Note 873 — Chapter XV

There is another account of the meeting written by Bülow on Aug. 18 immediately after a talk with the Emperor which does not agree in all details with this one written by the Emperor on the day after the meeting occurred. The two versions supplement each other. But the one of July 25 reproduces better the atmosphere in which the affair took place. The other version is as follows: The Czar declared that he wished to go hand in hand with the Emperor, his only friend. The latter asked why the treaty had not been signed in the previous autumn. The reply was that France had opposed it, that he (the Czar) had had to maintain the Dual Alliance, and that France and Germany had been hostile. The Emperor then said that those relations were better, that he wished France and Germany to become friends, that the Moroccan question was to be used for that purpose, and that an understanding over it would certainly be reached. The Czar replied that if that were the case then nothing stood in the way of a Russo-German treaty. The Emperor then produced a copy of the treaty and it was signed immediately. See memo. by Bülow, Aug. 18, 1905, G.P., XIX, 502 f., No. 6240. The other accounts of the Björkö interview are as follows: Tschirschky to Bülow, July 24, 1905, ibid., 454 ff., No. 6218; William II to Bülow, July 25, 1905, ibid., 458 ff., No. 6220; Bülow to F. O., July 24, 1905, ibid., 452, No. 6215; Witte, Memoirs, p. 428; Savinsky, Revue des deux mondes, XII (1922), 798 f.; Savinsky, Recollections of a Russian Diplomat, p. 115; Helmuth von Moltke, Erinnerungen, Briefe, Dokumente, 1877-1916 (Stuttgart, 1922), pp. 325 ff. The treaty was countersigned by Grand Duke Michael, Tschirschky, and Admiral Birileff, the last two apparently without reading it. The Grand Duke was asked to sign it because William II feared that Nicholas II might be deposed and Michael made czar. Naturally he did not mention his reason.

The Czar wished to consider an agreement guaranteeing to the King of Denmark the possession of his territory, so that in case of war Russia and Germany would be sure of being able to defend the Baltic Sea north of the Belt. A declaration of Danish neutrality would not suffice, Nicholas argued to the Emperor, because in case the opponent did not respect it and seized the territory as a base of operation, Germany and Russia would be in a difficult situation. But the Emperor, who together with his government was opposed to touching this important question, put Nicholas off with a promise to consider the matter with Bülow.

The Emperor also urged the Czar at this interview to grant to the Russian people a habeas corpus act which would guarantee their civil liberties, and to call a general council of state to consider the question of a constitution.