The Lyttelton Times. SATURDAY, APRIL 1, 1905. A CHAPTER OF EUROPEAN HISTORY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXIII, Issue 13712, 1 April 1905, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times. SATURDAY, APRIL 1, 1905. A CHAPTER OF EUROPEAN HISTORY.

A change, altogether striking and, it may bo, permanent, has come over the fickle heart of Paris since those autumn days of 1896, when the French capital rang with shouts of welcome to the Emperor of Russia. For the first time a European sovereign was paying an official visit to the Republic, but it was not only on that account that the French were, joyful. Publicists both in Russia am| in Franco had been encouraging the idea of an alliance long before there were any signs of a formal rapprochement. In the Into eighties the league of the three Emperors was already unpopular in Russia, and though a secret treaty with Germany lasted till -1890, there was no doubt that the Russians were looking rather to France than to their immediate neighbours for support in any diplomatic schemes they were preparing. Attempts have been made to show that hostility to Britain was at the root of the new movement.' Russia’s designs in Asia were bound to bring her into contact with Britain, and possibly she counted on the support of Franco against an old enemy if war should ever threaten. But there were broader grounds for an entente between St Petersburg and Paris. Even when the Dreikaiserbund was in existence it was generally believed that Russia and France would stand together in any European w r ar. The establishment of the Triple Alii-, ance in 1882 divided Continental Europe, and with Britain in splendid isolation, France and Russia were irresistibly drawn towards one another. It was considered remarkable that they remained so long without a formal alliance. When the Three Emperors’ League lapsed in 1887 Russia, it was believed, was free to take her diplomatic affections where she would. Moreover, it was well-known that in his interview with Bismarck in 1887, Alexander HI. openly reproached Germany on the ground that she had persistently thwarted Russian interests in the Balkans for the benefit of Austria. It was not known then, however, that Czar and Kaiser had a secret understanding, and Russia’s hands were really tied diplomatically until 1890. This is probably the true explanation of the absence of any formal alliance between the Governments at St Petersburg and Paris in the eighties. With the expiration of the secret RussoGerman treaty the way was clear for at least a military understanding between these Governments, and plans were prepared for concerted action. Lebol rifles were manufactured in France for the Russian troops, and the secret of the French smokeless powder was communicated to the Rusdan War Office. Diplomatically little further progress was made, perhaps because the Czar was not convinced of the stability of the French Government. The peoples were quite ready to approve of an alliance, as they showed when a French squadron visited Kronstadt in 1891, but the Czar continued strangely reluctant to commit himself, and it was not till the ond_ of 1893 that the visit of the French fleet was returned. The military convention remained unratified till 1894. The history of the official relations between the two Governments has never been published, and even now the actual terms of the alliance are not known. Possibly the formal alliance was signed at the same time as the military convention, but a reference which occurs in a speech of M. llibot’s, delivered in 1895, may mean only that an alliance was then imminent. The visit of the Czar to Paris in 1806 must have marked the absolute conclusion of the official negotiations, and when the .President,

M. Faure, was in St Petersburg in the following year, France and Russia were definitely spoken of as allies by both the Czar and the President. We take these European rapprochements and alliances for granted without considering more than their general bearing, and no doubt in the broad view of the European position a Franco-Russian understanding of sqme kind was and is inevitable as a set-off to the Triple Alliance. Rut it does not follow that the alliance remains popular. The temper of the French has changed. The alliance was entered into at a time When the military spirit was predominant. Beyond question, the Nationalists and the aristocrats and the militarists have been disappointed. They counted on this alliance to help them, and dimly, perhaps, they hoped that it .might lead to the crushing of Germany. But France has been dragged at Russia’s chariot-wheels. French military aspirations have been persistently discouraged, while Russia has always been using France in her Asiatic schemes. The military spirit has declined; the Dreyfus case took the heart out of the swashbucklers, and the democrats have been having matters all their own way. Moreover, the people of Prance see in the present revolt in Russia a repetition of their own great upheaval. Czarism involves the very evils against which the populace rose in 1789. In the day of Felix Faure the Russian alliance was a “belle alliance.” Now, in all the cafes and restaurants it is the “ rouge alliance,” and if it had to be submitted to a plebiscite it would be doomed.