The Washington times., 1901-09-01
GERMANY'S NATAL DAY.
The Kaiser's Empire Holds Its Ma
tional Celebration Tomorrow.
Anniversary of the Prussinn victory
Over Napoleon That Brought the
Teutonic S:ntes Into Federation
aud Elevated King William.

and Elevated King "ihi"h-
All Germany will celebrate tomorrow its
national holiday Wherever there Is
German veteran of the Franco-Prussian
war of lS70-iS7l there will be thoughts or
the struggle which ended when Napoleon,
Emperor of the French, on the I'd OF sep
tember at Sedan, surrendered 10 hihS
William of Prussia. Today the circufn-
stances and incidents which caused thiS
war. which was Of such great and lasting
irnportance to the two nations lnNoINeu'
are of interest.
Racausa the Spanish Crown was offered
To Prince Leopold. of the house OF Hoheh-
zollern. the French Government deternhh-
ed to require a promise from Nliiiam l.
King of Prussia that he would ut 40 tu-
ture time sanction the proposal of the
Hohenzollcrn candidate. King Nhham
refused TO interfere. \ paragraph IN the
rrussi,u papers, 20 the effect that the
Kins had refused an audience To the
Fresch Arnba ssasor. Count Benedott', was
described by the Due de GrSmoni to the
French legislative body as a circular des-
patch. and. amid shouts Of approval. ne
sa,tsred thst an insult had been offered
which could only be avenged hS war.
France declared war against Prussia on
Jaslv Is no.
These were the apparent causes Wh'ch
los France 70 declare war with Prussia
ls,,t she zeel object Of the hostiltties was
ta secure ths French dynasty, which,
bevs.>sr. became its earliest victim. The
war VAS py,acctiea by long series OF do
nesttc iutrigucs. directed TO the attain
r,,ent OF the SAN. object September. lSsV'
was Il memorable. history making month";
il decided the fate Of nations The French
Ernpire fell. and with /; Frances inuu-
ence as the dominant power OF Europe.
The third Republic arose on the runs OF
the Ernpire. Germany became united uI'-
der the aegis Of Emperor Nllian- anu
he- ascondancy 10 the ranking power oi
F,uropt was assured Rome feil, ana the
Papacy lost its territory, which was en-
bodied in a united Italy. And last, put
not least, Spain got what she was after
a king selecting Prince Amadeus. Luxe
of Aosta. son of Victor Emmanuel, King
of Italy.
The year $50 brought the European ma
tions nearer to the brink of universal
war than any other period in modern his
tory. and it is of interest to glance over
the events Of that momentous epoch after
a period of thirty years OF peace between
the then contending parties
On the 18th of July, ls10. the Pope was
proclaimed infallible- France, Spain, Por-
tugal, Italy, Austria. Belgium, and Ba-
yaria stood aioof after tacit or express
notifications that 20 decree of the Coun-
Gil would affect the civil relations OF the
State 1t was a moment OF excitement
such as mas not often thrilled Europe
on the 18th OF the same month Napoleon,
Emperor of the French, declared war
against Prussia 1t was only the we'll
=, no at r
had been to the powder magazine for two
years and more Whether the explosion
at the last. was tir1ed by Napoleon or by
Bismarck is not of great Importance; il
could have been but little delayed.
Napolson saw the extreme danger o
leaving few thousand men isolated il
Rome at a time when, happen wha
might it would be impossible TO re-en
force them. Directly after declaring war
notwithstanding the cries OF the ultra
montanes he decided on recalling tn
French troops. He induced the Italian
Government TO resume the obligations o
the September Convention" by whicl
the inviolabilty OF the Papal frontier wa
guaranteed. LAMA, who entered into thi
, contract for the Italian Government
probably thought, or. at least, hoped tina
Napoleon would himself release ital,
80 from her bond
Napoleon made some last frantic effort
to get Austria and Italy to befriend hin
unconditionally How far he knew th'
real state of his army before he declares
war may be doubtful, but that he pos
sessed overwhelming proof of If even be
fore the first defeats cannot be doubted
AT the end of July ne sent Genera
Tuerr on secret mission to try and OBJ
tain the help of Austria and Italy. Th'
Hungarian general wrote from Fioreuc,
that. unless something could be done I,
assure Italy that the national question
would be settled in accordance with tn
wishes OF 4ier people, the Italian allianc
was not possible. The convention. h
pointed out. was bane instead Of a bool
to Italy. This letter was answered by
telegram through the French AmbaS5a
dor at Vienna: Cant do anything TO
Rome; if Italy Will not march. let he
stand still.
As in the former negotiations. Austri
took her stand on precisely the sam
ground RS Italy. And thus it was tina
France plunged into the campaign
1870 sinslehanded.
After Woerth and once more afte
Cravelotte. the endeayor to draw Ital
into the struggle was renewed. Napoleo
was aware that Victor Emmanuel wa
wildly anxious to come to the rescue. an
on this personal good will his last hop
was built Prince Napoleon was dc
spatched from the camp at Chalons to Sc
C9th EUgust) Napoleon was ready to yiel
in the controversy about Rome At III
camps the influence which guided him
Paris was less felt, or it is probable thu
he would not have yielded even thei
Prince Napoleon carried a sheet of whit
paper with the Emperors signature ?
the foot. He showed 1t to Lanza, III
Italian Prime Minister. and told him
I'LL it M he chose Whatever h
asked for was already granted. A mont
before such terms would have won bot
Italy and Austria-ncw ii was too late
The prince found his father-In-Iaw cage
20 give the oov0 men that were asked 70
put the Ministers protested that the Ita
ian army was unprepared for war. Stil
TO satisfy the King. who signiiied his irr
tation 50 clearly to LAMA that this GOO
servant was on the point of resigninI
they agreed to submit the case to Austri
If Austria would cooperate they wou
reconsider their decision. Austria reptile,
'-Too late
Prince Napoleon remained in Florenc
throwing away his eloquence till the
of September cut short the areumen
When he had left his couGin the Emper'
was r. solved to fall back on Paris. a
cording TO MacMahon's plan. but the Mi
listers and the Empress Regent forced ri
to his doom. On the 2d of SeDtember s
dan was lost: on the 18th the Empire 20
Napoleon surr ndsred in person to u
King of Prussia. who placed at his di
posal the splendid palace Of Wilhelm
hohe. in Hesse Cassei. formerly occupi'
by King Jerome of Westphalia. The su
render OF marshal Of France with 100 Q
men was a more unprecedeuted evel
than the capture Of the EmD"ror. Ie
than two months had occurred since Il
declaration made through the Due De CIR
mont. On the I'd of August the war h
commenced with the performance at Saa
bruck and on the I'd of September Il
only regular army in France which vi
not beIoaguerod had capitulated to a co
ouer0r.