GERMANY'S AMBITION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 71, 20 April 1909, Page 4

GERMANY'S AMBITION.

To the Editor. Mr, —At the present juncture a c ut>.l rv {danei- at tin l history of North Crrma'ny (or. >«y. fifty ytars -pnst may be iuU'i't'tiUng tu nmiiy who have not studied the suliicet. In the year 1802, as a first step in pursuance of her ideal of a united llvnnany under the licgolUOtiy of I'rus-ia, she liaviujr by secret I agents first fomented disaffection .11 ' (jehleswig-llnlstein, attacked Denmark I and annexed those provinced ill spite of tile protest of (treat liritain. The Prussian and Austrian dualism had long been regarded l>v all classes as the principal bar to German unity, and the anmhil&-

tion of the latter Power, or, at least, her dismemberment, advocated openly by some of Prussia's most eminent writers. Accordingly, in 1804, upon the first pretext that offered, Prussia attacked Austria, deprived Jier of her power and rights as n (jemum nation, formed the northern states into a eonfederation, and concluded a defensive and offensive alliance with South (ivrniaay, which entered the confederation later on. making a united (iennan nation. During this war Xapoleon had been bamboozled into playing a neutral

part by promises, more or less vague, of a rectification of his -Rhine frontier. | Needless to say. Bismark repudiated these promises as impossible and absurd, stating they referred only to the Duchy of Luxembourg, which lie strongly advised the French Government to purchase from the King of Holland, who would be glad to lie rid of it. The Emperor took his advice, and what followed? When all was complete except the signatures of the contracting parties, the King of Holland was informed that the sale of Luxembourg to a non(iertnan Power would be considered by Germany a casus belli. Deeply humiliated. France withdrew, for she was totally unprepared for war, while Germany* had a splendidly-equipped, victorious army ready to take the field. Bismark failed at this time to provoke war, but the incident played an important part in the future quarrel of IS7O. Everyone knows the ostensible cause of

that war, but few people, I think, are aware that Bismark deliberately planned

the breach years before it eventuated, and by his unscrupulous diplomacy forced the French Emperor to declare war. I remember reading a pamphlet written shortly after the Franco-Aus-trian war by Prince Charles of Prussia, entitled ''('all we. beat the French?'' Therein he discussed the relative strength nfM weakness of the two systems, and arrived at the conclnsion that attention to his suggestions would enable them to do so. His ideas, in the main, were adopted, and the finest fighting machine known to history resulted. That army was organised solely to destroy the military power and prestige of France, just as a navy is being built t'o-day to destroy the naval supremacy and prestige of Britain. What other objective can there be? On the Continent her military power is suprenn ; America is out of the question; on the sea Britain alone blocks the u;ay to further expansion.—l am, etc., J. 0. HAIiKEB. New Plymouth. I7th April, 1900.