"Just as a mother may give birth to two children with entirely different natures, so Belgium affords hearth and home to two peoples in whose language, culture and customs there is neither similarity nor harmony. The Flemings are absolutely German, and in this war they treat us with friendly confidence. Their eyes do not glitter with fanatical hate like those of the Walloons."[[159]]
[!-- Note Anchor 159 --][Footnote 159: Heinrich Binder: "Mit dem Hauptquartier nach Westen," p. 102.]
Herr Binder's meditations on the slaughter in the valley of the Meuse are not without interest. "A vale which has been won by German blood! In recent days the waters of the Meuse have often flowed blood-red. Many a warrior has sunk into these depths. Longing and hope rise in our hearts: May destiny determine that all these dead, after a triumphant war, shall sleep at rest in a German valley!"[[160]]
[!-- Note Anchor 160 --][Footnote 160: Ibid., p. 122.]
CHAPTER X
SAIGNER À BLANC.[[161]]
[!-- Note Anchor 161 --][Footnote 161: "To bleed white." Bismarck employed this phrase on two occasions in addressing the Reichstag; his purpose could have been no other than to bully France.—Author.]
It would be superfluous to review here the history of Franco-German relations during the last half century; other writers have already performed the task. Yet the whole trend of development in the relations between the two powerful neighbours may be defined by two watch-words: saigner à blanc in Germany, and the revanche idée in France. But there is this difference: the former has become ever more and more, and the latter less and less, a factor in European politics.