Chapter XVII · During the War—The German Empire is Proclaimed

The blue and white Bavarian and the black and white Prussian banners were waving side by side in the streets when the Crown Prince proceeded on his journey that same evening. The King accompanied him to the railway station; Prince Otto and Prince Luitpold followed him to war.

Never before had Ludwig felt himself more beloved by his people, never before had he been regarded with greater respect by the whole of Germany. But the demands which were made at this time on his powers of work, the representative duties which he had not been able to avoid, had over-taxed his strength. His physical sufferings took possession of him to so great a degree that he found it not only impossible to proceed to the seat of war, but also to remain in his capital. The great victories which succeeded one another aroused a feeling of the utmost joy among his people. But he who was not on the field of battle, felt the good tidings as almost a reproach. He was not master of his moods; the public which satisfied him one day displeased and wearied him the next.

He returned to his solitude. The procession which the same evening defiled past the Royal Palace greeted the Queen-mother, who was standing at the window, with lively shouts of hurrah. But it pained all parties that the Monarch disdained their homage on this day. No sooner had the Crown Prince of Prussia left Munich than he received a letter from Ludwig in which the latter expressed the wish that “the independence of Bavaria might be respected at the conclusion of peace.” The handwriting was bad, and the lines uneven; but the contents bore witness to the warmth of his patriotism. Friedrich ridiculed this “patriotic” letter. Amiable as the King had been towards the Crown Prince of Prussia during his short visit, the impression received by the guest had not been altogether favourable. In April 1868 he had visited him when on a journey to Italy, and had enjoyed being in his company. Now he was “alarmed at the alteration two years had made.” He noted in his diary that Ludwig gave the impression of being very nervous, that he was less handsome than formerly, and had lost one of his front teeth.

The young King knew that comparisons had been made between him and the King of Prussia, who led his army in person. He could not possibly be blind to the fact that this comparison was not to his advantage, hiding himself away as he did, and shunning the love of his people. Good and bad feelings were fighting for the mastery in his soul. He was a faithful and honourable ally. After the victory at Metz he congratulated the King of Prussia as “William the Conqueror,” and he sent the Crown Prince the Order of Max Joseph. But he gave his Ministers contradictory orders where the negotiations with Prussia were concerned. Although his mother was a Hohenzollern, his personal sympathies were by no means wedded to this house.

But the King did not come.

On the 19th of October the Ministers of Würtemberg, Hesse, and Baden went to Versailles. On the 20th the King of Bavaria sent his Ministers Bray, Pranckh, and Lutz to the headquarters.

It appeared at first as if the negotiations would be crowned with success; the desire that South Germany should offer King Wilhelm the Imperial crown seemed to be nearing its fulfilment. The leaders of the national party developed a restless energy. Large meetings of the people accepted resolutions which made for the same end. The press warmly advocated a German Empire. The greatest enthusiasm in favour of the project was shown in Prussia and in Baden; but it spread from land to land.

On the 7th of November negotiations took place between the Ministers of Würtemberg, Hesse, and Baden. The Bavarian Minister was not invited to take part in it, no agreement having been come to with Bavaria. This annoyed Ludwig. “Why do they conclude agreements with Würtemberg, Baden, and Hesse and not till later with my Government?” he exclaimed in anger. He was tired of the throne, tired of European politics. His nerves were overstrung, and he demanded that Prince Otto should at once leave the seat of war; he awaited his arrival at Hohenschwangau with impatience. “I look upon my brother as the King,” he said to those about him. “Matters hang on a single thin thread, and then it will be, ‘Le roi Louis II. est mort. Vive le roi Othon I.!’”

Ludwig made strenuous attempts to preserve the independence of his country, demanding during the negotiations not only independent sovereignty with regard to home affairs, but also that Bavaria should continue to have an independent army and her own foreign policy. As he would not give way an inch in the matter, the question of the German Empire stood for some time on an exceedingly critical footing.

The Crown Prince of Prussia was filled with indignation over the protracted nature of the proceedings, and wished to break down the opposition of Bavaria by force. The wise Bismarck, however, advised a considerate course. “With the Bavarian troops fighting with the Prussians against France, Prussia can hardly coerce their country.” The Grand Duke of Baden had come to the headquarters; he sent one of his confidential friends to Munich to persuade Ludwig to proceed to Versailles. The Bavarian Ministers likewise exerted themselves to induce him to make the journey. “I know well that in many respects it would be advisable for me to make this journey,” said the King. “It need hardly be said that it would also be of political advantage. But I feel myself too suffering. Whether or not I take the journey depends, moreover, on the guarantees which I desire. Without them I will not go! Here the matter rests—it is my will!”

