Part 13 (1/2)
What say you, men of Alsace-Lorraine, heroes all? (No matter whether, like some, you have sacrificed situation, home and your little fatherland, so as not to forsake the greater, or, like others, you have consented to become Prussians in order that the land you wors.h.i.+p may remain in hands that are still French.) What say you, when our dreadful defeat, our piled-up ruin, and the spoliation of a portion of France, become for a German official organ our _former differences_?
What words are these in which to speak of 1870-71, of that unforgettable and tragic invasion, of the terrible anguish of our ravished provinces, and what a proof they afford of the great gulf which separates the mind of Germany from that of France!
September 26, 1894.
The German Emperor does not forget that he is before all things a Prussian. Having administered a reprimand to the n.o.bility, he proceeds to give to the five new fortresses at Konigsberg, the five greatest family names of the Prussian n.o.bility.
At Thorn he declared--
”Only they can count upon my royal favour who shall regard themselves as absolutely and entirely Prussian subjects.” The Germans have not yet realised that the German Empire will be Prussian, before ever Prussia consents to lose herself in a united Germany.
October 28, 1894.
The German Emperor, King of Prussia, with that love of peace for which even Frenchmen are pleased to praise him, is now chiefly occupied in displaying his pa.s.sion for militarism. In the case of William II, it will be necessary to modify a hallowed phrase, and to say to him: ”Seeing you in uniform, I guessed that you were no soldier.”
The Emperor, King of Prussia, insists on continually reminding the German peoples that he is the commander-in-chief of the armies of the Empire, and he never misses an opportunity of emphasising the fact. At the presentation of flags to the 132 new battalions created by the new military law, (and doubtless with a view to peace, as usual) the Emperor with his own hand hammered 132 nails, fixing the standards to their flag-staffs. This sort of thing fills me with admiration, and if it were not for my stupid obstinacy, it might convert me to share the opinion of M. Jules Simon, who holds that we should entertain the King of Prussia at the Exhibition in 1900, and welcome him as the great _clou_[6] on that occasion. But I should not jest about those feelings which transcend all others in the heart of the French people. Germany owes us Alsace-Lorraine; she has every interest in trying to make us forget the debt. What would one think of a creditor who allowed the debtor to persuade him that the debt no longer existed? A nation which reserves its rights against the victor, and maintains its claims to conquered territory, may be despoiled but is not vanquished. Would Italy have recovered Lombardy and Venice had she not unceasingly protested against the Austrian occupation? Excessive politeness towards those who have inflicted upon us the unforgettable outrage of defeat is not a sign of good manners, but of culpable weakness, for it inflicts suffering upon those who have to put up with the material consequences of Germany's conquest, and might end in separating them from their old and unforgotten mother country.
When William II conducted the Prince of Naples to Metz he was only acting in accordance with his usual ideas as an insolent conqueror.
But if we were to receive the German Emperor at the Exhibition of 1900--if at that time he is still master of Alsace-Lorraine--we should be committing the base act of a people defeated beyond all hope of recovery.
December 12, 1894. [7]
As day by day one follows the proceedings of William II, one gradually experiences a feeling of weariness and of numbness, such as one gets from watching the spectacle of waves in motion.
Before his speech from the throne, and in order to prepare his public for a surprise, William II had directed the King of Saxony, on the occasion of a presentation of standards, to tell France to her face that she had better behave, that the Saxon heroes of 1870 had sons worthy of them, and that the glorious, triumphant march from Metz to Paris might very easily begin all over again. Whereupon, general alarm and feverish expectation of the speech of William II, which of course, turned out to be pacific. The following sentence should suffice to prove it:
”Our confidence in the maintenance of peace has again been strengthened. Faithful to the spirit of our alliances, we maintain good and friendly relations with all the powers.”
One can discern, however, a little trumpet note (of which he would not lose the habit), in the speech which he made at the opening of the new Reichstag building, whose construction was begun at the time of the Prussian victories: ”May this building remind them (the deputies) that it is their duty to watch over that which their fathers have conquered.” But this is a pure and simple melody compared to the war-march of the Saxons.
January 12, 1885. [8]
William II, in search of a social position, has become lecturer. At his first lecture, he announced to the whole world that our commercial marine no longer holds the second place, that this second place belongs to Germany, and it is now necessary that Germany's Navy should also take our place. And in his usual chameleon way, the German Emperor, who until quite recently refused to admit that there lay any merit whatsoever in the Bismarckian policy, now adds: ”And Prince Bismarck may rejoice, for the policy which he introduced has triumphed.”
March 12, 1895. [9]
On a certain day, in 1871, the defenders of Paris and its patriotic inhabitants learned from the silence of our guns, that the Prussian enemy's victory over them was complete. And now it seems we are going to Kiel, to take part in the triumphant procession of H.M. William II, King of Prussia, and to add the glory of our flag to the brilliant inauguration of his strategic waterway. Why should we go to Kiel? Who wanted our government to go there? n.o.body, either in France or Russia.
The great Tzars are too jealous of the integrity of their own splendid territory, to refuse to allow that a nation should remember its lost provinces. We were indignant when the Prince Royal of Italy, the ally of Germany, went to take part in the German military cavalcades, and now we ourselves, whom Prussia defeated, are going, in the train of the despoiler of Schleswig-Holstein, to a.s.sist at the opening of a ca.n.a.l, which penetrates and bleeds Danish provinces, annexed by the same conqueror who took from us Alsace-Lorraine. Will Denmark, whom William II has had the audacity to invite, go to Kiel? No, a thousand times no! and neither should we go there ourselves, to applaud this taking possession of Danish waters. Denmark, though invited, will not go to Kiel; yet we know what are the ties which bind her Sovereigns to Russia. It has been said, in order to rea.s.sure consciences that are easily quieted, that our war-s.h.i.+ps will go to Kiel sheltered by those of Russia, and, so to speak, hidden beneath their shadow. Our dignity is at stake, as much in the truth as in the falsehood of this news.
The French Government is not a monarchy. By declining this invitation of our conquerors, it would have placed the whole question on its proper footing, which should be that of the situation created by the Treaty of Frankfort. We should have said to Germany, France desires peace. Our Chauvinists will remain quiet, so long as the German Government gives us no provocation. If we refrain from going to Kiel, it is in order to maintain the peaceful condition of our relations.
Germany's chief interest is to lead Europe to believe that we have come to accept the loss of Alsace-Lorraine, and to make the people of those provinces believe that we have forgotten them.