No. 187.
Count Bismarck expresses the deep regret of the belligerent German
governments that these consequences cannot be avoided by them, feeling
obliged to declare that they are not responsible for the unavoidable
misery to come, and that they must leave such responsibility to those
who, by continual instigation and false reports, excite the population
of Paris to a useless resistance, when a moment of cool reflection could
save them.
[Translation.]
The conditions of an armistice offered to M. Jules Favre, intended as
the basis for the reëstablishment of order in France, have been
rejected by him and his colleagues. They thereby decree the
continuation of a struggle which, according to the course of late
events, appears without any chance of success for the French people.
Since then the prospects of France in this war, so full of
sacrifices, have still further declined. Toul and Strasburg have
fallen; Paris is closely surrounded, and German troops are advancing
along the Loire. The large forces before engaged near the above
fortresses are now at the free disposal of the German
commanders.
The country has to bear the consequences of a war, “à outrance,”
decreed by the French authorities in Paris. Its sacrifices will be
unnecessarily increased, and its social condition suffer a more and
more dangerous decomposition.
The command of the German armies does not find itself in a situation
to counteract this, but it perceives clearly the consequences of the
resistance chosen by the powers in France, and feels compelled to
call general attention to one point, namely, the special condition
of Paris.
The heaviest attacks heretofore made from this capital, (on the 19th
and 30th of last month,) in which the elite of the armies collected
in that city have not been able to throw back the first line of the
besieging force, lead to the conviction that the capital will fall
sooner or later. If the time of surrender is postponed by the
“provisional government for the national defense” until the
threatening want of provisions necessitates a capitulation, the most
terrible results must follow.
The unwise destruction of railways, bridges, and canals at a certain
distance around Paris by the French has not been able to stop for
one moment the advance of the German armies. All communications by
land or water needed for military operations have been reestablished
in a very short time. These repairs naturally regard military
interests exclusively, while the other destructions, even after a
capitulation, will prevent for a long time the communication of the
capital with the provinces.
It will be an absolute impossibility for the German commanders, when
that case occurs, to provide one single day’s rations for a
population of nearly two millions. The environs of Paris, to the
distance of several days’ journey, since all stores there are
necessarily required for the use of the German troops, will then
offer no resources, and will not permit the inhabitants of Paris to
evacuate by the roads into the country. The inevitable result would
be the starvation of hundreds of thousands. The persons in power in
France cannot fail to discern these consequences as clearly as the
German commanders, and since to the latter nothing is left but to
carry on the war proffered, the rulers of France are responsible for
forcing such extremes.
