[Neutrality. War. France and Prussia.] Federal Council thinks fit to recall to mind that Switzerland has the right to occupy that Territory. The Federal Council would employ that right if circumstances seemed to require its exercise for the defence of Swiss Neutrality and of the Integrity of the Territory of the Confederation; in every case it will scrupulously respect the restrictions which Treaties lay on the exercise of the right in question, and will come to an arrangement to that effect with the French Imperial Government. The Federal Council expresses the hope that these frank explanations of the position which Switzerland will take in presence of the events which are preparing will be received with goodwill, both by the Belligerent States and by the other Great Powers, which guaranteed the Treaties of Vienna; and that they will convince them that Switzerland, in the dispositions she will take, intends placing herself in the position which the existing Treaties assign her. With this hope he takes, &c., In the name of the Swiss Federal Council, THE PRESIDENT OF THE CONFEDERATION, [On the 29th July, 1870, Mr. Bonar, Her Majesty's Minister at Berne, reported that the Duc de Gramont, in his reply to this communication, "had not rejected nor even contested the right so claimed by Switzerland, but had confined himself to declaring that, under the eventualities referred to, it would have to be made the subject of special arrangement between the two Governments."] [War. France and Prussia.] No. 423.-FRENCH ANNOUNCEMENT to the Prussian Government of the Causes of War with Prussia. Paris, 19th July, 1870. (Translation as laid before Parliament.) Berlin, 19th July, 1870. THE Undersigned, French Chargé d'Affaires, in pursuance of instructions received from his Government, has the honour to make to his Excellency the Minister for Foreign Affairs of His Majesty the King of Prussia the following communication :— The Government of His Majesty the Emperor of the French, being unable to consider the proposal to raise a Prussian Prince to the Throne of Spain otherwise than as an attempt against the Territorial security of France, was compelled to ask the King of Prussia for an assurance that such an arrangement could not be carried out with his consent. His Majesty the King of Prussia having refused to give this assurance, and having, on the contrary, given the Ambassador of His Majesty the Emperor of the French to understand that he intended to reserve for this eventuality, and for every other, the power of acting according to circumstances, the Imperial Government could not but see in the King's declaration a reservation threatening to France and to the general Balance of Power in Europe. This Declaration was further aggravated by the notification made to the Cabinets of the refusal to receive the Emperor's Ambassador and to enter into any new explanation with him. The Government of His Imperial Majesty has consequently thought itself obliged to provide immediately for the defence of its honour and its compromised interests; and being resolved to take for this purpose all the measures enjoined by the position in which it has been placed, considers itself from henceforth in a state of War with Prussia. The Undersigned, &c. Count Bismarck. LE SOURD. *Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. [War. Prussia and France.] Ber No. 424.-SPEECH of the King of Prussia at the Opening of the North German Reichstag. War with France. lin, 19th July, 1870, (Translation as laid before Parliament.) Honourable Gentlemen of the Reichstag of the North German Confederation! ON welcoming you, in the name of the Confederate Governments* on your last assembling in this place, I was in a position to declare, with joyful thankfulness, that my sincere efforts to meet the wishes of the people and the requirements of civilisation by preventing any breach of the Peace, had, by God's help, not been unsuccessful. If, notwithstanding this, the menace and danger of War have imposed on the Confederate Governments the duty of summoning you to an Extraordinary Session, you as well as ourselves will have the lively convictions that the North German Confederation were endeavouring to develop the National Strength of the German people not to endanger but to become a strong support of the general Peace; and that if we call upon these popular energies now to defend our independence, we are only following the dictates of honour and duty. The candidature of a German Prince to the Spanish Throne,† whose proposal and withdrawal of whom the Confederation Governments were equally strangers, and was only so far of interest to the North German Confederation, that the Government of that friendly nation seemed to build upon it the hope of finding therein the guarantee for the orderly and peaceful Government of a Country which had undergone many trials, has afforded a pretext to the Government of the Emperor of the French to put forward the casus belli in a manner long unknown in diplomatic intercourse, and in spite of the removal of this pretext, to adhere to it with that disregard of the rights of the people to the blessings of Peace, of which history furnishes analogous examples in the case of former Rulers of France. If Germany in past centuries has silently borne with such outrages upon her rights and honour, she did so because in her * See note p. 1885. + Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. [War. Prussia and France.] disunion she knew not how strong she was. To-day, when the bands of intellectual and just unity, which the Wars of freedom began to draw together, binds the German Races indeed closer, and therefore more intimately: to-day, when the Armaments of Germany no longer leave an opening to the Enemy, Germany possesses in herself the will and the power to repulse renewed acts of French violence. This language is dictated by no boasting spirit, the Confederate Governments and myself act in the full assurance that victory and defeat rest with the Ruler of Battles. We have weighed with a steadfast gaze the responsibility which awaits, before the Judgment Seat of God and of man, him who forces two great and Peace-loving peoples in the heart of Europe into a devastating War. The German, as well as the French people, both of them equally enjoying and desiring the blessings of Christian civilisation and increasing prosperity, should be destined to a more holy contest than the bloody one of arms. Yet the Governing Power of France have known how to work on the well-balanced but susceptible feelings of our great neighbouring people by calculated misrepresentation for Personal Interests and Passions. The more Confederated Governments have felt that they have done all which honour and dignity permit to maintain for Europe the blessings of Peace; and the clearer it appears to all eyes that the Sword has been forced into our hand, with greater confidence we turn, supported by the unanimous will of the German Government of the South, as well as of the North, to the love of the Fatherland and willingness for sacrifice of the German people to the summons to protect her Honour and Independence. We will, after the examples of our Father, do battle for our Freedom and our Right against the violence of a Foreign Conqueror; and in this struggle, in which we have no good but the attainment of lasting Peace for Europe, God will be with us as He was with our Fathers. [The British Government proclaimed its Neutrality in this War on the 19th July, 1870. See also note p. 1883.] [War. France and Prussia.] No. 425.-DECLARATION made to the French Senate. and to the Corps Législatif, announcing the existence of a State of War between France and Prussia. Paris, 20th July, 1870. (Translation as laid before Parliament.) MESSIEURS, The statement made to you at the sitting of the 15th* has made known to the Senate and the Corps Législatif the just causes of the War against Prussia. According to usage and by order of the Emperor, I have invited the Chargé d'Affaires of France to notify to the Cabinet of Berlin our resolution to seek by Arms the guarantees we have failed in obtaining by discussion. This step has been taken, and I have the honour to announce to the Senate and the Corps Législatif that in consequence a state of War exists from the 19th July between France and Prussia. This Declaration applies equally to the Allies of Prussia who may afford her armed assistance against us. [The Neutral European Powers (Great Britain, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey) agreed among themselves that they would not depart from their Neutrality during the War without having previously communicated their ideas to each other.] * Speech delivered by the Duc de Gramont to the Senate, and by M. Ollivier to the Corps Législatif, respecting the differences with Prussia. |