Evening star., 1934-04-08

divided among his three sons: Louis
the Germanic. Charles the Bald, and
Lothaire. Louis received the eastern
part. Lothaire the middle part. and
Charles the western part These three
parts of the old Frankish empire be-
came known to us as Germany. AL
sace-Lorraine and France. But in the
old days. these names did not yet
exist. The three divisions Of Charlie
magneS domain were called:
Francia orientalis or Eastern France.
Francia media or Middle France.
Francia occidentalis or Western
France.
Trouble Follows Death.
The partition of the empire took
place in 843 by what is known as
the Treaty of Verdun, and the
Church of Rome maintained so far
its unity. The death of Lothaire in
855 started the whole trouble between
East and West, or in other terms the
! future Germany and France Lo-
thaires kingdom had to be given to
somebody BY the Treaty OF Meersen
of 870 that kingdom known as Lo-
tharingia or the future Alsace-Lor-
raine, was divided between the kings
of East Francia and West Francia.
This second division perpetuated a
trouble between two nations, trouble
extending over exactly 1000 years.
For some time the western part
was ruled by the king of the eastern
part until some more trouble ap-
peared. The eastern part or Ger
many was invaded by the Hungarians,
the western part or France by the
Normans. Each kingdom had to look
out for its own interests until the
year 9l9 when the line of Charlie
magne became extinct. A Saxon
dynasty became master of Germany
Capetian master of France Neither
was of royal line. More trouble ahead
from family feuds.
Towards the year 999, the Popes
started to play politics, throwing the
weight of their influence with one
side or the other-a fashion in vogue
up to the present time among lesser
European powers. When the King of
Eastern France or Germany decided
to call himself emperor in 962 follow
ing the title of Charlemagne. whole
chain of intrigues and contest for
supremacy followed in its wake. We
now find ourselves with popes, kings
and emperors, each jealous of the
others prerogatives.
In 925, while France is in the
throes of civil war the eastern king
dom invades that part of Lotharingia
or Alsace-Lorraine belonging to the
western kingdom (France). And we
find Germany in 1925 celebrating the
millennium of the event. From now
on, that middle France or Lotharingia
becomes the contesting pawn between
the East and the West, or in other
terms Germany and France. The un-
fortunate people of that territory had
to bear the brunt of all the fierce
| battles waged between the kings Of
the east with the kings of the west.
Jealousy of dynastic rulers, greed and
hatred from both sides of the Rhine
grew proportionately with the growth
of nationalism. The same condition
prevailed between England and
France. The French dynasty Of the
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. of Hughes
Capet-were at odds with the Nor
man pretenders who had invaded
France, and then became masters of
England. The Plantagenets of Eng
land, themselves descendants from
the Norman line of William the Con-
queror, kept up their contention in
France for centuries afterwards.
Thus was perpetrated the antag-
on1sm between France and England,
and France and Germany. With
Germany, the contest came in 1870
with the cession of Alsace-Lorraine to
Prussia. In 1918, that antagonism
ended by the recession of Alsace-
Lorraine to France. The Treaty OF
Versailles did nothing but re-estab-
| lish the frontier of 1915 between
| France and Germany.