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that if his career be not cut short , he will attack you—he will attack you seriously . It will not be to burn London , but to dictate a peace there . " The Egyptian expedition , " continued M . Th s , " was the rashest attempt that history records ; rasber even than Moscow . It contained the germ of N " apoleon ' s subsequent life . It showed his marvellous powers of combination and execution , and the wildness with which his imagination led him to despise moral and p hysical obstacles . No one would compare the political and military ability of Turenne with that of Napoleon ; but I have often thought that if we had had the former in 1796 instead of the latter , we should have preserved the Rhine and the Alps . We should have been the first Power in Europe instead of one of the five Powers .
" Now we have no one to form an army except those who are in exile . Vaillant is good in his own line , but not as a general or an administrator . We have , indeed , the largest materiel in Europe . I myself had 3500 cannon cast ; and as I knew that in our next war we should have to rouse the people of Italy and Germany against their sovereigns , I provided for them as well as for ourselves . But while this man retains his power our personnel will be inferior . " C . W .
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THE GERMAN LIBERAL VIEW OF THE RUSSIAN QUESTION . ( From a Berlin Correspondent . " ) Since the breaking up of the Vienna Conferences , public attention has once more concentrated itself upon the events of war alone . While the total failure of those conferences produced a general disgust for diplomatic transactions of every kind , the revived activity in the camp before Sebastopol , the progress , howsoever slow , of that siege , and the news of the Kertch expedition , could not fail to revive the
interest every liberal heart takes in the present crisis . At the same time a new and equally great arena of war has been opened in the Baltic Sea , where the allied fleets again are threatening the northern coasts of the enemy . It is quite natural , therefore , that towards this gigantic theatre every eye should be turned , that public expectation should cling to the sails of your ships , and to the folds of your soldiers' tents ^ that from Sebastopol especially we should be * induced to hope for the solution of the great European Question . of
But , while rejoicing in the revived energy your warlike preparations , we must beware not to anticipate too great a result , and while looking with pride on this year ' s expedition , we must be careful not to be blinded by the brilliant prospects it offers . The solution of the great European Question does not lie in Sebastopol ; only the solution of momentary difficulties lies there , nothing more . As far as your military honour—yours and that of France—is concerned , so far , but so far only , the result to be expected from Sebastopol is a decisive one , but the deannihilation
struction of the Russian fleet , the de facto of the Russian preponderance in the Black Sea , will not settle the question of that preponderance dejure , in any way satisfactory to the claims of the Western Powers , to the future tranquillity of Turkey , and to the interests of Europe . Those who hope that the taking of Sebastopol will be sufficient to secure such a lasting political result , undervalue far too much the pertinacity of Russian policy , and have too soon forgotten the answer Prince Gortchakoff gave to Lord John Russell—and , no doubt , it was one of the few true words he said at Vienna—that before
submitting to any limitation of her rights of sovereignty , Russia must undergo a succession of heavy defeats . Now , important as the military- point of view must be to the people of England and France , still it needs not to be proved that it is far from being the highest one , far from being the point of view wo must take , if we would do j ustice to the present emergency . For such has been the nature of this Eastern Question , that by degrees the depth of its importance has disclosed itself even to the most short-sighted eye , that from seeming at first the mere trifling question of a pawnbroker ' s pledge , it now manifests itself as the greatest question put to the statesmon of Europe since the days of Napoleon I . —that , in a word , it has the of
shown itself to l > e nothing loss than reverse that enormous struggle in the beginning of this century , with inverted names , and , unfortunately , With lessened wisdom and energy on the side of the defenders of Europe . Of this European meaning of the Eastern Question even Lord Palmerston has lately seemed to catch a glimpse , and since he , never over discerning in anything concerning Russia , has been compelled to confess that at present the whole political position of England and Franco is at stake , we may without further notice pass ovor those Gladstones and their like , who waste their time and the keenness of thoii wit in splitting differences between a defensive and offensive war , and may take it for granted that that European point of view ia the right
one , which the instinctive judgment of popular feeling has taken long before our statesmen thought of admitting and adopting it . From this European point of view we deny , as I said before , that the solution of the Eastern Question , lies in Sebastopol . Where , then , does it lie ? Exactly where it lay in the contest of Europe against French preponderance : the solution rests with Germany . The conquest of Sebastopol may be as glorious a success as your battles of the Nile and Trafalgar were in their turn , but it will be as little decisive against Russia as Nelson ' s victories were against Napoleon . The Russian Waterloo still remains to be fought ; it must be fought on the Russian-German frontier .
