^5 EMPLOYMENT OF THE PLEBISCITE [394 



plebiscites.^" In this connection it must be taken into con- 

 sideration that Stoerk deals primarily only with the plebi- 

 scite in the case of annexations, that is annexations by con- 

 quest. Inasmuch as these Italian annexations to Sardinia 

 were not conditioned by conquest on the part of Sardinia, 

 but were rather a spontaneous expression of the free will 

 to be thus united, they may, of course, properly be ruled 

 out of Stoerk's consideration. But they fall within the 

 scope of the present wider study as they bear largely upon 

 the future employment of the plebiscite in European poli- 

 tics, especially in so far as Napoleon's apparent and ex- 

 pressed preference for its use is concerned."" One must 

 agree, however, with Stoerk that the plebiscites in these 

 " Italian City States " were indeed superfluous. They were 

 not needed to demonstrate the genuine popular opposition 

 to their foreign princes and of the overwhelming desire of 

 union with Piedmont. " They formed merely the decora- 

 tive part in the construction of a United Italy and they 

 patently possessed a value only as political manifestations 

 in the face of the desire for intervention by foreign 

 Powers."«i 



^° Ibid., p. 40; F. Lieber, De la valeur des plebiscites dans le droit 

 international, in Revue de droit international, vol. iii, pp. 13^145. 



"" " I find nothing more honorable than to be the representative of 

 a cause based upon the independence and nationality of a people. 

 Having fought for the independence of Italy, having raised my voice 

 for Polish national existence, I can have no other sentiments, nor 

 follow other principles where Germany is concerned " (quoted by 

 Freudenthal, p. 44). 



«i Stoerk, pp. 127-128. 



