FRANCE FOR THE SOLDIER A FEW FACTS FOR THE INFORMATION OF AMERICANS BY Gilbert Chinard Professor of French at the University of CaUfornia TRANSLATED BY J. LOEWENBERG Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of California The Military Bureau of the University of California is gratified to include among its publications this trans- lation of Professor Gilbert Chinard's Pour Mieux Connattre la France. It was done into English by Professor J. Loewenberg, to whom special thanks are due. LEON J. RICHARDSON, Director. July, 1918. FRANCE FOR THE SOLDIER A FEW FACTS FOR THE INFORMATION OF AMERICANS BY Gilbert Chinard Professor of French at the University of California TRANSLATED BY J. LOEWENBERG Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of California Published by the MILITARY INFORMATION OFFICE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY 'J *- 1 « i^) FROM CARD f^i-CTSfSN. FEB ,c f»2a I. GEOGRAPHY Relatively speaking, France is a small country. In area ,^ she covers but 536,464 square kilometers, including the ^ small islands in territorial waters and Corsica. She may be ji said to occupy about a twentieth part of the European o continent. Slightly smaller than Austria-Hungary, Germany ^ and even Spain, France is larger than Great Britain and Italy. The treaty of Francfort, which wrested Alsace- Lorraine from France reduced her territory by 14,518 square kilometers. Excepting the northeast, France has natural frontiers on every side. On the northeast the boundary is purely artificial, being the result of treaties; but on the north she is bounded by the North Sea and the English channel, on the west by the Atlantic ocean, on the southwest by the Pyrenees, on the southeast by the Mediterranean, and on the east by the Alps, the Jura and the Vosges. The geographical position of France is enviable. She is placed at the same distance from the Equator and the Pole. Her climate varies indeed with different regions, but owing to the Atlantic currents it never reaches extreme heat or extreme cold. On the other hand, her position at the extremity of Western Europe has had for France certain disadvantages. As a natural terminus, she had frequently invited great invasions and migrations. The Mediterranean peoples and the tribes from the north had in the past striven for supremacy on her soil; and at Chalons in 451, just as at the Marne in 1914, France had checked the invasion of the barbarians. The coasts of France are of unusual extension. Because of their length, France is the most maritime of the central European nations. Important also is the fact that no por- tion of French territory is farther than 400 kilometers from the sea. II. POPULATION According to the census of 1911, France has a popula- tion of 39,601,509 inhabitants. In 1866 her population was 38 million; in 1872, through the loss of Alsace-Lorraine, it shrank to 36,102,000. France has since gained three and a half million. In population she is behind Russia (125 million), the United States (100 million), Germany (64 million), Japan (51 million), and the British Isles (45 million). Increase in births has been very insignificant, though the latest figures show a slight improvement. The birth rate is 26 per 1,000; the death rate but 20 per 1,000. Before the war there were in France over a million foreigners (1,372,700 in 1911). About 30,000 immigrants arrive every year, while the emigi-ants have for the last thirty years averaged 15,000 yearly. These figures indicate a certain fixity of the French population. Although the national feeling which unites these 39 mil- lion people is very deep, yet one cannot properly speak of them as a French race. The present French people are the result of a racial mixture that has been going on for many centuries. The most ancient people known to history that occupied a portion of Gaul are the Iberians. The Ligures followed next; and after taking possession of the whole territory were driven back towards the Mediterranean. Later on the Celts, after several extended migrations mixed with the more ancient population. Their civilization disappeared, however, soon after the conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar. The result was the spread of Latin culture among a pre- dominantly Celtic population. The Germanic invasions, from the fourth to the sixth century after Christ, though modifying but slightly the people south of the Loire, had a more considerable effect in the northeast where the Franks settled in large numbers. The later invasions had a less important influence. In addition, the Arabs marched through the south, influencing the racial character of the population. The same holds of the Normands who had estab- lished themselves along the shores of the English channel and of the English who had occupied Aquitania and the Spanish Franche-Comte. All these mixtures have neces- sarily determined the racial composition of France. While it is true that in certain regions, such as Brittany and Auvergne, particular types may still be recognized, it is extremely difficult to define a general French type. "The French people are a people of individuals," an American writer has recently remarked, "where one can find represen- tatives of the most diverse races." This