London News
30 March 1890
Is Germany Steering in the Right Direction?
The world was shocked at the news that Bismarck, the best known German statesman, was dismissed by Emperor William. What will happen now? Read my view on this very controversial subject.
The Punch cartoonist has called the event "Dropping the pilot". A pilot is the most experienced man on a boat and steers it through rough waters and around reefs.
Bismarck did so with the German 'boat' during the past decades. He was the driving force behind the unification and later he managed both to maintain peace and to give the German states the feeling of belonging together. Even though his course was not always straight and smooth - remember the 'Kulturkampf' - he always managed to manoeuvre the boat out of the storm in the end. Nobody dared to throw him overboard, because everybody knew that without Bismarck the ship would sink.
But now, shortly after the new and inexperienced captain has taken over, this man, the guarantor of safe sailing has been dismissed.
Does the new captain really have the boat under his control? Is he steering in the right direction?
The old pilot did not only steer the boat around barriers, he also evaded other damage. Bismarck never risked rocking the boat or a crash. He was the man who maintained the balance of power in Europe. Is the new captain experienced enough to steer the boat with similar prudence? Or will there soon be his first crash? Hopefully not in the near future and hopefully not with an English boat.
Niclas Bettien
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London Times
30 March 1890
You risk being sacked if you talk to the German emperor; he prefers speaking himself.
Bismarck did not have the chance to steer the newly built German boat long after the taking over of the new captain, alias Emperor William, who now 'dropped his pilot'.
The boat has not left the harbour yet, so right now it is unclear whether it will find its way through the narrow straits. It is not unlikely that the new captain's 'nursery school' will soon be missing clear guidance, lose its course and ram the stony European coasts. Or will - even before that - parts of the crew (SPD) stir up a mutiny? Neither the captain's rough speech nor his promises will stop them since there is no longer a pilot who would flood the cabins in an emergency.
Why was this experienced pilot dropped? The answer cannot be reduced to the age difference. It was rather the differences in their aims, their methods and principles.Whereas the pilot was used to commanding and controlling everything in the captain's place and thus victoriously steered his boat built of iron, the new captain has replaced the boat by a wooden one, is dropping the cannons into the water and sails on in an atmosphere similar to the one at a teenage birthday party..
But will his careless and rash decision to dismiss this experienced and most successful statesman of the century not destroy what Germany achieved before? The formerly strong cruiser might soon be turned into an unprotected and vulnerable boat open to attack by any foreign power.
John Millar (Hendrik Schröder)
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