¶ It is trite to say that Bismarck foresaw that a war with France was inevitable. Behind this simple statement is a world of intrigue and ambition. The French still hold that the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine was the price not of war but of Bismarck's brigandage. The French also believe that the candidacy of Prince Leopold Hohenzollern for the Spanish throne was a Prussian intrigue against France. The controversy on these points will never be settled, till the Doomsday Book is opened. ¶ When Bismarck sees that his work of unifying Germany cannot be completed without another war, the war comes! His amazing insight into complex political, military and historical situations, in which with a few words he is able to divert public opinion to his own peculiar view, has been shown never with more diabolical cunning than at the time of the breaking out of the Franco-Prussian war. We refer here to the "Ems dispatch," that played a startling part in bringing on the war; but the telegram, in itself, was really a simple thing. ¶ For four years, Germany had been increasing her military power by ten-fold. The greatest military martinet of all time, Von Roon, had the men up at three and four in the morning drilling them as human beings were never drilled before. Von Moltke, "with the battle pictures in his brain," was planning every detail against France. ¶ The preparations were now complete. The Germans were thoroughly organized, led by generals guided by a single brain, von Moltke, master of tactics and strategy. ¶ Just the day the war broke out von Moltke, who was always as taciturn as the Sphinx, "and in times of peace ugly and crabbed," was sitting in his garden moodily declaiming against these poor times--with no war in sight! Bismarck greeted his compatriot, bravely. Von Moltke ordered sherry punch and the two cronies began drinking each other's health. ¶ "You are not looking well, Chief?" began Bismarck. ¶ "No, I have not been well, lately!" ¶ "But you must cheer up. War is your business and you will now quickly mend. I remember when the Spanish war was the burning question you looked at least ten years younger. When I told you that the Hohenzollern prince gave the thing up, you became at once ten years older. This time, the French have made difficulties, and you look fresh and younger by ten years." ¶ In this light-hearted way Bismarck spoke of the oncoming strife--up to the year 1914 the bloodiest in the history of the world. 57 The bugle blast "For God and Fatherland!" again resounds throughout Germany--The great host crosses the Rhine. ¶ Up to 1914, there never was such a disciplined army since the world began! Neither Napoleon, Cæsar nor Alexander ever had a power like the United German swarm, now numbering 1,200,000 men, counting advance and reserve; however, the total strength was never called, as the war was practically over in seven weeks.