people, racially so diversified, is nationally hom- ogeneous. For a long time, but more particularly since the French Revolution (1789), France has prided herself upon national rather then racial unity. National unity is the unity of individuals, who live a common life under common institutions. Fundamental to such unity is voluntary assent and not mere historic antiquity. In this respect, modern France, which is composed of so many different elements, resembles strongly the United States. America, too, is inhabited by a mixed population of a more recent origin and consequently less amalgamated but nevertheless unified by the same desire to live in a land of their own free choice, and under freely elected institutions. This is the very foun- dation of both French and American patriotism. And this explains why the French attach so much importance to the question of Alsace-Lorraine. These provinces, torn from France is 1871, have for her more than a territorial signi- ficance. She would be faithless to herself were she to admit that 1,500,000 Frenchmen could be forcibly retained under foreign domination after they had solemnly expressed their will to live under French institutions. France is rooted in a will to live a common life upon a soil hallowed by tradi- tion. It is fair to say that France is a moral rather than a geographical entity. III. GOVERNMENT In spite of her long history, the political organization of France is relatively modern. The present French Re- public was proclaimed in 1870. Its constitution dates from 1875 and was amended in 1879 and again in 1884. The French reptroiic is represHiiTarive ana aemocfatic; all Frenchmen of 21 years of age having the vote. The legislative power is centered in two houses: the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. The Senators whose number is 300 are elected for nine years. The election for Senators takes place every three years and affects thus only one- third of the Senate. The Senators are elected by dele- gates. The Deputies, however, are elected directly by uni- versal suffrage for four years. Their number is 604. These two assemblies complement and control one an- other. The Chamber of Deputies has the right to discuss and to vote first on the budget. It alone has the power to impeach the President of the Republic and the ministers. On the other hand, the Senate may constitute itself a Higher Court of Justice to judge the President and the ministers and all others who conspire against the safety of the state. The President of the Republic is the chief executive. He is elected for seven years by a Congress composed of the two Houses, and may be re-elected. These are his powers: control of the armed forces of the nation for the mainten- ance or the restoration of order; appointment of civil and military officials; promulgation of the laws; signing of treaties; declaration of war with the consent of the Houses; and the right of pardon. Though he may exercise a great personal influence, in practice the President uses but spar- ingly his constitutional prerogatives. The President governs through ministers who are respon- sible to Parliament. He chooses the head of the cabinet, or the president of the council of ministers, according to the indications of the majority in the two Houses, and generally after consulting the party leaders. But the head of the cabinet, or the "Premier" as he is called in English, chooses with the approval of the President the different ministers who are to constitute the cabinet. Parliamentary usage requires the "Premier" to read before both Houses a statement of the cabinet's policy and to ask for a vote of confidence. The vote of confidence is asked for on different occasions, but notably when the cabinet thinks it has not the approval of the Senate or Chamber of Deputies on an im- portant question. A cabinet that fails to obtain a vote of confidence places its resignation in the hands of the Presi- dent of the Republic. This system differs from the par- liamentary system of the United States. The French system produces cohesion of the executive and legislative powers and constant co-operation of the government with the par- liamentary majority. But one of the disadvantages is the ministerial instability which results from it. Hence the frequent cabinet crises in France. But this instability is counter-balanced by the permanency of the various heads of the departments. There exist also permanent boards for the army, navy, public instruction, etc. The responsibility of the cabinet is a joint one; all the ministers resign if the head of the cabinet resigns, but they may become members of the next cabinet. The ministries vary in number. Some are permanent. - The most important are : Foreign Relations, War, Navy, Finance, Interior, Public Works, Public Instruction, Justice, Commerce, Colonies, Agriculture, Post and Telegraph. They correspond in general to the different departments in the American government. Administratively, France is divided into 86 departments, which are again subdivided into 2,915 cantons and 2,915 communes. These divisions date back to the Revolution, and are independent of geographical and historical con- ditions. Every department is administered by a prefect, appointed by