66 



The Review of Reviews. 



THE EUROPEAN SriTLVnON. 



What is the Ententk Coruialp; ? 



]n an arlu'lf on tin; " Political Siliiatidn in Europe," 

 which appears in the Nuuvcllc Revue oi June 15th, 

 (leneral Massenet endeavours to explain the real 

 meaning of the Entente Cordiale. 



Russia's search for a sea. 



The Entente between France and England seems, he 

 says, to be misunderstood in France. Apparently it is 

 not recognised that the Entente was imposed by the 

 sheer force of things as the only guarantee of security 

 for the two countries, and that it is as indispensable 

 to the one as to the other. At the conclusion of the 

 Franco-German War, Germany, with a strange want 

 of foresight, seemed to prefer Alsace-Lorraine to a 

 colonial empire, which she might easily have acquired 

 from France, and the cession of which, in all prob- 

 ability, would not have provoked the irremediable 

 enmity which to-day separates France and Germany. 

 Meanwhile Russia has been making enormous efforts 

 to become mistress of the Mediterranean by way of 

 Turkey, the Persian Gulf by way of Turkestan and 

 Persia, and the China Sea by way of Manchuria and 

 Korea. At present she is confined witlvin three seas — 

 the Baltic, the Black Sea, and the Pacific Ocean, but 

 the first is closed by Denmark, the second by the 

 Dardanelles, and the third — that is to say, the part 

 which washes the Russian coasts — is obstructed by ice 

 during a great part of the year. So far her efforts have 

 been without result, and Russia remains condemned 

 to renew them till she obtains satisfaction, as her 

 existence depends on her finding a sea to enable her to 

 carry on her work of expansion. 



GERMANY AND AUSTRIA. 



For similar reasons Prussia, desirous of developing 

 her coast on the Baltic, found herself in 1863 under the 

 necessity of attacking the little peaceable kingdom of 

 Denmark. Eventually, however, she had to restrain 

 her amljition in that direction, as no doubt it would 

 have meant a war with Russia, who also desired an 

 outlet in the Baltic. Not feeling able to measure her 

 strength with the Muscovite Empire, Germany then 

 had to content herself with a more modest solution - 

 that is to say, not being able to take entire possession 

 lil Denmark, she seized the piece of territory necessarv 

 lur her extension of access to the North Sea. Realising 

 that in her asjjirations towards the smaller nations she 

 would rouse the fatal op|)()sition o( Russia, who might 

 insist on closing the Baltic to her; of l""rance, who would 

 regard every access of strength as a new menace; and 

 o( I'^ngland, for whom any increase of (urman maritime 

 power would constitute a danger, she decided that her 

 success would be very problematic with France and 

 Russia combined against her. Rightly she concluded 

 that before starting on colonial expansion the co-opera- 

 tion of at least one great (!ontinental Power was 

 necessary, and e\entually Austria was secured. 



IS AN ANGLO-GERMAN DUEL INEVITABLE ? 



Meanwhile Great Britain, in her splendid isolation. 

 was finding her quietude troubled fjy the expansion 

 policy of Germany. Now that colonial expansion is an 

 absolute necessity to both Powers, the writer is oi 

 opmion that a mortal duel between them is inevitable. 

 .\t any rate, the two countries are making preparations, 

 and no sacrifice is too great in the domain which is the 

 pivot of all their policy. This is why Germany has 

 created powerful military ports and naval dockyards : 

 why she constructed the Kiel Canal ; and why she has 

 developed her navy so that it should be second only 

 to that of Great liritain. Her aim appears to be tc 

 make the Austro-German fleets so strong that, rein- 

 forced by the Italian fleet, which could hardly refuse 

 assistance, the combined fleets of the three Powers 

 would one day be in a position to dispute with Great 

 Britain with some chance of success the supremac\- of 

 the sea. 



THE ENTENTE AND THE PEACE OF THE WORLD. 



The sagacity of Great Britain in her solution of the 

 problem of danger has been remarkable. At once 

 several treaties and alliances were made, all with a view- 

 to .';afcguard her colonial possessions. Germany, fore- 

 seeing the important ri'le which Japan might play in 

 an Anglo-German conflict, tried to get Japan to 

 espouse her cause ; but Japan recognised that she had 

 great need of Great Britain. More tranquil as to the 

 fate of her colonies, Great Britain next made the 

 alliances with Russia and France. In case of a war with 

 Germany, just as Great Britain realised the necessity 

 of seeking an alliance with these Powers, or at least of 

 sacrificing everything to their neutrality, Russia and 

 France were under absolute compulsion to ha\'e the 

 support of Great Britain to assist them in case of need 

 against the common enemy. Thus the union of Great 

 Britain, Russia, and France— in a word, the Entente 

 Cordiale— was brought about as the only means l)y 

 which each of these Powers could hope to allay tlie 

 bellicose views of Germany, and as a safeguard should 

 Germany declare war. The real character of the 

 Entente is not merely that its judicious application 

 may be called upon in defence of the particular interests 

 which called it into being, but that it may be of service 

 in the maintenance of peace in, one might say, the 

 whole world. 



Is Germany Always to be Excluded ? 



Writing in the Sozialisli!;clie Mimatshejte of June 20th. 

 Ilerr I.udwig Quessel discusses the significance ol 

 imperialism from the economic standpoint. 



Most of his arguments are based on the colonial 

 experiences of (ireat Britain, whose success he con- 

 trasts with the position of Germany. Recently Hen 

 I.erlebour compared the two countries in their relatio^^ 

 to colonial expansion to the two rats of Heine's poen 

 which are in constant conflict with each other— Britisf 

 capitalists being in the position of the satisfied rat 

 while German patriots are in the position of the hunt;r) 

 rat. Referring to the brilliant ijrogress of Great lirit'iii't 



