THE GUILT OF WILLIAM
HOHENZOLLERN

BY
KARL KAUTSKY

LONDON: SKEFFINGTON & SON, LTD.
PATERNOSTER HOUSE, ST. PAUL'S, E.C.

chap.		page
	Preface	7
I.	Who are the Guilty?	15
II.	The Isolation of Germany	18
III.	German Provocations	27
IV.	Austria	31
V.	The Balkan Crises	37
VI.	The Situation before the War	43
VII.	Materials relating to the Origin of the War	48
VIII.	Serajevo	52
IX.	William's Monarchial Conscience	60
X.	The Conspiracy of Potsdam	65
XI.	The Conspirators at Work
	William's Insistence	74
	Austria's Hesitation	82
	A False Calculation	95
	The Hoodwinking of Europe	100
XII.	The Ultimatum to Serbia
	The Deliver of the Note	109
	The Localization of the War	116
	The Sabotage of the Peace Efforts	120
	The Beginning of Uncertainty in Germany	135
XIII.	Italy	146
XIV.	England
	Up to July 29th	158
	July 29th	167
XV.	Last Efforts to preserve Peace	179
XVI.	The Mobilizations	190
XVII.	The Declaration of War on Russia
	The Preparation for the Declaration of War	202
	The Reason for the Declaration of War	206
	The Opening of the War by Russia	212
XVIII.	The Declaration of War on France
	The Neutralization of France	219
	The Mysterious Airmen	224
XIX.	The Declaration of War on Belgium
	The Breach of Faith a Political Blunder	233
	The Justification of the Breach of Faith	239
XX.	The World Revolution	249
XXI.	The World-War and the German People	257
	Appendix	270

The personality and position of Karl Kautsky puts his unique book in the front rank of authoritative records, and settles, once for all, the question of the personal responsibility of William Hohenzollern for the outbreak of the Great War. Appointed by the German Republican Government to examine the secret archives of the German Foreign Office, Kautsky was able to study the documents which passed between the German authorities and the other parties to the great conspiracy, documents which passed through the hands of the ex-Kaiser and bear his notes and comments IN HIS OWN HAND! Those notes and comments show William Hohenzollern as the driving force behind the war-party in Germany, as a man determined not to let slip what seemed so favourable an opportunity of settling accounts with Russia — and, if necessary, the

world.

While everything else that has hitherto appeared is personal opinion, myth, or conjecture, this—THE REPORT OF THE GERMAN REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT'S OWN REPRESENTATIVE—is an official document which is published for the edification and benefit of humanity. It is a remarkable and significant fact that for a long time the German Government sought to shelve the publication of this book — so unfavourable was Karl Kautsky's report on the responsibility of the ex-Kaiser.

[SEE INSIDE FLAP.]

SKEFFINGTON & SON LTD.

This work is a translation and has a separate copyright status to the applicable copyright protections of the original content.

Original:

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1930.

The longest-living author of this work died in 1938, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 86 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

Translation:

This work was published in 1919 and is anonymous or pseudonymous due to unknown authorship. It is in the public domain in the United States as well as countries and areas where the copyright terms of anonymous or pseudonymous works are 105 years or less since publication.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

THE GUILT OF WILLIAM HOHENZOLLERN

CONTENTS

THE GUILT OF WILLIAM
HOHENZOLLERN