THE " ENTENTE CORDIALE " WITH . FRANCE.
THE social philosopher who declared that friendships were like buildings and machinery, and needed to be kept in repair to be really efficient, might have gone on to apply his principle to the world of international as well as private affairs. When we say this we do not mean to suggest that nations which have come to the kind of understanding which exists between us and France should be for Sever testing and trying the soundness of their relations, or, again, flaunting them in the face of the world. To be perpetually swearing eternal friendship, like the characters in The Rovers, would not only weary the two peoples, but might lead outsiders to suspect that there must be some hidden weakness in a friendship which required so much protestation. What-we mean by keeping an international friendship in repair is something very different from perpetual embraces or the lavish use of rhetorical phrases. The proper method of keeping a friend- ship in repair is rather negative than positive. It consists, to begin with, in remembering not to forget the existence of the friendship and the grounds on which it is based. Perhaps this attitude can be best expressed by saying that it should be exactly the opposite of that adopted by the man who makes up a. misunderstanding with a neighbour and then turns on his heel with a "Thank heaven, that's settled, and I need not bother about it any more!" Friendships must be borne in mind, not banished from one's thoughts, and, again, the parties to them must be careful to accept and carry out their logical consequences. One of these logical consequences is to strive as far as possible to treat your friends-in-law (as they have been described in private life) with tact and considera- tion. It is not, of course, necessary to go to the other extreme and declare that your friends' enemies must be your enemies; but the friends of a friendly nation should be treated with special consideration, for if amity, or at any rate a friendly understanding, does not grow up with friends-in-law, there is always a danger of relations of the opposite kind springing up and marring the entente. It is for this reason that all friends of the Entente Cordiale (and we are glad to say these are the vast majority of the British people) have viewed with satisfaction the Agree- ment arrived at with Russia. That Agreement is, in our belief, good in itself, likely to help to secure the peace of the world, and further, likely in the long run to help on the aims and aspirations of the moderate and reforming party in Russia. In addition, however, to these benefits, it will no doubt have the effect of helping to keep in repair the Entente Cordiale. It is a standing assurance to French statesmen and to the French people that we have not treated our understanding with them as something which . has been settled and may be dis- missed from our minds. It is a positive proof that the Entente is a reality and not some illusion of the politicians.
We do not imagine that the present French Govern- ment, or the ruling men in France generally, feel any anxiety as to the continuance of our good understanding with France, or are afraid that the British democracy will get tired of the Entente and the responsibilities which no doubt accompany it. There is, however, some fear that a certain section of the French public may come to entertain misgivings as to its stability, especially as we see signs of attempts being made by those in other countries who dislike the Entente, and who would fain get rid of it, to suggest in various subtle ways that the British people are not to be depended upon, and that it is not a little dangerous to build upon so shifting a sand. In order to enforce this view the conventional spectre of perfide Albion is raised, and it is hinted that-Frenchmen would be wise to remember history, and to note how no one has ever been able to depend for long upon British friendship. We wish we had space and opportunity to deal exhaustively with this delusion—for delusion it is—of perfide Albion. The phrase, we presume, was either invented or adopted by Napoleon I. in his efforts to discredit his British enemies. A little reflection, however, will show that, whether or no we deserve the phrase in general, we have certainly not deserved it in the case of France. We could not have proved perfidious allies to the French for the very good reason that when the phrase was coined we had never been in alliance with them, or, indeed, in any relations which would have justified the accusation. Except for Cromwell's short understanding with Mazarin and Charles II.'s dealings with the French Treasury, our relations had usually been those of open enemies. It was, 'as a matter of fact, Frederick the Great who invented the charge of. perfidiousness against Britain as a nation. He believed, or professed to believe, that we had deserted him and selfishly sacrificed his interests to our own, and he never missed a chance of bringing this com- plaint against us. Wishing to injure us diplomatically, he spread the accusation throughout Europe that we were not to be trusted as allies. Yet within twenty years half the States of the Continent were having material proof of our steadfastness in the matter of alliances. Compacts, Treaties, and subsidies to the German Powers may have been mistaken from many points of view, but at any rate our policy from 1792 to 1815 gave no one the right to say that we as a nation declined to assist our friends and allies in moments of peril in order to save our own skin. If, then, the French people see it suggested that they had better beware of Britain and that she will pursue " her old, policy." let them inquire of history what is the real origin of the accusa- tion perfide Albion, and from what quarter that allegation came.
Though we have thought it right to remind the British public that friendships need to be kept in repair, or, rather, that if they are forgotten they tend to fall out of repair, we have very little fear of our warning becoming needed. The British public are not as a rule well informed as regards foreign affairs. We believe, however, that in the present case they have it firmly impressed upon their minds that not only' their own interests, but the peace of the world, depend upon the maintenance of a. good understanding with France. They realise that the French have become an essentially pacific people, and that there is no danger of her dragging her friends into seine needless and dangerous quarrel in order to further any rash ambitions. In other words, the British people realise that the Entente is essentially an expression of the desire to maintain the peace of Europe, and to preserve the status quo. Neither Power desires anything except to be let alone and to let others alone. It is for this reason that., though either party to the Entente would view friction between their friend and another Power with the utmost alarm, each is glad to see improved relations growing up between the other and neighbour- ing nations. Rumours of better understandings between France and Germany have no terrors for us, and in the same way France need not imagine that improved relations with Germany, which all sensible men here would view with satisfaction, can in any way impair the Entente. Such improved relations, should they happily come about, will be subject to and dependent on the Entente.
Perhaps the best way of understanding the value of the Entente is to think what would be the feeling of such neutral Powers as Austria, Russia, Italy, Spain, Holland, Belgium, or- Denmark were it dissolved. They would, we believe, view such a prospect with the utmost dismay, for they realise that by it Europe is preserved from the risk of very great disasters. The Triple Alliance was held, and rightly held, by the majority of European statesmen to be one of the safeguards of peace, even though in form it seemed to sonic extent to threaten France. It steadied the politics of Europe for many years; and even now, when it has ceased to be active, diplomatists cling to it as a useful Agreement. Still more useful in pre- serving the peace of the world is the Entente Cordiale. As long as that is maintained there may be some soreness and some feeling of wounded amour propre in certain quarters, but no one is likely to disturb Europe by an unprovoked attack or a war of aggression.
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