les of German manufacture made the term "made in
Germany" a by-word of quality and efficiency. Riches flowed into the
empire in a steady stream. Riches, however, were not the only result
of this development. The young empire began a fight for leadership
in manufacture and commerce, in science and the arts. To achieve
these ambitions, German agents and salesmen penetrated all
countries, new and old, and built up vast markets for German
products, at the same time using every means available to undermine
and destroy the economic influence of other nations. Nor was the
empire contented with material gain and new-found prestige; Germany
abandoned its former policy of concerning itself only with European
affairs, and became a sinister and unscrupulous opponent of other
great powers in the dangerous game of "world politics." We are not
concerned here, however, with this feature of Germany's advance,
which is fully treated elsewhere.

This period brought out more and more the strong individuality of
William II, who had early--earlier, perhaps, than anyone
else--recognized his country's new needs, and who put all of his
immense vitality into his efforts to fill them. Some results were:
the beginning of a very definite and extensive naval program, the
building and completion (1895) of the Kaiser-Wilhelm Canal between
the Baltic and the North Sea, active participation in the
development of Turkey in Europe and Asia, the acquisition of a
"sphere of influence" in China, and the lease of Kiao-chau in 1897,
the purchase of the Carolina Islands in 1899. All these activities
brought Germany more and more frequently in contact and often in
conflict with English interests. Its naval ambitions aroused the
suspicions of the old mistress of the sea, and relations which at no
time since the death of William I had been overcordial became more
strained.

In 1909, Prince Hohenlohe was succeeded by his Foreign Secretary,
Count, later Prince von Buelow. Though an experienced diplomat and a
man of great intelligence and culture, he found his road beset with
difficulties. Not only had he to face in international politics at
every step the dual alliance of France and Russia, which was
becoming rapidly more intimate, but English aversion against German
independence in matters of world politics, and English resentment
against German expansion grew day by day. The culmination of this
general dread of German ascendancy found expression in the formatio