FRANCE
The chief characteristic of the second empire established after
Napoleon III's coup d'état in 1852 was expansion. Napoleon III's
ambition in this direction was twofold. He desired to make the
French Empire not only the most advanced and strongest state in
Europe, but also to have it count as the strongest influence in
world politics. In regard to the first part of his ambitious plan,
both the emperor and his various governments were quite successful.
For during the twenty-odd years of the existence of the second
empire, the progress of France along industrial, commercial, and
agricultural lines was, perhaps, greater than in any other similar
period in its history. In regard to the second part, it also seemed
for a time as if Napoleon's ambitions were to be realized. It was
under his reign that the French nation's interest in colonies which
had gradually disappeared or had at least been submerged by
England's immense undertakings along that line was aroused again,
and a considerable part of the present very expansive colonial
possessions of France is one of the contributions of the second
empire. Furthermore in the early part of his rule he was fairly
successful, not only in expressing the desires of France in regard
to conditions and policies of other European countries, but also in
forcing their fulfillment. It is very doubtful if, had it not been
for Napoleon III's interest and assistance, a united Italy could
have been formed. The part which he played in the unification of
Italy has already been touched upon in the latter country's history,
and we have also heard how his support of Italian ambitions for
unity brought France into conflict with Austria-Hungary. It was,
therefore, quite natural that when the French Government was
approached in 1865 by Prussia in regard to the proposed
Prusso-Italian treaty he should be found a supporter, even if an
inactive and silent one, of this new arrangement. And it was equally
natural that during the short war of 1866 between Austria and
Prussia he kept aloof from any actual interference. It might even
have been possible that France indirectly would have been found at
that time on the side of Prussia, for there can be no doubt that
Napoleon III would have liked to assist at that time Italy against
Austria. But the Mexican War, which he had started in 1862 and which
had been going against France during 1865 and 1866, prevented any
active French interference in European affairs at that moment.
Satisfactory as it was to Napoleon III and France to see Austria
forced to relinquish its Italian provinces to Italy, it was almost
as unsatisfactory, or perhaps even more so, to notice at the same
time the immense and unexpectedly rapid increase of Prussian power
and influence. Immediately after the war of 1866 Napoleon III took a
number of steps with the object of counteracting Prussia's new power
or, if possible, of destroying it. As we have already seen during
the consideration of German history of that period, he met with a
fair degree of success. It looked very much, immediately after the
Prusso-Austrian War of 1866, as if Prussia could not count then or
for some time to come on the support of the south German states in
any enterprise in which Prussian influence would be predominant. The
attitude of these south German states toward Prussia at that time
was of such a nature that the French Government could hardly be
blamed in thinking that in a possible conflict between France and
Prussia they might be found on the side of France, or at least could
be counted upon not to be on the side of Prussia.
This conflict, it was clear, was to come soon. For under the able
leadership of the Prussian Prime Minister, Bismarck, Prussia was
gradually more and more increasing in power and influence and
intruding on the French leadership in European affairs. That it came
as early as 1870 was partly due to the French expectations of
support on the part of the south German states which we have just
mentioned, and partly to the general unrest which made itself felt
in France as a result of the lack of success of the recent foreign
policy of Napoleon III.
It is unnecessary to recite here the immediate causes as well as the
details of the result of this war, all of which have been considered
in the history of Germany of this period, and we shall, therefore,
content ourselves with the repetition of the fact that the south
German states disappointed French expectations by not only refusing
to support France, but by openly and actively supporting Prussia,
because the immediate cause of the Franco-Prussian War was
considered by them a matter of national importance affecting all
German-speaking people alike. The fall of Sedan, resulting in the
capture of Napoleon III himself, brought the downfall of the second
empire and the end of the monarchistic form of government in France.
The next few years are among the darkest in French history. In
February, 1871, M. Thiers had been made the executive head of
France, and it became his task to conclude the peace with Germany
which was ratified by the French Assembly on May 18, 1871. Previous
to that, on March 18, 1871, insurrection had broken out in Paris,
and a separate government had been set up by the people known as the
Commune. This revolution was put down only after the hardest kind of
fighting between the forces of the Commune and the Government
troops, and after more than $150,000,000 worth of property in Paris
had been destroyed.
