TO THE GERMAN ARMY AND NAVY.

Proclamation by Kaiser Wilhelm II.


After three and forty years of peace I call the men of Germany to
arms.

It has become necessary to protect our most sacred possessions, the
Fatherland, our very hearths against ruthless destruction.

Enemies on every hand! That is the situation. A mighty struggle, a
great sacrifice confronts us.

I trust that the old spirit of battle still lives on in the German
people, that powerful spirit of battle which grapples with the foe
wherever it meets it, be the cost what it may, which has ever been
the terror and fear of our enemies.

Soldiers of Germany, in you I place my trust! In each one of you
lives the passionate will to conquer, which nothing can subdue.
Each one of you knows, if need be, how to die a hero's death.

Remember our great and glorious past!

Remember that you are Germans!