the government. The prefect is assisted by a general council elected by the people. The general council fixes the departmental budget, assesses taxes but has no political power. It can, however, express wishes which are laid before the government. The prefect attends the meetings of the general council, but he has no vote. The arrondissement is a very unimportant cog in the governmental wheel. It has at its head a subprefect who is under the orders of the prefect. The abolition of the arondissements has been frequently discussed. The canton composed of a group of communes is essen- tially an administrative division. It is the seat of a justice 7 of peace, of a "council of revision," an organization cor- responding to the present American draft and exemption board. Delegates from the canton supervise the teaching in private and public schools. The true administrative unit is the commune. It is ad- ministered by a municipal council elected for four years by universal suffrage. The municipal council is presided over by a mayor elected by its members. The mayor sei-ves without pay. He carries out the decisions of the munici- pal council. He is the chief of the local police, but is also considered as the delegate of the central power whose laws and decrees he enforces. The municipal council comprises from 12 to 30 members according to the size of the commune. Paris and Lyons, the two most important cities in France, have a somewhat different organization. The functions of the mayor are shared in Paris by the prefect of police and the prefect of the Seine, both appointed by the government. Paris has a municipal council elected by universal suffrage, but is divided into several arrondissements at the head of which are mayors appointed by the government whose powers are limited. IV. PUBLIC INSTRUCTION French education is under the supervision of the Minis- ter of Public Instruction. It is divided into three classes: primary education, secondary education, and higher edu- cation. Each constitutes a special department at whose head is a director. Primary education is free and compulsory. The teachers are graduates of normal schools or else have obtained a special certificate conferred by the government after a special examination. The schools are supported partly by the State and partly by the Commune. The total budget in 1913 was about 225 million francs. The pupils are about 13 years old when they leave the grammar schools. Those who wish to continue their studies enter a .higher primary school where instruc- tion is largely practical, or one of the colleges or lycees which will be described later. In 1913 106,564 pupils were enrolled in the primary schools of France. Secondary instruction is given in state lycees of which there are 112 with 62,000 students, and in communal colleges whose number is 231 with 37,000 students. Except- ing the universities there is no co-education in France. The curriculum for the girls is similar to that of the boys. There are 54 state lycees for girls with 23,000 students and 84 communal colleges with 13,000 students. At the present time, however, there are more private than public institutions for girls. The students branch off early into several groups of study such as Latin and Greek, Latin and sciences, Latin and modern languages, sciences and modern languages. But certain common subjects are prescribed for all groups, such as French language and literature, geography, history, science, history of philosophy, and at least one modern language. Students receive the degree of Bachelor upon the successful completion of their courses and are then permitted to enter the University or the special technical schools. The teachers of secondary schools must have a state degree. The degree of agregation is required for the lycees; that of licence for the colleges. The universities are divided into the traditional four faculties, viz., Law, Medicine, Sciences, and Letters. While the most important university is the University of Paris, the provincial universities have in recent years greatly developed and are now more autonomous than in the past. In 1914, there were 42,037 students in the French universities, 6,188 of them were foreigners. The university professors are appointed by the Minister of Public Instruction. They must have high qualifications and give evidence of independant scholarship. In addition to the universities there are special schools and institutions such as the Ecole Polytechnique, Saint Cyr for the army, I'Ecole Centrale for civil engineers. There are six national and ninety technical schools of Arts and Crafts; six schools of Hydrography; twelve high schools and thirty- seven practical schools of Commerce; three national and forty-six practical Schools of Agriculture. The development of the educational system in France is comparatively recent and is largely due to the efforts of the government of the Third Republic. The public school teachers compare very favorably vi^ith the school teachers of any other nation, and the high standard of secondary education in France is generally admitted. The French university degrees are famous, representing conscientious research, lucidity of presentation and independence of judgment in a variety of