On May 31, 1871, however, Thiers was finally elected president for a
term of three years. Considering the many and difficult problems
which the new Government had to solve, it is rather surprising that
it lasted as long as it did, even if its end came before the
appointed time. For in May, 1873, both the president and his
ministry resigned, and General MacMahon was elected president by the
Assembly. Early that fall (1873) the last parts of the German army
of occupation left France after the last installment of the war
indemnity had been paid, and in the latter part of the same year
President MacMahon's term was extended to a period of seven years.
The part which England had played during and immediately after the
German-French War was typical of England's cleverness in playing
foreign politics. Intimate as at that time were the Prusso-English
relations, and inactive as England remained during the war, it still
managed to impress the French nation with a strong feeling of
gratefulness for the apparently friendly attitude which England felt
toward France. In a way this is very remarkable, for after the fall
of the empire, England extended its hospitality to ex-Empress
Eugenie and her young son, and then, later, after Napoleon Ill's
release from German captivity, to the ex-emperor himself.
In 1876 France had sufficiently recovered from its apparently
complete breakdown of a few years ago to be able to dispose of the
largest revenue that had ever been at the disposal of any French
Government, and this fact is of interest to us chiefly because it is
one of the most definite and most significant proofs of the
remarkable inherent strength of the French country and people.
In spite of this quick recovery, France for the next few years
played an absolutely inactive and comparatively unimportant part in
European affairs. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1876, for
instance, the republic declared and maintained a strict neutrality.
Internally, the republic continued to have to contend with many
difficulties. Again and again strong opposition to the republican
form of government showed itself, expressed at one time by the
followers of the Bonapartist party, at another by those of the
Royalist party. However, all of these dissensions had no actual
result, and in spite of them the republic continued to progress and
to flourish to such an extent that, only seven years after one of
the most disastrous defeats that any European nation had ever
suffered, France was able, in 1878, to invite the rest of the world
to witness at Paris the most wonderful international exposition that
had ever been staged in the history of mankind. Early in the
following year President MacMahon resigned, having been practically
forced to this step by public sentiment which disapproved of and
feared his monarchistic leanings. M. Grévy was elected as his
successor. The early summer of this year (1879) brought death to the
only son of Napoleon III while he was fighting under the English
flag during the campaign against the Zulus in South Africa, and this
event practically ended all danger of a Napoleonic restoration,
because the representatives of the Napoleonic family left were
neither closely enough related to Napoleon III nor possessed the
necessary ability to accomplish a change of government.
The year 1880 brought the beginning of a strong anti-Catholic
movement in France. At first this movement was directed only against
the Jesuits, but it rapidly spread and in a way may be considered
the forerunner of the radical legislation along this line which was
passed in recent years. Throughout these years the life of the
different ministries was very short and in most instances measured
by months rather than by years. To go deeper into the causes for
this condition is not necessary; but one of its results undoubtedly
was that France continued to refrain from active participation in
European politics because it stands to reason that a continuous
change of the head of the Department of Foreign Affairs made it more
or less difficult, if not impossible, for France to establish a
definite foreign policy. However, in 1881 France began again to take
a more lively interest in its colonial affairs. It was in that year
that Tunis gave up its resistance to French occupation and from that
time on dates the preponderating influence which France has held
ever since in north Africa. For our purposes it is important only to
remember the fact of this preponderancy, although it may be
difficult to understand why this condition should exist, for
neither then nor during the years to come has France shown any
particular adaptability to colonial problems nor was it able to
register in its colonies successes such as England and Germany had
to show. The colonial expansion of France, however, continued. In
1882 new territory was acquired in Annam and, in 1884, Cambodia.
This aggrandizement of France at the cost of China finally resulted
in a declaration of war on the part of the latter country against
France in August, 1884, lasting until June, 1885, and resulting in
the confirmation of the French possessions in the Far East, not,
however, until the French troops had suffered severe reverses. In
1885 a protectorate was established over Madagascar.
