The Washington times., 1922-07-02
EUROPEFACES
ruin, PEACEFAR.
| 0FF,SAYS N|TT|
Only ~ Ruling Families Left
{ and Several of These in
/ Shaky Condition.
BY FRANCISCO NITTI.

BY FRANCISCO NITTI.
L tcopyright, 1922. by francesca Nitti1
e ROME, June "a famous al
|manac. precisel, the Almanach de
Eotha, a sort Of dictionary Of rul'
4ng, or royal families, was pub
|iished 159 years ago.
It Is singularly interesting and
Instructive to compare the various
volumes, especially those which
have Immediately preceded or fol
bowed some great historical up,
Iheaval.
II we glance at the almanac for
|1914, and then at the 1922 issue,
i've cannot but be struck by the
grave significance Of certain facts
snd figures.
States Increase.
In 1914 Europe was divided into
|kifty-seven states. including the fed
Ierate states of Germany. Now. after
|fhe great war. and after the horribit
|peace treaties, which, as Clemenceau
has said, are nothing but another
1nneans Of continuing the war, there
|are no fewer than seventy-three
|states in Europe. As a matter OF
'fact. however, this figure fs consid
|erably below the truth. as the alma
mac does not take into consideration
eeveral newly formed states. still in
y nebulous stage OF development.
| At the same time. while the reign
Ing families OF Europe amounted In
Hs14 to forty one. there are now only
seventeen.. About three-fifths OF the
milling families have been swept away
by the revolutionary torrent.
: As q result OF the war, and even
'nnore, as owing to the various peace
treaties resulting from the war
Europe has become "Balkanized"
she has lost her traditional assess
Iment and has been overwhelmed by
\ revolutionary tidal wave which has
shaken her to her very foundations
Z The men responsible for dragging
IBurope into war honestly believed
.that It would have had the inevitable
,Affect OF increasing the imperialistic
|epirit ana OF strengthening the dy
|nastic spirit. On the contrary. the
'fhree greatest monarchiest of Europe
have disappeared-the Hohenzol
herns, the Hapsburgs and the Roman
6ffs, which were universally regard
I'd as based on granite foundations
The war has uprooted every vestigt
pf imperial power.
: OF the seventeen surviving mon
archies, 1t may be said that some
rest on q very fragile basis. In Eng
Hand and in Italy there still exist two
rreat monarchies both solid and last
ing, whose strength and prestige con
|Sist In the fact that they are deeply
democratic and such as to insure al
the advantages OF the republican
heRime without the outbursts OF vic
hence which, In certain republics
bitten mark the passage Of power frorr
6ne party to the other.
q Europe Facing Ruin.
II was said, and firmly believed II
western democracies during the war
That after the great conflagratior
there would be peace treaties bases
lon Justice and that the conflict wal
hot between the peoples at war. bu
hetween the opposing regimes. Th'
Reduction Of armaments was regard
IA as q foregone conclusion.
Contrary to all expectations ant
korecasts, the hardest terms were
Imposed on the vanquIshed peoples
In open defiance OF all promises anC
professionsi We cannot but at
lribute q great share of the respon
sibility to America, which after hav
ing been q decisive factor of victory
failed to uphold. owing to the de
ficiencies Of her representatives wht
were imperfectly informed of the
teal conditions Of Europe. not only
moral reasons, but the reasons o.
1mstice and common sense.
The result was revival OF ole
md new nationalisms, OF old anC
new hats. Never as now has Europ,
been face to face with utter ruin
|The men actually now In arms arr
lar more numerous than the stand
ing armies Of pre-war days. France
alone, in spite OF her financial diff
|culties, in spite OF her depopulatior
Ind OF her inconvenient demo
kraphic structure, maintains on th'
|front of q defenseless enemy III
6rmy numerically unprecedented II
fhe history OF modern times. Il II
|lhr in excess OF any army ever ex
listing in the palmiest days of Ger
Imam imperialism. The states OF east
ern Europe are still without well
defined frontieres.
Germany and the other vanquish
"a countries are overrun with Com
Emissions Of Control" which in tn,
md are nothing but a source o
Humiliation and depression owinl
Ito their violence and avidity. and d,
more harm to the cause Of the vic
fors than to that Of the losers.
Without any necessity, Germany 4
Sbliged to pay for the army of occu
pation on the Rhine, which repre-
sents q constant menace of inva
sion should not the inspplicable treat
fes be applied. a sum much highe
Than she in peace ever paid for he
colossal army. the greatest in tn
world at that time.
And on the Rhine. merely as al
Insult to the losers. there are still
etationed troops OF color, who's