Note 1070 — Chapter XVII

The Conference opened later than was originally planned, the immediate cause being the marriage of the Infanta Maria Theresa, sister of King Alfonso, to Prince Ferdinand of Bavaria, on Jan. 12. The King of Spain had wanted in December to move the meeting place to Madrid, and both the French and German governments had agreed; but as the Sultan opposed, the proposal had been dropped. Bülow’s opinion was that it made no difference to Germany whether the Conference met at Madrid or Algeciras or elsewhere. “It was a mistake that we originally settled ourselves on Tangier,” he wrote, Dec. 25, 1905. See G.P., XXI, 25 ff., Nos. 6911, 6913 ff.; B.D., III, 160, No. 196; L.j., 1901-5, No. 368; Ministère des Affaires Etrangères, Documents diplomatiques. Affaires du Maroc, 1906, Protocols et comptes rendus de la Conférence d’Algéciras (1906), 5, No. 2 (hereafter referred to as L.j., 1906).