red her
indifference to all but commercial questions in Morocco. But she now
made use of the collapse of Russia to seek to end the Anglo-French
connection which she had recently declared to be harmless. The aim
obviously was to sow discord between those two Powers. In this she
failed. Lord Lansdowne and Delcasse lent each other firm support, so
much so that the Paris _Temps_ accused us of pushing France on in a
dangerous affair which did not vitally concern her. The charge was not
only unjust but ungenerous; for Germany had worked so as to induce
England to throw over France or make France throw over England. The two
Governments discerned the snare, and evaded it by holding firmly
together[517].

[Footnote 516: Rachfahl, pp. 235, 238. For details, _see_ Morel, chap.
ii.]

[Footnote 517: In an interview with M. Tardieu at Baden-Baden on October
4, 1905, Buelow said that Germany intervened in Morocco because of her
interests there, and also to protest against this new attempt to isolate
her (Tardieu, _Questions actuelles de Politique etrangere_, p. 87). If
so, her conduct increased that isolation. Probably the second
Anglo-Japanese Treaty of August 12, 1905 (published on September 27),
was due to fear of German aggression. France and Germany came to a
preliminary agreement as to Morocco on September 28.]

The chief difficulty of the situation was that it committed France to
two gigantic tasks, that of pacifying Morocco and also of standing up to
the Kaiser in Europe. In this respect the ground for the conflict was
all in his favour; and both he and she knew it. Consequently, a
compromise was desirable; and the Kaiser himself, in insisting on the
holding of a Conference, built a golden bridge over which France might
draw back, certainly with honour, probably with success; for in the
diplomatic sphere she was at least as strong as he. When, therefore,
Delcasse objected to the Conference, his colleagues accepted his
resignation (June 6). His fall was hailed at Berlin as a humiliation for
France. Nevertheless, her complaisance earned general sympathy, while
the bullying tone of German diplomacy, continued during the Conference
held at Algeciras, hardened the opposition of nearly all the Powers,
including the United States. Especially noteworthy was the declaration
of Italy that her interests were identical with those of England. German
proposals were supported by Austria alone, who therefore gained from the
Kaiser the dou