The Press SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 1938. English Kings in Paris

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22437, 25 June 1938, Page 14

The Press SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 1938. English Kings in Paris

King George VI will go to Paris next week, and will be ceremoniously received by Government. city, and people. It is worth while looking back 35 years to the visit of King George's grandfather, and contrasting, not only the two monarchs, but the condition of -international affairs then and now. In visiting Paris in 1903, Edward VII acted with great courage. The Fashoda affair, in which England had insisted on the French withdrawal from the Upper Nile, had occurred only a few years before and the South African War was a thing of yesterday. In this war French unofficial opinion had run strongly against Britain, and Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales had been subjected to grave insult. The Prince had been so deeply wounded by these attacks that he had kept away from Paris; and as King he continued to feel resentment but did not waver »in his old desire to bring Britain and France closer together. There was much, especially in family ties, to draw him to Germany; and he realised the importance of friendly relations between Germany and his own country. “ But personal “sympathies with him were always of great “weight,” says Mr E. F. Benson. “He had “always loved France, the wit and lightness “of its people, their quick intelligence, suited “ him; he was at home there, he was essentially “ a boulevardier, and now . . . he turned his “back on Bismarck and Berlin, and marched “up the road to Paris.” When William II succeeded to the throne of Germany, the strong personal dislike between the two men no doubt made Edward still more determined to cultivate French friendship. For this task he had exceptional gifts. He was by nature a diplomat. When Britain’s deal with Turkey over Cyprus roused feeling in France, the Prince invited Gambetta, then the most powerful force in the French Chamber, to a restaurant lunch and over coffee and cigars convinced him that this acquisition was as beneficial to France as to England. Lord Salisbury, who was anxious about the effect of the transaction, warmly praised the Prince for this piece of work. But when Edward VII went to Paris in 1903, he took a risk. His reception at first was not encouraging. As he drove from the station to the British Embassy, the crowds saw “that “ stout bearded man, with prominent blue eyes, “whom they had seen depicted in their papers “ with every circumstance of malicious ridi- “ cule,” and there were shouts of “ Vivent les “Boers!” and “Vive Fashoda!” Edward smiled and saluted: “ He had one weapon only, “ his genial magnetic personality. Out it came.” Throughout the days that followed, crowded with functions, as the forthcoming visit of George VI will be, Edward’s charm worked its change; and when the President drove him to the station, “The immense crowd from win- “ dows and balconies and pavement waved and “ kissed their hands at him and shouted, Vive “ * notre Roi! ’ and Paris was his again.” There will always be difference of opinion upon the extent of the contribution Edward made to the entente with France; but it cannot be questioned that he helped to lay the foundations. Events moved rapidly. England and France composed their differences; and their understanding about Germany solidified into something resembling a military alliance. When the test came in 1914, England and France stood together, though Britons would not have moved to war as a body, had not Germany invaded Belgium.

From the war there was carried over into peace no mutual understanding commensurate with the perils through which the two countries had passed. Britons and Frenchmen are temperamentally far apart; and there were home and oversea soldiers in the army of occupation in Germany who found themselves on better terms with their enemy than with their ally. During the post-war period, in which imposition of victory has been followed by failure and disillusionment, each nation has blamed the other. A large section of British opinion resented the French policy of keeping Germany down and criticised the British Government for not taking a stronger stand against it. Frenchmen complained that Englishmen were sentimentalists who refused to acknowledge realities. The position to-day is that in very important respects French policy has failed. As before the war, England and France face Germany; and it is a Germany united as never before and driven forward by a new philosophy, more relentless than the old Junker spirit and Pan-German ambition. The parallel with 1914 is surprisingly close. Russia saved the Allies then, but revealed grave military and political weakness! To-day, because of internal troubles, Russian prestige is lower than a few years ago; and the world is wondering what the Russian army would be worth in a war. Though recent events have drawn England and France closer together, England, as in 1914, will not commit herself until the crisis arises. On the other hand, the threat to democracy is even plainer than it was in 1914. Old foes of freedom have taken on new and more sinister forms, extended their influence, and proclaimed their ideals with appalling bluntness and clarity. No warning could be plainer to England and France that, if they do not act together in defence of democracy, they may be destroyed separately. The King who goes to strengthen the ententealliance of to-day is a very different man from his grandfather. George V differed as greatly. Edward VII was a cosmopolitan, who even spoke the language of his country with a slight foreign accent. He delighted in visits to foreign capitals, in the ceremony of meeting his royal “cousins.” and in the use of his talent for diplomacy. , George V was completely English, the moist English of the kings of England up to his time, a naval officer and country gentleman who would have preferred a quiet life to the limelight and responsibilities of kingship. His main interest outside Britain lay, not in Europe, but in the Empire. George VI is like his father, English to the core. He will do his best, and it will be a good best, to impress the French; but he cannot bring to the task the special gifts, of Edward VII. Such gifts, however, count for less than they did. The personality of dictators is immensely important; but the personality of constitutional monarchs has less influence on international relations than when Edward reigned. The factors that

count for most in the union between France and England are the extent to which British governments will support France in Europe and the success or failure of France in achieving stability in government.