^^.VELATIONS BY AN "nlS EX-DIRECTOR OF ""''' KRUPPS Dr. Mvhlon's Memorandum and his letter to Herr von Bethmann-Hollweg NEW YORK GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY Price, Five Cents GIFT m REVELATIONS BY AN EX-DIRECTOR OF KRUPP'S Dr. MiihlorCs Memorandum and his letter to Herr von Bethmann-Hollweg NEW YORK GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 6\ \^^' INTRODUCTION ü OR nearly four years the world has been waiting -■- for the further Information which we knew would eventually be forthcoming as to the details of the conspiracy by which the present war was en- gineered. Nobody who had read carefully the pub- lished diplomatic correspondence could have any doubt as to the essential truth, but the con^^usive evidence was still wanting. What had happened during the month which intervened between the murder of the Archduke and the presentation of the Austrian Note to Serbia? On this, which is far more critical than the events of the twelve days themselves, the German Government have always preserved a stony silence. At last the veil is being lifted. The revelations which are here printed come from a man who had every opportunity to know the truth. Herr Müh- ion, who at first apparently had some connection with the German Foreign Office, subsequently be- came one of the directors of Kruppös, the great Ger- man armament firm at Essen, and was employed by them on important business in connection with Morocco shortly before the affair of Agadir. He was evidently most interested in the com- mercial side of the business and was thereby brought into close communication with the Deutsche Bank, which has played so large a part in financing Ger- vi Introduction man enterprise in all parts of the world. It was in the ordinary course of his business that he had the very important conversation with Herr Helfferlch, who was at that time one of the directors of the Deutsche Bank, and afterwards became Imperial Minister of Finance. The revelation as to the perfidy of the German Government seems from the first to have made a profound Impression on Herr Mühlon's mind. It would seem that soon afterwards he resigned his post as director of Krupp's, but continued to be em- ployed by the Foreign Office in connection with Rumanian affairs at a time when Rumania was not yet a belligerent Power. It was apparently in 19 17 that he finally deter- mined to give up all employment which would make him an accomplice of the German Government; he then left the country and took up his residence in Switzerland. The documents here reproduced are destined to be among the prime authorities as to the responsi- bility for the war. It is important to notice that no full contradic- tion or refutation of his statements has been forth- coming from the German side. All that the Im- perial VIce-Chancellor, speaking for the Government, has been able to do Is to Inform us that Herr Müh- ion is ^'neurasthenic,*' in the same way as they now tell us that Prince LIchnowsky is mentally affected. As a German paper Itself has pointed out, what is of Importance Is not Herr Mühion himself, but the statements that he has made. REVELATIONS BY AN EX-DIRECTOR OF KRUPP'S THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE WAR 'A Memorandum by Dr, Mühion * IN the middle of July, 19 14, as on many other occasions, I had a conversation with Dr. Helffer- ich, who was at that time the Director of the Deutsche Bank in Berlin and is now the official rep- resentative of the Imperial Chancellor. There were certain big transactions (in Bulgaria and Turkey) in which the firm of Krupp took an active interest for business reasons (supplying war materials), and the Deutsche Bank had adopted a negative attitude in the matter. In justification of the bank^s atti- tude, Dr. Helflferich gave me several reasons, and concluded with the following : "The political situation has become very threat- ening. In any case the Deutsche Bank must wait before committing itself further in foreign coun- tries. The Austrlans have been with the Kaiser during the last few days. In eight days* time Vi- enna will deliver a very sharply-worded Ultimatum ♦First published in the Berliner Tageblatt, March 21, 1918. I 2 Revelations by an Ex-Director of Krupp's to Serbia. The Ultimatum, which will have a quite short time-limit, will contain demands of the follow- ing nature: Punishment of a number of officers, dissolution of political associations, criminal inves- tigations in Serbia with the co-operation of officials of the Dual Monarchy. In fact, immediate satis- faction will be demanded on a number of definite issues, failing which Austria-Hungary will declare war on Serbia." Dr. Helfferich added that the Kaiser had ex- pressed his decided approval of this Austro-Hun- garian move. The Kaiser had said that he re- garded a conflict with Serbia as a domestic affair concerning