It was through no fear of Russia that Germany had massed most of her army near the frontiers of France, leaving only six army corps to hold Russia in check.

Germany's policy as it stands revealed by her military operations was to crush France and then make terms with Russia.

The policy has failed because of the unexpected resistance of the Belgians and the refusal of Great Britain to buy peace at the expense of her honor." A nearer and equally clear view is expressed for the French by M.
Clemenceau, who early in the war said: "For twenty-five years William II has made Europe live under the weight of a horrible nightmare.

He has found sheer delight in keeping it in a state of perpetual anxiety over his boastful utterances of power and the sharpened sword.
"Five threats of war have been launched against us since 1875.

At the sixth he finds himself caught in the toils he had laid for us.
He threatened the very springs of England's power, though she was more than pacific in her attitude toward him.
"For many years, thanks to him, the Continent has had to join in a giddy race of armaments, drying up the sources of economic development and exposing our finances to a crisis which we shrank from discussing.