Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-07-18
FIFTY YEARS AGO IN
THE STAR,

war was declared between France
anu Prussia on the 18th of July 1870.
following an exchange
War Declared Of communications be-
hr tween the two gov
ernments on the sub
Ject OF the Spanish succession. History
mas since proved that the breach he
tween the two countries was brouyb,
ABOUT by Bismarck by means OF !,
Aorseo telegram, or rather a garbled
announcement to the Berlin press of
statement respecting the reception
sNeh at Ems to the French minister
10 Germany by Kaiser wilhelm This
however. does not appear In the news
accounts Of the break an nrinted q,
the columns of The Star of fifty wears
ago.
The war itself came unexpectedly
though there had been forewarnines.
Just the day before the declaration II
was'thought that the chances of peace
were greatly improved. as thus shown
IN an editorial in The Star of July II.
1870:
As the smoke clears up from the
european complication 1t seems quite
certain that Napoleon is really anx-
ious for war. and though the with
drawal of Leopold from the candi-
dature for the Spanish throne ap-
pears to have removed the Immediate
excuse for hostflities, 1t by no means
follows that peace is assured. On the
contrary. the history of Napoleon has
shown that when he has really been
disposed for war he has never been at
loss for a pretext The restraining
power upon him will be the influence
OF the other members of the Euro
pean family of nations. II they make
| common cause against a war he will
| hardly undertake to provoke a con-
| hict. but 1t must be remembered that
| all OF these powers, with the possible
exception of Great Britain. have some
| selfish considerations of their own in
the way of territorial advantages to
be gained that might cause them to
be not averse to q general scrim-
image in which they might reach their
ends
Napoleon, Of course, wants to Sc
cure the coveted left bank of the
lRhine. and will be willing to pick up
iCuba incidentally. Austria would hope
to regain the territory lost in the late
Emmanuel would seize the opportu-
nifty to make Rome the capital OF
Italy. and Russia, In the pother. would
certainly not omit such chance OF
L
Turkey. And should England get in
volved in the contest favorable op-
lportunity might be afforded for
Uncle Sam to 'diplomatize' his Ala
bama claims to some advantase,
some possible benefit from genera
European war. but not enough Tor q
moment to cause us to look Win ens-
thing else than horror At 30 heee-
Hess and destructive q oonnie. TOT sns
The Star of July Is. 1870. prfnteo
the news of the declaration OF war IN
Ia dispatch from Paris dated that DAY
at 8 pm, as follows: =
l.
'rhe Corps Legislatif declared war
against Prussia at. 10 minutes 70
/ o'clock. pm. Holland
lRenedetti's viii remain neutral in
the struggle. The bel
Ulsmlsssl. ligerents have engaged
ito respect the neutrality OF Belgium;
lyet troops are rapidly concentrating
/ at Antwerp and other strategic points.
| The specie and bullion in the Ma
tional Bank Of Antwerp have been re-
moved to the citadel and an Issue, of
paper money is announced" no--ss--s
+ Another dispatch from paris
printed in the same issue OF The
1 Star said that the new issue OF. the
/ Paris Constitutionale issued at noon
| announced: THAT in consequence 70
the insult offered to Hene&etu,
STA offers" Benedetti Was the min
lister concerning whose reception by
the kaiser Bismarck altered the Enc
| telegram.
J LEht is thrown on the Ems dis
4 hxr hA fol
printed In The Star of July Is, as
follows:
"The North German Gazette has a
| dispatch from Ems today giving the
| Benedict 1t Seems he accosted the
King of Prussia while the latter was
! drinking water, demanding per-
1 emptorily his intention on the I'M
pending imbroelio. He was, there
| fore dismissed Immediately"
The Star Of the next day. July TO-
lls70, contains many dispatches about
| the development of
Ip-.roh plau the war situation,
the first of which
Of Campaign. is from Paris stat
ing that Emperor Napoleon was ex-
pected to head the army In person
land by q series of rapid movements
1 arrive at the Rhine before Prussia
has completed her defense" This
| expectation was speedily turned into
a sickening realization in France
that Prussia, instead of being unpre-
pared as to defense. was ready and
| fully equipped for immediate agrees
sive campaign. practicaiiy every
French soil
| A dispatch from London says that
| the Times intimated that the re-
| eovery of Alsace and Lorraine was
the real object of war on the part
of Prussia and limited that English
! intervention was possible in case OF
| Prussia losing strength.
A dispatch from Berlin describes
the arrival of the kaiser on inc