RUSSIA AND THE WAR

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 17, Issue 923, 21 January 1871, Page 2

RUSSIA AND THE WAR

The following summary of political events is translated verbatim from the Russian Bourse Gazette :—" In every recent war with Germany," says Count Bismarck, " France has been the aggressor/ 9 and therefore, according to him, Germany ought to avail herself of her present unlooked-for success by despoiling her prostrate enemy of several thousand millions of francs, depriving her of her fleet, stripping her of two or three extensive provinces—~in a word, reducing her strength to such a degree as to annihilate the bare possibility of her again plunging into a war for a very long time to come. This declaration is something more than a stroke at France—it is a menace hurled in the face of the whole world. If it be absolutely necessary for Prussia to secure herself, once and for ever, towards the west, it is equally so that she should do the same on the east, north, and south; and hence the real meaning of the Prussian Chancellor's new doctrine is simply this, that Prussia cannot and will not tolerate a powerful neighbor anywhere near her. Now, we readily agree with Count Bismarck in admitting that France has ever been the first to unsheathe the sword against Germany, relying upon the weakness and disunion of the latter. But now that the t%yo great actors have exchanged their partsrr-now that the weakness and dis» union are on the side of France, and that the German States, welded into one by the strong hand of Prussia, have become stronger than France itself, is it not time to think of obtaining some guarantee against German as welj as French aggres* sion? ,The insolence of the conque? rors towards those who have remained neutral during the struggle is already beginning to make itself manifest. Even before she has made an end of France, Prussia is hurling menaces at Austria; dropping hints to Switzerland of a coming " rectification of frontier " ; loading Belgium and England with proaches because their ideas of neutrality do not happen to coincide with their own; and threatening Sweden on account of the tone of her press. A charming pros* pect for Europe! That Paris will fall—that the Hohenzollern standard will float in triumph over the Tdkiries—7-seems only too certain; but Germany may yet feel the want of France, and long in vain, to breathe life into that which she slew, By using her triumph with moderation, Prussia would have earned universal sympathy; by proclaiming a crusade of conquest and aggression, she stands fortji as the common enemy of all!