Alsace-Lorraine
By F. Y. Eccles
Contents
"Alsace-Lorraine" by F. Y. Eccles
"The Evolution of Thought in Modern France" by Ernest Dimnet
"Russia and Britain" by Percy Dearmer
"Rumania: Her History and Politics" by D. Mitrany
"Poetry and War" by Sir Herbert Warren
Excerpt from "Alcase-Lorraine by F. Y. Eccles"
France is not at war about Alsace-Lorraine, but nobody doubts that if the Germans are beaten she will get back the provinces torn from her forty-four years ago. Her sacrifices, her credit, her security require their restitution, and since an unprovoked attack upon her has revived the memory of her bitterest humiliation, her people will be content with nothing less. But French pride and French power are not alone concerned. There is a sense of justice to be satisfied, and the desire for a lasting settlement. Perhaps some Englishmen are a little doubtful (though their sympathies are heartily with our Ally) whether a better could not be devised in the interest both of the inhabitants and of European tranquility. They have been told that the problem is delicate and complex. It is clearly less simple than it was before the German experiment, which has failed, but has inevitably introduced new factors. Is there no case for compromise, for an equitable partition, or for the establishment of a neutral 'buffer' state?
Before attempting to answer this question, let us go back to the Treaty of Frankfort (May 10, 1871), by which Alsace-Lorraine, the Reichsland, came into being. The Germans, when they exacted the surrender of French territory as part of the price of peace, did nothing for which history does not furnish precedents in plenty; they only denied - in contradiction to the spirit of the time - the right of human groups, conscious of a collective personality, to dispose of themselves and to choose their allegiance. This right, which could have no meaning while national sentiment was weak and vacillating and the desires of subjects inarticulate, had gradually imposed itself - rather by the force of experience than with the authority of a doctrine - upon the respect of Christendom. It had, even in modern times, been more than once subordinated to diplomatic convenience, overborne by ambitious rulers or misguided nations; but never without protest. Far oftener, during the nineteenth century, it had been successfully asserted - against Napoleon, against the Turk, against the Austrian - with the applause of Europe. Only a few years earlier, the cession of Savoy and Nice to France had been submitted to a popular vote. In the case of Alsace-Lorraine, the consent of the population was dispensed with. . .
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