They were glorious ancestors of
modest pretensions who had confined their activities to enlarging the
frontiers, and to establishing the unity of the Empire, afterwards
opposing themselves with the prudence of valetudinarians to the
daring of the new generation. Their ambitions went no further than a
continental hegemony . . . but now William II had leaped into the arena,
the complex hero that the country required.
"Lamprecht, my master, has pictured his greatness. It is tradition and
the future, method and audacity. Like his grandfather, the Emperor holds
the conviction of what monarchy by the grace of God represents, but his
vivid and modern intelligence recognizes and accepts modern conditions.
At the same time that he is romantic, feudal and a supporter of the
agrarian conservatives, he is also an up-to-date man who seeks practical
solutions and shows a utilitarian spirit. In him are correctly balanced
instinct and reason."
Germany, guided by this hero, had, according to Hartrott, been
concentrating its strength, and recognizing its true path. The
Universities supported him even more unanimously than the army. Why
store up so much power and maintain it without employment? . . . The
empire of the world belongs to the German people. The historians and
philosophers, disciples of Treitschke, were taking it upon themselves
to frame the rights that would justify this universal domination.
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