The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1871-03-17
The War Ended.

| ~ Nil thV B.bt VI a 'o"NNt
and ended by the treaty of Versailles
on the ID March, 1871, it lasted 230 days.
During this brief space of time twenty
! five pitched battles were fought, and
between thirty and forty engagements
of less consequence. twenty-five sieges
were conducted successfully, three of
them paris, Metz and Strasbourg,)
being Of the first rank. Both combat
ants brought into the field, from FIRST to
last, about 700,O 900 men each. AT Grave
lotte nearly half million of men con.
fronted each other, viz: 270, 900 Germans
against 100000 Frenchmen. At Sedan
there were 2l0 900 Germans against l50,-
600 French. And in the early battles
the disproportion was similar but after
the capture of Bazaine's army the de
moralization Of the French soldiers
became so evident that the Germans did
not hesitate to attack with inferior num-
bers. Thus, in the third battle of Or
leans, 10000 Germans fought 100000
French and, at Belfort, $4,000 Pruss.
ians and Badeners confronted the whole
of Bourbakis army, nearly 10000
strong.
This war has shown the enormous adj
vantagcs which proper training confer5.
The German War Minister, Won Room,
and the chief of staff, Won Motke, at
tended TO all the minutiW of detail.
They not merely planned the whole
strategy, but took care that everything
which was necessary to its successful
execution should be done at the right
moment. In not one instance were the
operations of the different corps impe.
ded by want Of supplies or BY the non
arrival Of rcinforcemcnts there were
no shortcomings in the commissariat,
no marching barc.Ootcd, nor periShing
from lack Of shelter or medical atten.
ton. Every company, and in some
, cases every man, was provided with a
( map of the district he was to march
through, and those men who were ac-
quainted with any locality were en-
4 ployed in it. The scouting was carried
out with the most extraordinary bold
ness and success, and the Prussians could
obtain information from the interior of
4 Paris up to the last moment of the siege.
IA 1t is painful to contrast all this with the
t miserable inefliciency of the French
u generals and staff; but the result will
,. doubtless be that the French army will
: be entirely remodelled.
II 1t is curious now to read by the light
of history the falsifcation Of the pre-
d dictions of the advocates for the fortiti
l. cation of Paris in 1871. Thiers himSel
!. included. The Select Committee ap
g. pointed by the French Government o
ii that day to examine into the subject o
81 the fortitication of the city, reportet
le that $50 far from drawing on Paris tn
MS horrors of a siege, the forts would max
- the city so secure that it never would b
e; besicgcd. a population of 10000
ly could be provisiOncd for sixty days, bu
ne no enemy could live sixty days before
~ Paris, for he AMI not tie garrison WOW,
IS be Starred. To besiege Paris alone hi
l. must bring 100000 men. These coulC
- - not be supported by stores, and to keel
m long line Of communications woult
81 require other armies. To live upon tn,
as surrounding ountry would entail dis
" persion of forces. A sixty days sieg
III Of Paris was therefore beyond the limit
ly of likelihood" Mr.. Thiers is now
~. wiser and unhappily q sadder man. l
d. was he who, thirty years ago, projected
r. the Notifications, and he has lived t
., witness the misery they have failed 4
$. avert.
p. But, after all, the military aspects O
n the war are the least important feature
d. of the great couvulSion. In France al
Empire has been eXtinguishcd, on'
n Provisional Government dissolved, ant
ly nr another installed. In Germany an En-
Sc pire has been established and all tn
k minor States have been consolidate,
ny DS into one vast concrete, at the sacrifice
an however of principles upon which tn
ry ultimate progress of The human rae
IL must rest; and both nations have We
II tumastcr thescicuca of self government
be But more than even til 5 is the entir
IT, revolution which the success of Prus3i
n has effected in the political aspect AM
of the diplomacy of Europe.
nc The balance of power is more tina
Ne ever unsettled, ari half the nations c
,,s the continent are asking themsclve
es how much longer they will be allowe
he to exist. A mighty military power hG
u suddenly risen up in the heart of Et
,n rope, occupying commanding position
ny to which there is as yet no compcten
to antagonist. France, to whom all locke
nv as its cOuntorpoise, has been dismen
lie bered and utterly vanquished, and som
"a time must elapse before she will be abb
,diI to hold up her head again. Russ
los stands apparently aloof, and Austria ha
lot not yet recovered her full strength. Eu
Tor rope has not been in such a critical COZ
is. dition since the days Of Charles V, whe
lie, the present Powers were in process
II formation, and mems minds were in
cr, ferment from the great religious NOV,
hc ment and the discovery of this Cont
not nent, excited still further by the intr
""o duction Of printing and the revival
ply literature. .-Phiiade,phia Ledger.