The present diplomatic situation is strangely like that of Fashoda. In 1905, France was at one of the turning-points of her history: she had to choose between the two Powers which had hitherto been her hereditary enemies. She decided to follow the British, and not the German, policy. Will she have to choose between the British policy and the American policy--between the two countries which helped her to emerge victorious from the great world conflict? CHAPTER XXII CONCLUSION The World in 1923 The political independence of a people may sometimes be nothing but a sham. France, having neglected to obtain her share in the division of the world's oil, is to-day in a position of dependence upon Britain and America. If, to-morrow, she had to defend herself against a fresh attack, her tanks, her aeroplanes, her submarines, and the whole of her supply services could only function by consent of her Allies. Even with the first army in the world, France could be victorious only if Britain and the United States permitted.[58] Already in time of peace, nations without oil were in a position of considerable inferiority, in view of the hundreds of uses to which oil is put in industry, and especially in the important sphere of the transport and distribution of commodities. There is no true independence for a people but that which is assured economically and financially. Military supremacy is only the happy result of proper efforts undertaken to attain it. During the War, such independence was to be desired for France even more than during peace: it would have avoided the heavy debts which she incurred to her Allies, and it would have enabled her to exploit herself the resources at home and in the colonies which she has been compelled to hand over to foreigners. Before the War, France consumed more than 400,000 tons of oil a year. To-day, she requires 1,500,000, and the oil wells of Alsace, which the Treaty of Versailles has restored to her, produce only 60,000 tons, and Algeria 3,000-4,000 tons.[59] Thus, she is obliged to pay the foreigner nearly 2,000 million francs a year in order to obtain the oil which she lacks.