East Saginaw courier., 1866-06-13

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The French and Prussian Allirnce--
; The Policy OF NapoieonI. ard Nc
poleon III.
There seems TO be little. reasontto
doubt that Napoleon has chosen a
Prussian alliance. The position Of
affairs is such in Europe that France
and her allies of the Latin race,
which she can always command
Italy and Spain-united to one Of the
great powers, always control tie con-
tinent. This she is enabled to do by
her compact geographical position, by
her Homogeneous and large military
population. A century ago, Frede-
rick the Great, of Prussia. said that
if he was the mor arch Of France, no
shot should be fred in Europe with
out his consent. The selection of
France as an ally lies between Eng
land, Austria, Russia and Prussia
The first Emperor Napoleon chose
Rnssia in the first instance as his col
league, and by the secret treaty con-
cluded at Tilsit, the two monarchs Of
the East and West respectively,
agreed, substantially, to parcel out
the Continent between them. italy
and Spain were to be French. 10 The
German Confederation waste befun-
der French influence, AM France was
to extend to the Rhine. Prussia was
to be reduced to the position of
second or third-rate State. Austria
was curtailed of her possessions, some
of which were given to Bavaria,
which was made second-class State.
Russia was to have Turkey and Po-
land and part of Sweden. In fact,
the two powerful potentates who,
after the most bloody war--after Au-
sterlitz, Eylau and Friedland ! had
met on a raft on the river Niemen, i
and there composed their differences,
considered that, with their vast arrays
in men and means, they were the ar
biters of the world, and could always
do anything they pleased. -
The stipulations agreed upon by
treaty of Tilsit were Immediately put
into execution. Napoleon placed his
brother Joseph on the thronesof Spain,
and another brother, Louis, on the
throne of Holland. Still another
brother, Jerome, was made a king in
Westphalia, out of provinces that had
been taken from Prussia. 5ten
Alexander was not ldle. He seized
Finland from Sweden, province he
had long coveted on account of its
naval importance. He moved j his
troops upon Turky, and in the direo- q
ton of Constantinople. Then it was
that the alliance fell through. Ma.
poleon could not bear the idea, upon t,
reflection, as he said upon the Island
of st. Helena, that the Car should
hold the keys to the Hellespont and
the Mediterranean, and exerted HIM i
self automatically TO prevent it, {
Another circumstance interrupted the
Russian alliance. 1t had hean .pr4Ad
that Napoleon should divorce his wife
Josephine and marry a sister of the
Gar Alexander. Fhe Empress mother
Of Russia, a proud and naughty
woman, could not abide the idea that
her daughter should ally herself with
the Corsican adventurer, mere crea-
ture of yesterday, and through her
efforts the match fell through. Foiled
in the Russian allia ce, Napoleon
turned his attention to Austria, "a
power that had been for centuries an
to France. The cunning
Talleyrand, his willy Foreign Minister
soon consummated an Austrian alli- q
ance, both political and matrimonial. =
The daughter of the House of Haps-
burg, Maria Therese, was given to
the modern Cesar in marriage, who, =
in order to receive her, procured an
divorce from his wife jose
phine. Fortified and sustained ly =
this double alliance, the Emperor de-
to subduo the Northern
Colossus, and boldly marched across
Germany and Poland v ith five hun /,
dred thousand men toward the heart
Of the Russian Empire.
AT this point he made one of the
great political mistakes of his life, and
that was his failure to reconstruct
and reorganize the Kingdom of Po-l
land. Here were twenty millions of
the bravest people in the world !; all
animated with an intense hatred to
Russia, and who were the natural
barrier, if placed in an independent
state, against the aggressions Of that
power upon the continent of Europe
Reorganized, they would have been u
mighty power that Europe could al
ways have relied upon by the strong-
est Of all national ties--interest. The,
Poland deputations begged the EN-
peror, when no was at Warsaw with
his immense host, to speak tho word
for Poland, and three hundred thou
sand Poles would join his army. Ma
poleon hesitated, but the Austrian
alliance would not permit il, for that,
together with Russia and
Prussia, was sharer in the shameful.
partition of Poland. Afraid of dis,
pleasing Austria, Napoleon would not
put Poland upon her feet. lie, how;
ever, reverted to halfway measures
that were worse than refusal, since
they frightened Austria and Prussia
almost as much as direct assistance.
would have done. Large numbers Of
Poles joined his army, and stood by
him through all the horrors of the
Moscow retreat. When that event,
took place, Napoleon saw the utter
failure of all bis hopes based upon
the Austrian alliance. While he was
holding Russia, Prussia and some OF
the smaller German States in an even.
contest in Saxony, Aus ria broke away
from him, and sailed into the coalition
with four hundred thousand troops.
The whole army belonging to tho
coalition was placed under the lead of
nm Austrian (o...,oal..