned it still unread by him to
Wilhelm, saying he saw no reason not to publish. It duly appeared in
print, and an immediate storm arose. The article expressed Wilhelm's
incomprehension that Britain repeatedly rejected his offers of
friendship, observed that most Germans disliked the English, claimed
that he had intervened against France and Russia on Britains side
during the Boer war, that he had provided the campaign plan used by the
British during that war, and observed that one day Britain might come
to be glad Germany was building up her fleet. It managed to offend
Japanese, French and Russian sensibilities as well as British. Germans
were outraged that their emperor claimed to have helped the British
against the Boers, who were perceived to be of German origin. The
interview publicly revealed the wildness of Wilhelm's views and should
not have been published. Bülow accused the Foreign office of
failing to comment properly on the article. The Foreign office
responded that it was the Chancellor's role to decide on publication in
such a situation. Although Bülow denied having read the article,
it remained unclear how he could have failed to do so given Wilhelm's
continuous record of public gaffs throughout his life. Criticism arose
as to Wilhelm's competence to rule and the role he should be permitted
under the constitution. The matter was to be debated in the Reichstag
where Bülow would have to defend his own position and that of the
emperor. Bülow first wrote to the emperor offering to resign
unless Wilhelm could give him full support dealing with this matter.
Wilhelm, in a very weak position, readily agreed. Bülow then
arranged publication of a defense of events in Norddeutsch Allgemeine
Zeitung, which glossed over the unfortunate nature of Wilhelm's remarks
and instead concentrated on the failings of the Foreign Office in not
examining the article properly. It explained that Bülow had
offered to take full responsibility for the office's failings, but the
emperor had refused to accept his resignation. Bülow
succeeded
in turning away criticism from himself in the Reichstag, and
finished his speech to cheering from the assembly. Holstein observed
that given the nature of the comments it would have been virtually
impossible to defend the Kaiser for having made them and that
Bülow could not have done other than what he did, which was to
dispute the factual accuracy of much of what the Kaiser had said and
leave blame for events squarely with him, with the explanation that the
comments had been made with the best of intentions and would certainly
not be repeated. He declared his conviction that the disastrous effects
of the interview would induce the emperor in future to observe that
strict reserve, even in private conversations, which is equally
indispensable in the interest of a uniform policy and for the authority
of the crown, adding that, in the contrary case, neither he nor any
successor of his could assume the responsibility. Obviously, the
foreign office should also have spotted the mistakes. Wilhelm
was again due to be away from Germany at the time of the Reichstag
debate, this time on a trip to Austria, and received much criticism for
not staying at home. The Kaiser queried whether he ought to cancel the
trip, but Bülow advised him to continue with it. Holstein queried
the Kaiser's absence with Bülow, who then denied advising Wilhelm
to go. Matters were not improved when during the visit Count
Hülsen-Haeseler, chief of the Military Cabinet, died from a heart
attack while dancing in a red ballet skirt at Donaueschingen, the
estate of prince Max von Fürstenberg. On Wilhelm's return
Bülow persuaded him to endorse a statement that he concurred with
the chancellor's statements to the Reichstag: by now Wilhelm was close
to breakdown and considering abdication. Wilhelm
withdrew from public appearances for six weeks, which was generally
seen as an act of penitence rather than the consequence of his
depression. Public opinion began to reflect on whether the chancellor
had failed in his duty to properly advise the emperor, and then again
failed to defend Wilhelm's actions in the Reichstag. Wilhelm's own view
of the affair began to change, increasingly blaming Bülow for
failing to warn him of the difficulties the article would cause. He
determined that Bülow would have to be replaced as Chancellor. In
June 1909 difficulties arose in obtaining additional finance for
ongoing ship construction. Wilhelm warned Bülow that if he failed
to carry a majority for imposing inheritance taxes he would have to
resign. The tax was defeated by eight votes, and on 26 June Bülow
offered his resignation, exactly twelve years after accepting the
office of Chancellor also on board the royal yacht Hohenzollern. On
July 14 the resignation was announced and Theobald
von
Bethmann Hollweg became
the
new Chancellor. Wilhelm dined with the Bülows, expressing his
regret that the prince was determined to resign. He observed that he
had been informed that some of those who voted against the inheritance
tax had done so out of animosity against Bülow and his handling of
the Telegraph affair rather than opposition to the tax. For his
services to the state Prince von Bülow was awarded the Order of
the Black eagle, set in diamonds. He
pursued a policy of aggrandizement in the years preceding World War One. From
1914
to 1915 Bülow was ambassador to Italy,
but failed to bring her onto the side of Germany, or even to persuade
her to maintain her neutrality. He regarded his task as impossible in
any case, and on returning remarked: "Morale and attitude of the German
people: A-1. Political leadership: Z-Minus." Although many of the
leading figures in the Reichstag (including Matthias
Erzberger) hoped that Bülow would succeed Bethmann Hollweg upon the latter's dismissal in 1917, the former Chancellor was
overlooked. Prince von Bülow died on October 28, 1929, a scant day
before Black
Tuesday. |