od many gains.

The Doumergue Ministry resigned soon after the elections which it had
carried through. President Poincare offered the leadership to the
veteran statesman Ribot, who with the co-operation of Leon Bourgeois,
formed a Moderate Cabinet with an inclination toward the Left. This
Ministry was above the average, but its leaders were insulted and
brow-beaten and overthrown on the very first day they met the Chamber of
Deputies. So then a Cabinet was formed, led by the Socialist Rene
Viviani, who was willing, however, to accept the three-years law, though
he had previously opposed it. But this victory for national defence was
weakened by parliamentary revelations of military unpreparedness.

In mid-July President Poincare and M. Viviani left France for a round of
state visits to Russia and Scandinavia. Paris was engrossed by the
sensational trial of Madame Caillaux, which resulted in her acquittal,
but this excitement was suddenly replaced by the European crisis, and
President Poincare cut short his foreign trip and hastened home. France
loyally supported her ally Russia, and, on August 3, Baron von Schoen,
the German Ambassador, notified M. Viviani of a state of war between
Germany and France.

Indeed, no sooner had the Moroccan question been settled than danger had
loomed in the Orient, in which France was likely to be involved through
her alliance with Russia. Moreover, Germany had not got over the Agadir
fiasco and was furious with England as well as France. Thus the European
balance of power had long been in danger through the hostility of the
Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente. It is beyond the scope of the
present volume to analyze in detail the Balkan question. The role of
France was consistent in the interest of peace by helping to maintain
the balance of power, but obviously she was loyal toward her partners of
the Triple Entente and acted in solidarity with them.

So far as the outbreak of the war in 1914 is concerned, France stands
with a clear conscience. She had nothing to do with the disputes between
Austria and Serbia, or between Austria, Germany, and Russia. Once war
proved inevitable France faithfully accepted the responsibilities of the
Russian alliance. Against France, Germany was an open aggressor.
Germany's strategic plans for the quick annihilation of France, before
attacking Russia, are well known to the world. Everybody is aware how
scrupulously France avoided every hostile measure,