From the moment when the armis
tice was signed, British and French
national polices began to move in op
posite directions. For practical po
litical purposes, Anglo-French unity
was maintained by Lloyd George and
Clemenceau during the peace con
ference. There were widely violet
disputes, of course, but the two en
tente statesmen preserved an appear
ance of agreement, if only to meet
Wilson and save for themselves the
spoils of victory.
With the signing of the peace
treaty, the rifts in the entente be
came wider and more open. They
were ostensibly caused by differences
in interpretation of the peace treaty
and the treatment of Germany, but
in reality the quarrel raged over a
greater and more vital question,
namely:
Which power, England or France,
was to be the dominant force in the
control of post-war Europe?
o o o
Fight Continues.
The fight developed, stage by stage,
until Poincare brought it to a dra
matic climax with the French oc
cupation of the Ruhr valley in Jan
uary. Britain was opposed to the
French move from the beginning,
but the Bonar Law government
adopted an attitude of passive neu
trality, partly because it was not
clear what England could do to re
tard the French, partly because
Bonar Law did not wish to endanger
the entente by a show' of open hostil
ity, and partly because he believed
it might be wise to let the French
carry out the experiment on whlcn
they were so determined, and be al
lowed to test its efficacy.
