be the champion of the German Empire," he had said, "not
in martial conquests, but in works of peace, in the sphere of
national prosperity, freedom, and civilisation"; and in his
speech from the throne March 21st, he had given expression to
the same feeling, in saying that Germany was to become a sure
protector of the new peace of Europe.

But Bismarck, though in full accord with the sentiments ex-
pressed by his Emperor, was also alive to the importance of
maintaining friendly foreign relations; and wishing to prevent
any union of the two defeated countries, which had so nearly
formed an alliance against Germany in 1870, and to isolate
France, that she might be unable to take revenge, he strove to
make, not Germany only, but all central Europe, the guardian
of the peace. With Russia the friendly relations were easily
maintained; for in March, 1871, Alexander II. expressed his
desire for friendship with Germany and the preservation of the
peace; but with Austria, to whom Bismarck at once made
friendly advances in the hope of drawing her entirely away
from France, an understanding was not so easily reached. It
is true that the meeting of Bismarck and Beust at Gastein, in
August of 1871, and that of the Emperors of Germany and
Austria at Ischl and Salzburg in September of the same year,
suggested the probability of an entente between Austria and
Germany; but this was not accomplished until important
changes had taken place at Vienna. In 1871, under the
Hohenwart ministry, Austria had been experimenting with a
federal, that is a pro-Slavic, policy, which was naturally looked
upon with disfavour by Germany. In November, however,
Francis Joseph, acting under the influence of Beust, rejected
the demands of the Czechs, and held to dualism. But the
triumph of Beust was a short one; as the enemy of Bismarck
and the friend of France he was dismissed in November, and
Count Andrássy, a Magyar, hostile to the Slavs and friendly
to Bismarck, was appointed minister of foreign affairs. In his

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