Book Reviews : The Holstein Memoirs, I. Edited by NORMAN RICH and M. H. FISHER. (New York: Cambridge University Press. 1955. Pp. xxvii, 216. $5.00.)

• DOI: 10.1177/106591295600900126
• Published date: 01 March 1956
• Author: L.H. Creer
• Date: 01 March 1956
• Subject Matter: Articles

190

victed.

As

our

authors

so

well

point

out,

there

seems

to

have

been

no

con-

certed

plan - action

has

been

piecemeal

and

illogical;

yet

the

pieces

fit

together.

The

absurdity

of

it

all

lies

in

the

fact

that

a

regime

which

pro,

fesses

Lenin’s

view

that

&dquo;any

idea

of

a

’good

God’

is

an

abominably

nasty

thing&dquo;

is

busy

trying

to

bring

into

being

a

&dquo;national

church&dquo;!

University

of

British

Columbia.

WILLIAM

J.

ROSE.

The

Holstein

Memoirs,

I.

Edited

by

NORMAN

RICH

and

M.

H.

FISHER.

(New

York:

Cambridge

University

Press.

1955.

Pp.

xxvii,

216.

$5.00.)

This

is

the

first

volume

of

the

Holstein

Papers

-

the

memoirs,

diaries,

and

correspondence

of

the

German

foreign

ministry

official

Friedrich

von

Holstein

(1837-1909),

who

for

almost

forty

years

was

Bismarck’s

subordi~

nate,

first

in

the

Prussian

and

later

in

the

Imperial

German

Foreign

Service.

The

memoirs

constituting

this

first

volume

were

written

in

1883,

in

1898,

and

in

1906-1909.

They

include

accounts

of

Holstein’s

own

career,

essays

on

political

subjects,

and

extremely

interesting

and

provocative

impressions.

Graphic

descriptions

of

the

countries

visited

are

included.

There

are

interesting

observations

on

Bismarck,

Kaiser

Wilhelm

II,

Crown

Princess

Victoria,

the

irascible

Russian

minister

Gorchakov,

the

Franco-Prussian

War,

the

war

scare

of

1875,

Franco,German

rapproachment,

the

Batten-

burg

fiasco,

Anglo-German

estrangement,

and

the

important

Bosnian

crisis

of

1908.

Holstein,

&dquo;a

sinister

intriguer,

motivated

by

personal

vindictiveness

and

ambition,

who

retained

office

and

influence

by

an

uncanny

knowledge

of

diplomatic

secrets

if

not

downright

blackmail

of

his

superiors,&dquo;

is

an

ex,

ceptionally

dramatic

personality;

and

his

well-written

papers,

revealing

new

facts,

will

undoubtedly

cause

historians

to

revise

conclusions

formerly

held

concerning

the

exciting

diplomacy

of

the

late

nineteenth

century.

Relations

between

Holstein

and

Bismarck,

except

for

the

period

follow,

ing

the

mid-eighties,

were

cordial

and

friendly.

Holstein

describes

his

first

impression

upon

meeting

Bismarck:

&dquo;As

he

stood

there,

tall,

erect,

un-

smiling,

I

saw

him

as

he

was

later

to

appear

to

his

family

and

the

rest

of

the

world

- ‘a

man

who

allows

no

one

to

know

him

intimately.’ &dquo;

And

on

another

occasion

Holstein

adds:

&dquo;I

have

scarcely

ever

known

anyone

so

joyless

as

Bismarck.

When

he

was

at

the

height

of

his

intellectual

powers

one

received

the

impression

that

he

was

always

striving

towards

some

goal;

and

putting

behind

him

all

past

achievements.&dquo;

It

was

in

the

mid-eighties

that

Holstein’s

attitude

toward

Bismarck

noticeably

changed.

He

was

apparently

unable

to

understand

the

Chan,

cellor’s

far-ranged

foreign

policy,

which

contemplated

the

resuscitation

of