The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-30 00:00:00

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PRIG it SD.

1 CONSEQUENCE OF A FRAN(SO-II
RUSSIAN ALLIANCE. - - --N
Our readers are aware that
,ever since th - ------ ' .r.
the entente cordiale between England and Fr • it; 'iske ~.„ eele.::-"a-\"'
been the persevering endeavour of a Final •' . "Vi:ei4::::'r 7
politicians in the latter country, to bring a r 34 7 -- t--1:-
ance between France and Russia. La Pr -,"---,.--2-4,, • ;
known in Paris as a Russian organ, has rece ' . ' --1 j
......f.e.se se
s...e> /
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...
4
cated the Franco-Russian alliance, the impolicy
was shown, in an admirable series of articles wlibilaielsie (1 ¶- ‘‘ ....I
appeared within the last few days in Le Commerce.
The object of the first of the series, was to prods
that Russia had never desired, and did ndt
now desire to form any intimate alliance with Franca;
of the second, to show that, even admitting the good
faith of the Emperor Nicholas, such an alliance would
(compromise the very existence of the Government of
July; and of the third, that the formation of a "Franco-
Russian alliance would be the signal for the treakinole
out of an European war. As the two first propositi_nels
concern solely the:French people themselves, we do net
think it nec,2ssary to reproduce the arguments by whiat
they are supported, The third proposition, however,
intimately concerns us, in common with every whet.
European nation, and we therefore offer no apology for
presenting our readers with the following translation of
the principal portions of an admirable article which ate;
peered in Le Commerce of Sunday last:—
" It remains then for us, in order to complete our exe
aniination of what would be the probable results of 'stn
alliance between-the Cabinet of the Turneries and that
of St. Petersburgh, to develope the third of our propels',
Lions, which certainly is not the least important. *TM
day after an alliance shall have been entered into be:
tween France and Russia, there will be an Enropead
war.' And do not let it be said, in making this ewers
tion, we are exaggerating' the consequence of those nevi'
international relations of which a Paris journal, well=
known for the practical spirit in which it his treated
a multidude of other questions, has made' ititele
almost the official organ * * *. - whenever
great questions arise concerning the balancit
of power in Europe, and the :mutual xelationif
tion of states to each other, we should elosely study a
that is passing among our neighbours ; we should make;
acquainted with their 'public opinion—with' '
their sentiments—with their political views—with their
tears, and with their hopes ; we should be less absorbed'
in personal considerations, and we should find it to bef,
so. To take no account of Germany in considering the:
effect of a Franco-Russian alliance, would be to expesel
ourselves immediately to the results of a terrible 'reise
calculation. We have read with attention all the cane-
troversies that the articles of the Press have raised ett-
the other side of .the Rhine, and the perusal of these
has contributed materially to strengthen our conviction '
that such a system under existing circumstances could
' not fail to exeltfeen guropeatt war.. As it is im issibW
to find roonefor numerettastertittets`froin all-the ' z.
rpapers, we will only cite some fragments from two of the'
• principal of these organs, the Gazette of Cologne andl
the Gazette of Weser. We read in the first of these!
journals, "If it is true that it is the intention of France'
to form a Franco Russian alliance, we find in this fact
au evident sign of the decadence of that nation, and a
proof of madness on the part of the statesmen who
govern it. It would he curious to see those,
who fur fifteen years have sacrificed their prin-
ciples and natural friends to the preservation of
general peace entering into an alliance of interests
which, the moment that it was concluded, would become
the signal for a war of extermination. In truth, what-
ever might be the basis of a Franco Russian alliance,
such an alliance must necessarily bring on a war. We,
leave to others the dream of Poland re-established by
Russia—we, Germans, who kr.ow the price that
must be paid for Russian friendship, laugh with
contemptuous pity when wo hear of such chimeras.
Besides, to re-establish Poland, the consent of
Prussia and Austria is necessary, and this
quadruple alliance is simply impossible, unless,
indeed, Prussia and Austria, convinced by the argu-
ments of the Press, should become infected with a and-'
dea love fir constitutional liberty, of which, however. '
we very much doubt. But that of which we are con-
vinced is, that Germany would lose nothing by a union -
between Paris and St. Petersburgh, even should she be
obliged to fight at the same
.time against Russia anal ,
against France. The day on which this alliance, formed
at our expense should be concluded, we should be obliged
to have recourse to arms, and for this reason :
Russia weighs heavy upon us ; her influence
in our affairs is fatal to progress and to liberty,
and we should desire nothing better than ' to '
see Russian barbarism advance to he struck
down at Constantinople. But immediately England and
Austria would oppose such advance, and the question of
the East would be decided, as it ale aye has been, on the
banks of the Rhine and of the Vistula. Germany,
therefore, nought have to fight for her own nationality,
for to become French would be to become Russian.
