Chauvinists was rendered decisive by the developments on the battle-fronts and the political events among the Allies.
In October and November 1917 the situation of the Allies was, in every respect, an alarming one. In France the Government of Briand had been replaced on March 14, 1917, by Ribot’s Cabinet, in which the Minister of Foreign Affairs was Ribot himself, and the Minister of War was Painlevé. Ribot’s Government came into power at a juncture when the military and political situations were .daily growing worse. The Russian revolution and its military consequences, the failure of Nivelle’s offensive and the resulting war-weariness and defeatist propaganda in France, difficulties in Parliament, the peace overtures of Sixtus of Bourbon, quarrels with the Socialists on the subject of the Stockholm Conference, difficulties in Greek affairs, and disputes with regard to Italian policy—all this tended to weaken France both within and without.
Painlevé’s Cabinet, which replaced that of Ribot on September 12, 1917, and in which Ribot continued to act as Foreign Minister with Painlevé as Minister of War, was in an even more difficult position. On the Eastern front there was now a continuous record of German successes. The proceedings at the Stockholm Conference, Benedict’s note, and the increasing chaos in Russia were producing an atmosphere of pessimism in France during the autumn of 1917. The Bolshevik revolution and the events which followed it intensified this depression to the utmost.
From the moment when the separate peace between the Central Powers and Russia began to be talked about, there were incessant protests in France against the treachery of the Bolsheviks and Russia in general. What made matters worse was that there were still no visible results from American co-operation at the front, and everything tended to strengthen the movement for concluding the war by negotiation. Caillaux was carrying on propaganda in favour of abandoning the English alliance and arriving at an agreement with Germany for an advantageous peace. The French Parliament was also in a nervous condition on account of disputes with the Socialists. The first crisis of Painlevé’s Government occurred on October 28th, and Ribot, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, was replaced by Barthou. Two weeks later the whole Cabinet fell, and was succeeded in the middle of November by Clemenceau’s Government.
