Note 929 — Chapter XV

In his memoirs Witte represented himself the dupe of the two rulers; when he read the document itself, he wrote, he was horrified. He claimed that he was largely responsible for the annulment of the treaty (Witte, pp. 425 ff.; Dillon, pp. 358 ff., 354, 413 f.; cf. Savinsky, p. 125). These accounts by him were both of a much later date, when he had been out of favor for several years and held a deep grudge against his master. Consequently he wanted to paint the latter’s perfidy toward France as black as possible. That Witte thought the treaty so harmful at the time is difficult to believe. See his letter to Eulenburg, Oct. 8, 1905, G.P., XIX, 519 f., No. 6250, Anlage; Witte, p. 424; Hardinge to Lansdowne, Oct. 1 and 4, 1905, B.D., IV, 202 f., No. 193; 205 ff., No. 195; Spring Rice to Mrs. Roosevelt, Oct. 5, 1905, Gwynn, I, 496 f.