fields. V. TRANSPORTATION France has the most complete and the finest system of roads in the w^orld. There are in France 38,000 kilometers of national highways, vv^ith a minimum w^idth of 11 meters; 15,000 kilometers of departmental highways, with a mini- mum width of 8 meters; 165 kilometers of communal roads; and 74,000 of country roads. This system of highways converges towards Paris forming a sort of spider web of which the center is the capital. The part played by the roads has had a tendency to diminish since the development of the railways. It has assumed importance again with the automobile. It is well known how the French are making use of their roads in the present war. One need but recall the defense of Verdun and the more recent transportation of troops into Italy. The railroad lines are laid out according to the same general plan and they too converge towards Paris, except the southern lines. France has 40,000 kilometers of rail- roads, and 8,000 kilometers of local railroads. They cari'y every year 150 million tons of freight and 500 million passengers. The lines are divided in six big districts belonging to private companies which operate them under the control of the state. The western state railroad (Ouest-Etat) alone belongs today to the government. Canals have a comparatively small importance. France has 12,000 kilometers of water ways, 7,200 kilometers of which are rivers and 4,800 canals. They carry a total freight of 35 million tons. Paris, which is the most import- ant fresh water port, receives alone 10 million tons by the 10 canals. These figures naturally have increased since the beginning of the war. There has been a regular service between Paris and London for several years. VI. COMMERCE It has been estimated that the total yearly production of wealth in France amounts to 132 billion francs, of which 12 billion are derived from agriculture and 120 from in- dustry. The foreign trade of France amounted in 1911 to 14,143 million. In the same year British trade rose to about 31,200 million, that of Germany to about 21,700 million, and that of the United States to about 18,300 million. The relative inferiority of French foreign trade may be largely explained by the fact that France is essentially agricultural and more or less self supporting. In 1913 the merchant ships aggregated 947,205 tons for steamships, and 460,253 for sailing vessels. The chief port is Marseilles. The opening since the war of a new canal bored through the hills which surround the city will greatly enlarge it and connect it with the Rhone river. After Marseilles come le Havre, Cherbourg, Bordeaux, and Rouen. France has a number of well located ports, but often insufficiently equipped with modern machin- ery. Since the war great progress has been made in this respect and the foreign trade of France promises to develop greatly in the future. In 1911, 8,066 million francs of goods were imported, and 6,077 million were exported. Importations comprised, first, raw materials, textile, silk, wool, cotton, English and Belgian coal, and timber from Norway and Russia. Next in order came articles of food such as wheat, cofi'ee, and wine. Manufactured articles came last. These were principally English and American machinery. The exportations comprised first of all manufactured articles amounting to more than 3,510 million. Raw ma- terials amounted to no more than 1,830 million; foodstuffs occupied the last place with 737 million. c*>*' Ocean Atlanti'que E5PAGNE "^"^'^ Belgique ALLEMAGNE Beljort ^J 5Ui55E ITALIE MEDITERRANEE In commercial relations with France, Great Britain occupies the first place: importations 933 millions; exporta- tions, 1,216. Germany comes next with 795 million of im- portations and 1,774 of exportations. Belgium: Importa- tions, 542 million; exportations, 1,024 million, and the United States: importations, 826 million; exportations, 380 million. It may be seen from these figures that America is a very good customer of France. The commercial situation will no doubt undergo radical changes everywhere after peace is restored. The war has already affected and modified to a large extent French in- dustries, and there is no doubt that the commercial standing of France in the world trade will be greatly increased. VII. INDUSTRIES According to the statistics of 1906, of the 20 million people who lived from the product of their work, 9 million were employed in agriculture and a little less than 6 million in industry. The richest portion of France from an indus- trial point of view is in the hands of the enemy. It has therefore been necessary to create new industries and to build new factories in the last four years. This necessity has given to French industry a new impulse. Manufacturers who before the war specialized in the production of a small number of well wrought and finished articles are now obliged to learn how to produce things on a so-called "wholesale scale." There is every reason to believe that the lesson thus learned will not be forgotten. In the past, the chief obstacle to French industrial development was a scarcity of coal. Just before the war, France produced 40 million tons, but had to import almost 20 million. Much is expected from the development of the hydraulic power of water