No one is thinking of war, but yet milliards are wasted on military
preparations, and, millions of men are under arms in Russia and in
France.
"But all this is being done for the security of peace. _Si vis
pacem, para bellum. L'empire c'est la paix, la republique c'est la
paix._"
But if it is so, why are the military advantages of our alliance
with France in case of a war with Germany explained, not only in all
the periodicals and newspapers published for the so-called cultured
people, but also in the _Rural Messenger_, a newspaper published
by the Russian government for the masses, by means of which these
unfortunate masses, deceived by the government, are impressed
with this, that "to be friendly with France is also useful and
profitable, because, if, beyond all expectation, the above-mentioned
powers (Germany, Austria, Italy) should decide to violate the
peace with Russia, Russia, though able with God's aid to protect
itself and handle a very powerful alliance of adversaries, would
not find this to be an easy task, and for a successful struggle
great sacrifices and losses would be needed," and so forth (_Rural
Messenger_, No. 43, 1893).
And why do they in all the French colleges teach history from a
text-book composed by Mr. Lavisse, twenty-first edition, 1889, in
which the following passage is found:
"_Depuis que l'insurrection de la Commune a été vaincue, la France
n'a plus été troublée. Au lendemain de la guerre, elle s'est
remise au travail. Elle a payé aux Allemands sans difficulté
l'énorme contribution de guerre de cinq milliards. Mais la France
a perdu sa renommée militaire pendant la guerre de 1870. Elle a
perdu une partie de son territoire. Plus de quinze cents mille
hommes, qui habitaient nos departements du Haut Rhin, du Bas Rhin
et de la Moselle, et qui étaient de bons Français, ont été obligés
de devenir Allemands. Ils ne sont pas resignés à leur sort. Ils
détestent l'Allemagne; ils espèrent toujours redevenir Français.
Mais l'Allemagne tient à sa conquête, et c'est un grand pays, dont
tous les habitants aiment sincèrement leur patrie et dont les
soldats sont braves et disciplinés. Pour reprendre à l'Allemagne ce
qu'elle nous a pris, il faut que nous soyons de bons citoyens et de
bons soldats. C'est pour que vous deveniez de bons soldats, que vos
maîtres vous apprennent l'histoire de la France. L'histoire de la
France montre que dans notre pays les fils ont toujours vengé les
désastres de leurs pères. Les Français du temps de Charles VII. ont
vengé leurs pères vaincus à Crécy, à Poitiers, à Azincourt. C'est à
vous, enfants élèves aujourd'hui dans nos écoles, qu'il appartient
de venger vos pères, vaincus à Sédan et à Metz. C'est votre devoir,
le grand devoir de votre vie. Vous devez y penser toujours,_" etc.
At the foot of the page there is a whole series of questions, to
correspond to the articles. The questions are as follows: "What
did France lose when she lost part of her territory? How many
Frenchmen became German with the loss of this territory? Do the
French love Germany? What must we do, in order to regain what was
taken away from us by Germany?" In addition to these there are
also "_Réflexions sur le Livre VII._," in which it says that "the
children of France must remember our defeats of 1870," that "they
must feel on their hearts the burden of this memory," but that "this
memory must not discourage them: it should, on the contrary, incite
them to bravery."
Thus, if in official speeches peace is mentioned with great
persistency, the masses, the younger generations, yes, all the
Russians and Frenchmen in general, are imperturbably impressed with
the necessity, legality, profitableness, and even virtue of war.
"We are not thinking of war,--we are concerned only about peace."
One feels like asking "_Qui, diable, trompe-t-on ici?_" if it were
necessary to ask this, and if it were not quite clear who the
unfortunate cheated are.
The cheated are the same eternally deceived, stupid, labouring
masses, the same who with their callous hands have built all these
ships, and fortresses, and arsenals, and barracks, and guns, and
steamboats, and quays, and moles, and all these palaces, halls,
and platforms, and triumphal arches; and have set and printed all
these newspapers and books; and have secured and brought all those
pheasants, and ortolans, and oysters, and wines, which are consumed
by all those men, whom they, again, have nurtured and brought up
and sustained,--men who, deceiving the masses, prepare the most
terrible calamities for them; the same good-natured, stupid masses,
who, displaying their sound, white teeth, have grinned in childish
fashion, naïvely enjoying the sight of all the dressed-up admirals
and presidents, of the flags fluttering above them, the fireworks,
the thundering music, and who will hardly have time to look around,
when there shall be no longer any admirals, nor presidents, nor
flags, nor music, but there will be only a wet, waste field,
hunger, cold, gloom, in front the slaying enemy, behind the goading
authorities, blood, wounds, sufferings, rotting corpses, and a
senseless, useless death.
And the men like those who now are celebrating at the festivities
in Toulon and Paris, will be sitting, after a good dinner, with
unfinished glasses of good wine, with a cigar between their teeth,
in a dark cloth tent, and will with pins mark down the places on
the map where so much food for cannon, composed of the masses,
should be left, in order to seize such and such a fortress, and in
order to obtain such or such a ribbon or promotion.