Coming Conquest of England

August Niemann

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pubOne.info present you this new edition. I recall to mind a British colonel, who said to me in Calcutta: "This is the third time that I have been sent to India. Twenty-five years ago, as lieutenant, and then the Russians were some fifteen hundred miles from the Indian frontier; then, six years since, as captain, and the Russians were then only five hundred miles away. A year ago I came here as lieutenant-colonel, and the Russians are right up to the passes leading to India.

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• Science fiction

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• Publié par: Pub One Info
• Date de parution: 06 novembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9782819936503
• Langue: English

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THE COMING CONQUEST OF ENGLAND
by August Niemann
Translated by J. H. Freese
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
I recall to mind a British colonel, who said to mein Calcutta: “This is the third time that I have been sent toIndia. Twenty-five years ago, as lieutenant, and then the Russianswere some fifteen hundred miles from the Indian frontier; then, sixyears since, as captain, and the Russians were then only fivehundred miles away. A year ago I came here as lieutenant-colonel,and the Russians are right up to the passes leading to India. ”
The map of the world unfolds itself before me. Allseas are ploughed by the keels of English vessels, all coastsdotted with the coaling stations and fortresses of the Britishworld-power. In England is vested the dominion of the globe, andEngland will retain it; she cannot permit the Russian monster todrink life and mobility from the sea.
“Without England's permission no shot can be firedon the ocean, ” once said William Pitt, England's greateststatesman. For many, many years England has increased her lead,owing to dissensions among the continental Powers. Almost all warshave, for centuries past, been waged in the interests of England,and almost all have been incited by England. Only when Bismarck'sgenius presided over Germany did the German Michael becomeconscious of his own strength, and wage his own wars.
Are things to come to this pass, that Germany is tocrave of England's bounty— her air and light, and her very dailybread? or does their ancient vigour no longer animate Michael'sarms?
Shall the three Powers who, after Japan's victoryover China, joined hands in the treaty of Shimonoseki, in order tothwart England's aims, shall they— Germany, France, and Russia—still fold their hands, or shall they not rather mutually join themin a common cause?
In my mind's eye I see the armies and the fleets ofGermany, France, and Russia moving together against the commonenemy, who with his polypus arms enfolds the globe. The irononslaught of the three allied Powers will free the whole of Europefrom England's tight embrace. The great war lies in the lap of thefuture.
The story that I shall portray in the followingpages is not a chapter of the world's past history; it is thepicture as it clearly developed itself to my mind's eye, on thepublication of the first despatch of the Viceroy Alexieff to theTsar of Russia. And, simultaneously like a flash of lightning, thetelegram which the Emperor William sent to the Boers afterJameson's Raid crosses my memory— that telegram which aroused inthe heart of the German nation such an abiding echo. I gaze intothe picture, and am mindful of the duties and aims of our Germannation. My dreams, the dreams of a German, show me the war that isto be, and the victory of the three great allied nations. Germany,France, and Russia— and a new division of the possessions of theearth as the final aim and object of this gigantic universalwar.
THE AUTHOR.
TRANSLATOR'S NOTE
This volume is the authorised translation of DerWeltkrieg deutsche Traume (F. W. Vobach and Co. , Leipsic). Thetranslator offers no comment on the day-dream which he reproducesin the English language for English readers. The meaning and themoral should be obvious and valuable.
LONDON, September, 1904.
THE COMING CONQUEST OF ENGLAND
I
THE COUNCIL OF STATE
It was a brilliant assemblage of high dignitariesand military officers that had gathered in the Imperial WinterPalace at St. Petersburg. Of the influential personages, who, byreason of their official position or their personal relations tothe ruling house, were summoned to advise and determine the destinyof the Tsar's Empire, scarcely one was absent. But it was no festaloccasion that had called them here; for all faces wore anexpression of deep seriousness, amounting in certain cases to oneof grave anxiety. The conversation, carried on in undertones, wasof matters of the gravest import.
The broad folding-doors facing the lifesize portraitof the reigning Tsar were thrown wide open, and amid the breathlesssilence of all assembled, the grey-headed President of the ImperialCouncil, Grand Duke Michael, entered the hall. Two other members ofthe Imperial house, the Grand Dukes Vladimir Alexandrovitch andAlexis Alexandrovitch, brothers of the late Tsar, accompaniedhim.
The princes graciously acknowledged the deepobeisances of all present. At a sign from the Grand Duke Michael,the whole company took their places at the long conference table,covered with green cloth, which stood in the centre of the pillaredhall. Deep, respectful silence still continued, until, at a signfrom the President, State Secretary Witte, the chief of theministerial council, turned to the Grand Dukes and began thus:—
