Evening star., 1924-11-02

cipitated i'm Germany by the
proroguing of the Reichstag
i and the call for an election on
December . not only resem-
hles events in France half Il century
go. but at least, by reason of this
parallel, holds out the faint promise
that the German Republic. while
even now supported only by 4 minor
ity Of the German people. may sur
vtve this new test.
In the election of 1875 in France
the same issue Of the permanence of
the republic was raised and answer
I'd. In September five years earlier
The news of Sedan had reused the
Paris mob to overturn the empire and
proclaim a republic. This republic
had endured disasters and trials at
least as great, If not as prolonged as
the present German state, which was
also the product of revolution: it
had faced and surmounted defeat in
the war. the occupation of Paris by
the Germans, the cession of Alsace-
Lorraine. the Commune.
MOnnrchi~ts ImperiI Republic.
The National Assembly which was
elected after the passing of the Ma
poleonic empire contained a majority
of monarchists. Even before 1875 the
republic would have been overthrown
but for two circumstances. In the
first place, the monarchistS were di-
vided: the Bonapartists favored the
young son of Napoleon III. who was
20 perish in South Africa: the Legit-
nists advocated the grandson of
Charles y and the Orleanists the
grandson of Louis Philippe: in addi-
tion, the republic was defended by
Thiers, the outstanding genius of the
hour and the first President of the
republic.
In Vii I>a
cause the monarchist majority in the
National Assembly tardily realized
that the republic. thanks to the pres
ident was steadily gaining ground.
MacMa hon, who succeeded. was a
confirmed monarchist, but the divi-
sions of the royalists paralyZed his
purpose until the hour had passed
when France would accept either a
king or an emperor.
The mere fact that it survived from
1870 to 1875 assured the permanence
of the third French Republic and the
election in this later year brought a
solid republican majority to the
Chamber of Deputies, in the face of
which MacMahon had presently to
retire. and thereafter the republic
gained ground until today it seems
as well established as our own. Now
] dwell upon this French experience
because in SO many ways il is repro
duced at the present hour in Ger
many.
Look Forward to Peace Terms.
The cotemporary German Republic
was created by mob. 1t has never
had the support of a majority Of, the
German people, and, in fact, there
never has been anything like the
democratic strivings of the French
people in German history. 1t owed
nj fyfA To he fa hot in,
November. 1918, the mass of the Ger
man people read in the late President
Wilson's various communications the
notice that the allies would not make
peace with a Hohenzollern. and con-
cluded that with the kaiser gone the
same allies would be prepared to give
Germany far more generous peace
terms.
The German monarchSts were not
unwilling to suffer a republic for a
brief period and permit the democ-
racy to assume the blighting respon-
sibility for the surrender and for the
sacrifices incident to peace. The Ma
tional Assembly of Weimar. which
corresponded to that of France fol-
lowing the, fall of Napoleon ILL., gave
Germany a democratic constitution,
but even after the constitution was
proclaimed the mass of the German
people remained royalist.
Such republican sentiment as ex-
listed was Eravely weakened by the
terms of the treaty of Versailles.
Having exiled their kings and adopt
ed republican forms in the hope of
placating their enemies and obtaining
easy terms. the German people were
suddenly faced with terms which, in
their own conception, were uothing
less than Carthaginian.
Reaction Brings Revolt.
This reaction against the republic,
consequent upon the peace terms,
found expression a year later in the
notorious Kapp revolt in Berlin,
which was only suppressed after the
President had fed the capital and the
military. who had, in part, supported
tho rebels, had been in control of the
capital for several days. But it was
suppressed because the mass of the
working people responded to the ap-
peal of the President, himself sturdy
republican, and declared for general
strike. The collapse of the Kapp re-
bcllion was perhaps the high-water
mark of the German Republic.
Since that time it is unquestionable
that there has been a marked decline
in republican sympathies in Germany.
THE several ministries of the brief pc
riod between 1920 and the present
hour have been faced with the double
task, to preserve national support by
resisting allied demands for repara-
lions and yet to avoid the conse-
, quences of open defiance of the allies.
Under pressure from German minis
tries they have adopted a policy Of
evasion, but under menace from the
allies they have found themselves
powerless to resist.
The French occupation of the Ruhr
almost two years ago gravely. if not
fatally, impaired the prestige. of the
German republic. PowerleSS to op-
pose force by force, unable to protect
German territory from invasion, in
an evil hour it fell back upon the pol
icy of passive resistance. What fol-
lowed is still recent history. The fis-
cal and economic system of Germany
crashed to the ground. Imitation
wrecked the currency. Moreover, not
only was the domestic ruin complete,
but also in the end Germany was
forced to surrender Internationally.
The war of the Ruhr was as total a
defeat as the World War itself.
Modernists Desert Cause.
But the five years Of chaos which
followed the signing of the treaty of
Versailles had. in the end, resulted in
two quite distinct movements in Ger
many. The moderate elements, which
on the whole had rallied to the re-
public and with the Socialists, who in
Germany do represent moderation 4s
contrasted with the Communist eS-
tremists, lost in influence and in num-
bers. Misery and despair which ac-
companied the Ruhr resistance cul-
minated in the desertion Of many of
the moderates to the camp of the Ma
tionalists-that is, to the ranks Of
those who advocated the restoration
of tho old imperial regime. At the
y same time other .moderates passed