HOW BISMARCK FORCED PEACE.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 3233, 27 March 1917, Page 2

HOW BISMARCK FORCED PEACE.

in tho autumn of 1870 Bismarck 10 .11J li:insult' ta eto face with a prol>,i ut tremendous difficulty. The annus had everywhere defeated the French. The French, *, on. Tliev refused to make peace; tnoy put to liope.es- 1 confusion the ideas of many officers on the German Staff—_\ioUtu» among them —that France would hoist the winte (lag so soon as a German army appeared befoie Paris. Meltke s Utters si'.o.v that he expected to ho snooting in Silesia oy the end of Uctoner 1870. bismarck. then, had to rind some way of forcing peace upon a high-spirited and defiant nation. And he found '.t quickly enough in the decision to reuueo i'-irt, tno very heart of France, by blockade. It was a slow method, but it was sure, la &eptem>>er the (»>-- man armies began their m-v.ineiiis u> euvelop the city. The iron i - M 1 m tipou a population of >" nudum souis. Uu September 16, i v '• the . •' iiiati out left Par s. Iwo da>s '- ,T gales were sunt and from t - 't v l 3i.pt- catered tae capital >o respect tor neutrals, 1 atioii ior humanity, affected We may remind hiscouutryi ■< r 1 interesting fact to-day when teat against the British bloc,, oh . On" or t.xo tiiuid remonstranve-. i ""'' teals were violently brusho treated with io!d scorn and si' - Ibe man who professed U • - hcent cf a Imrnmg Fremiti. held that every ueriKa shouh - -:>e riilessly shot and every such trof)|)s showed theiuselv - slkoiM bo devastated, was not lik- to affected i> yan ytenUerne*. Tien- were thousands ot neutrals, I nit citizens and British subjects. ; the .r vested area, but he cared noinmg i>" that*. YIGOI'R IN Nor have ii s countiy men the least compunction. On -Mar • Count Uaprivi, who s ' bismar.k as Chancellor ot the ■"'l'" ' made this dec.aration with i« »' • " cutting off loud during a nai. ade: — War is a rough and business This applies eqi. warfare on land and at sea. ever is engaged in war w .' ~ attain his object, anil it > ous he mil employ every ni attain it. In a naval war tne off ot the enemy s trade n these means. No one can foi it\nd reallv is it anything moi • '"an is done on land? If during 11 •»• of Paris someone had equipped » tra'n with food-tuffs for the Parisians. that train would simp.y haie ',f >toppen • ■ I must ray that i Mates act in this way they use on I) the means which war gives them. In such conduit 1 should see nhsohit. > no barbarity, or any difference tiom the measures taken in war on land. And I l>elieve that, maMnu'-h a n naval war has been waged on n huge , scale since the days of Nelson, views I at>out naval war have arisen which under-est'mate its force and power.

Bismarck talked with intense glee ot leaving the Parisians to "stow in their u*n juice." Va-t storos ot tood h.id been accumulated :n 1 arts Ik I . ore le blockade began, hut it vuis a n.athematical ccrtunty that th y would be exhausted after a definite period proTided tne relieving armies were not permitted to break through and io.i>oj fresh supplies into tlic beleaguered city. The German operations wore therefore directed .-imply to prevent the troops in the capital, who were wretchedly commanded by the famous Trochu, from breaking out. and the various relieving armies outside from breaking in

hivt ,matU*rs went, cheerfully enough in l'aris, though no German sentimentalists were found in the besieging armv to allow inimen-e quanttier of food and otner supplies to priss into tho place. On the twelfth day ot the blockade the United States Minister, Mr. Washburne, who remained inside notes that meat was becoming scarce, lhe want of milk and suitable tood swiftly sent up tlhe death-rate among the children ot the pool. The r._-e 1 and si k d.ed off. Forage became very war o, an da!l who had horses were compelled to get rid of them because it was impossible to feed them. For tlio purpose of slaughtering they could Ui bought, at this date, for £1 or i'2 aniece. Gradually, very gradually, the miserv increased. Fuel began to fail. hen the siege had lastkd two months butter «iold for l(b a pound, and even then wan almost uneatable; turkeys went for £3 to £4 apece; chickens for 2U.; wretched rabbits for lbs.: and wer« Gs a dozen. Bread -til lremaine<l cheap, however, as tho price was nxed by Government order, and wine could also l»o bought at a reasonable figure. A cat fetched fis if lean or 7s Cd it" fat; a rat Is fid: a fat clog 2s a pound. By Christmas Da? prices had r'sen stil! higlifr; a troose cost £o and a chicken yjs. AI! fresh meat except horsetfesn had vanished from the .shops; epicures thought themselves fortunate if they coul dobta n a few ounce- of fearfully salt pork at exorbitant price. VICTORY OF IirXGKH. As the blockade continued doing it work —l»ut doing it very s!o.;-l\ —ilis imp k.> patien o l-egan to fail . Not that e'" r ior on.: moment t'oaglil of r. laxin i.it in t-e .-.imillc-t degree, but U did u sii l<. try other nn-jn.-s of compulsion oil the < neni yas well. He demanded of the German taSff the '>ombardment o; the city to int< n-iiy tin effect of the bio kadc. The Staff op posed him (not from any humanitarian ideas, as he professed and pretended), for Moltko and the men round liitu were rjiiiti> insensible to such emotions, ami held with the American General Sheridan tlint tie enemy's p<>ople in war should be left with only their eyes to weep over ii. Their iva-o'i ua- that a blockade. thoimh s'ov.. ;» «|"il«' crtaiu it> stKvi'etl : while a bombardment demanded an immeiis" supply nt ammunition sind guu« and. u« they knew iroin their sjecial knowledge of art llcrv :1 11' 1 !ts power til that il.it< . would produce little effect.

Hi>ninr' k, howc\vr. Ii id his way. Tin. bombardment was tried, and was, as every soldier expected, n ridiculous fia«co. During nine day of it 300 buildings ■aero struck, few of tiiem at all severely, a;i dal>out as much dameige was caused in this whole period a- is produced by a single Zeppelin raid. What brought France down was the growing hunger of the capital nnd the fear that if the resistance of Paris were prolonged the two ini'ioln people in the invested arcar would perish by actual starvation. In any case ,after terms were -"irranged. it would require a fortnight to revirtuai the citv. simply l>ec.iiiso its consumption of fo«d irn« so .immense.

(in January .vi.s signed which was in effect the surrender of Paris to famine, and tho snr.wider i f Fran- o with Biiinarek an t Aio tke imposed their own terms. Any .-.ttenipt by the French to obtain nmro favourable conditions was answered implacably liy tiie statement tiiat Paris was short of food and at the mercy of the German Army. Bismarck played adroitly on the weakness ol the French representative, Jules Favre, and compeleld him to associate France with the surrender of the French capital.

Bismarck obtained what he wanted bv starving Part*. To that measure, fallowing ii]Kjn the complete defeat of the French armies, the miserable ]>eace of Frankfort was due.