Declarations

The French public was, unsurprisingly, outraged at the news of Fashoda. The fact that no one, on September the 25th, really knew where it was had a great deal to do with that. The French newspapers had cited that the battle took place in what was a French Protectorate. While Boulanger was an autocrat in the first degree, he had never really been able to curtail the newspapers in France. He did realize a move against them would only destabilize his government and possibly bring down his regime so he put up with them. Now, with no help from him, they were working in his favor.

It was obvious, on the streets of Paris, as huge crowds gathered to jeer at anything that even looked remotely British, that public opinion was swinging firmly behind his regime. Boulanger could not possibly let this opportunity go by as many of his opponents were left silent when he brought the subject up. Naturally, he would start to link this crisis to any number of issues that he had been unable to budge the opposition on.

At the same time, Boulanger was as trapped as anyone else. If he had ever thought of not responding to the British move then it is not evident but, how could he not? France was demanding action and Boulanger was all to happy to give them just that. An ultimatum was delivered to the British Government by noon on the 25th and it gave them till midnight of the 30th to respond.

Lord Salisbury never even seriously considered responding to the conditions of the ultimatum. His hands were just as tied. While the word “Sudan” may have been scrupulously underplayed, in the French press, it took up nearly a full quarter of the front page of the London Times that morning. The English saw the entire affair as an invasion and they laid the blame squarely on the feet of Boulanger who was not all that popular in England to begin with.

The Salisbury cabinet began the tedious work of preparing their country for war. This had already began, on a limited scope, due to the crisis in South Africa. They now had to expand those plans and it was only at this time that they discovered the true weakness of their defenses. That weakness had a name and it was called Canada.

It had been recognized, since the Fenian Raids of 67, that the defenses of Canada would have to be improved and expanded. The British did this but, they did so with the mentality that people develop in times of peace. How much it was going to cost was the main concern. Naturally, Pall Mall was unwilling to press it’s luck by angering either the parliament or the cabinet over such issues. They developed plans that would fit the mood of the various officials they had to present them to. None of these plans included a scenario such as the one now faced by Great Britain.

It had always been assumed that should a war break out in North America, that it would be the only war going on. Now Britain was faced with a threat of undetermined size in South Africa, a possible French invasion of Egypt, and a definite need for large scale operations in China. This was not even counting the possibility of an attempted invasion of the home islands. It still looked as if the Royal Navy was more than adequate to deter such a venture but, the more subtle realities came into play after that. British war plans mostly centered around the idea of conflicts that were limited in scope. They were counting on politics more than battleships to protect the channel and now that was no longer an option.

When the numbers were crunched it was obvious. The Royal Navy was going to be working with fewer vessels abroad because of the increased threat at home. All of that was not even taking the US Navy into the equation. Up till that point, no one had ever considered the possibility that the Americans and French might cooperate. British plans had never covered the possibility of having to fight those two nations at the same time. There were provisions for fighting the US and Russia but, the Russian fleet was no where near the size of their French counterparts. 

There was also another factor. The Admiralty had been scoffing at the American fleet for years and that was even as it grew in size and complexity. While such snubbing might get by in peace time, now, with the prospects of really having to fight the Americans, the condescension would no longer work. It was suddenly frightening to the British Admirals when they realized what had been in front of their faces all along. This blind spot had not just been confined at the shipyards either. Even government officials had been reluctant to look at the American situation. When it came time to pass budgets, the British policy of the “two navy standard” ignored the fleets of nations outside of Europe. 

Once the desperation of the situation was fully understood, in London, Lord Salisbury realized the only solution to his problem was to find a counter. There was only one available and his name was Wilhelm. Salisbury had had a great deal of experience working with the Germans. Unfortunately, much of that relationship had soured since Wilhelm’s ousting of Otto von Bismarck almost a decade before. Germany’s new Kaiser was temperamental and very hard to deal with. This no longer mattered, for now, Salisbury saw quite clearly that Britain and Germany would need each other. The only question was if Wilhelm understood this.

Fortunately for Salisbury, it was Boulanger who would decide that situation for everyone. Not long after the French Ultimatum reached London, another one reached Berlin. The news of the French defeat at Fashoda was generally received in Germany with positive fanfare. People were not as emotional about it as was the case in England and France. This was understandably so. The matter simply did not involve Germany and if the French and British wanted to slug it out, more power to them! 

Past that many people were generally unaware of much of what was going on elsewhere in the world. The newspapers in Germany were not completely controlled by the state but, they were heavily dominated by the government. As a result, much of news from China was virtually unknown in Germany. The South African situation was mentioned but, the slant was predominately anti-British. The North American crisis got some copy but, only because it was largely ignored by most people as they thought it unimportant. Relations with France always made the news but that was mostly inflammatory rhetoric. By 1898 many people stopped believing articles about France (or even reading them) simply because they saw the same things over and over again. 

