to have detrimental effects upon inter-Allied relations after the war. On the points thus detailed, however, compromise agreements were reached during April 1919, and the text of the Treaty was handed to the Germans on May 7.
It was after that date, on May 25, that a second crisis broke out. It lasted until June 16. All Mr. Lloyd George's fears as to the probability of the Germans refusing to sign the Treaty had been reawakened, and he suggested a number of concessions on such questions as disarmament, the occupation of the Rhine, reparations, Dantzig and Silesia. It required a very determined effort on the part of the French peace delegation to prevent a lasthour revision of the terms. The settlement of the question of the left bank of the Rhine undoubtedly caused the most perturbation among French politicians. Marshal Foch on Nov. 27 1918, and again on Jan. 10 1919, had urged that, for the security of France, the Rhine must become the western military frontier of Germany, and that that nation should be deprived of the military springboard on the left bank she had used with such effect in 1914. This proposal had been discussed in March and refused by Great Britain, and instead of the occupation and independence of the left bank, Great Britain and the United States offered the military guarantee against any aggression on the part of Germany, the undertaking of Great Britain being dependent upon American ratification of that agreement. This was not forthcoming. Clemenceau, after a hard fight, succeeded in inserting in the Peace Treaty a clause to the effect that if, within 15 years the period of occupation laid down in the Treaty Germany had not fulfilled her engagements, that period could be prolonged. There were many Frenchmen, and notably Marshal Foch, who refused to see in this compromise a sufficient safeguard for French frontiers, or for the execution of the Treaty of Versailles. Their number naturally grew when the American Senate refused to ratify the Treaty, and not only the American but the British undertaking to give military aid to France, were she attacked by Germany, fell to the ground.
In the treatment of the problem of the Saar coal-fields and of reparations, the French also thought that Lloyd George looked exclusively to British interests. Great though the criticisms were against the Treaty of Versailles, they were as nothing compared with the resentment aroused in France by the application of that Treaty by Great Britain. The coal agreement at Spa, which made France pay heavily to the British Government for her coal, the British encouragement of the Emir Faisal and other elements in the Middle East which were regarded by the French as antagonistic, the British negotiations for the resumption of trade with Bolshevist Russia, the anti-Polish attitude of the British Government during the Peace Conference over the Dantzig Corridor, and afterwards during the Polish-Bolshevist War, the intransigent attitude adopted in favour of Greece and against the Turkish Nationalists all contributed towards disagreement between France and Great Britain.
These were French criticisms, and represented French causes for dissatisfaction with British policy after the Armistice. An equal number of British complaints against French policy could undoubtedly be found. The result was that in 1920 and 1921 a good deal of diplomatic friction was occasioned from time to time; and it was renewed in Dec. 1921 as the result of the French attitude towards disarmament at the Washington Conference. But it was clearly in the predominant interests of both Great Britain and France that they should bring their respective peace policies into agreement, and march forward hand in hand. The moment was perhaps not ripe for a formal alliance, but in 1921 there were influential people on both sides, and in England notably Lord Derby, who were working towards a restoration of completely cordial relations between France and England, in preparation for a definite understanding which might form the foundation of permanent peace in Europe. (G. A.)
FRANCIS FERDINAND (FRANZ FERDINAND VON ESTE) (18631914), Archduke of Austria, was born at Graz Dec. 18 1863. His father was the Archduke Charles Louis, second of the younger brothers of the Emperor Francis Joseph; his mother was the Princess Maria Annunciata, daughter of the Bourbon King Ferdinand II. of the Two Sicilies. His mother died while he was a child, but he was affectionately cared for by his father's second wife, Maria Theresa of Braganza, daughter of the exiled Portuguese Prince Dom Miguel of Braganza. He received the education usually given to members of the imperial family, not too thorough a one, as his succession to the throne was not anticipated. In later years, when he had become heir to the throne, Francis Ferdinand worked with iron industry to fill in the gaps in his education; he learned the languages of the nations over whom he appeared to be called to rule, and took pleasure in obtaining instruction from leading men of science in their special branches of knowledge. He showed special interest in the natural sciences and in the plastic and pictorial arts, but had little taste for poetry and music.
When the education prescribed for him was completed Francis Ferdinand, still following the archducal tradition, entered the army, which kept him for many years away from the imperial palace. In 1875 he took the name of Austria-Este, as heir of his uncle the Duke of Modena, with whose death the male line of this branch of the house became extinct, and of his possessions in Austria-Hungary and Italy. Until the death on Jan. 30 1889 of the Crown Prince Rudolf, Francis Ferdinand was only known in limited circles, and even then he did not at first play any prominent part. For although his father, the next heir to the throne, showed little inclination to make use of his rights when occasion offered, his uncle the Emperor did not give Francis Ferdinand any share in the business of government. He devoted himself as before to his military duties and to the management of his extensive estates. In 1892-3 he made a world tour, which he described in two volumes issued in 1895. He himself states the chief aim of his travels to have been the satisfaction of his desire to become acquainted with foreign systems of government, and to get into touch with foreign peoples and persons and foreign manners and customs. But his delight in the adventures of the chase he was an excellent sportsman and an admirable shot his strongly developed feeling for nature, and the desire of his friends and relations to strengthen the uncertain health of a prince born of a consumptive mother counted among the reasons for the long journey. The last aim was not realized; Francis Ferdinand's sufferings notably increased after his return, and compelled him, after his father's death in May 1906 had made him heirapparent to the throne, to spend considerable periods in southern resorts. The undisguised haste with which many people, especially those connected with the court, who had hitherto courted him, deserted him, now that he was seriously ill and his succession improbable, hardened the prince's character, which was not naturally gentle, increased his distrust of the men who surrounded him, and heightened his contempt for mankind.
When his health improved he returned home and spent a considerable time very actively on his estate at Konopischt, where he established a model farm and gained the reputation of a close-fisted and not very popular master. Even then he was not invited by Francis Joseph to take part in state affairs; yet the Emperor frequently commissioned him to represent him abroad, and gradually allowed him to exercise greater influence in military matters. In 1896 Francis Ferdinand became a cavalry general, and on April 1 1898 he was placed at the disposition of the supreme army command; in 1902 he became an admiral of the Austro-Hungarian fleet. Learned bodies and artistic societies gave him their highest places of honour. He became honorary member and later curator of the Imperial Academy of Science at Vienna and patron of the Academies of Science in Prague and Cracow.
On July 1 1900 Francis Ferdinand married Countess Sophie Chotek (1868-1914), after having overcome by tenacious persistence the obstacle due to the facjt that the lady was not of royal family, and renounced, a few days before the ceremony, the succession rights of any children of the union. This renunciation was not only inscribed in the records of the imperial family, but ratified in the Austrian and Hungarian Parliaments and sanctioned by a law of Dec. 4 1900. The consort of the heir to the throne was raised to princely rank with the title of Hohenberg; later on she received the rank of duchess with the style of
