We Will Fight to the End

By Premier Viviani of France.

Premier Viviani recently delivered to Parliament an address upon the war which attracted worldwide attention. Viviani served notice on Germany and Austria that France will not lay down her arms until she and her allies have won such a victory that they can dictate terms. Premier Viviani's speech was delivered by himself in the Chamber of Deputies on Dec. 22, while on the same day the speech was read in the Senate by M. Briand, Minister of Justice. It is as follows:

GENTLEMEN: This is not the usual communication in which a Government presenting itself for the first time before Parliament sets forth its policy. Just now there is only one policy—a relentless fight until we attain definite freedom for Europe by gaining a victory which shall guarantee peace.

Gentlemen, that was the cry uttered by all when, in the sitting of Aug. 4, a sacred union arose, as the President of the Republic has so well said, which will throughout history remain an honor to the country. It is the cry which all Frenchmen will repeat after having put an end to the disagreements that have so often embittered our hearts and which a blind enemy took for irremediable division. It is the cry that rises from the glorious trenches into which France has thrown all her youth, all her manhood.

Before this unexpected uprising of national feeling, Germany has been troubled in the intoxication of her dream of victory. On the first day of the conflict she denied right, appealed to force, flouted history, and, in order to violate the neutrality of Belgium and to invade France, invoked the law of self-interest alone.

Since then her Government, learning that it had to reckon with the opinion of the world, has recently attempted to put her conduct in a better light by trying to throw the responsibility for the war upon the Allies. But through all the gross falsehoods, which fail to deceive even the most credulous, the truth has become apparent.

All the documents published by the nations interested, and the remarkable speech made the other day at Rome by one of the most illustrious representatives of the noble Italian Nation, demonstrate that for a long time our enemy has intended a coup de force. If it were necessary, a single one of these documents would suffice to enlighten the world.

When, on July 31, 1914, at the suggestion of the English Government all the nations concerned were asked to suspend their military preparations and enter into negotiations in London, France and Russia adhered to this proposal. But Germany precipitated matters. She declared war on Russia on Aug. 1, and made an appeal to arms inevitable. And if Germany by her diplomacy killed the germ of peace it is because for more than forty years she had untiringly pursued her aim, which was to crush France in order to achieve the enslavement of the world.

All the revelations are brought before the tribunal of history, where corruption has no place, and as France and her allies, despite their attachment to peace, have been obliged to endure war they will pursue it to the uttermost.

Faithful to the signature which she attached to the treaty of Sept. 4, 1914, and by which she engaged her honor, that is to say, her life, France, in accord with her allies, will not lay down her arms until she has avenged outraged right and regained forever the provinces which were torn from her by force, restored heroic Belgium to the fullness of her material prosperity and political independence, and broken Prussian militarism so that the Allies may eventually reconstruct a regenerated Europe founded upon justice and right.

We are not inspired, gentlemen, in this plan of war and of peace by any presumptuous hope, for we have the certainty of success. We owe this certitude to our army of all ranks and to our sailors, who, joined to the British Navy, secure for us the control of the seas, and to the troops who have repulsed in Morocco incessant aggressions.

We owe it also to the soldiers who defend our flag in those far-off French colonies, who from the very first outbreak of the war hastened back with their tender solicitude for the mother country.

We owe it to our army, whose heroism has been guided by incomparable leaders throughout the victory of the Marne, the victory of Flanders, and in many fights, and we owe it to the nation, which has equaled this heroism by a corresponding demonstration of silence and serenity during the critical hours through which the country has passed.

Thus we have shown to the world that an organized democracy can serve by its vigorous action the ideal of liberty and equality which constitute its greatness. Thus we have shown to the world, to use the words of our Commander in Chief, who is both a great soldier and a noble citizen, that "the republic may well be proud of the army that she has prepared." And thus, this impious war has brought out all the virtues of our race, both those with which we were credited—of initiative, élan, bravery, and fearlessness—and those which we were not supposed to possess—endurance, patience, and stoicism.

Let us do honor to all these heroes. Glory to those who have fallen before the victory, and to those also who through it will avenge them tomorrow! A nation which can arouse such enthusiasm can never perish.

Sheltered by this heroism the nation has lived and labored, accepting all the consequences of the war, and domestic tranquillity has never been troubled.

The Minister of Finance has laid before you in a masterly statement the financial situation and has explained the resources that we have obtained from the issue of Treasury bonds and advances from the Bank of France, which have enabled us to bear the expenditure imposed by the war, so that we have not had any need to resort to a loan. The Bank of France is in a position, thanks to its excellent condition, to furnish resources to the Treasury and to aid in the resumption of the economic life of the country.

Everything serves to demonstrate the vitality of France, the security of her credit, the confidence which she inspires in all, despite the war which is shaking and impoverishing the world. The state of her finances is such that she can continue the war until the day when the necessary reparation has been obtained.

Gentlemen, it is not sufficient for us to salute the victims who have fallen on the field of battle. We must uncover also before the civil non-combatants and innocent victims who up to now have been protected by the laws of war, but whom, in order to terrify a nation which is and will ever remain unshaken, the enemy either captured or massacred. The Government has done its duty toward their families, but the debt of the country is not yet discharged.

Under the force of invasion, departments have been occupied and the ruins in them have accumulated. The Government solemnly undertakes before you—it has already partly carried it out, and has asked for a first credit of $70,000,000—that France will rebuild again those ruins, and the carrying out of this work will certainly be borne in mind in the indemnities which we shall exact.

The day of a definite victory has not yet come. Our task until then will be heavy, and it may be long. Let us bring all our strength to bear in the carrying out of this task. Our allies know that we will do so, as well as the neutral nations, and it is in vain that a wild campaign of false news has been set on foot. If Germany at the outset pretended to have any doubt as to the attitude of France, she no longer doubts.

Let Germany bear witness now that when the French Parliament reopened after over four months of war, it has renewed before the world the spectacle it offered on the day when, in the name of the nation, it took up the challenge.

To conquer, heroism at the frontier will not suffice. It is necessary also to have internal union. Let us continue to preserve this sacred union from any blemish today, as in the past, and in the future. Let us keep before our minds the one cry of victory, the vision of our motherland, and the ideal of right.

That is what we are fighting for and what Belgium is still fighting for, Belgium, who is giving to this ideal all the blood in her veins, and what also unshakable England is fighting for, as also faithful Russia, intrepid Servia, and the audacious Japanese Navy.

Nothing more sublime has ever presented itself before the eyes of men than this struggle against barbarism and despotism, against a system of provocation and continual threats, which Germany called peace, against a system of murders and collective pillage, which Germany called war, against the insolent hegemony of a military caste. France with her allies has let loose the scourge of war against all these. France the emancipator and avenger has sprung up at one bound.

That is the issue at stake. It goes beyond the life of the present generation. Let us continue to have but one soul and one mind, and tomorrow, when peace is restored and when our opinions, now voluntarily enthralled, are again given their liberty, we will recall with pride these tragic days, for they have tended to make us more valiant and better men.