T HOLTGH we do not wish to seem unduly pessimistic, it
cannot be pretended that the New Year opens auspiciously in the region of foreign affairs. It is clear that grave apprehension as to the future is entertained in Paris, not merely by "the man in the street," but by persons of knowledge and responsibility. Strange as it may seem to people who, though they are anxious on general grounds, fear no sudden catastrophe, many well-informed Frenchmen actually believe that the Germans have decided to attack them, and that they will be attacked with all the suddenness and overwhelming force that modern military organisation renders possible. But though so foreboding a temper prevails in France, the nervousness and dread which marked French opinion in the summer have entirely disappeared. As we point out below, a review of the military situation shows that the French Army was never more formidable than it is at this moment, and this fact the French people have come to understand. In the summer they were haunted by the feeling that they were unprepared. They know now that their preparations are as complete as those of Germany. But though a stern determination to defend themselves to the uttermost possesses the French, and though they have thus the best possible augury for success, it must not be supposed that their temper has become in the least bellicose or aggres- sive. France is as intensely pacific as ever, and it is not too much to say that there is not now to be found any body of Frenchmen who would regard a war with anything but pro- found regret. If war comes there will be no shouting of "A Berlin," but only a dour determination to protect the honour and safety of France.