“Your Imperial Highnesses and Gentlemen! YourImperial Highness has summoned us to an urgent meeting, and hascommissioned me to lay before you the reasons for, and the purposeof, our deliberations. We are all aware that His Majesty theEmperor, our gracious Lord and Master, has declared thepreservation of the peace of the world to be the highest aim of hispolicy. The Christian idea that mankind should be 'ONE fold underONE shepherd' has, in the person of our illustrious ruler, foundits first and principal representative here on earth. The league ofuniversal peace is solely due to His Majesty, and if we are calledupon to present to our gracious Lord and Master our humbleproposals for combating the danger which immediately menaces ourcountry, all our deliberations should be inspired by that spiritwhich animates the Christian law of brotherly love. ”
Grand Duke Michael raised his hand in interruption.“Alexander Nicolaievitch, ” he said, turning to the Secretary, “donot omit to write down this last sentence WORD FOR WORD. ”
The Secretary of State made a short pause, only tocontinue with a somewhat louder voice and in a more emphatictone—
“No especial assurance is required that, in view ofthis, our noble liege lord's exalted frame of mind, a breach of theworld's peace could not possibly come from our side. But ournational honour is a sacred possession, which we can never permitothers to assail, and the attack which Japan has made upon us inthe Far East forced us to defend it sword in hand. There is not asingle right-minded man in the whole world who could level areproach at us for this war, which has been forced upon us. But inour present danger a law of self-preservation impels us to inquirewhether Japan is, after all, the only and the real enemy againstwhom we have to defend ourselves; and there are substantial reasonsfor believing that this question should be answered in thenegative. His Majesty's Government is convinced that we areindebted for this attack on the part of Japan solely to theconstant enmity of England, who never ceases her secretmachinations against us. It has been England's eternal policy todamage us for her own aggrandisement. All our endeavours to promotethe welfare of this Empire and make the peoples happy have ever metwith resistance on the part of England. From the China Seas,throughout all Asia to the Baltic, England has ever thrownobstacles in our way, in order to deprive us of the fruits of ourcivilising policy. No one of us doubts for a moment that Japan is,in reality, doing England's work. Moreover, in every part of theglobe where our interests are at stake, we encounter either theopen or covert hostility of England. The complications in theBalkans and in Turkey, which England has incited and fostered bythe most despicable methods, have simply the one object in view— tobring us into mortal conflict with Austria and Germany. Yet nowhereare Great Britain's real aims clearer seen than in Central Asia.With indescribable toil and with untold sacrifice of treasure andblood our rulers have entered the barren tracts of country lyingbetween the Black Sea and the Caspian, once inhabited bysemibarbarous tribes, and, further east again, the lands stretchingaway to the Chinese frontier and the Himalayas, and have renderedthem accessible to Russian civilisation. But we have never taken astep, either east or south, without meeting with English oppositionor English intrigues. To-day our frontiers march with the frontierof British East India, and impinge upon the frontier of Persia andAfghanistan. We have opened up friendly relations with both thesestates, entertain close commercial intercourse with their peoples,support their industrial undertakings, and shun no sacrifice tomake them amenable to the blessings of civilisation. Yet, step bystep, England endeavours to hamper our activity. British gold andBritish intrigues have succeeded in making Afghanistan adopt ahostile attitude towards us. We must at last ask ourselves thisquestion: How long do we intend to look on quietly at theseundertakings? Russia must push her way down to the sea. Millions ofstrong arms till the soil of our country. We have at our owncommand inexhaustible treasures of corn, wood, and all products ofagriculture; yet we are unable to reach the markets of the worldwith even an insignificant fraction of these fruits of the earththat Providence has bestowed, because we are hemmed in, andhampered on every side, so long as our way to the sea is blocked.Our mid-Asiatic possessions are suffocated from want of sea air.England knows this but too well, and therefore she devotes all herenergies towards cutting us off from the sea. With an insolence,for which there is no justification, she declares the Persian Gulfto be her own domain, and would like to claim the whole of theIndian Ocean, as she already claims India itself, as her ownexclusive property. This aggression must at last be met with a firm'Hands off, ' unless our dear country is to run the risk ofsuffering incalculable damage. It is not we who seek war; war isbeing forced upon us. As to the means at our disposal for wagingit, supposing England will not spontaneously agree to our justdemands, His Excellency the Minister of War wil