orruption and Reform in Hungary_. Rohrbach, _Der
deutsche Gedanke in der Welt_ (1912), p. 172, explains the success of
German efforts at the Porte by the belief of the Young Turks that
Germany was the only Power that wished them well--Germany who helped
Austria to secure Bosnia; Germany, whose Bagdad Railway scheme
mercilessly exploited Turkish resources! (See D. Fraser, _The Short Cut
to India_, chs. iii. iv.)]

The death of King Edward VII. on May 6, 1910, was a misfortune for the
cause of peace. His tact and discernment had on several occasions
allayed animosity and paved the way for friendly understandings. True,
the German Press sought to represent those efforts as directed towards
the "encircling" (_Einkreisung_) of Germany. But here we may note that
(1) King Edward never transgressed the constitutional usage, which
prescribed that no important agreement be arrived at apart from the
responsible Ministers of the Crown[529]. (2) The agreements with Spain,
Italy, France, Germany, and Portugal (in 1903-4) were for the purposes
of arbitration. (3) The alliance with Japan and the Ententes with France
and Russia were designed to end the perilous state of isolation which
existed at the time of his accession. (4) At that time Germany was
allied to Austria, Italy, and (probably) Roumania, not to speak of her
secret arrangements with Turkey. She had no right to complain of the
ending of our isolation. (5) The marriage of King Alfonso of Spain with
Princess Ena of Battenberg (May 1906), was a love-match, and was not the
result of King Edward's efforts to detach Spain from Germany. It had no
political significance. (6) The Kaiser's sister was Crown Princess (now
Queen) of Greece; the King of Roumania was a Hohenzollern; and the King
of Bulgaria and the Prince Consort of Holland were German Princes. (7)
On several occasions King Edward testified his friendship with Germany,
notably during his visit to Berlin in February 1909, which Germans admit
to have helped on the friendly Franco-German agreement of that month on
Morocco; also in his letter of January 1910, on the occasion of the
Kaiser's birthday, when he expressed the hope that the United Kingdom
and Germany might always work together for the maintenance of
peace[530].

[Footnote 529: I have been assured of this on high authority.]

[Footnote 530: Viscount Esher, _the Influence of King Edward: and Other
Essays_, p. 56. The "encircling" myth is worked up by Rachfahl, _Kai