hers, as a nation that should
advance in art, in science, in population, and in all things that make
happiness through peace. What was the situation in other countries?

Since 1870 _France_ had cried for revenge (_revanche_). Its school
books, newspapers, public speakers, and political leaders were all
charged with the one great idea of seeking revenge against Germany for
having retaken Alsace and Lorraine in 1870, which France had wrongfully
occupied since the time of Louis XIV. Alsace and Lorraine had been
German for centuries before; they were wrested from Germany without even
a semblance of an excuse at the close of the seventeenth century, and
were largely German in language and in spirit in 1870. Goethe's studies
in Strassburg and his visits to Frederica von Sesenheim in the
eighteenth century show that he was living in a German country whenever
he was in Alsace. A _united_ Germany did not exist prior to 1870.
However, the cry for revenge was there, and France distinctly declared
it to be her policy to take her revenge as soon as opportunity offered.
France was, therefore, a pronounced enemy of Germany ever since 1870,
and when asked by the German Government on July 31, 1914, whether she
would remain neutral in a Russian-German war (Annex 25, German "White
Paper") she answered: "France would do that which might be required of
her _by her interests_." This answer was given on Aug. 1, 1914, (Annex
27, German "White Paper.") Today we may well ask France whether, since
Aug. 1, 1914, she has done that which was required by her interests.

_Russia_ may next be looked at. How did Russia become involved in this
contest? The little kingdom of Servia, which had familiarized itself
with the fine art of disposing of crowned heads by throwing its King and
Queen, Alexandra and Draga, out of the window of their castle, caused
through its officials and its followers to have the heir to the Austrian
throne and his wife cruelly assassinated on June 28, 1914. This
assassination was an act of enmity toward Austria and a step toward the
enlargement of Servia. Deeming her existence threatened and her national
dignity offended, Austria sent a rather sharp demand under date of July
23, 1914, to Servia, requiring prompt and thorough satisfaction for the
gross attack made upon her and her reigning family through Servia's
official directions.

Strange to say, however, the British "White Book" shows that three days
before, on July 20, 1914