When Kaiser Wilhelm received the demand for the withdrawal of German troops and ships from Kiaochow, surprisingly, he was not upset. He even toyed with the idea of doing it as long as Boulanger was willing to give him something in return. This was probably due in part to the fact that he had actually changed his mind about the entire operation. At one point, he had actually considered calling it off but, had been informed that Tirpitz had already begun and it was impossible to contact him (while it is possible that the officials in Berlin believed this, the truth is Tirpitz had yet to even get the order at that point). Wilhelm had never been in favor of the operation to begin with and only ordered it as a defensive measure to protect his naval squadron in the event of war. 

It almost seems as if Wilhelm was not aware that the war was now a foregone conclusion. Given his actions, his mindset seems to have been centered around the idea that this was a normal situation. In his defense, it is somewhat understandable to see how Wilhelm may have thought this. Franco-German relations had been tense since the end of the last war in the 1871. Since the rise of Boulanger, the two nations had been hostile in the best of times and playing on the brink of war almost daily. Harsh words and saber rattling were the normal state of affairs between the two powers.

While it is true that Wilhelm had gained a reputation for rattling sabers the evidence seems to indicate that this was all he ever intended to do. He must of thought that Boulanger was of the same mind, as he, when it came to such diplomatic tactics. Wilhelm does not seem to have grasped that his French counterpart was doing more than just making diplomatic noise. This might explain Wilhelm’s response to the Ultimatum.

The German leader, in his full uniform (something he was seldom without anyway), made a special trip to the Reichstag. Why he chose to go here, on September 27th, is really something of a mystery. He never made any secret of his loathing for parliaments in general, and the German version of it specifically. Standing on the front steps of the building he addressed a mass of humanity and appealed to their senses of nationalism and pride. The crowd responded enthusiastically and even Wilhelm admitted later that he was surprised. This would seem odd unless you consider the mind of the average European aristocrat of the age. They saw the common man as largely disinterested in politics (this was especially true of Wilhelm). It would seem that very few European leaders, of the day, truly grasped the effects of their own nationalistic propaganda that had been standard fanfare since the days of Louis Napoleon and Bismarck. 

The Kaiser’s response to the French President, in the speech that was allegedly prompted by the ultimatum, was ambiguous at best. The full ultimatum had been, uncharacteristically, released to the press the day before and done so by the personal orders of the Kaiser himself. This was done over the loud protests of von Bulow who would later write that he had no idea what kind of game his national leader was playing. Von Bulow believed that the Kaiser did not want war with France at this point but, he also seemed fully aware of how the French would take the German moves. Wilhelm simply would not listen to his foreign minister.

There are many who claim that the Kaiser did know and wanted war. To dispel this notion one only need look at Wilhelm’s private schedule to see otherwise. The man who had worn uniforms all of his life, and fancied himself a soldier of the first order, had not bothered to even schedule a single appointment with Waldersee. This was not even changed after the speech. Two weeks from the time he gave his speech, Wilhelm was also scheduled to go yachting on the Baltic and, as near as anyone can tell, preparations for that trip were still underway on the 27th.

Despite the fact that the Kaiser did not say “no” to the French demands, the fact was, he did not say “yes” either. Given the trappings of the delivery, Boulanger took Wilhelm’s response as a resounding “hell no.” It is quite possible that Boulanger never really expected otherwise. The French did not give the Germans the same due regard they afforded Britain. In effect, Kaiser Wilhelm’s speech became a declaration of war and the French military went into full overdrive to finish their mobilization, before the Germans, so that they could carry out their plans to invade Alsace-Lorraine. At the same time, Boulanger waited for the British Ultimatum to expire before he even considered ordering preparations to fight Britain. That was even after the majority of his cabinet felt that Lord Salisbury would never reply.

The day after Wilhelm’s speech the French notified the Russian Ambassador to Paris that they considered themselves in a state of war with Germany. Nicholas received the note, in St Petersburg, on the same day. He was already fully expecting a German attack on his country due to the deteriorating situation in China. That is why it is of no great surprise that his reply to the French was prompt. Russia would honor their treaty. Unlike Boulanger, Nicholas was more than ready to let his enemy know that he was coming. This is the reason the Russian declaration of war on Germany, of Sept 29th, was the first official act of it’s kind. It also left the Russian populace in a state of confusion.

