28 Thg Great War after Austerlitz and Jena. So the Germans at least viewed the possibilities. But defeated, Germany might face dismember- ment, Alsace-Lorraine, Posen, the two Prussias and Danish Schleswig would undoubtedly be taken, Ger- man supremacy on the Continent would be destroyed, German unity might be endangered, the powerful Socialistic forces might be enabled to drive out of power the ruling caste and lay hands upon the gov- ernment. Yet not to fight for Austria was to see the Triple Alliance shattered, Austria dismembered, Italy drawn aside by her Mediterranean and African in- terest and the German Empire left exposed to the eternal rivalry of the Slav and the undying resent- ment of the nation which had never accepted the Treaty of Frankfort. France next to Austria was most vitally affected by the Servian crisis. Victorious in the imminent war she would regain her " lost provinces." The eternal shadow of German menace would be re- moved. Spared the terrible expense of maintain- ing the unequal struggle for military superiority with her neighbor beyond the Vosges she could turn her resources to the development of her great North African empire, which would insure her remaining as a world power. But defeated, France would have to surrender the role of a world power. With a stationary popula- tion, shorn of many of her African colonies if not