" It is
true that when Danes, Norwegians and Swedes met abroad they felt each
other to be compatriots; but this did not prevent them all being classed
together as Germans; that they were not Englishmen, you saw at a glance.
Even when there were several of them together, they had difficulty in
asserting themselves as different and independent; they were a Germanic
race all the same, and people often added, "of second-class importance,"
since the race had other more pronounced representatives.
The only strong expression of political opinion that was engineered in
France then was the so-called plebiscite of May, 1870; the government
challenged the verdict of the entire male population of France upon the
policy of Napoleon III. during the past eighteen years, and did so with
the intention, strangely enough not perceived by Prime Minister
Ollivier, of re-converting the so-called constitutional Empire which had
been in existence since January 1, 1870, into an autocracy. Sensible
people saw that the plebiscite was only an objectionable comedy; a
favourable reply would be obtained all over the country by means of
pressure on the voters and falsification of votes; the oppositionist
papers showed this up boldly in articles that were sheer gems of wit.
Disturbances were expected in Paris on the 9th of May, and here and
there troops were collected.
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