tion, but the general parliamentary
instability continued to prevail. The country felt the reaction. In the
autumn of 1910 far-reaching railway strikes broke out, resulting in
violence and injury to railway property or _sabotage_. Briand met the
difficulty energetically by mobilizing the employees still subject to
military duty, and making them perform their work under military orders.
The act of "dictatorship" was approved by the Chamber, but Briand went
through the ceremony of resigning and accepting the mission to form a
new Cabinet. It proved not very homogeneous and withdrew in February,
1911. The Monis Cabinet, of more advanced Socialistic-Radical
principles, lasted only a few months and faced new disturbances with
wine-producers. This time the trouble was in the East, where many were
dissatisfied with the artificial limitation of districts entitled to
produce wines labelled "champagne." The Socialistic-Radical Ministry of
Joseph Caillaux (June, 1911) encountered a new and dangerous crisis in
the relations with Germany.

The mutual agreement between the two countries for the economic
development of Morocco had, through financial rivalries, not worked
well. There was also friction over similar attempts for the development
of the French Congo. In this state of affairs, the French sent a
military expedition to Fez in the early summer of 1911 for the
ostensible purpose of protecting the Sultan from attack by rebels and of
relieving the French military mission. The Germans, backed up, indeed,
by the French anti-militarist press, declared that this was a mere
pretext for encroachment. Spain also took the opportunity of asserting
its rights to parts of the North in accordance with its reversionary
claims by the Treaty of 1904. Thereupon Germany declared that the
agreements of Algeciras and of 1909 had been nullified by France and
demanded compensations. The gunboat _Panther_ suddenly appeared in the
port of Agadir (July 1) and the Germans began to call for their share in
the partition of Morocco.

Difficult negotiations were carried on between France and Germany
through the summer of 1911, and at moments the two countries were on the
very brink of war. The English Government backed up France. Lloyd George
and Premier Asquith made public declarations to that effect. French
capitalists also began calling in their funds invested in Germany and a
financial crisis threatened that country.

Thus brought to terms the Germans