The Washington herald., 1915-01-24
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cession. which stormed for twelve years;
the War of Charles the Bold, which
ragged for fifteen years; the civil wars,
which filled twenty years with their mer-
ciless strife. and the twenty years OF
bloodshed in the wars of the Revolution
and the Empire.
Fighting Over the Boundary.
Most of those wars. however disguised.
were really but continuation Of the
Gaul, which Caesar found in full fury
before the dawn Of the Christian era.
And even then. a today, and through
out the 2O0O years between, they We're
quarrrling and fighting about their boun-
Diary line, each ever protesting, in the
spirit Of the Grasping old farmer, that
he only wanted what lines his.
The GaUI believes that Nature herself
defined his frontiers and gave France
the PyrCnnes. the Alps and the Rhine
for her boundary monuments. The Teu-
ton, on the other hand, never has ac-
qUieSCed in that claim or ceased to call
the Rhine, with both its banks. the Ger
man River" and he would, II he could,
shut in the Gaul behind the Aisne or even
the Marine.
1t Is no violation of neutrality to say
that historically and racially the Ger
man claim to the Rhine seems to be
sound. For France only cut her way to
Quered AlsaCe some 80 years ago. and
to this day the French race remains a
stranger to its shores which. to the right
and left eC'ually. are peopled by the
GaIIicIZed Teutons.
race and the wiles and smiles of La Belle
France have enabled her to plant her
standard far beyond her historic and
racial bounds and steal the hearts of
TeutOns under the very frOwn and sword
of the German Michael. Thus while Ger
many. after a century and a quarter.
has not yet succeeded in GermaniZinG
Poles living within eighty miles OF Ber-
lin, France so thoroughly GalliCized the
Germans OF Alsace that they remain 10y
ally GalliC after more than forty years
OF separation from her. we are more
French than the French" a pretty Alsa-
that carried an unmistakable German ac-
cent
All over Northern France the Teuton
and Gaul are blended In the blood OF a
population that is now as French as the
people of Paris. Even beyond the from
tier. Belgium has caught the Gallo in
fectiOn, and the hurrying tourist sees
no difference between II and a French
department. Clear TO the Rhine, through
Belgium and into the Prussian province
beyond. the names of many OF the towns
remain Gallicized in the usage of the
world, notwithstanding the stubborn re-
sistance of the Germans. For example,
most Americans may not even know
that Cologne, Mayence. Treves, AK la
'Hdpptlle anu lJltBt are TO tne GreTTndnS
KOln, Mainz, Trier, Anchen and Luttich,
respectively.
Across the DuelInE Grounds.
Thus with two neighbors one so stub
born and pushing and the other so in
sidious and enCroaching, the borderland
between them has been a scene OF I'M
ending strife throughout twenty centuries
that are told. In a journey across that
great dueling field, a succession of his
toric battle grounds passes in view like
reels in a moving picture. There every
great war in Europe has opened or closed. |
and there all the issues between nations
have been submitted to the arbitrament
OF the sword.
The traveller no sooner lands at Calais
than he finds himself in what may be |
called history's chamber of horrors. For
Calais was through many years England's |
favorite entry into the great prize ring. |
And the English almost unfallingly have |
crossed over the channel to take a hand |
in all the major combats for the cham
pionship of Europe.
But until this war the English spear !
has known no other brother than the |
Teuton. Now, virtually for the first time, \
England has sailed to the French shore |
as an ally rather than as foe OF the |
Crecy and Agincourt.
Calais, though French as any part Of |
France was herSalf hald hv Ep0la IA L