The beginning and continuation of French expansion in other parts of
the world necessarily brought France into closer and more frequent
contact with other countries. French statesmen soon began to see the
necessity of making friends amongst the other nations if they hoped
to lead France back into the position amongst the great powers which
it had a right to occupy on account of its history as well as its
extent and ability. Throughout the first twenty years after the
Franco-Prussian War, France may be considered to have been on
friendly terms with practically all European nations with the
possible exception of Germany; but these friendships during that
period had not yet ripened into intimacy nor had they even resulted
in the establishment of definite alliances with any one of the
nations. The feeling against Germany, which was, of course, based on
the defeat which France had suffered at the hands of its eastern
neighbor, was not particularly pronounced during this period and,
unless French interests would finally have resulted in the
conclusion of alliances with countries which brought it into
commercial and political conflict with Germany, there seemed to be
no good reason in the late nineties why France and Germany could not
have found a common basis of understanding. In spite of this fact it
is true that French statesmen and especially French politicians had
never entirely given up the idea of revenging the defeat of 1870,
even though in a great many instances the desire for revenge was
secondary only, whereas the desire for the reconquest of lost
territory was the chief driving power. However, as we have said, in
1889 French relations with the world were pleasant enough to make it
possible for the republic to again extend an invitation to all
civilized nations to come to Paris for another exhibition which was
opened in May of that year, 1889. In the same year a bill was passed
making army service universal. In 1890 representatives of the
various nations again met at Paris at an international commercial
conference. In 1891 the first definite signs of an increasing
intimacy with some of the European countries showed themselves. In
March, 1891, England and France agreed to arbitrate the Newfoundland
fisheries question which had been a long standing cause of
difficulties and diplomatic dissensions between the two countries.
Some time later in July and August, 1891, a large French fleet paid
an official visit to Kronstadt, the port of Petrograd, and was
received there with the most remarkable expressions of friendship
and good will. This latter event was the beginning of the
Franco-Russian alliance. It was followed in October, 1893, by a
visit of a Russian fleet to Toulon, which was greeted with similar
enthusiasm.
In 1894 the so-called Dreyfus affair was responsible for a revival
of the anti-German feeling, because Dreyfus, who was then a captain
in the French army, had been accused and found guilty of selling
military secrets to a foreign power which was by everybody
considered to have been Germany. However, beyond intensifying the
anti-German sentiment nothing resulted, and in May, 1895, France
found it possible to join Germany and Russia in demanding from Japan
the return of the Liao-Tung peninsula to China.
The popular sentiment in France during the South African War was
strongly pro-Boer, although the official attitude was one of
neutrality. In September, 1896, France arrived at an understanding
with Italy concerning the former's desires for political supremacy
in Tunis. The next month brought a visit from the newly crowned Czar
Nicholas who was received in France with great hospitality. The
visit was reciprocated in August, 1897, by President Faure and
Europe made up its mind then that France and Russia had become
allied. In the next month England, too, as Italy had done before,
made arrangements to acknowledge French supremacy in Tunis.
In September, 1898, however, it looked for a short time as if
England and France were to go to war with each other on account of
further French advances in north Africa. In that month Major
Marchand with French troops occupied Fashoda, a town located on the
upper Nile in territory which England claimed to belong to its own
sphere of interest. Lord, then still Sir Herbert, Kitchener, who was
Governor General of the Sudan, demanded the withdrawal of the French
troops which demand was refused; but a few months afterward the
matter was amicably adjusted and the French withdrew from Fashoda.
At that time, however, the popular French feeling certainly was not
strongly pro-English; for when Major Marchand returned to France in
May, 1899, he was received with the most effusive enthusiasm.
In February, 1899, President Faure died very suddenly and M. Loubet
was elected as his successor. Throughout that year the Dreyfus
scandal continued to occupy public opinion in France to the
exclusion of almost everything else. A second trial was ordered,
but, although Captain Dreyfus was again condemned to ten years'
imprisonment, the president pardoned him and in the following year,
1900, the Senate passed a bill as a result of which further criminal
prosecutions on account of the Dreyfus affair became impossible.
Additional legislation regulating religious orders was passed in the
early part of 1901. In April of the same year, 1901, Toulon enjoyed
the visit of an Italian fleet which led to considerable discussion
among diplomats in regard to the apparently increasing friendship
between France and Italy. In August, 1901, the French Government
recalled its representative at Constantinople and handed his
passports to the Turkish ambassador at Paris because Turkey refused
to pay damages which had been adjudged due to some French companies.
Although in November, 1901, a French fleet occupied parts of the
island of Mitylene and war clouds once more seemed to be gathering,
the matter was finally settled amicably by the prompt payment of
the damages on the part of Turkey. In September, 1901, the czar
repeated his visit to France, where he witnessed both naval and
military maneuvers and was again received with expressions of the
most enthusiastic friendship.
