aders were driven from the land, they appealed to the
memories of 1792. They were indeed ready to make peace, for the war,
they said, had been undertaken not against France but against the
Emperor; the Emperor had fallen, a free France had arisen; they would
make peace, but they would not yield an inch of their country or a stone
of their fortresses. With great energy they prepared the defence of
Paris and the organisation of new armies; M. Thiers was instructed to
visit the neutral Courts and to beg for the support of Europe.

Under these circumstances it was Bismarck's duty to explain the German
view; he did so in two circular notes of September 13th and September
16th. He began by expounding those principles he had already expressed
to Wimpffen, principles which had already been communicated by his
secretaries to the German Press and been repeated in almost every paper
of the country. The war had not been caused by the Emperor; it was the
nation which was responsible for it. It had arisen from the intolerance
of the French character, which looked on the prosperity of other nations
as an insult to themselves. They must expect the same feeling to
continue:

"We cannot seek guarantees for the future in French feeling. We
must not deceive ourselves; we must soon expect a new attack; we
cannot look forward to a lasting peace, and this is quite
independent of the conditions we might impose on France. It is
their defeat which the French nation will never forgive. If now
we were to withdraw from France without any accession of
territory, without any contribution, without any advantage but
the glory of our arms, there would remain in the French nation
the same hatred, the same spirit of revenge, for the injury done
to their vanity and to their love of power."

Against this they must demand security; the demand was addressed not to
any single Government but to the nation as a whole; South Germany must
be protected from the danger of French attack; they would never be safe
so long as Strasburg and Metz were in French hands; Strasburg was the
gate of Germany; restored to Germany, these cities would regain their
defensive character. Twenty times had France made war on Germany, but
from Germany no danger of disturbance to the peace of Europe was to be
feared.

For the first time he hereby officially stated that Germany would not
make peace without some accession of territory; that this would be the
case, e