falls and torrents. In this field much has already been accomplished. Only 200,000 H.P. were utilized in 1902; but in 1917 more than 1,200,000 H.P. were used. This is but a small part of a power which has been evaluated at more than 6 million H.P., or more than half of all the mechanical power employed in France in normal times. On the other hand, there is an abundance of iron ore. Almost 20 million tons were extracted in 1912, of which the department of Meurthe-et-Moselle alone yielded more than 16 million. From 1908 to 1912 the production in- creased 91 per cent, and just before the war France was third in the production of iron, behind the United States (60 million tons) and Germany (27 nlillion), but ahead of Great Britain, Sweden, Spain and Luxembourg-. In 1912, 8,324,- 000 tons were exported to Belgium, Germany, Holland and England. Since the war, other and less rich mines which had been known for a long time have been opened. It is said that Germany made her desperate assaults upon Verdun in order to gain possession of the mines of Meurthe-et-Moselle and cripple the French industries. France is rich in alumi- num ore. In 1912, 260,000 tons were extracted. The production of aluminum (10,200 tons) places France just behind the United States (22,000 tons). In other minerals France is less favored. Her colonies of Northern Africa, however, produce 2,510,000 tons of phosphate, which places France just behind the United States. Stone quarries are numerous and there is a great abundance of material for construction. France in 1912 exported more than 240,000 tons of cement. She could find on her soil the necessary material with which to reconstruct her destroyed cities. Zinc, lead, antimony are to be found in paying quantities. Gold diggings produce about 8 million francs a year. The mineral waters which are well known all over the world con- stitute another source of wealth. Of all the French industries the textile industry is the most important. It employs about a million people. The chemical industries had attained just before the war an important development, and France ranked third after the United States and Germany. The export of perfumery was estimated at 30 million francs. In the production of cel- luloid France was first. On the average 807,000 tons of sugar were produced before the war, the greater part coming from regions now in the hands of the enemy. The production of industrial alcohol amounted to 2,291,000 hectoliters. Secondary industries and industries of luxury extremely varied, are scattered all over the country. We only mention glass, paper, tanneries, potteries, food products and automobiles. VIII. AGRICULTURE Like industry, agriculture in France is remarkable for its variety. France produces everything, but in limited quantities. The variety of the climate, and the parcelling out of the land (there are in France not less than 8,000,000 small land owners of v^^hom 5,500,000 are farmers) deter- mine this particular agricultural condition. The total surface of France covers 133 million acres: 98 million are cultivated; 25 million are covered with woods and forests; 9 and a half million are marshes and moors. France is a country of wheat and wine — two elements constitutive of the food ration of her inhabitants. In spite of the small extent of her territory, France is third in the production of wheat, coming with an average of 82 million hundredweight per year, after the United States and Russia. This quantity almost suffices for her consumption in normal times. But when the harvest is deficient France has to import between 10 and 20 million hundredweight, for the French are the greatest bread-eaters in the world. The present shortage of wheat in France can be explained by the fact that the French farmers have been mobilized; the wo- men themselves have to a certain extent left the farms to work in ammunition factories and increase the output of shells and guns necessary for the defense of the country. The production of wine is subject from year to year to great fluctuations. The average of production from 1900 to 1910 was 14 million gallons. Only well known and expensive vintages are exported. The export of wine is, however, one of the most important constituents of French jforeign trade. Food industries are numerous and certain products are exported to England and to Switzerland. Garden products have increased during the last few years. Although in cer- tain regions products are determined by the climate, such as sugar beets in the north, wheat in the plains of Beauce, and wine in the south and the valley of Loire, the French farmer endeavors to grow on his farm all that he needs for his sustenance, and consequently specializes less than the American farmer. Cattle breeding has seen a considerable growth in the nineteenth century. France had before the war about 15 million cattle; 7 million hogs; about 3 million horses; 18 million sheep and a million and a half goats. In 1915 the number of cattle was reduced to 12 million and the number of hogs to 5 million. The parcelling out of the land interferes with the me- chanical cultivation of the soil. Nevertheless under the Third Republic the French peasants have made remarkable progress, owing to the organization of