Another change of ministry took place in 1902 when M.
Waldeck-Rousseau was succeeded by M. Combes. The new ministry caused
great excitement by closing by force all religious schools that were
not conforming by this time with the new Law of Associations.
Another difficulty which the cabinet had to face was caused by a
speech of the minister of marine during which he made remarks which
were considered offensive by England and Germany. The Government,
however, disavowed this speech and declared the expressions used to
be of a private and not of an official nature. The enforcement of
the Law of Associations continued to cause serious difficulties in
the next year, 1903. Throughout the country the clergy, which of
course resented the new regulations, took a more active interest in
politics than ever before and thereby caused many serious
dissensions between its members and the Government. A very strong
demand for absolute separation of church and state began to
crystallize which found its final result in May, 1904, in the
passage by the chamber of a bill prohibiting all instructions in
religious institutions by the end of a period of five years. The
attitude of the French Government toward the Catholic Church, of
course, was deeply disapproved by the pope, and when President
Loubet paid a visit to the King of Italy at Rome in May, 1904, and
thereby aroused the pope to an official protest, the French
Government promptly withdrew its representative at the Vatican.
May, 1903, brought to Paris King Edward of England on one of his
many visits to the French capital. This time, however, he appeared
there in his official capacity and was received with general
enthusiasm and expressions of the most sincere friendship on the
part of the French nation toward the English people. Throughout 1904
the difficulties between the French Government and the church
continued with increasing violence and in November of that year, a
bill finally was introduced separating absolutely church and state.
Relations between France and Germany became considerably strained
during 1905. France resented the advances which German diplomacy and
German commercial institutions had succeeded in making at
Constantinople and this resentment found its expression in a refusal
to finance any more Turkish loans. As an official explanation of
this attitude it was stated that the French Government objected to
supplying funds to the Turkish Government as long as the Turkish
Government continued to spend a large part of these funds for army
and munition purchases from German firms. More serious than this,
however, was Germany's official announcement that the empire would
insist firmly on an open-door policy in Morocco. But fortunately for
the peace of Europe this question at that time was settled by a
series of conferences which were concluded in the fall of 1905.
In July, 1905, the French Chamber of Deputies and in September of
the same year the French Senate finally adopted a bill for the
separation of state and church.
In January, 1906, France again severed diplomatic relations with
another power on account of commercial disputes, this time with
Venezuela.
In March, 1906, King Edward paid his first visit to the new
President, M. Fallières, who had been elected to succeed M. Loubet.
Other expressions of the growing intimacy between the English and
French nations were the visit of the lord mayor of London at Paris,
a visit of representatives of French universities at London, and a
special invitation extended to General French and other English
officers to view the fall maneuvers of the French army. Internally
the enforcement of the new Church and State Separation Law caused
many difficulties and widened the break between France and the pope.
A general strike of miners followed the worst mining disaster of the
age, which killed over 1,200 miners at Courrières. Captain Dreyfus
was finally completely vindicated. Two changes of ministry occurred.
M. Rouvier was succeeded as prime minister by M. Sarrien, whose
resignation, on account of ill health, brought M. Clemenceau to the
helm.
The separation of church and state continued to hold the center of
the stage in 1907. Monsignor Montagnini, auditor of the Papal
Nunciature, was expelled. The Catholic bishops, though, of course,
supporting the pope in his objection to the separation law, finally
reached a partial understanding with the Government in regard to the
continuation of public worship in Catholic churches. Labor troubles
and serious riots in the principal wine districts occurred
throughout May and June, but, though they were embarrassing the
Government, they did not result in any changes in its composition.
France exchanged notes with both Spain and England, establishing the
continuation of the _status quo_ in parts of the Mediterranean and
Atlantic as far as they affected lines of communication between the
contracting powers. A Franco-Japanese agreement of June, 1907, was
principally commercial in nature, although it expressed the
adherence of the two countries to an open-door policy in China. King
Edward and Queen Alexandria again visited Paris.
President Fallières, accompanied by M. Pichon, the Foreign Minister,
reciprocated with a visit to England in May, 1908, where he was most
cordially received. In July, 1908, the president also paid visits to
the kings of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, and to the czar.
Considerable bad feeling was created between France and Germany on
account of the action of the German consul at Casablanca in giving
shelter to some men of German origin who had deserted from the
Foreign Legion. The matter, however, was finally referred for
adjustment to the Hague Tribunal.
