WILHELM II; EMPEROR OF GERMANY Clipped article from the Lond

Sale 2428 - Lot 110

Price Realized: $ 3,750

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200

KAISER COMMENTS ON BRITISH ARTICLE ABOUT GERMAN-BRITISH RELATIONS WILHELM II; EMPEROR OF GERMANY. Clipped article from the London Westminster Gazette with several holograph underlines and annotations, and a 14-line Autograph Note Signed, "Wilhelm R," as Emperor, to Hamburg-American Line General Director Albert Ballin, in German, in pencil. The article, pasted by Ballin in three sections to pages 2-4 of folded "Hamburg-America Line" stationery and sent to the Emperor, entitled "The Foundations of British Policy" [December 20, 1911]. Several phrases have been underlined throughout, in red crayon, some with remarks written in the margin, in English or German, in pencil or red crayon. Pasted to first page is a letter to Ballin from a British friend sending the article, stating that "the 'Westminster' expresses the great majority of liberal opinion in this country on matters of foreign policy." The Emperor's note to Ballin, written in the lower margin of the terminal page, ridiculing the article's characterization of Germany's role in central Europe and the British theory of the balance of power. 4 pages, folio; faint scattered soiling, fixative applied to pencil inscriptions. Np, 30 December 1911

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"Quite good, except for the ludicrous idea that we are striving for hegemony in Central Europe! And that other, smaller states should take their lead from us . . . , especially if they are from the same stock, is perfectly natural. The English don't want that, because it would totally debunk their 'balance of power' theory and create a united continent. . . . We Hohenzollerns have never pursued such ambitious and nebulous goals! And God willing, we never will!"