BEFORE THE GREAT WAR.

Shannon News, 23 July 1929, Page 3

BEFORE THE GREAT WAR.

A SURVEY OF NATIONAL RIVALRIES. DEVELOPMENT OF THE POWERS. The second lecture in the series oil “International Relations,” oy the Rev Wm. Beckett, to the Levin W.E.A. class, was given on Tuesday evening, and dealt principally with the rowth of the Powers prior to the Great War. A summary is given below. THE/.STATES OF GERMANY.

An outstanding factor, said the tutor had been the ambition of Prussia to play the role of a great Power. Her land was not naturally rich, either in population or resources, nor did she possess highly developed industries or a large merchant marine that might have made up or territorial. weakness but she had a great spirit, and this was embodied in. the powerful personality of Count Bismarck, who was the soul of the nation. In the field of diplomacy Bismarck carried all before him. He had a clear knowledge of foreign relations and was a born artist in the management of foreign affairs. He determined to make his people great. At the end of the IStli century, 320 distinct territories were inscribed in the list of ten circles into which Germany was divided, and about 40 more were not comprised in the circle. Although the real power lay with the greater secular' princes, this diffusion of sovereignty, made unity impossible. Napoleon, desirous of creating a managable number, of allied and dependent States in Germany, encouraged the absorption of the ecclesiastical States, the cities, and the tiny immediate territories by the princes. Through his influence, the Duke of Saxony, Bavaria and Wurtcmburg took the title of king. When the victorious Allies took sto6k of his work in 1814-15, they were able to create a new Germany of about forty States, instead of the.xfour hundred which had existed a few. years before. The task of Bismarck was to unite these forty States into one great confederation. First he brought about a Northern Confederation of States, with an elaborate yet powerful Government. This was composed of the new Prussia, the Kingdom of Saxony,.the Grand Duchies of Mecklenburg, and Oldenburg, and 18 other States, including the free cities—Hamburg, Lubeck and Bremen. Bismarck's next task “was to enlarge thq scope of the federation. On and off, Bavaria had been the ally of France for nearly'two hundred jears before the settlement of 1815. If Napoleon 111, should cGnie to an understanding with Austria; Bavaria and her neighbours w;ould be the natural centre of communication between them. Moreover, Russia was restless in the face of the activity of Prussia. An alliance ibetween Russia and France was likely to come about, FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR.

Of all the possible enemies, the Emperor of France was much the most dangerous, and Bismarck prepared to meet him. t Such a war would possess one inestimable advantage—it would rouse national feeling against an ancestral enemy and would sweep the rulers of .Bavaria and Wurtemburg into the patriotic current. The war . with France, -when it actually came,, was sudden. It arose out of a Spanish revolution. The Spaniards had driven out their Queen Isabella and were looking about for a successor. Madrid was the centre of endless intrigue, and the French quarrelled with the Prussians about a candidate. The quarrel was almost settled and moderate men were breathing more freely, when Bismarck took an unexpected opportunity of offending French pride. He shortened and published a telegram from, the King in which the Emperor ’William described an incident in his discussions with the French Ambassador at Ems. The peace party at Paris did its best to avert Avar, but in vain. The French Minister of foreign Affairs and the Empress Eugenie were set upon a conflict, and war was declared on July 19th, 1870.

FORMATION OF THE EMPIRE

At the conclusion of the war, in May, 18/1, Bismarck’s ambition was realised. The Empire had been formed. Baden, Bavaria and Wurtemburg successively joined the German Confederation, and King William was proclaimed German Emperor at Versailles on January 17th 1871. For two decades Bismarck’s policy had bestrode the Continent like a Colossus. It rested on two supporting ideas: (a) The maintenance of the alliance with Russia which brought the event of 186370 within the bound of possibility; (b) the isolation of France. In 1870 came the war with France, with disastrous results for the kingdom of Napoleon HI. The treaty of Frankfort (May 10th, 1871) made the terms of peace very hard. Germany acquired Alsace and part of Lorraine free of all their debts, and an .indemnity was purposely made far beyond the actual cost of the Avar and Avith the purpose of crippling France. The Treasuty vvas nearly empty, and no one envied the Minister of Finance; it Avas said that he. carried aAvay all the funds of the 'National Exchequer in his hat. The losses of France Avere estimated at £614,000,000 and, apart from the 1,597,000 inhabitants transferred to German rule, the loss of population due to the war and to civil strife was 491,000 souls. The French, however, never lost heart; they flung themselves Avith amazing energy into the task of paying-off the invaders. At the close of June, 1871, a loan of £90,000,000 Avas opened for subscription and proved an immense success, the amount required being more than doubled. By the help of international banks, the first halfmilliard (£20,000,00) of the debt of £60,000,000 was paid off in July, 1871. In March, 1873, the arrangements for the payment of the last instalment Were made, and in the autumn of that year the last German troops left Ver-

dun and Belfort, thanks to the wonderful industry of the French people and ;to the financial genius of M. Theis, who was universally acclaimed as the liberator of the territory.