There would no longer be any parties in Germany ;
women and children would take arms against both '
France and Russia ; and we should again sing our
patriotic chorus ' wherever German is spoken -
there is our country.' " We have preserved in this
fragment from the German journal, its impassioned
form, its patriotic incoherence. It is a national cry, it
is a war cry. In these burst of passion the heart is
everything, and the style reflects its feverish agitation.
Here is the passage from the Gazette of Weser, more
calm, but to the full as significant :—" The restoration
thought seriously of a Franco-Russian alliance ; many
diplomatic dispatches which have been since published
prove this fact. The restoration, by this alliance, had
uo doubt, in view, as its ultimate object, the esta-
blishment of absolutism. It would, moreover,
Ihave been a continental alliance against England. At
present the appearance of Europe is changed. Not
only has France a dynasty born of a revolution, but
even Prussia tends towards a new order of things.
Russia alone does not accept accomplished facts. She
remains the symbol of autocratic unity, both in political -
and in jk.lipiouis inkeresta_ We doubt whetber ..lins-,r.•
could have establishes( herself at Lonstantinopie, tor
how could the Ottomans be governed in accordance
with the fixed idea of Nicholas, who wills that
every Russian subject shall profess the Greek
religion. Besides, England would never consent to
such a displacement of the balance of power in
Europe. Now what interest can France have in con-
tracting an alliance with Russia—would she siege the
frontier of' the Rhine in the name of the Czar? She
would risk .Alsace by the attempt, for Prussia would be
revolutionized, and we know the maxim of Dayton ;
' It is only countries'in a state of revolution which can
make conquests.' Does she propose to re-establish
Poland? Admit that Russia would consent to it, what
would Austria say? Admit even that it would be possi-
ble to do without Austria, what compensation could
be given to Prussia?—Germany, perhaps. But Ger-
many must be willing to give herself to Prussia,
and she would never consent to such a bargain except'
on condition of gaining liberty and political guarantees.
Russia would become, then, the protectress of the cause
of liberty and progress. This is simply absurd, fit only
ror the poetic readers of La Prase. The fact is that the
:intent a,Franco-Russian alliance should be entered into,
Austria, England, and the Porte, would be obliged,
in self-defence, to coalesce against these two
Powers. What Germany might do we cannot pre-
lict, but the fact that the French Government
nas, for a single moment, contemplated such an
dliance, proves that it no longer understands the
moral sense of its mission, and that there is no longer
anything to hope or to fear from France. As for Russia,
ask the lowest peasant in Germany his opinion of her;
go to Damstadt, to Berlin, to Stutgard, and you will
learn what Germany thinks of Russia, and the reeeps
don she would give the Cossacks. Inquire, also, why it
is that the Emperor Nicholas always avoids the city of
Berlin, notwithstanding his intimate alliance with Prus-
sia. To sum up all, a Franco-Russian alliance would be
the destruction of France; but to speak frankly, we wish
'or such an alliance with all our heart, and every German
who loves his country, will be of our opinion." These are
the quotations. The most moderate of the two journals
that which seems to found its opinion upon argument,
terminates its reflections on the results of our alliance
with Russia, by an imprecation against the French
Government, which, as yet, has been guilty only of hav-
ing thought such an alliance possible. What then would
he the cry of public opinion on the other side of the
Rhine, if that cation, who has hitherto been considered
as the Pharos of pt ogress and civilization, should defini-
tively unite its destinies to those of one empire, which
'walks in the darkness of barbarism and of des-
potism ; of one empire, the sole object of
sNhose mission seems to be to extend that
;darkness over the rest of Europe. We have thus proved
-that a European war would be the necessary consequence
-of an alliance between France and Russia. Is there no
either conclusion to be drawn from these articles of the
,Gazette of Cologne and the Gazette of Weser? For six
'rears France has presented a miserable spectacle to
Europe; liberal and constitutional principles have during
that period been so eaten, so frittered away, so dena-
turalised by a deplorable Ministry, that we have lost the
• greater part of that prestige which once secured to us
~:::the attachment of those whose nationality was depressed
wind who were thirsting for emancipation. Secondary
:states, as we see, have ceased to consider us
:as their support—as their guide—as their hope ;
:and except on the dangerous
by force - condoiftionarmos, of 3
-
un-
dertakings a propaganda
expect to form those
-cannot, for a lung time,
national alliances which wrreex-p_os_soiblyle. fForranuoes
now
:herself after our revolution
tth onfg..l
i in her own country
herself stands in need ostfi e g
sturtional government.. She has
the
nationalprinciples
rte)focromns
to accomplish, and the only fit-
ting ally for her is a constitutional nation. It is not by
the fault of France herself that she is reduced to the
necessity of having still some labours to undertake in
the cause of public liberty and representative regime;
after sixteen years of a Government founded solely en
the triumph of that regime and of those liberties.