It is on this point that I wish to respond to you. Because it is necessary to understand that, in this horrible duel, Right finds itself on the same side as Might. It is also necessary to accept the fact that Alsace is wrong to defend herself and that Prussia is right to bombard Strasbourg.
You invoke the principle of nationality, but you understand it differently from the rest of Europe. According to you, this principle authorizes a powerful State to seize a province by force, with the only condition that the province be occupied by the same race as the State. According to Europe and common sense, it simply authorizes a province or a population not to obey a foreign master against her will. I explain myself with an example: the principle of nationality does not permit Piedmont to conquer Milan and Venice by force; but it allows Milan and Venice to free themselves from Austria and to voluntarily attach themselves to Piedmont. You see the difference. This principle may well give Alsace a right, but it gives you none over her.
Think of what would happen if the principle of nationality were to be understood the way Prussia understands it and if she succeeds in making it the rule in European politics. She would have the right to seize Holland. She would then remove from Austria the affirmation that Austria is a foreigner with regard to her own German provinces. Then she would reclaim from Switzerland all the German speaking cantons. Finally, she would address herself to Russia, taking the province of Livonia and the city of Riga, which is inhabited by the German race; that is what you say on page 16 of your pamphlet. It would never end. Europe would be periodically disrupted by Prussia's "claims." But it cannot be so.
No comments:
Post a Comment