Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1918-12-19

-iit ~ yNll5 WY, II cS{atDiiSt.eu tIlc
principle o. religious; toioration: it
marked the rise OF France as It great
state; it bestowed Aisace uDon the
French monarchy; it left Germany a
broken mass OF Gisuri.ed statcs. 1t was
q real settlement 50 far as the religious
issue was concerned; in all else it was
no settlement. but rather a cessation
OF war, made necessary by exhaustion
II achieved not at Il general congress,
but by separate peace agreements be-
tween the various contestants.
A Review OF Treaties.
A review OF these previous great set
Elements OF miscellaneous is perhaps
worth while now when we are TO make
the greatest of ali settlements, which
seems bound to have as long n life as
that of Vienna and exercise at. least
as great an influence upon Succeeding
generations as did the 1915 document
upon history from Waterloo to the later
Sedan. OF all these previous settle
irents only that of Vienna is of real
contemporary interest, because alone
OF the many arrangements it was like
the present, the consequence of COM
plete victoSy III q general war which
put complete I'VE in the hands OF
the victor.
At Vienna the principles OF civil lib
erty n OF racial unity we're rejected.
N a. rl!tt ScStictS eds ~.
the russian emperor and the Prussian
soldiers were not concerned with the
rights of small peoples, and they were
determined 30 exercise the evil! spell of
the French revolution. But the Nictors
were so divided by mutual rivalries
that only the return of Napoleon pre-
vented u collapse of the congress-. mt
~Ialieyrand at all ines was able to
save beaten France from the conse-
quences of defeat by playing upon the
mutual j%ealousies of the conquerors.
The statesmen and the sovereigns
who framed the Vienna document re-
garded Europe. save for France of
lIas, as an open hunting ground.
Prussia, Austria, Russia. through t!reir
kings, quarrelled over their respective
shares of Poland. oil of which the
ic9ar once. by IN eloquent gesture,
CLAIMED az his own, as successful g n
dts might quarrel over the division Of
a booty. Disagreed over all else. how
ever, the contestants were agreed in
disregard OF the rights Of the real
owners And not less complete was
tire disregard of the raen of ehe con-
gress of Berlin for the same considera-
lions.
At Vienna nobody cared about the
Poies; no body cared u brass tar,li4ng
tor h Serbs or the Greeks at i3ar,!.,.
in the later gathering none of the as
semb!ed statesmen were troubled BIZ
the haunting fear Of a revolution such
WITH that of their predecessors at W.
emma gathering. In Berlin the dirlo-
matists were concerned only with
avoiding "a general WAY and with &C.
curing as MUCK territory AS possible.
AT Vienna the double obtective was
personal profit and coliective royal
safety. An eviction of kings. like that
which had just occurred. had foi!awed
the French revolution. and the general
assoc:ation OF monarchs met at V.enra
was resolved to make any repetition
impossible.
Big Task Faces Statesmen.
Now contrast the task before the
statesmen who gather at Versailles
with that OF their PREDECESSORS at vi
emma and at Berlin. Their task far
SURPRISES that Of a little more than
a century Ago.. They have to make
q new map of Europe. They have to
deal with the racial and nationalist
aspirations Of more people than the
combined sovereigns OF the Vienna era
ruled over. They have to erect new
nations larger than any German state
in 1916. The have to resolve Austria
Hungary into it's competent parts. to
settle the Balkan rivalries, to dispose
OF the turk in Asia as we'll Is in
Europe. They have he Polish prob
lem On their hands with all it's com
plexities. They have the German COL
onies to bestow upon themselves or re-
turn to Germany.
And beyend these questions OF ter
ritory n nationality there are the
~stupendOuS, taska growing out of. the
German revolution and the Russian an
archy. Fortunately. in n respect. the
victorious nations are far better placed
than those Of 1915. There are almost
no rivalries as among themselves.
France. Britain and the United States
have no conflicting purposes. Italian
aspirations are only possible sources
of trouble. where the Italians disagree
with h Slavs and the Greeks e
Adrtatic and Aegean territory.
FOL the Germans to repeat the
achievements of Talleyrand at Vienna
lacking the material everywhere pres
ent at the earlier gathering. Differ
ences can come out only OF principles
rather than territory. That they may
came is apparent when one recognizes.
for example, the very wide difference
OF views between Great Britain and
President Wilson owe the question Of
the freedom Of the seas"
But a far. more fruitful source Of
difficulty nus he e in ths situation
In Germany. France in 1915. when
hands OF a king restored by allied bayo-
nets. Owing his throne to the allies
and holding it only by their aid, he wa
bound to accept their conditions. The
return Of Napoleon temporarily abol-
ished the decisions of the congress of
Vienna and had he won Waterloo would
have reduced them to ashes. His de-
feat and disappearance alone saved the
work OF the congress Of Vienna.