Evening star., 1915-06-13

The metamorphosis of public opinion
in France on the declaration of the
present war is still
An Amazing subject Of amaze
Metamorphosis. nsrona sn, " her borders.
The interval between the general cleo
tions of May. 1914. and the lightning
like blow in August was a time that
tried mems souls men who. sincerely
republican. despaired of the republic. 1t
was a supreme crisis. Aside from the
complex political situation there was
the aggravation of a scandal-an as
sassination indirectly political. Pes
simists declared that it was purely and
simply decadence: optimists. those who
believed few years before in a new
born France. asked with ill-concealed
dismay II it was not necessary ito ad-
journ to another generation their timid
hopes" NJ Victor Giraud. writing on
this subject in the Revue des Deux
Mondes, says:
"Brusquely in this atmosphere of cor
ruption. uneasiness and storm like a
thunderbolt war burst out. And sud
denly new France emerged. united
France. proud without bravado. calm
and grave. the France we had dream.
ed of. the France we had despaired of
ever beholding with our eyes. France
that accepts without a murmur all OF
her destiny as If since forty-four years
she awaited that tragic hour and had
prepared for it in silence
All the wretched miseries of the past
were forgotten and thrown. as 1t were.
into an abyss. To the profound stupe-
faction of enemies as we'll as friends,
the political division of France van
ished. The deplorable assassination OF
a noted socialist did not trouble the sit
uation. The chamber suddenly raised
itself above it's lamentable divisions
and in a memorable session gave proof
of concord and patriotic wisdom OF
thrilling dignity. Men in authority ex-
pressed steady and sober thoughts 10
fit the occasion, and their simple elo-
quence was worthy of the greatest
period Of the Athenian tribune. Among
the heretofore warning elements OF the
chamber there was peace and good Will
Socialists, conservatives, monarchists
republicans, all political and religious
theories. all free thinkers. partisans OF
philosophical conceptions. artisans
bourgeois, mobiles or peasants. were
united in the same uprising. One sen.
timent, one thought dominated All
minds-union. There was but one
France for the reconciled who were
united against the common foe. Never
in any period of history had the moral
unity of the country been so profound
and so complete.
How is 1t possible to explain that as
tonishing facing about, that sponta-
neous creation of a great
A Complex collective and national
soul, the sudden trans
a"eSIion' fguration of an entire
people? The question is complex. The
more complex that to those familiar
with French politics. in France and
without, it seemed an impossibility, yet
the impossible happened.
The conservative element of French
opinion may have welcomed with firm
ness the prospect of a European
war; there had been a feeling of dis
quiet in their patriotism. If one had
listened to their expressions of dis
quiet more often France in 1914 would
have been totally prepared and ready
for any attack. The conservative ex-
pected war and would have prepared
for it, and this element believed with
Renan that a nation above all Is
military creation and consequently
must be sustained by arms when nee
essary.
Republican left, radicals. radical so
cialists. pacifists. anti-militarists, anti
clericals not only declaimed against
war. but protested against colonial ex-
pansion. Some of the latter even en-
tertained the possibility of an entente
with Germany, condemned the idea of
revenge and would renounce all idea
of the recovery of the lost provinces.
All these had opposed military credits,
tary service. and some who voted it'll
hastened to undo the work. under par
ty pressure. In word there was in
many cases positive defiance of the
o1o "
by the storm from the east.
These discordant anti militarists
threw their fancied antipathies to the
winds and donned the uniform. Among
these incongruous elements there went
to the front 10000 Catholic priests,
who could not be expected because Of
the prosecutions to which they had
been subjected to have any love for
the government that had been "radi-
CAL
Much had been written about the an
tagontsms of class. and labor circles
appeared convi nc
Assassination that. according to the
gospel of Marx, there
VI SauAes. must be clash be-
tween bourgeois. patrician and prole-
tariat. But there was nothing of the
u.
be serious danger in the general labor
confederation" And this fear was all
the more real that an unconscious
spirit in a moment of dementia shot
down Jean Jaures. who, notwithstand-
ing his extraordinary talents, labored ,
under the singular fascination of or
ganizing another commune. as il the |
one had not been the final blow which
had completed the disaster of 1870. The |
sassination of Jaures, who was the
adored chief of the proletariat, passed
unnoticed, the peril of the country
lifted the veil from the eyes of all and
the general labor confederation van
ished in thin air, its members rushed |
to the defense Of the |
colors.
It has been said that the happiest |
country is the one that has no history. |
A simple hyperbolical expression from |
the fact that without history a nation |
cannot exist. Without history, indeed, |
we should have seen France disappear |
in 1870 and surviving disappear in the !
commune dreamed Of by Jaures in |
1914 But there was France with |
history, the France of Saint Louis, of |
Jeanne dare the France of Voltaire. of |
finally democratic France. the ,
of liberty. equality and frater-
nifty, in which there was history for all.
all this there were
those In France as those without who
feared or hoped that France would dis
appear. The sudden crystallization of
Al~s-