The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1870-10-08

That middle chase, whishin its struggles tor
civil l;berty haA, rom 1916 to 1870, been
exbibiIre an ubexsmpled spectacle Of ire
solution, lncapacity, and cowardice, felt, OF
course, highly delighted to bestrlde the
European scene as the roaring lion OF
German patriotism. II re-vindicated its
civic Independence 10y affection to force upon
the Pussian Government the secret designs
Of that same government. 1t does penance
for its long continued and almost religious
faith in Louis Bonaparte's intallibility. BY
shouting for the dismemberment Of the
French Republic. Let us for moment
listen to the special pleadings Of those stout
hearted patriots
They dare not pretend thes the people OF
Alsace and .Jrraine pant for the German
embrace quite the coatrary. 10 punish
their French patriotisn. Strasburg, a town
with an Independents citadel commanding i,
has for six days ben wantonly and tiendlsh- |
" bombarded by "German'' explosive
shells, settiug it on fire, and killing g eat
numbers Of its defenceless inhabitants
Yet, the soil Of those provinces once upon
tine belonged to the whilom German
Expire. Hence, it seems, the coil and the
human beings grown o9ftss3ust be conhs
Gated as imprescriptfe Imam property
If the map Of Europe is to be remade in the
antiquary's vein, let u by no means forget
that the Elector Of Brandenburgh, for his
Prussian dominions, was the vassel Of the
Polish Republic.
The more knowing patriots, however,
require Alsace and the Contemplating
part of Lorraine as " material guarantee"
against French aggressions. As this con
temptible plea has bewildered many weak
minded people, we are bound to enter more
fully upon it.
There is no doubt that the general con-
6guraton of Alsace as compared with the
o posite bank Of the Rhine, aud the pre-
sence Of large fortified town like Strasburg.
about halfway between Basic and Germer-
sheim, very much favor French invasion
Of South Germany, while they offer peculiar
dficulties to an invasion of France from
South Germany. There is, further, no
doubt thai the addition Of Alsace and
German speaking Lorraine would give
South Germany a much stronger frontier,
inasmuch as she would then be master Of
the crest of the Nosges mountains 10 its
/ whole length, and Of the fortresses which
cover its northern passes. If Metz were
annexed as well, France would certainly
for the moment be deprived Of her two
principal bases cooperation against Germany
but that would not prevent her from con
structing a fresh one at Nancy or Verdun
While Germany owns Coblentz, Mainz
Germersheim, Rastadt, and Ulm, all bases
Of operations against France, and plentfully
made use Of IN this war, with What show Of
far play can she begrudge France Suas-
burg and Metz, the only two fortresses Of
any importance she has on that side
Moreover, Strasburg endangers South
Germany only while South Germany il
separate power from North Germany.
From 1892 to 90 South Germany was never
invaded from that direction, because Prussia
was party to the war against the French
Revolution hut as soon as Prussia made
peace Of her own in 1875, and left the
South TO shift for itse I, the invasion OF
South Germany, with Strasburg for base.
began, and continued till 1909. The fact
Is antted Germany can always render
Strasburg and any French army in Alsace
innocuous by concentrating all her troops.
as was done in the present war, between
I Saarlouis and Landau, and advancing. or
accepting battle, on the line of road between
I Malnz and Metz. While The mass Of the
Y German troops Is stationed there, any French
army advancing from Strasburg into South
Germany would lie outflnked, and have its
communications threatened If the present
campaign has proved anything, it is the
facility Of invading France from Germany.
But, in good fnth, it i not altogether an
absurdty and an anachronism to make
military considerations the principle BY
which the bound ries Of nations are to be
Fixed? If this rule we're to prevail,
Austria would still he entitled to Venetia
and the line Of the MlnciO, aud France to
the line Of the Rhine, in order to protect
\ Paris, which lies certainly more open to an
attack from the North Fast than Berlin
/ does from the South West. III limits are
to be fixed by military interests, there will be
no end of claims, because every military line
is necessarily faulty. and may be improved
by annexing some more outAying territory /;
and, moreover, they can never be fixed
finally and fairly, because they always must
be imposed by the cOnqueror upon the con-
quered, and conseq uently carry within them
the seed Of fresh wars.
such is the lesson of all history. Thus
with nations as individuals. To deprive
them Of the power Of offence, you must
| deprive them Of the means of defence You
must not only CARROT, but murder IF ever
conqueror took material guarantees for
breaking the 'sinews of a nation, the first
Napoleon did 50 by tie Tislit treaty, and
the way be executed it agrlnst Prussia and
the rest of Germany. Yet, a few years
later, bis gigantic power split like rotten
reed upon the German people. What are
The " material guarantees" Prussia, in her
widest dreams, can, or dare impose upon
France, compared to the "material guaran
tees" the first Napoleon had wrencbed from
bersef9 The result will not prove the
less disastrous. History will measure its
retribution, not only by the extent Of the
square miles conquered from France, but
By the intensity Of the crime of reviving, in
the second half of tie 1910 century, tie
policy Of conquest
But. say the m0qth-pieces Of Teutouio
patriotism. you must not confound Germans
With FrenchmeH What zoe want Is net
glory, but safety. The Germans are an
essential by peaceful people. In their sober
guardianship, conquest Itself changes from !
a condition of future war into pledge of
perpetual peace. OF course, it is not
Germans that invaded France in 1892, for
he sublime purpose Of baYonetting he
revolution of the l7th century. 1t is not
Germans that bcfouled their hands by the
susiryation Of Italy, the suppression Of