agricultural syndi- cates which pool their resources to buy machinery and fertilizers. The progress has been more marked since the government has founded agricultural schools and provided insurance for farmers and agricultural workers. IX. COLONIES French colonies constitute for France a source of wealth hitherto little known. The colonial empire of France is only second to that of Great Britain. It covers a surface of 10 million and a half kilometers, with a population of 48 million. Its commerce amounts to 3 billion francs a year. The most important possession of France in Africa is Algiers, which covers almost 3 million square kilometers including the Sahara desert. Its population is 5 million and a half (5,492,569), made up of diflferent elements.' Europeans are in the minority with 752,000, of whom nearly 500,000 are French. The natives numbering 4,740,500 are divided into Berbers, Moors and Jews; there is also a certain number of negroes. Until now Algiers has been a pre- eminently agricultural colony in which irrigation is well developed. But the mines are also very important. In 1912, 1,240,000 tons of iron were extracted and exported. Copper, zinc and lead ores are also extracted. Unfort- unately there is no coal. Algiers is situated between two protectorates, Tunis and Morocco, both very rich. Tunis has great mining resources in iron and phosphates. As for Morocco, the northern part of which has been conceded to Spain, it is a country of great promise though little known. Even during the war France has carried on the systematic development of the country. The other French colonies in Africa are Eastern French Africa and Equatoi'ial French Africa. Owing to the climate they do not lend themselves to the same development. Nevertheless, Equatorial French Africa was already promis- ing to become very prosperous when it was mutilated by the Franco-German agreement of the 4th of November, 1911. France, going to the limit of concessions to avoid a break with Germany, abandoned at that time important territories. Equatorial French Africa is now divided into three uncon- nected segments. On the eastern coast of Africa, France possesses the coast of Somaliland, with Obock and Djibouti, and in the Indian ocean the Comores archipelago, the Reunion island and the great island of Madagascar, of which the surface is almost as large as that of France, Belgium and Holland together. This last island is very rich but still thinly pop- ulated, with only three million and a half inhabitants. Of her ancient Indian possessions, France has retained only five cities separated from one another. They are of little importance. On the other hand, French Indo-China constitutes a domain of 803,000 square kilometers whose population amounts to about 16 million. The native with an advanced civilization form the majority of the population. The French colonial policy in Indo-China has always been to encourage the progress of the natives rather than to colonize. The possessions in the Pacific ocean are less important. They comprise New Caledonia and its dependencies, Tahiti being the best known. In America, in addition to the islands Saint Pierre and Miquelon situated near Newfoundland, important only as fisheries, France possesses the French West Indies, Guada- loupe, Martinique and their dependencies. On the South 1 American continent, Guyana is the only French possession and is still undeveloped. With her colonies France forms an empire second only to that of Great Britain and Russia but ahead of China and the United States, despite the small extent of her European territory. In population she occupies the fifth place, com- ing- after China, the British Empire, Russia and the United States. It should be noted that almost the whole of this colonial empire was founded during the nineteenth cen- tury and greatly developed since 1870. These colonial accomplishments must be taken into account to gain a just estimate of France. This vast empire was created just after a disastrous war that cost her an indemnity so enormous that Germany thought it sufficient to ruin her. Here we have an exhibition of a vitality which even her enemy is obliged to recognize. The principles of French colonization are today generally accepted. Doubtful it seemed at first whether it would not have been more practical to pursue a policy of assimila- tion, that is to say, to substitute for the language and the culture of the natives the language and the culture of France. But the method of France is simply the applica- tion of the maxim of Waldeck-Rousseau, to-wit, to develop the natives in the light of their own civilization. X. THE WAR Since 1872 military service has been obligatory for all able-bodied Frenchmen from 21 to 45. The length of the service in the army has varied. After reducing it to two years it was raised again to three years before the present war. The active army in time of peace amounted to 500,000. With all the reserves France could mobilize 3,760,000. men, Germany, on the other hand, could with less effort raise an army of five million. What France has done since the beginning of the war was stated in July, 1917, in a letter written by Mr. Andre Tardieu, High Commissioner of the Republic to the United States, to