M. Poincare's Scathing Exposure An important contribution to the diplomatic history of Europe has veen published by M. Alfred Costes in the form of two separate volumes, the first, the "Tableaux d'Histoire d: Guillaume" by the ex-Emperor of Germany, and the second the "introduction, aux Tableaux d'Histoire de Guillaume LI." by Charles Appuhn and Pierre Renouvin, heads of departments at the Musée de Guerre. In a preface to this latter volume Raymond Poincaré writes: Bea, Aa 6 "Without prejudice or animosity the two- authors have carefully studied the chronological summary that the fallen sovereign has pretended to make of the events in between the Berlin (ongress and the world war, and they have easily shown that below the deliberate dryness and bareness of the objective presentation the Tables drawn up by William LI. contain errors and even falsificafons that are cleverly ce-ordinate: tonrove the innocence of Germany and to calumniate in turn England, Russia, and France.
"He seems specially animated by private hatred for Lord Grey, attributing to him absurd proposals to' which the noble conduct of the (then) British Minister gives the lie. To believe William, ever since November, 1912, Lord Grey had promised the support of England to Russia in the event of France being involved in war. To give the lie to this puerile assertion it is only necessary to recall that at this same' date Cambon and Grey were exchanging _letters of a completely pacific character by which England and France only undertook to enter in conversations if there was reason to fear a European conflict. We could obtain then from England nothing note than a promise to confer.
I share with my former British colleagues the honour of these clumsy and impotent calumnies. Very seriously he writes: "August, 1912. Poincaré at St. Petersburg. He promises introduction of three years' military service." Can we really credit him with being serious when he represents a French Minister as promising another nation, even when it is an Ally, an increase in the period of military service?
In 1912 nobody at St. Petersburg or anywhere else discussed this question with me, and if anybody had been sufficiently badly inspired to breathe a word on such a subject to me I should immediately have entrenched myself behind our national sovereignty. It was only in 1913 that my successor, Mr. Briand, on being informed of new measures then prepared by Germany, brought in at the roanest of the Minister for War a Bill extending to three years the te: m to be passed with the Colours. _A Charge d'Affaires thought fit. in consequence ea very reasonable expression used by M. Jules Cam-on. to draw the unexpected con-elision that war was decided on in
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.