The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1870-08-07
The Rhine Frontier.
SIZE so'len Inn NIGHT haben.
Den frei0u Deutschen Rhein.

eacn tiine tnat france grows uneasy LII her
restricted limits and begins to extend her
arms yearningly toward the ancient river
But the French, on their side, long for what
seems to be natural boundary, rounding off
proportions. With this defiance on the one
side and this longing on the other thousands
sympathize, according to their personal likings
for either nationality, without thought OF the
historical justice Of the case. This justice it
is our proposal here to briefly Illustrate with
out bias on either side, and so leave the reader
to JUDGE dspassionately for himself To aid
in the illustration Of this great feature of the
dispute between France and Germany we
elsewhere publish map which gives the
frontier of the Rhine from above Strasburg to
a point below Cologne, thus including the
greater part of Rhenish Prussia.
About century before the Saviour's birth
the Romans designated all that vast region
filed with wild tribes Of Herculean form and
terrible aspect which includes the Germany of
our time--the whole of Scandinavia, Livonia
and Fialaud-by the name of Germania. The
Teutons and the Cimbri, who were the most
formidable Of these tribes, after having swept
down from Denmark like torrent over all the
western Italy, where their destructive course
was at last stayed by the masculine energy of
Marius. These incursions provoked fierce
return, and at length the genius of Caesar,
penetrating northward, drove out from
Gaul the conquerng German chieftain,
Ariovistus, who had established himself
there and hurled him beyond the Rhine,
confirming that river, for the time being, as
the Gallo boundary. But there he paused,
and the flying expeditions he occasionally sent
awe the occupants of the right bank and keep
them from attempting fresh invasion. When,
subsequently, in the reign of Tibe-ius, that
limit was transgressed by Roman pride, the
great Germanic leader, Hermann, utterly
crushed the legions of Varus among Rhenish
marshes, and the venture was not repeated.
Then came, in the succession Of ages, the
establishment of the Gallo and afterward of
the Frankish power within these limits, as
Roman preponderance died out At length
embraced the religion of Christ, and ''the good
news of the Gospel, which had been hsr-
Fingered at the North by the preaching and
pilgrimages of the Hibernian missionaries,
spread from England and from Gaul through
out all Germany, until the latter, in the eighth
became part and parcel of the grand
empire of Frankish Charlemagne, and the
Rhine frontier was obliterated The subse-
quent invasiOns Of the terrible Normans, and
the final dying out of Carlovingian authority,
in the ninth century, left both Gaul and Ger
many prey to an almost interminable success
sion of petty dynasties and exhausting wars.
AT length, after having been dozen times
remodelled, we ind France, about the middle
of the seventeenth century, receiving by the
treaty of Minister perpetual and irrevocabe
title to the three bishoprics of Metz, Toui and
Verdun, and, besides that, to the city Of
Brisach, the Landgravate of upper and lower
Alsace, the Sundgau and the baiiwick of ten
imperial united cities Of Alsace. AT length
came the splendid conquests Of the
first Napoleon, who at the battles OF
Marengo and Hoheninden, in 1901, secured
the famous treaty Of Luneville, which gave
him the whole left bank of the Rhine, from
Basic (now in Switzerland) to Nimeguen (now
in the Netherlands) And this was and is
''the Rhine frontier" that France clamors for
to-day. But in 1914, after the overthrow Of
NAPOLEON and the restoration of the Bourbons,
France was cnt down to her old limits as she
had stood in 1902, and out Of the Congress Of
Vienna, held in 1916, arose the Germanic
Confederation aud the partition OF the territory
thus taken away, among several petty States.
We're the Rhine frontier carried out to its ulti-
mate sequence it would of course sweep in all
Rhenish Bavaria and Rhenish Prussia on the
left bank of the river, Luxembourg, Belgium
and one-fourth at least of Holland. Were the
Luxembourg, Belgian and Dutch limits re-
spected, it is difficult to see what very impor-
tant ''rectication of the frontier could ensue
from so small a gain as the comparatively mar
row patch belonging to Bavaria and
Prussia. The boundary line would still
be Jagged, uncomfortable and incom-
plete. and other territorial wars would
soon follow. In fine, the old Napoleonc from
tier is what France really wants and fights
for That would give her new river boun-
dairy of two hundred miles, an increase of
territory on the east as large as Denmark, and
an additional population of four million souls.
Who can for moment believe that unless
Germany also were consolidated into one grand
united State, ever warlike, ambitious and
restless France, so quick in quarrel and so
fond of military glory, thus swollen and
strengthened, could be restrained by so slen-
der a silver thread as the narrow and winding
Rhine