594 Readings in European History country, opposed that policy. We revert to it with the hope that, taught by experience, France will have the wisdom to put it into practice. The king of Prussia has declared that he made war not against France but against the imperial dynasty. The dy- nasty has fallen. France is free. Does the king of Prussia wish to continue an unholy struggle, which will be at least as fatal to him as to us ? Does he wish to give to the nine- teenth century the cruel spectacle of two nations destroying one another, and, forgetful of humanity, reason, and culture, heaping corpse upon corpse, and ruin upon ruin ? He is free to assume this responsibility in the face of the world and of history. If it is a challenge, we accept it. We will cede neither an inch of cur territory nor a stone of our fortresses. A dis- graceful peace would mean a war of extermination at an early date. We will treat only for a permanent peace. In this respect our interest is that of the whole of Europe, and we have reason to hope that, divested of all dynastic considerations, the question will thus present itself to the cabinets of Europe. But even should we stand alone, we shall not yield. We have a resolute army, well-provisioned fortresses, a strong cordon of troops, and, above all, the hearts of three hundred thousand combatants determined to hold out to the bitter end. 492. How the German empire was proclaimed in Versailles (January 24, 1871). The official account of the reestablishment of the German empire appeared in Berlin, January 24, 1871. In the palace of Louis XIV, in that ancient center of a hostile power which for centuries has striven to divide and humiliate Germany, the solemn proclamation of the German empire was made on January 18, exactly one hun- dred and seventy years after the assumption of the royal dignity by the Prussian sovereigns at Konigsberg. Though the German people, owing to the necessities of the times, were represented at the ceremony only by the German army, the eyes of the entire nation were gratefully turned to the
