File No. 763.72/3504
The Chargé in the Netherlands (Langhorne) to the Secretary of State
[Received 11.50 p.m.]
765. From press and other sources, political situation in Germany may be summed up as follows:
The declaration of unbridled submarine warfare greatly strengthened the hands of the Conservatives, Pan-Germanists, Annexationists, [Page 174] etc., and correspondingly weakened the influence of the Socialists and other advocates of understanding. The [slogan?] now is quite generally decisive victory or destruction; in Bavaria also influential men strongly advocate relentless warfare until England is forced to her knees. Conservative leader Von Heydebrand recently said, “Peace without indemnity spelled, ruin.” The Pan-Germanists have somewhat hurt their cause by indiscreet utterances and propaganda. The Socialist, Ledebour, was laughed at in the Prussian Lower House for demanding cessation of the under-sea warfare as its results could not compensate for the enmity of America. The position of the’ Chancellor is extremely difficult; he is hated by the Conservatives and the Pan-Germanists, and seems endangered by the daily heard clamor for the reform of suffrage in Prussia; thus far he has taken no action in this matter arid it has been publicly said that if the Chancellor does not act soon he will be swept away by a great popular movement. The Conservatives who are all-powerful in Prussia will fight tooth and nail any attempt at electoral reform in Prussia. In the Prussian House of Lords Count Yoramole delivered an ultra-conservative speech, saying that Germany owed all to Prussia and that it was better to remodel Imperial institutions along Prussian lines than to try to Germanize Prussia. The indications are that there will be no outbreak of the great antagonism between the parties of the Left and the Right as long as the people are shown that the war is being prosecuted to a victorious conclusion which is near at hand. Men like Professor Delbrück, Dernburg and Rohrbach are working quietly for reform and understanding; Riesser, President of the Hansabund, said that the object of the submarine campaign was not to force England to her knees but to make her consider peace. The Socialists seem to be keeping quiet awaiting developments.