THE BURDEN FRANCE HAS BORNE 



By Granville Fortescue 



FRANCE has taken war's foulest 

 blows full on her breast. During 

 the first two years of conflict Ger- 

 man armies spread across her most pro- 

 ductive provinces like a gray corroding 

 acid, eating through farm, orchard, fac- 

 tory, home, destroying the most valuable 

 property and most useful lives of the 

 French nation. 



But this scorification did not crush 

 the spirit of France. Rather the enemy 

 outrages — ruined cathedrals, ransacked 

 homes, ravaged women — roused the 

 French people to a terrible realization of 

 the German threat against the world. 



For the French man and woman, love 

 of France, under the scourge of war, be- 

 came a religion — a religion where fathers, 

 mothers, sons, daughters, claimed the 

 highest privilege accorded the Crusader 

 and the ultimate sacrifice that gained the 

 martyr's crown. 



The battle which checked the greatest 

 expression of organized savagery the 

 world has seen in 3,000 years is often 

 called the Miracle of the Marne. Surely 

 it was a miracle. During three days lust- 

 ful Uhlan outguards pointed their blood- 

 stained lance tips at the Eiffel Tower, 

 saying confidently, "Within the week and 

 our flag will float from the highest pin- 

 nacle in France." But the God who 

 weaves the world's destiny in mystery 

 heard the prayers of France. The mira- 

 cle was performed. Paris, the most beau- 

 tiful achievement of man on earth, was 

 saved from sack and rapine. 



INTERPRETING FRENCH PATRIOTISM 



It is no easy task to try to interpret 

 French patriotism to our home-staying 

 Americans. Only sympathetic hands can 

 inscribe the long, sad stories of sacrifice 

 which mark the stations of the war in 

 France. When one has lived in the sacred 

 atmosphere of a people daily immolated 

 on the altar of patriotism, one feels a cer- 

 tain unworthiness in sounding the depths 



of this feeling, of analyzing its springs, 

 of calculating its results. 



When the earth's last judgment is given 

 on this great war, France will be deemed 

 to have saved the world from despotism. 

 Diplomats, during many years, have 

 prophesied the contest between democ- 

 racy and despotism for the domination of 

 the world. In the struggle that endures 

 France is the true champion of democracy, 

 and no better expression of this demo- 

 cratic spirit exists than the French army. 



When the French army is mentioned 

 today, the French people is implied, for 

 the whole nation is bound by the most 

 sacred ties to the trials and triumphs of 

 the fighting section of the populace. 



THE IDEALS OF FRANCE 



Contrasting the French with the Ger- 

 man army, we discover, though both are 

 grounded on conscription, they are radi- 

 cally different in their inspiration of serv- 

 ice. The French and the German armies 

 are completely separate in soul. History 

 gives us the analogue of variance be- 

 tween the French and German military 

 systems in the story of Greece and Rome. 

 The Roman armies were organized for 

 conquest, with the aim of spreading Ro- 

 man "kultur" to the southernmost bound- 

 aries of Carthage and the northernmost 

 villages of Gaul. The Roman eagle, like 

 his Prussian descendant, sank his beak 

 into the breast of the world. Roman 

 power, like Prussian power, sprang from 

 the will of the Emperor. 



In Greece, in the age of Pericles, the 

 demos was the fountain of power, and 

 the army was the guardian of the free- 

 dom of the people. The ideals which in- 

 spired the Athenians, honor gained in 

 serving the country, is today the ideal in- 

 spiring the soldiers of France. 



In analyzing the spirit of the French 

 soldier, bear in mind this vital fact — 

 fighting is an emotional act ; and it is 

 admitted that an emotion springing from 



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