Austria-Hungary and Serbia alone, and that he would not allow any other state to inter- fere; that if Russia mobilised, he would mobilise too; that mobilisation in his case meant immediate war; and that this time there should be no waver- ing. The Austrians, according to Dr. Helfferich, were delighted at the Kaiser's determined attitude. Thereupon I remarked to Dr. Helfferich that, even before his disquieting communication, I had been very much afraid that a world-war was com- ing, and that my fears were now converted into ab- solute certainty. He replied that "things certainly looked like war, but that perhaps France and Rus- sia would after all reconsider their attitude in the matter. The Serbs decidedly deserved a lasting lesson." This was the first communication I received with regard to the Kaiser's conversations with our allies. I knew that Dr. Helfferich stood in particularly con- fidential relations to those highly-placed persons who were bound to be initiated in the matter, and that Revelations by an Ex-Director of Krupp's 3 his communication was therefore reliable. On re- turning from Berlin, I Informed Herr Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, of whose Board of Directors at Essen I was then a member. Dr. Helfferlch, I may remark, had expressly authorised me to do so. (It was intended at that time to make him a mem- ber of the Council of Supervision of Krupp's firm.) Von Bohlen seemed greatly surprised that Dr. Helfferich should possess such Information, com- plained that ''after all, these Government people can never keep their mouths quite shut," and then made a statement to the following effect: ''He had himself been with the Kaiser during the last few days. The Kaiser had spoken to him too about his conversation with the i\ustrians and its result, but had so emphasised the secrecy of the mat- ter, that he \_von Bohlen^ would not have ventured to tell even his own Board of Directors. But, as I already knew about It, he could tell me that Helfferlch's statements were correct. Indeed, Helf- ferich appeared to know more details than he (Boh- len) himself. The position was, in fact, very crit- ical. The Kaiser had told him he would declare war at once If Russia mobilised. This time people would see that he would not change his mind. The Kaiser^s emphatic and repeated asseveration that this time nobody would be able to reproach him with irresolution had produced an almost comic effect." Vlenna^s Ultimatum to Serbia made its appear- ance on the very day which Helfferich had pre- dicted to me. I was again in Berlin at the time, and said frankly to Helfferich that I found the Ulti- matum, In form and In content, simply monstrous. Dr. Helfferich, however, expressed the opinion that 4 Revelations by an Ex-Director of Krupp's this was only the effect produced by the German translation. He said he had seen the Ultimatum In French, and one could not regard It as at all overdone In Its French version. On the same oc- casion Helfferlch also told me that the Kalser^s Scandinavian cruise was only a blind; that he had not arranged It on the customary scale, but was keep- ing In constant communication [with Germany~\ and near enough to be reached at any moment. All one could do now was to wait and see what happened. One must hope that the Austrlans — who of course did not expect the Ultimatum to be accepted — would act quickly, before the other Powers had time to Interfere. The Deutsche Bank had already made Its preparations, so that It was ready for all even- tualities. Thus, e.^., It was keeping all gold as it was paid In, and not returning It to circulation. That could be done without exciting any attention whatever, and considerable sums were thus accumu- lating day by day. Very soon after the Viennese Ultimatum to Serbia the German Government Issued an ajinouncement to the effect that Austria-Hungary had acted on Its own account without Germany's foreknowledge. If one endeavoured to reconcile this announcement with the events which I have described above, the only pos- sible solution was that the Kaiser had already com- mitted himself, without allowing his Government any hand In the matter; and that the German repre- sentatives had not attempted, in their conversations with the Austrlans, to draft an agreed text of the Ultimatum. For the contents of the Ultimatum, as I have shown above, were known with considerable ac- Revelations by an Ex-Director of Krupp's 5 curacy In Germany. Herr Krupp von Bohlen, with whom I discussed this German official announce- ment — which, in effect at any rate, was a He — dis- approved of it as much as I did, because Germany ought never to have given carte blanche on such a momentous issue to a state like Austria; and because it was the duty of the leading statesmen to demand, both of the Kaiser and of our allies, that the Aus- trian claims and their Ultimatum to Serbia should be discussed and settled in the minutest details, and that the exact programme of the subsequent pro- cedure should be fixed at the same time. *'Our leading statesmen,'* he argued, "had no right, whatever view they might take of the mat- ter, to surrender themselves to the Austrians with- out reserve, or to expose themselves to eventuali- ties which they had not already taken into account. In pledging ourselves to the Austrians we ought to have attached appropriate conditions.'