Harden had seen the cultured and cautious Eulenberg as a threat to the "coming war" for which the sabrerattling Kaiser had little heart.

KAISER AND CHANCELLOR

Can we say if William Hohenzollern, who surrounded himself with men of supposedly homosexual temperament, was himself innocent? He distinctly preferred male company, yet there is no evidence he ever committed, or would have tolerated, homosexual acts. His manner resembled the aggressive masculinity of the house-master in TEA & SYMPATHY. Regarding the scandal, he was more upset by the possible political consequences than by moral indignation about men of such character. Coming on top of the Morocco and Bjorko messes, and along with the fantastic DAILY TELEGRAPH interview, the scandal nearly upset the Throne. The war lust had gripped Germany and the vacillating Kaiser began to look like an obstacle in Germany's Path to Glory. He made it too obvious for all his bluster and love of war games that he really didn't want war. Germany did. She longed for a new Bismarck to lead her to greater glories.

German feeling against the Kaiser ran so high for a time that Bulow advised against any public appearances. Wilhelm, distraught, sought entertainment. At one of these diversions, General Hulsen, a stubby, stocky Junker with grey crewcut and walrus mustache, did his famed ballet, almost nude, painted, in a skirt. As he finished, he tossed a flower at the Kaiser, and dropped dead. This incident did little to soothe the impressions of the Eulenberg scandal.

What of Bernard von Bulow, once so intimate with Eulenberg? In his MEMOIRS, he pretends he'd never suspected Eulenberg of " those vices," yet labors to paint Eulenberg the pansy. The evidence would as well convict Bulow as Eulenberg. Harden hinted strongly at this, but dared not say it openly. Brand, who said it openly, was quickly imprisoned.

Bulow had fallen out with his friend and sponsor by the time of the trials, and he probably connived at Eulenberg's (and Holstein's) fall. He didn't lift a finger to help his once-close friend, but actually worked behind the scenes to hamper the defense.

Bulow soon fell from favor and was out of office by the end of 1909. The degeneration of German politics continued apace. Nationalistic insanity had gripped the nation. The Militarist clique closed ranks about the Kaiser, with no one left to oppose them. England, France and Russia were solidly linked for the war that had now become inevitable. Yet as late as 1914, Bulow could fatuously assume, as did all Germany, that the Alliance would never join arms against the invincible Central Powers. It was largely against such suicidal diplomatic illusions that Eulenberg had sought to use his "influence." The tragedy is that his influence was snuffed out by Harden's vicious (and possibly false) charge of homosexuality.

The story is far from complete. The current editors of Holstein's longsecret MEMOIRS feel their work may force a revised estimate of Holstein's alleged villainy. They haven't yet proven their case, though it is possible Germans tried to lay too much war-blame on Holstein. Eulenberg's exact position remains a mystery. He supported Imperial authority at a time when some Germans unrealistically hoped to curb it in favor of more decidedly constitutional arrangements. He was a moderating influence, but some say he encouraged the Kaiser's vacillations. He was certainly a sincere and talented man, pilloried by insane jealousy and paid informers. Whether or not he was actually homosexual, he became, as Gide said, one of the chief martyrs to that cause. His personal tragedy was also Germany's, and the world's. The notion that the first World War became inevitable when Wilhelm ascended the throne does not hold up to serious study. But after Eulenberg's trial, the War was inevitable. The causes of that War cannot be well understood by any historian who leaves Eulenberg out of account.

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