THE FRENCH AND BRITISH FEELING ABOUT WAR.
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sm,—In a recent speech the Prime Minister spoke of the differences in disposition and temperament between the French and ourselves, which make an understanding difficult. I fancy that the opposing psychological states in which the two countries approach the same question account for far more than is generally supposed. Most Englishmen genuinely thought of the War as being " a war to end war," and though they have been disillusioned they have by no means given up hope. The French, on the other hand, probably never had any hope. There is a confirmation of what I say in M. raleologue's most interesting and admirably written book, La Russie des Tzars. He tells us that in May, 1916, he remarked to M. Albert Thomas, who was on a mission to PetrOgrad : "Queue ehimere de croire que la paix prochaine sera eternelle I Je me figure au contraire que le monde va entrer dans une ere de violences et que nous semons actuelle- ment le germe d'une guerre nouvelle." M. Thomas—a Socialist be it remembered—answered : " Oui, apres cette
guerre dix ans de guerre, „ , dix ans de guerre."—I
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