His subsequent appointment as Chief of the Air Force was made without my knowledge; but this was of no importance when compared to the previous plans.

* * * * *

There is no doubt that the Byzantine atmosphere of Berlin took a more objectionable form than ever was the case in Vienna.  The very idea of high dignitaries kissing the Emperor’s hand, as they did in Berlin, would have been impossible in Vienna.  I never heard of anyone, even among the keenest sycophants, who demeaned themselves by such an act, which in Berlin, as I know from personal observation, was an everyday occurrence.  For instance, after a trip on the Meteor, during the “Kiel Week,” the Emperor presented two German officials with scarf-pins as a souvenir.  He handed the pins to them himself, and great was my surprise to see them kiss his hand as they thanked him.

Many foreigners were in the habit of coming for the Kiel Week:  Americans, French, and English.  The Emperor paid them much attention, and they nearly always succumbed to the charm of his personality.  Apparently William II. had a preference for America; on the subject of his feelings regarding England it is difficult to express an opinion.  My impression always was that the Emperor resented the scant sympathy shown him in England; he strove to make himself beloved, and the failure of his efforts caused him a certain annoyance.  He was quite aware that the extent of his popularity in England would proportionately influence Anglo-German relations, and his desire to find favour in England did not proceed from personal vanity, but from political interests.

King Edward was known to be one of the best judges of men in all Europe, and his interest in foreign policy was predominant.  He would have been an ideal ambassador.  There was never a very good understanding between uncle and nephew.  When the nephew was already Emperor, and his much older uncle still only a prince, the difference in their positions was characterised by the satirical Kiderlen-Waechter in the following terms:  “The Prince of Wales cannot forgive his nephew, eighteen years younger than himself, for making a more brilliant career than has fallen to his lot.”

Personal sympathy and personal differences in leading circles are capable of influencing the world’s history.  Politics are, and always will be, made by men, and individual personal relations will always play a certain part in their development.  Who can to-day assert that the course of the world might not have been different had the monarchs of Germany and England been more alike in temperament?  The encircling policy of King Edward was not brought into play until he was persuaded that an understanding with the Emperor William was impossible.

The difficulty the Emperor experienced in adapting himself to the ideas and views of others increased as the years went by, a state of things largely the fault of his entourage.