American organisation entitled the League to Enforce Peace. An American business man, who was a charter member of the American organisation, was there to explain the purposes of the League. The meeting decided upon the publication in as many German newspapers as possible of explanatory articles. The newspaper editor present promised to prepare them and urged their publication in various journals. The first article appeared in Die Welt Am Montag, one of the weekly newspapers of Berlin. It was copied by a number of progressive newspapers throughout the Empire but when the attention of the military and naval authorities was called to this propaganda an order was issued prohibiting any newspaper from making any reference to the League to Enforce Peace. The anti-American editorial writers were inspired to write brief notices to the effect that the League was in reality to be a League against Germany supported by England and the United States. Throughout the summer and fall there appeared in various newspapers, including the influential Frankfurter Zeitung, inspired articles about the possibilities of annexing the industrial centres and important harbours of Belgium. In Munich and Leipsic a book by Dr. Schumacher, of Bonn University, was published, entitled, "Antwerp, Its World Position and Importance for Germany's Economic Life." Another writer named Ulrich Rauscher wrote a number of newspaper and magazine articles for the purpose of showing that Germany would need Antwerp after this war in order to successfully compete with Holland, England and France in world commerce. He figured that the difference between the cost of transportation from the Rhine Valley industrial cities to Antwerp and the cost of transportation from the Rhine Valley to Hamburg and Bremen would be great enough as to enable German products to be sold in America for less money than products of Germany's enemies. These articles brought up the old question of the "freedom of the seas." Obviously, if the Allies were to control the seas after the war, as they had during the war, Germany could make no plans for the re-establishment of her world commerce unless there were some assurances that her merchant fleet would be as free on the high seas as that of any other nation. During the war Germany had talked a great deal about the freedom of the seas. When the Lusitania was torpedoed von Jagow said in an interview that Germany was fighting for the free seas and that by attacking England's control, Germany was acting in the interests of the whole world. But Germany was really not sincere in what she said about having the seas free. What Germany really desired was not freedom of the seas in peace time because the seas had been free before the war. What Germany wanted was free seas in war time, -freedom for her own merchant ships to go from Germany to any part of the world and return with everything except absolute contraband. Germany's object was to keep from building a navy great enough to protect her merchant fleet in order that she might devote all her energies to army organisation. But the freedom of the seas was a popular phrase. Furthermore it explained to the German people why their submarine warfare was not inhuman because it was really fighting for the freedom of all nations on the high seas! While these public discussions were going on, the fight on the Chancellor began to grow. It was evident that when the Reichstag met again in September that there would be bitter and perhaps a decisive fight on von Bethmann-Hollweg. The division in Germany became so pronounced that people forgot for a time the old party lines and the newspapers and party leaders spoke of the "Bethmann parties" and the "von Tirpitz party." Whether the submarine should be used ruthlessly against all shipping was the issue which divided public sentiment. The same democratic forces which had been supporting the Chancellor in other fights again lined up with the Foreign Office. The reactionaries supported Major Bassermann, who really led the fight against the Chancellor. During this period the Chancellor and the Foreign Office saw that the longer the war lasted the stronger the von Tirpitz party would become because the people were growing more des |