“Ludwig is not coming to Versailles, firstly, because he cannot ride just now without discomfort, and, secondly, because he does not like playing second fiddle,” wrote Bismarck’s secretary, Busch, in his journal.

No one could deny that he had done Prussia invaluable service by the rapidity with which he had decided to mobilise his army. He now thought his action entitled him to ask a service in return from this country. One of his wishes was to extend the frontiers of his land. His Ministers inquired whether the Palatinate of Baden, which in olden days had been the territory of the Electors of Bavaria, could be ceded to Bavaria, Baden receiving as indemnity a portion of Alsace-Lorraine. To this Bismarck answered decisively that “Baden was a ‘noli me tangere,’” and that neither King Wilhelm nor the Archduke of Baden would ever agree to it.”

On the evening of the 23rd of November he had another meeting with the Bavarian Ministers. An agreement was at last come to. After they had left him, at ten o’clock in the evening, he said in a satisfied tone: “German unity is a completed act, and the ‘Emperor’ likewise. It is an event!... The agreement has its weak points; but as it is, it is more tenable. I consider it to be the most important thing we have accomplished this year. With regard to the ‘Emperor’ I made him more acceptable during the negotiations, as I represented to the Ministers that it must be easier and more convenient for their Kings to allow the German Emperor certain privileges than to allow them to the neighbouring King of Prussia.”

Ludwig made a last attempt to maintain his position. Prince Adalbert pressed him to put forward a claim that the Kings of Bavaria and of Prussia should alternately wear the Imperial crown; and Prince Luitpold was pushed forward to make this proposal. Bismarck scouted the idea, remarking: “The King of Bavaria lives in a world of dreams. He is hardly more than a boy who does not know his own mind!” The Prussian statesman, it need hardly be said, was careful not to say this directly to Ludwig. He wrote a long and exceedingly deferential letter to him, in which he emphasised how necessary it was that the Imperial crown should be offered to the King of Prussia, and that it was for the King of Bavaria to take the first step. If the last-named would not make the proposal, the Princes of the smaller states would do this, and Ludwig in such a case could not avoid following in their footsteps.

The descendant of the thousand-year-old House of Wittelsbach, which had counted three emperors among its forefathers, bent before the force of circumstances. He telegraphed to his Minister, Count Bray, that the latter was to inform Bismarck that Count Holnstein would arrive at Versailles within three days, to discuss with him the details of the matter. “Not till then”—he expressed himself—“shall I be able to make a final decision.” Holnstein hurried off. Without losing a moment’s time he sought out Bismarck, and made him acquainted with his errand, after which he immediately returned to Hohenschwangau.

Ludwig was in bed with a toothache, and would not be disturbed, but the Count knew how to arouse his curiosity in such a manner that he was received in audience all the same. He brought with him two sealed envelopes; the one contained a renewed demand to Ludwig to offer Wilhelm the Imperial crown; the other was the draft, composed by Bismarck, of a communication from the King of Bavaria in which this was done. The application was favourably received. Ludwig at once decided to follow the Prussian statesman’s instructions. With his own hand he wrote the letter which transformed Germany into an empire. Count Holnstein now rode to Munich, in conformity with the King’s command that he should confer with Secretary Eisenhart, whom he found in the Residenz Theater. He presented the aforesaid letter from Ludwig to the King of Prussia, also one to Eisenhart in which his master inquired whether he considered it desirable that another communication, couched in terms more suited to the circumstances, should be sent: in such a case the King gave Eisenhart a free hand to retain his own letter. The secretary sent it on without alteration. Holnstein swung himself up on his horse again and rode off to Versailles. In accordance with Ludwig’s express command, his communication was handed to the King of Prussia by Prince Luitpold.

“The King of Bavaria has copied Bismarck’s letter word for word,” noted Prince Friedrich in his journal.

The delight was great all over Germany. It was known that it was the young King of Bavaria, who had spoken the word at the right moment. Only the initiated were cognisant that he had done it under pressure and after hesitation. Hardly a dinner was given, and no political meeting was held, but the health of “Ludwig the German” was drunk with enthusiasm. The greatest satisfaction prevailed at headquarters. He was no longer now “the boy who did not know his own mind.” Both Bismarck and the King of Prussia expressed themselves in terms of the warmest recognition of the Bavarian Sovereign.

After the death of Ludwig II. the Chancellor of the German Empire declared: “In 1870 Ludwig was our only influential friend in Germany.”