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Show DISCLOSES THE HAND OFiRMM Documents Made Public Proving Prov-ing Germans Deliberately-Made Deliberately-Made War on France. PARIS, March, 2. Two historic documents, one showing tho German government's determination to force war upon France and the other sotting forth the reasons which induced Germany Ger-many to take Alsace-Lorraine were made public yestorday by Stephen Pichon, tho French foreign minister, speaking at Sorbonno upon tho anniversary anni-versary of the protest mado by-representatives of tho National Assombly of Alsace-Lorraine against annexation to Germany. "I will establish by documents." said M. Pichon. "that the day the Germans deliberately rendered inevitable the most frightful of wars, they tried to dishonor us by tho most cowardly complicity In tho ambush into which they drew Europe. I will establish it In the revelation of a document that tho German chancellor, after ' having drawn up, preserved carofully and you will sco why, in tho most profound mystery of the most secret archives. "We havo known only recently of its authenticity and It defies any sort of attempt to disprove it. It bears the signature of Bethmann-Hollweg (Gcr-nan (Gcr-nan imperial chancellor at tho outbreak out-break of the war) and the date. July 31, 191-1. On that day von Schoen (German ambassador to France) was chargod by a lolegram from his chan cellor to notify us of a state of danger of war with Russia and to ask us to remain neutral, giving us eighteen hours in which to reply. 'What was unknown until today was that the telegram of the German "chancellor "chan-cellor containing these instructions terminated with these words: 'If tho French government declares it will m-jjiain m-jjiain neutral, your excellency will bo good enough to declare that we must, as a guarantee of its neutrality, require re-quire tho handing over of tho fortresses for-tresses of Toul and Verdun; that we will occupy them and will restore them after the end of the war with Russia Roply to this last question must reach hero before Saturday afternoon at 1 o'clock.' What Von Moltke Said. . "That," said M. Pichon, "is how Germany Ger-many wanted peace at the moment when sho declared war. That is how sincere she was in pretending that we obliged her to take up arms for her defense. That is tho price she intended in-tended to make us pay for our baseness, base-ness, If wo had had the infamy to repudiate our signature as Prussia repudiated re-pudiated hers by leafing up the treaty that guaranteed the neutrality of Belgium." Bel-gium." "Our mortal enemy in the war of 1871, von Moltke. declared on the morrow of the treaty of Frankfort," added M. Pichon on taking up the question of Alsace-Lorraine, "that It would requiro no less than fifty years to wean the heart of her lost provinces from France." M. Pichon contrasted the German uuuepumce men mac tno provinces were in reality French, with the reiterated re-iterated pretensions of German states1 men since, especially tho assertions of former Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg. and the present chancellor. Count von Hertling, that most of the provinces were always German. The foreign minister made public for the first time the full text of a letter written by William I, the grandfather grand-father of tho present German emperor, em-peror, to Empress Eugenie. The letter is dated Versailles, October 2C. 1S70. "After the Immense sacrifices for her defense," read M. Pichon. "Germany "Ger-many desires to be, assured that the next war will find her better prepared to repel the aggression upon which she can count as soon as France shall have repaired her forces and gained allies. This the melancholy consideration consider-ation alone and not a desire to augment aug-ment my country whoso territory is sufficiently great, that obliges to Insist In-sist upon a cession of territories that has no other object than to throw back to tho starting point the French armies that In the future, will come to attack us." Bismarck's Conversation. ' After reading this passage M. Pichon asked: "Can one bettor destroy the legend von Hertling tries to establish that the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine had for Its origin In the minds of its authors the wish to return to Germany German Ger-man provinces of which she had beenj dispossessed by French usurpation?" The foreign minister pointed out that Prince von Bismarck, in subsequent subse-quent conversations with the Marquis de Gabriac. tho French charge d'af-rais d'af-rais at Berlin, confirmed wha his sovereign had written in his own hand. M. Pichon then cited the words of Frederick II when entering Silesia: "I take possession first. I shall always find pedants to prove my right," and M. Pichon added: "But the rights of the German over our provinces havo never been proved by any pedant because it cannot be done. M. Pichon recalled that from the time of Louis XIV. Alsace -Lorraine had been known generally as French and he quoted the words of General Maxlmilien Foy, 350 years later, when hp said: "'If ever tho love of all that' Is great and generous weakens in the hearts of tho inhabitants of old France, it will bo necessary that they cross the Vosges, come to Alsace and temper again tho patriotism and their energy.' " "What was true under the restoration' restora-tion' added M. Pichon, "is none the less true now." |