tended to lose his disputes with Eulenburg. As a trump card to destroy his rival Eulenburg, Holstein had contacted Maximilian Harden to inform him that Eulenburg was a homosexual. Harden, imperialist head of the periodical Die Zukunft, felt similarly about the direction of German foreign policy, and in 1902 personally threatened to expose Eulenburg unless he retired from his ambassadorship in Vienna; Eulenburg did so, withdrawing from public life until 1906. Harden reaffirmed his threat after Germany at the Algeciras Conference of 1906 recognized Morocco as being within the French sphere of influence, in what was for Germany a major foreign policy fiasco, and Eulenburg responded by moving to Switzerland. In May 1906, Holstein sent Eulenburg an extremely insulting and rude letter alongside a challenge to fight a duel to the death. After Eulenburg declined to fight the duel, Holstein decided to destroy Eulenburg by exposing his homosexuality. Between 1906 and 1907, six military officers committed suicide after blackmail, while in the preceding three years, around twenty officers were convicted by courts-martial, all for homosexual acts. A Gardes du Corps officer was charged with homosexuality, an embarrassment because the elite Corps was commanded by Lieutenant General Wilhelm Graf von Hohenau, a blood relative to the Kaiser. Worse than these sexual scandals, in Harden's eyes, was Eulenburg's decision to return to Germany and be admitted to the Order of the Black Eagle; he did not change his mind when Prince Friedrich Heinrich of Prussia declined to be admitted to the Order of Saint John because of his own homosexual proclivities. Outing Harden outed Eulenburg on April 27, 1907, confirming the identity he previously had parodied as "the Harpist" (Eulenburg), after outing "Sweetie" General Kuno Graf von Moltke in 1906. Wilhelm II, informed of the growing story, responded by requiring the resignation of three of fifteen prominent aristocrats, Hohenau, Moltke, and Count Johannes von Lynar, listed as homosexual by the Berlin vice squad; however, the actual list, not shown to Wilhelm II, contained several hundred names. Moltke's lawyer attempted to file criminal libel against Harden, but was dismissed and civil libel was suggested. Eulenburg denied any culpability and presented a self-accusation of violating the applicable Paragraph 175 to his district attorney who, as hoped and expected, cleared Eulenburg of all charges in July. Meanwhile, manager of the Königliche Oper , the crown prince's equerry von Stückradt, and Imperial Chancellor Bernhard Prince von