Russia is a continental power ; the attacks against her have the sea for their basis , and it cannot be denied that even with the best success , both in the Baltic and in the Black Sea , you will not be able to cleave asunder her vital nerve . Besides , those two attacks can never be combined , as between your two bases there is a distance of about 1500 miles . This line of distance is the Russian-German frontier ; it is , therefore , protected against any attack by land by Prussia and Austria when neutral or allied to Russia , and open to their attacks when hostile to her . Russia has never to fear any decisive military defeat , as long as she is not defeated on this side , and , for the same reason , the political contest of Western and
Russian preponderance will never be brought to an end , as long as the Western Powers have not succeeded in striking the enemy at this vital point . Of this circumstance the contending powers on both , sides have been well aware ; Russia has put into full play all heT inflxience to secure either the alliance or the neutrality of the German States , and the very fact that , on the other side , England and France have allowed Austria to play them her tricks for so long a time , proves—so to say — ' officially that we are not now claiming a greater importance for the military and political position of Germany than the Governments of England and France themselves have done for some time past . But Russia won the
diplomatic game in Germany completely . Very soon , that is , nearly a year ago , you gave up every hope as to the smaller kingdoms , as well as to Prussia . In Austria alone you set all your confidence . But there , also , has a change lately taken place . Austria has dropped her mask ; your " faithful ally " turns out to be as false as those who knew her prophesied from the beginning . Her friends in your country—and very numerous indeed they are , and of high standing , too—are disappointed and vexed , and , in order to hide the defeat of their unfounded confidence , they all of a sudden tell us that you don't want Austria , that you can do as well without Germany , that you had better " put her aside . " Why ?
If you stood in want of Austria , while you still undervalued the difficulties of a war with Russia , do you not want her now , when you have become aware of those difficulties in rather an unexpected manner , and feel , by your deep scars , how heavy are the blows she is able to deal ? And even if you make the most of your success in the Crimea , are you masters of the war to such a degree as to " put aside" the greatest military powers on the Continent ? Put aside Germany , indeed ! Put aside a country that is the very barrier and shield of your enemy ' s territory ; take
no notice in your political combinations of governments of first rank ; leave out of your military calculations a group of states which command a million of well-disciplined , highly-finished soldiers ! It is as easily said as any folly ever was , and , if acted upon , it would be as heavily punished too . The increasing dimensions of the war and , at the same time , of your demands on Russia , point rather to the contrary policy . In that " saying old and true , " If that you will Franco win ,
Then with Scotland first begin , the names only need bo altered , and it is as true now as it was of yore . The question then arises , have you already tried the right means for securing this necessary alliance of Germany , or are they still to l ) e tried ? In other words , is it without your fault that you miss the cooperation of Germany ; and , if not , can these faultsbo amended ? It is a remarkable fact that to this point no serious attention , worthy of its importance , has yet boon given , and that , while into the management of the war in the East , whore , after all , you can boast of some success , the strictest inquiry has been
made , nobody has inquired into the management of your diplomatic campaign in Germany , where , alter all , you aro most completely defeated . And yet , for such an inquiry there was room enough hero quite as well as there , and hero not less than thoro an astonishing amount of mismanagement would have been brought to light . To bo just , you must admit that on your side the diplomatic battle was half lost when only begun . Since 1818 your policy towards Germany had as much been against your own interest as that of RuHsia was prudent and well calculated . The natural allies in Germany , of Russia , are absolutism and aristocracy ; towards Russia as their natural protector look all those petty
princes who delight in despotism , on how small a scale whatever—all those ministers , as Manteufiel , Hassenpflug , Beust , Pfordten , whose ambition it is to be the wilful instruments for breaking down con . stitutions and liberties—all the members of that feudal party , who know of no fatherland than then ? estates , and of no rights than their egotistical privileges . Your allies , on the other hand , are constitutionalism and liberalism ; towards the alliance with you lean in Germany all members of the popular , liberal , national , and free-trade party . When , in 1848 , a fierce contest between those two opposite principles broke out , Russia , on her part , assisted as much the powers friendly to her as you neglected