* In short, Herr von Bohlen considered that the German denial of foreknowledge, if there was any trace of truth in it, sinned against the elementary rules of the art of political diplomacy; and he led me to expect that he would speak in this sense to Herr von Jagow (at that time Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs), who was one of his particular friends. After he had spoken to Herr von Jagow he gave me the following account of the Interview : Herr von Jagow persisted In assuring him that he had taken no part in composing the text of the Austro-Hun- garian Ultimatum, and that Germany had never even asked to collaborate. To Herr von Bohlen's objection that this was really inconceivable, Herr von Jagow had answered that of course he himself, 6 Revelations by an Ex-Director of Krupp's as a diplomat, had thought of making a demand of the kind, but that, by the time he was informed of the matter and had been called In, the Kaiser was so deeply committed that it was already too late to take any steps consistent with diplomatic usage, and that there was nothing more to be done. The situation had been such that It was Impossible any longer to propose any reservations and condi- tions. Moreover he, Jagow, had come to the con- clusion that there would be one advantage In the omission, viz., that a good effect would be produced in Petrograd and Paris by the announcement, which Germany would be able to make, that we had not collaborated In the Viennese Ultimatum. II GERMANY'S GUILT A Letter sent hy Dr. Mühion to Herr von Bethmann- Hollweg on May 7, 19 17* Your Excellency, HOWEVER numerous and crass the errors and faults committed by Germany since the war began, I have none the less long persisted In the belief that our leaders would eventually show them- selves possessed of a belated foresight. It was in this hope that I put myself to a certain extent at your service to collaborate with you In Roumania, and that I informed you I was ready to help you in the country in which I am living at present (Swit- zerland) , if our aim was to be the bringing together of the parties at war. That I was and still am op- posed to any work other than that of reconciliation and restoration I proved, shortly after hostilities opened, by resigning once and for all from the direc- torate of Krwpp's works. But since the first days of 19 17 I have abandoned all hope as regards the present leaders of Germany. Our offer of peace with no Indication of our war aims, the unrestricted submarine war, the deporta- tions from Belgium, the systematic destruction in France, the torpedoing of English hospital ships * Translated from the French version given in L'Humamte, March 31, 1918. 8 Revelations by an Ex-Director of Krupp's have so discredited the governors of the [German] Empire, that I am profoundly convinced that they are for ever disqualified for the task of elaborat- ing and concluding a just and sincere international agreement. They may change their personal views, but they cannot remain the representatives of the German cause. The German people will only be able to atone for the grievous sins committed against its own present and future, against that of Europe and all mankind, when it is represented by other men with a different type of mind. To tell the truth, it is only just that its reputation throughout the entire world should be as bad as it is. The triumph of its methods — the military and political methods by which it has con- ducted the war up till now^ — would mean the defeat of the highest ideas and hopes of humanity. We have only to picture to ourselves a nation exhausted, demoralised, or sick of violence consenting to make peace with a Government which has waged such a war in order to realise how gloomy and uncertain in that case would remain the path and prospects of mankind. As a man and as a German, who desires nothing but the welfare of the sorely tried and deceived Ger- man people, I turn my back for good and all on the present representatives of the German Govern- ment. And my one desire is that all independent men should do the same and that many Germans may understand and act. Since any appeal to Ger- man public opinion is impossible for me at present, I have considered it to be my strict duty to inform your Excellency of my point of view. W. MÜHLON. 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