CONSOLIDATION OF ITALY

The unification of Germany, Bismarck's great aim, was as legitimate an ambition as the unification of Italy, the great aim of Count Cavour. The two greatest Istatesmen. of the 19th century had to solve similar problems, and they solved them by similar means. Under the direction of Cavour. Italy—a comparatively small State, —within a few years assumed a prominent part in European affairs. In order to win the recognition of the Powers, and especially of France, Favour had sent troops to the Crimea (1851). At the Congress of Paris, after ine war, he not only obtained a recognised place —he also denounced the subjection of Italy to Austria. Within a few years he succeeded in driving tfie Austrians out of Lombardy and, with the unofficial help of Garibaldi, in making his master, Victor Emmanuel, King of the greater part of Italy. The success of Cavour had stirred _ a desire for Germany unity, of which Bismarck took ful advantage. THE KAISER’S AMBITIONS.

The successes of Prussian policy fed the flame of desire for power, for world dominance, and Germany made ever larger demands upon her • people and sought an ever bigger place “in the sun.’’ Her rapidly growing population demanded more and more territory, and so she east longing eyes/m the nations about her. Particularly was. she envious of the far-flung empire of Great Britain, and she planned and schemed tb accomplish her purpose. With doctrines such as those of General von Bevnhardi constantly being preached to them, it was no wonder that the German people came to look on apostles of peace as introducers of weakness into the nnticncu life.. Bismarck was succeeded by Capriri, who was pliant and meekly subservient. to the Kaiser’s wishes The acquisition, of the little rock island of Heligoland, which in 1890 was granted io Germany by Great Britain as a set-off for German recognition of the British protectorate over the islands held by the Sultan of Zanzibar on the East African coast, opened up possibilities which were envisaged by. the Kaiser alone ancl were to carry the Empire into the 'danger zone of naval rivalry from which Bismarck had held steadily aloof. A further step away from the Bismarckian tradition was the inauguration of a forward policy in Turkey. For half a century far-sighted Germans dreamed of Asiatic Turkey as a sphere of influence or settlement. In 1888 a concession was obtained for building a railway which, in 1892, reached Angora, an,d in 1896 Ivana. In 1889 German banks had formed, at Constantinople, the Anatolian .Railway Company, with concession-rights . for railway construction 'in Asia and at the same time had secured a con-' cession for a line in the Balkans. In 1901 a fresh concession was granted for the extension of the line to Baghdad and the Persian Gulf, and visions of a continuous line from Berlin to Baghdad began to be aroused. The scheme caused apprehension on the part of three other Powers. Britain saw a threat to the road to India, and occupying, as she did, the important port of Kow, on the' Persian GuL, she steadfastly refused to allow the railway to be extended beyond Basra.. France had important trading connections in Syria, and saw tnis luciative trade drawn away to Constantinople and eventually to Berlin. Russia saw in it a check to her designs in the Balkans and a possible danger to her growing intprests in Persia. Owing to the need for German support in Egypt, Britain withdrew her competition for railway concessions in Turkey. The* Kaiser came forward as Turkey’s sole champion against the pressure of Russia. The predominant influence of Germany was confirmed, by the spectacular journey of the Kaiser to Palestine and Syria in 1898, and the climax of his visit was his memorable declaration at Damascus, which must have made the Crusaders turn in their graves: “May the Sultan and the 300 million Mussulmans scattered over the earth, be assured that, the .German Emperor will always be theii frieiid.”

FRANCE AND BRITAIN DRAWN

TOGETHER

The almost heiress condition of. Franco in the first years of this.centurv predisposed her, to become friendly,' first with Italy, 'and then with Great Britain. In 1904 an. AngloFrench Entente was formed, and this was the most important event in modern diplomacy. It lessened the friction between'Great- Britain and Russia during the incidents of the Russo-Japan-ese War. It induced Italy to re-con-sidcr her position. Her dependence or. Great Britain for coal and iron, together with the vulnerability of her numerous coast towns, rendered a breach between the two Powers of the Entente highly undesirable, while on sentimental grounds she could, scarcely take up. the gauntlet of her former oppressor, Austria, against two nations which had assisted in her liberation. EUROPE’S DRIFT INTO CHAOS.

The seven years between 1907 (the year of the Anglo-Russ-ian Treaty) and 1914 was a period of armed peace and recurring international crisis- Each Power felt that war was bound to come sooner or later, and each wanted it to come at the time when itself was most prepared, and under circumstances in which blame for the outbreak could be thrown on the other sid'4- The two great groupings of the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria and Italy) and the Triple Entente .(Britain, France and Russia) were feverishly arming against one another. Then Italy and the Balkan countries hesitated on the fringe, .inclining to whatever side offered them the best advantage for themselves. Germany in 1913 introduced sweeping increases in her military

estimates, the Chancellor justifying them by the menace of Russian aims in the Balkans and the danger of a conflict between Teuton and Slav. France introduced a law restoring the three years ’ military service. Britain accelerated her naval programme and entered upon naval discussions with Russia. The Russian Duma voted large sums for military preparations and massed troops on the western frontier. Everyone had come to the point of believing a war inevitable before five years were out. The political air was heavy and the clouds darkly ominous. Europe was disintegrated and undermined by fear. The War arose from a complex. of human juilt, in which all European nations had their share.