Mr. Baker, American secretary of war. These data compared with more recent figures may be summarized as follows: The number of men mobilized at the front and near the front now amounts to about three million, exceeding by a million the number of men mobilized at the beginning. To these must be added the men kept at the rear in the war factories and in the colonies. The casualties have constantly decreased owing to the progress made in tactics and to the development of heavy artillery. The medical services also have been greatly improved. For these reasons France is certain to maintain her strength in the future. About January, 1918, the distribution of the allied forces along the front was as follows: 25 kilometers were held by the Belgians, 165 kilometers by the British, 565 by the French. In addition, the French occupy part of the Italian front and Saloniki. The heavy artillery which scarcely existed at the begin- ning of the war numbers today over 6,000 guns. In the recent offensives the French could bring a heavy gun for everj'' 25 meters of the front. The total number of guns of all calibers, not including trench artillery, exceeds 15,000. The output of ammunition has increased in the same proportion. Many private factories have been transformed and new ones have been built. In 1917 France manu- factured daily 250,000 shells for the 75 millimeter guns and 100,000 shells for the heavy guns. In addition the French government has completely re-equipped the Belgian and the Serbian armies. She has provided her allies with 2,500 cannons, 4,750 airplanes, 10,000 machine guns, 15,000 auto- matic guns and 1,350,000 rifles. According to a recent statement of Mr. Baker, the American secretary of war, France has developed her industrial resources to such an extent that she can today manufacture a large part of the artillery needed by the American army. What France has done financially is no less significant. Since the beginning of the war she has spent the following sums: 1914 8,040 million francs 1915 ..22,000 million francs 1916 32,640 million francs 1917 _...: 41,000 million francs 20 From the first of August, 1914, to January, 1918, she borrowed in foreign countries nineteen billion francs and loaned to various allied governments six billions. Without introducing radical changes in the life of the nation such results could not have been obtained. Dis- tributed between the front and the war-factories men had to leave the farms, and many women who before the war had been employed in various agricultural industries are work- ing today in ammunition plants. France is far from being "bled white," as has been said too often. However, there is no doubt that in many respects she needs the help and co-operation of her allies to continue the military struggle to which she has devoted all her energies since August, 1914. XI. THE FRENCH PEOPLE Because of the very diversity of the French people, to which we have already alluded, it is almost impossible to give a satisfactory definition of the French character. Those who have travelled and lived in France are well aware how widely her inhabitants differ in temperament and character. Many hasty judgments and prejudices are still current. It may not be amiss therefore to indicate briefly their origin. The French people have often been misrepresented as incapable of sustained effort and as impatient of every form of government. Certain episodes of her history have been viciously seized upon to disseminate prejudices against the French. For the faults committed in the past by gov- ernments not of the people's own free choice, the whole nation has often been indicted. There has been a tendency to define the French people as light, brilliant, gay, polite, possessing talents for the minor arts, but incapable of pro- ducing geniuses of the first rank. The words of Matthew Arnold, "France famed in all great arts in none supreme," have too often been quoted with approval. But such a con- ception is only possible by ignoring the historical develop- ment of France and by disregarding the conditions which prevail there today. Because they can find in their own country almost all the necessities of life the French have never aspired to become conquerors. In their history they have shown to better advantage in vv^ars of defense than in wars of conquest. Conquerors such as Louis XIV and Napoleon were indeed able at certain historic moments to lead the French people astray, only to be deprecated when French independence of judgment asserted itself. On the other hand, they have al- ways fought with tenacity to defend the country from invaders, and on such occasions have displayed heroic efforts to retain their national independence. The internal history of France, for the last hundred and fifty years, is the history of a nation that has endeavored unceasingly and constantly to gain its political liberties. These liberties were very difficult to make stable at one stroke in a country where traditions were so deeply rooted. One must avoid the mistake of judging France from the point of view of America. We must not compare a new country which has developed its institutions without being hampered by the past with a country burdened with a long history and obliged to tear down