Both King Edward and the czar were visitors in France during 1909.
The French, Italian, and Spanish fleets passed in review before
President Fallières at Nice in March, 1909. A general strike, though
of short duration only, was indicative of the general feeling of
unrest which pervaded the country. The Clemenceau Ministry fell
under an assault from the ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Delcassé,
and was succeeded by one headed by M. Briand. In February, 1909, a
new agreement was signed between France and Germany, embodying the
general principles of French political preponderance and German
commercial equality in Morocco. This year 1910 again brought signs
of the general social unrest in the form of various strikes, the
most important of which was that of the employees of the Nord
Railway. This threatened to assume dangerous proportions, but was
suppressed by M. Briand's prompt action by issuing a mobilization
order to the strikers, and thereby, having turned them into
reservists, made them subject to military law.
M. Briand resigned in February, 1911, and was succeeded by M. Monis
and a Radical Cabinet, which, however, included M. Delcassé as
Minister of Marine. New wine riots taxed the ingenuity of the new
cabinet to its utmost before order was restored. In June, 1911, M.
Monis, who had been seriously injured in an aeroplane accident which
killed Minister of War Berteaux, resigned on account of ill health
and was followed by M. Caillaux, Minister of Finance in the Monis
Cabinet. In the late fall, 1911, the German-French difficulties
about Morocco were finally settled by another treaty reiterating the
general principles of the 1909 treaty, but arranging also for an
exchange of territory between France and Germany in the Congo, by
which Germany gained some 100,000 square miles to the east and south
of its Cameroons colony.
Although this adjustment was not considered as particularly
advantageous to Germany in that country itself, it aroused even more
criticism in France, and resulted, in January, 1912, in the downfall
of the Caillaux Cabinet. The president called upon M. Poincaré to
form a new cabinet. In the meantime an understanding concerning
Morocco had also been reached with Spain, and a treaty between the
two countries was signed. It is significant that during the
conferences held at Madrid between the Spanish Minister of Foreign
Affairs and the French Ambassador, the English Ambassador was
present at the invitation of both France and Spain. In March, 1912,
a French protectorate was established by treaty. Hardly had this
been accomplished when the natives revolted, and it was not until
the fall of 1912 that French troops succeeded in reestablishing
order. In August 1912, M. Poincaré visited Russia, and in September
Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia attended the French maneuvers, both
signs that the French-Russian friendship was losing nothing in
strength.
January, 1913, brought once more the presidential election, from
which, after two or three ballots, M. Poincaré emerged as M.
Fallières's successor. He asked M. Briand to form the cabinet and
appointed M. Delcassé Ambassador at Petrograd. The Briand Ministry
resigned as the result of difficulties over a matter of internal
policy in March, 1913, and was succeeded by one headed by M.
Barthou. The new president paid an official visit to the English
court in June, 1913, and to the Spanish court in October, 1913. In
August, 1913, a three years' service bill was passed to counteract
recent legislative measures in Germany, increasing the army's peace
strength. This bill at first encountered considerable opposition,
especially on the part of the Socialists.
Like all the other great European powers, France maintained a strict
neutrality during the two Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913, and, of
course, played an important part in the various unsuccessful
attempts of the powers to prevent their outbreak, as well as in the
conferences leading up to the final adjustment. In the latter the
French representatives worked in conjunction with those of the
republic's allies, England and Russia.
The year 1914 brought more than the usual number of ministerial
changes. First the Barthou Cabinet fell as a result of financial
legislation and of an attack on the part of M. Caillaux. M.
Doumerge, a political associate of the latter, formed a new one with
M. Caillaux in charge of the Finance Ministry. On March 16, 1914,
his wife killed M. Calmette, the editor of the Paris "Figaro," in
which he had attacked M. Caillaux most violently and consistently.
The Minister of Finance resigned on the evening of the murder, and
the rest of the cabinet followed on June 1, 1914. The new cabinet,
under M. Ribot, a moderate Republican, lasted one day and was
succeeded by another, headed by M. Viviani. In July, 1914, the
president paid a visit to Russia, from where he returned barely in
time to be greeted by Germany's declaration of war. At last the
moment had come when it would be seen what fruit the tree of the
Russian-English-French Entente was to bear.