England's predominance in all concrete questions, and to confine oneself to playing a smaller part.
German policy, however, did not intend to bind itself with England in any way. Germany was determined to pass through the dangerous time of the building of her Navy by able diplomacy, and, having executed this plan, she meant to emancipate herself from England entirely.
Bülow did not intend to go to war with England later on. He wanted merely to acquire a position in the world which was not dependent upon England, and for this reason he was not in a position to tie himself to Great Britain.
After the favourable opportunity had been allowed to pass without making use of it, it was already more difficult to gain the friendship of England, but I am firmly convinced that this could have been done at a later period by a serious convention with regard to the Navy. In the year 1912, when the Morocco question had been settled, and on the eve of the new complication in the Balkans, an attempt was made to reach such an agreement. Bethmann-Hollweg, who was Chancellor at the time, made an effort to approach England, but he was not successful. England desired to come to an agreement with regard to the building of the fleet. Germany was prepared to do the same, but only subject to a previous political agreement to the effect that England would take up an attitude of sympathetic neutrality in case Germany was attacked on the continent. England, however, was not prepared