ancient institutions to build up a new social order. It is only in our day, under the Third Republic, that the French can enjoy the liberties for which they have so long struggled. It is therefore not surprising to find among them, in their institutions and their customs, many ancient traditions that may seem strange to those who associate France with a spirit essentially revolutionary. One should never lose sight of the fact that France is an agricultural country, a country rather of small land owners than of captains of industry. Out of 38 million inhabitants there are in France 8 million people who own a piece of land. According to the census of 1906 there were in France 20 million people working for their living. They were distri- buted as follows according to their occupations : agriculture, 8,777,053; industries, 5,979,216; commerce, 2,002,681; liberal professions, 483,179; government service, including the army, 1,220,154; domestic service, 1,012,232; mines, 281,027; fisheries, 78,000. The agricultural workers and the owners of small farms constituted consequently a large majority. These farms, often represent the work of several generations and are transmitted from father to son. Just as in other countries so in France the cities draw many men away from the farms, but the French still have a love for the soil and their home. The French peasant has endurance and patience; he is thrifty and sober. Such qualities make him rank among the first farmers of the world. These qualities are also found among the middle class and among government offi- cials. It would be difficult to find government servants more honest and with a greater sense of duty than the French. Their faults being of these very qualities inhibit somewhat their initiative and account for a certain narrowness and timidity. The artisans as they were once called, or the workers as they are called today, have gained an important place in the nineteenth century with the development of industry. France, in common with every modern nation, has had some difficulties with this new element, which congTegated in the great cities and, confined to a limited area, showed itself more impulsive and more impatient than the inhabitants of small towns and the country. The proletariat may be said to form a certain political party, but do not constitute a dis- tinctive class. Many of them are peasants or the sons of peasants, but all of them are before everything else French- men and like all Frenchmen are under the influence of tradition. Common sense, moderation, honesty, and courage — these are the reserve moral forces of the French people. Their vivid imagination, however, makes them liable to be mis- understood by foreigners. The French have also a passion- ate love for ideas which they pursue with a rigorous logic so characteristic of their political and religious discussions. But they are not, as they are often represented to be, emotional and suggestible, ready to yield without resistance to their first impulse. A study of their history shows that France has followed an orderly line of development. The motto of the Republic "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," in a sense still expresses their ideal. However difficult of attain- ment in the world as it is at present constituted, this ideal the French have constantly endeavored to approach. 23 The union of common sense and imagination, qualities seemingly contradictory, explains the character of French literature. French literature never completely expresses French society at a given time. The classical period which recognized the sovereignty of reason was followed by roman- ticism proclaiming the superiority of imagination. But it is significant to bear in mind that this very romanticism soon made way for a realistic reaction. At different periods one of the two fundamental tendencies of the French people dominates in literature. While the one holds sway the other never completely disappears, the true character of the French remaining the same throughout. The marriage of the two qualities just noted appears in a more striking form in the French scientists. The French scientist is endowed with imagination necessary for great discoveries and for systematic construction, but on the other hand, he also possesses infinite patience, without which there can be no true scientific genius. One of the most glorious examples of a scientist in whom these two qualities are found united was Pasteur. His discoveries have revolution- ized biology, but he obtained his results through careful observations and minute experiments. Imagination and common sense are not found in the same degree among all the representatives of a people that comprises almost 40 million individiials. No doubt many secondary traits might be marked. But the two we have mentioned seem fundamental and permanent. The present war has revealed to the world the true nature of the French people. France has not changed her national characteristics in a day. A careful examination shows that the qualities which the French soldiers have displayed on the battle field, on the Marne or at Verdun, are the very qualities that characterize the French people in their daily life. % , TRPQRY OF CONGRESS iiii!. 002 566 ZW/ o