M. Jaurès, the brilliant French Socialist parliamentarian, believed that the Potsdam Agreement was an admirable instance of the menace of the Russian Alliance to the security of France and the peace of Europe. During the course of a bitter debate in the Chamber of Deputies he confronted the Minister of Foreign Affairs, M. Pichon, with this dilemma: “What is the situation in which you find yourself? You are going to be faced, you already are faced, with a _fait accompli_, a Russo-German convention on the Bagdad question. What do you propose to do? Well, you may pursue an independent course and continue to oppose the Bagdad Railway. In that event you will be in the unenviable position of opposing Germany in an enterprise to which Russia—whose interests are more directly involved—has given her support. Or, on the other hand, you may subscribe with good grace to this enterprise which Russia commends to you. What then will be your situation? For some years France has successfully resisted the Bagdad Railway. If during this time we have sulked at the enterprise, it was not of our own choice, but out of regard for Russia, because Russia believed her interests to be menaced. In short, we arrive at this paradox. You have created an extremely delicate situation between France and Germany by opposing the Bagdad Railway, in which you had no interests other than those of Russia. And now it is this same Russia which, without previously consulting you, places at the disposal of Germany the moral advantage of compelling you—you who resisted only on behalf of Russia—to accede to the Bagdad Railway.” Was this the sort of ally to whom France should entrust her national safety?[7] In the midst of the storm over the Potsdam Agreement, M. Stephen Pichon and Sir Edward Grey alone appeared to be unruffled. Both of these gentlemen, interpolated in the Chamber of Deputies and the House of Commons respectively, averred that they saw no reason for becoming disturbed or alarmed at the new Russo-German understanding. This point of view was incomprehensible to the average citizen, unskilled in the niceties of professional diplomacy, until on January 31, 1911, M. Jaurès forced M. Pichon to admit that the French Foreign Office had been informed of the character of the Potsdam negotiations before they took place. Less than a month later Mr. Lloyd George severely criticized his fellow-minister Sir Edward Grey for having taken no action against the policy of Russia at Potsdam, although, as Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward had been fully posted on the nature of the negotiations. Apparently, then, Russia had come to the agreement with Germany only after having consulted France and Great Britain and, perhaps, after having received their consent.[8]