Letters of Field-Marshall Count Helmuth Von Moltke to His Mother and His Brothers (Volume 2) (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1891. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... Berlin, May 26th, I860. Dear Adolf, I take advantage of a few free moments to answer your letter of the 16th, and to thank you for your expressions of sympathy. These are indeed serious times. War is inevitable. I do not think that it is in the power of man to prevent it. The destiny of Germany is now to be decided. The passion of the Germans for separation, observed by Tacitus, necessitates decision by force of arms. We never have had a Louis xl, who crushed the power of his vassals in France just at the right moment. It may be true, as the Austrian newspapers assert, that the juxtaposition of two great powers in Germany is an impossibility. One of the two must fall. The struggle will be terrific. Austria has made greater preparations than ever before, and we too are ready to put our whole force into the field. It seems as though Germany must pay her neighbours, right and left, with provinces. I doubt whether the minor States, which are so eagerly stirring up the blaze, will fare better under the sole authority of the victor than under the fluctuating influence of the two great Powers. It cannot be denied that the attitude of the people of Holstein has done much to bring on the present crisis. If Prussia should be worsted, then the Holsteiners may see their wish of forming a petty State fulfilled on condition of their taking over a debt of 90 millions. But then they will have no Prussia, which alone guarantees the existence of the Northern small States. Austria will not burn her fingers for the Holsteiners, and the German confederation, which never did anything in its life, will do even less when it is dead. Fifty years of peace have shown that union can never be achieved by means of a peaceful understanding; the German mind is too unpractical and too easily ca...