The Fight for the Republic in ChinaPutnam Weale, B. L. (Bertram Lenox)
History
The Fight for the Republic in China
Putnam Weale, B. L. (Bertram Lenox)
China -- History -- Republic, 1912-1949; China -- Politics and government
No one at present can foretell the outcome of the European War. If
the Allies meet with reverses and victory shall crown the arms of
the Germans and Austrians, German militarism will undoubtedly
dominate the European Continent and extend southward and eastward
to other parts of the world. Should such a state of affairs happen
to take place the consequences resulting therefrom will be indeed
great and extensive. On this account we must devote our most
serious attention to the subject. If, on the other hand, the
Germans and Austrians should be crushed by the Allies, Germany
will be deprived of her present status as a Federated State under
a Kaiser. The Federation will be disintegrated into separate
states, and Prussia will have to be content with the status of a
second-rate Power. Austria and Hungary, on account of this defeat,
will consequently be divided. What their final fate shall be, no
one would now venture to predict. In the meantime Russia will
annex Galicia and the Austrian Poland: France will repossess
Alsace and Lorraine: Great Britain will occupy the German Colonies
in Africa and the South Pacific; Servia and Montenegro will take
Bosnia, Herzegovina and a certain portion of Austrian Territory;
thus making such great changes in the map of Europe that even the
Napoleonic War in 1815 could not find a parallel.
When these events take place, not only will Europe experience
great changes, but we should not ignore the fact that they will
occur also in China and in the South Pacific. After Russia has
replaced Germany in the territories lost by Germany and Austria,
she will hold a controlling influence in Europe, and, for a long
time to come, will have nothing to fear from her western frontier.
Immediately after the war she will make an effort to carry out her
policy of expansion in the East and will not relax that effort
until she has acquired a controlling influence in China. At the
same time Great Britain will strengthen her position in the
Yangtsze Valley and prohibit any other country from getting a
footing there. France will do likewise in Yunnan province using it
as her base of operations for further encroachments upon China and
never hesitate to extend her advantages. We must therefore
seriously study the situation remembering always that the combined
action of Great Britain, Russia, and France will not only affect
Europe but that we can even foresee that it will also affect
China.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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