Search

The article discusses an imperial visit by Russian Tsar Nicholas II to France in 1901. It examines the efforts of French Foreign Minister Théophile Delcassé to organize the visit following a visit by Nicholas to Germany. The author reflects on the ways in which the visit caused domestic political difficulties, noting the challenges that it presented to French Prime Minister M. Waldeck-Rousseau and his Republican government. Other topics include Nicholas' attendance at a French naval and military review, his visit to France's Rheims Cathedral, and the decision to limit his public appearances.

Discusses the significance of the French Yellow Book on the diplomatic policy of France during the war. Records of the public contained in the Yellow Book; Disclosure of active diplomacy and justification of national defense; Inevitability of war detailed in French documents; Comparison of British diplomacy with that of the French and the Russians; Solidarity between France and Russia; French diplomacy's analyses of the states of mind of Great Britain and Germany.

Argues that the true weakness of the German defense seems to lie in an inability to analyze the objections which America has made to Germany's conduct in the present war. Inability of each party to accept the other's point of view; Germany's attempts to explain the situation and justify events with the logic of necessity; Americans' question whether the Germans know that England, France and Russia would attack them in 1914; Americans' indictment of the Germans not so much for specific acts but for the logic and the ethics by which Germans create the necessity to justify them.

Focuses on the dilemma faced by France foreign minister Aristede Briand with regards to the indemnity to be paid by Germany to France. Terms of the Treaty of Versailles; Speculations that Briand is in favor of a settlement binding Germany to pay three billion gold marks a year; Paying capacity of Germany; Reasons why Briand is proposing a policy which would be prejudicial to the interests of both France and Europe.

A historical calendar is presented for September which discusses the 1870 Sedan Campaign of the Franco-Prussian War, the subsequent loss of the French region of Alsace-Lorraine, the overthrow of the Second French Empire under the leadership of Emperor Napoleon III, and the establishment of the Third Republic in France.