Note 1222 — Chapter XVIII

On April 5 Bülow declared in the Reichstag as follows: “A time of alarm lies behind us. There were weeks when the thought of armed complications occupied our minds. . . . . We wished to show that Germany does not let herself be handled as a quantité negligeable. . . . . We may now look into the future with more calmness. The Conference of Algeciras has, I believe, had a result equally satisfactory to Germany and France and useful to all nations” (Reden, II, 303 ff.). On April 12 Bourgeois spoke in the French Chamber in a similar vein: “. . . . All the work of the conference has aimed to harmonize the three essential conditions of Moroccan reform [the sovereignty of the Sultan, the integrity of his empire, and commercial liberty] with the rights and the special interests that France has the duty of defending. . . . . That result has been obtained, thanks to the reciprocal concessions seriously weighed and loyally consented to in terms absolutely honorable for all and without the abandonment of the fruits of our country’s past efforts, of the dignity of its present situation, or of the safeguards of its future. . . . . France has been able to put to the test the solidarity of her alliance and friendships to which precious sympathies have been joined” (quoted in L.j., 1906, pp. 290 ff.). The act was accepted by the French Parliament and by the German Reichstag in Dec., 1906 (Schulthess, Europäischer Geschichtskalender 1906, pp. 219, 328 ff.; Tardieu, La Conf. d’Algés, pp. 415 ff.).