The Dominion. SATURDAY, APRIL 3, 1920. FRANCE'S BOLSHEVIK DAYS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 161, 3 April 1920, Page 6

The Dominion. SATURDAY, APRIL 3, 1920. FRANCE'S BOLSHEVIK DAYS

It has been said that history is philosophy teaching by examples, and it is at least certain that a study of- the history of- the French Revolution conduces to a more philosophic view o£ the present upheaval in Russia. It would b6 futile to attempt to work out a closo analogy between the course of events in these two titanic disturbances and their reception by contemporary opinion,' but some striking points of similarity present themselves. In the Russian Revolution we-arc in the presence of one of those great landmarks in history.of which the full significance can scarcely be gauged by those who arc contemporary to them. Competent historians have declared that the three great turning points in the history or Europe were the spread of-OhriSr tianity, tho' Reformation, and the 'French Revolution. The most interesting comparison to u« at th» moment, however,is not so much tha ultimate significance of the t>vo revolutions as the attitude of contemporary Europe toward them; The inspiration of the French Revolution was drawn largely from England, where the driving from .power of the Stuarts, with their absolutist ideas, had been followed by a wide liberalising of the Constitution. Under the French monarchy there was unusual liberty of discussion, but public opinion was ordinarily entirely powerless to alter the course of government. It was the pressure of public opinion, however,- which brought about the dispatch of a French contingent under the Makquis de .Lafayette to ,aid the Americans in their struggle for independence, and it was the cost of that expedition that completed the financial embarrassments of Louis XVI and caused him to summon the national assembly of the' States-Gen-eral, which haiil not met since the days of Richelieu. From that moment began the crumbling of the monarchy. The first great event,the fall of the Bastille, was received abroad with a thrill of joy. -Fox, in England, who retained his sympathy with the Revolution long after its excesses had alarmed the. majority, at the outset only voiced the feelings of his fellow-countrymen when he exclaimed, "How much is this the greatest event that ever hap-, pened in the world'and had much ith'e best!" Six months later Pitt ■ himself declared that ."the present convulsions must sooner ar later culminate in general harmony and regular order, and when her own freedom is established France will, stand forth as one of the most brilliant powers of Europe." Whig opinion followed Fox and Tory opinion Pitt. Burke saw nothing but evil in the revolution. _He was imperfectly acquainted with the economic condition of Franco under the an-, r.icii regime, and the 'ordered structure of society of classes a,nd ranks was accepted by him as a. Divine dispensation. In powerful invectivc he attacked the French as "tho ablest authors of ruin who have hitherto existed in the world." The appeals of Burke fell on deaf ears, and for a time he stood almost alone in Parliament. It was in'a similar spirit to that of Fox and Pitt that Western Europe'learnt of /the downfall of Tsarism. in 1917, But.in both ease? public opinion abroad swung steadily against the revolutionists on the publication of. tho reports of their excesses. Refugees fled fronr Franco to appeal for foreign assistance in repressing a bloodthirsty mob whose success was represented as being likely to endanger stability- throughout Europe. King Louis of Franco appealed to the -Governments _ of Austria and Prussia for his deliver-, ane'e by invasion, and by so doing scaled his own fate. These two States concluded a convention at Pillnitz to "interfere by effectual, methods," /and this bccamc & turning point /in European history. Tho French had hitherto treated the Revolution as an internal affair of their own, but the action of. the Royalist Emigres in organising armies abroad > against, the revolutionaries brought with it a - .challenge which was promptly accepted, and war soon followed. The French, having begun their military . contest With the rest of Europe, conceived the idea, like the Bolsheviks, that their mission was to hand on the torch of revolution to the oppressed subjects of all. other monarchies. England was marked out as one of the first countries to be "emancipated,." and French ajrents were busy "sowing the revolution" there and in Ireland and India. Then followed the twenty years of general warfare of the Napoleonic era and the retardation of civilisa-. tion bv perhaps half a century. It may be counted as. extremely doubtful whether war could have been averted by a less hostile attitude by the outside States towards tho efforts of the French to rid themselves of an intolerable regimo..' At the same time it is clear that the open hostility of Europe, and the declaration by two pf the leading States of their intention to intervene to re-, store the king, inflamed the passions of a nation already excited to the highest; pitch, failed entirely . in their object, and* left a long legacy of bloodshed and hatred. In France during her terrible convulsion the ,inner dream that dominated the murder,and tho fever was obscure to all beholders. They could not see what was to come of it. Nor can we today cxnect to see the issue of the storm that tears the enormous territory of what was once the Empire of All the. Russian. # If the past. teaches anything it is to be hnnefdl of the outcome, and cautious in interference bevond what is nenessnty to circumscribe the area of the disorders and preyent their spread to neighbouring States.'