If it is true that the people of Germany were ill informed, on matters of state, it is equally true that the vast majority of the Russian people were completely ignorant. The announcement of war must have come as something of a complete shock. To the average man on the streets of St Petersburg and Moscow, to the average farmer in the fields of the Ukraine, this declaration was without provocation or need. For the time being this would not matter. These same people were just as ignorant of the demands of modern war as they were of international intrigue. To them, they must have considered that the war would not effect their lives anyway. After all, for most of them, Germany was a long way away. That’s what the army was for and everyone knew Russia’s army was the biggest so the workers of Russia carried on as if nothing had happened at all.

Germany returned the favor the very next day and this was the first major impact from the old world that resonated in the capitals of the new. In North America, the United States and the Confederacy were already in a de-facto state of war. The borders had been closed, the regular militaries were already at stand to, their ships were deployed, and the reservists were rushing to their assembly grounds. It was everything that everyone had expected for almost the last four decades. The only thing that was missing, so far, were the sounds of any shooting.

By the time that Washington was notified of the state of war between Germany and Russia, President Root had been back from his trip for almost ten days. He had spent most of that time trying to get a handle on the diplomatic mess that his Vice President had caused. This was proving impossible since US moves in China and South Africa were complicating the situation with the Confederates who were predictably taking the role of sounding board for British protests.

This tactic had been used over and over again by the British-Confederate alliance and had proven quite successful in the past. Now it was only serving to make the war inevitable. The diplomats were simply being creatures of habit and that is if any of them even realized they were dealing with a very new and dangerous situation. All that they accomplished was to effectively halt any kind of real dialogue.

By the early morning hours of the 26th, the diplomacy had become a moot point in Richmond anyway. President Wheeler was notified, in the wee hours of the morning, by the Salisbury cabinet, that war with France was imminent. Given the relationship between the US and France, that was even still murky at this time in Richmond and London, it was believed any war with France would prompt a US response.

Remember that Wheeler was already suspect of the current situation and now that the French were taking the lead it must have certainly looked to him as if a plot were underway. Of course, there was something of a loose conspiracy going on, however, neither the US nor France had made any concrete plans to coordinate their wars of revenge. They did not trust each other to that degree, only, Wheeler could not have known this. Not long after the situation was explained to him, by the British Ambassador Arthur Fremantle, Wheeler was fully prepared to carry out Confederate war plans at once.

It was Freemantle’s next visit two days later (yet another emergency meeting that was requested at the last minute) that put the entire Confederate war machine on hold. The reason for Fremantle’s request for Confederate restraint was due to London’s, above mentioned, sudden awareness of their weakness in North America. Britain needed time or they would have a disaster on their hands. Wheeler was hardly in a position to refuse but, he was an astute politician and used the request to muscle some promises out of Fremantle. They were empty ones as Fremantle had nothing he could really offer. The two men left the matter at what amounted to vague assurances of help at some time in the future.

Wheeler’s promise would be made moot by the Russian decleration of war. President Root, backing his ally, wasted no time asking congress for a declaration of war on Germany. On the 1st of November Germany responded.  This was only after the French ultimatum to Great Britain had expired and, by it’s proclamation, France and England were already at war at the stroke of midnight on the 30th. Salisubry sought to make it official anyway and the British declared war on France not long after Germany did so on the United States. This was quickly followed (on the same day since the respective governments were expecting it now) by Russia and the United States declaring war on Great Britain.

Wheeler had already prepared his declaration of war on France, knowing what Salisbury was going to do. He had also had his people prepare similar documents that would end the truce with the United States but, was not prepared to deliver it to the Confederate Congress due to his promise to Freemantle. With the US and Britain at war, Wheeler was now clear to go ahead and follow through with the original Confederate war plans. He must have been taken, somewhat, by surprise that the US had beat him too the punch. The Confederacy actually, officially, went to war with France some three hours before it did with the United States. It would be the next day before some hastily drawn up papers were shuffled over to Congress and the declaration of war against Russia would become official. There were actually even some congressman who wanted to debate that issue but, their efforts never came to fruition.

The effects of all this rippled out. Japan would declare war on Russia by December the seventh. The US and France would return the favor to Japan the very next day. Austria-Hungary followed suit and honored their treaties with the Germans by declaring war on Russia and France but, curiously, not the United States. These two nations would not be official enemies until the US declared war on Austria-Hungary almost a year after hostilities had already begun. Mexico, whose emperor was the brother of the emperor of Austria-Hungary, and close allies with the Confederacy and Great Britain, entered the war on the side of their allies early the next year. Italy, that had treaties with both Germany and Austria-Hungary, blatantly ignored them and remained neutral.