those to support which ought to have been your duty . One question there was in that struggle which brought the national movement of Germany into direct contact with the foreign policy of the European Powers . It was the Danish or Schleswig-Holstein question . With regard to it , the policy of England has been a long succession of the grossest blunders . England acted throughout as the champion of Russia . Her interest was to support the Danes . England did so likewise . England helped her , as best she could , to put down the opposition of the German Duchies against Danish oppression . England helped her to get by the London treaty of May , 1852 , the acknowledgment of her eventual hereditary right to the Danish crown ,
and thus brought to a temporary conclusion , most favourable to Russia , a question of whose European importance few at that time had an idea , and which , perhaps , now at last , in the middle and under the influence of the present crisis , some few people perceive to have been nothing less than the first act of that great drama , of whose bloody catastrophe you now are witnesses and partners . The same policy was pursued by Russia in the interior affairs of Germany . While England remained stranger to the defeats German liberalism underwent since 1849 , Russia , with most eager attention , watched the
proceedings of German politics , and took a large share in the progress of her allies , the reactionary party ; every triumph of absolutism in Germany was a triumph of Russian influence , and thus , by means of an indefatigable and highly circumspect policy , Russia had succeeded , at the time when the present crisis broke out , in securing in every German , court and government her ascendancy over the diplomacy of England . But , unfavourable as the state of things in Germany appeared , still England was by no means destitute of resources by which she might have brought Germany over to her side . I need not here enter into the intricate details of the constitution of
the German Confederation , nor pass all the little states of which unhappy Germany is composed ; it is sufficient to speak of Austria and Prussia ; for , although the other German states retain the forms of sovereignty and independence , still the decision of every great question rests entirely with Austria and Prussia ; and , in case of war , the other states have no choice but to follow the two great powers . For either of tliem there were , a year ago , many circumstances which , notwithstanding the mighty influence of Russia , might have given to the decisivturn in favour
diplomatic game a e your . Austria felt the necessity of getting out of the dependence she stood in towards Russia since the suppression of the Hungarian revolution ; her traditional policy , moreover , has always put her in opposition to Russia in every question concerning the Lower Danube ; the invasion by the Itussians of the Principalities threatened totally to destroy the Austrian influence in those parts , and an insurrection in Servia in favour of Russia might have become as fatal to Austria herself as to Turkey . Prussia did not take such a direct interest in the Eastern Question ; neither
the fantastical king nor his court have that feeling for the interest of their country which is felt so keenly by the Austrian statesmen ; Imt in Prussia the heir of the crown , the king ' s brother , and all his followers , men of high standing and in hig h office , were in favour of the Western Alliance ; the whole liberal party in that country most strongly hoped and worked for it , because it would liavo effected the complete ruin of the anti-constitutional Russian party . And , indeed , Austria as well as Prussia joined the Western Powers Most eagerly did the young Emperor of Austria catch the opportunity to prove himlelf master in his own house ; and bo strongly were oi xuisaia
the injustice and danger of the proceedings felt hi Prussia , that the king and his court wore obliged to comply with public opinion Austria and Prussia signed the Vienna protocols , where , in words at least , the policy of Russia was so severely condemned . Russia was utterly disappointed . lho Western influence was on the test way to gam an unilienutod ascendancy . Then was the moment to bind lo two German Powers to the fulfilment of their words , and to the condemning by deeds of the policy Jf SSsia . llut that moment ^ fortunately oat ; and from that time date blunders and defeats , lwo means hero were by which England and Franco nXt have put tho German Powers into active coo Sation against Russia . These moans vvero hope aid fear , You might have cither induced , tliem by
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No . 275 , June 30 , 1855 . ] T H E X , E A D E H . 625
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 30, 1855, page 625, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2097/page/13/
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