THE new German Cabinet is dependent for its existence on the votes of the Nationalists. This is a disquieting fact when it is remembered that the leaders of the party, unquestionably vastly strengthened by the policy of M. Poincaré, make no secret of their desire to destroy the Republic and to re-establish the monarchy. The Nationalists are a minority in a country of many parties, but they are tireless and unscrupulous, and, according to the Berlin correspondent of the Times, the monarchy could at once be re-established in Bavaria with the approval of the vast majority of the people. With their anti-Republicanism the Nationalists demand a revision of the Treaty of Versailles and of the subsequent international agreements, professing that Germany is altogether unable to carry out the obligations into which she has entered. Any such repudiation would compel the Allies to take such drastic action as might mean the beginning of another war, in which an Imperialist Germany might quite well fight in alliance with Bolshevist Russia. This, unhappily, is not a fantastic suggestion, but a reasonable anticipation of what may happen in the not very distant future. Had they been influenced by a far-sighted statesmanship the Allies would, from the day of armistice, have done everything possible to strengthen the German Republic. Unfortunately, at Versailles and during M. Poincaré’s term of office, everything possible was done to strengthen the irreconcilables and to fan the German desire for revenge.
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