In November 1911, Germany and France once again reached a compromise and signed the Franco-German Agreement.
That is, the Germans recognized France's protectorate over Morocco, while the French ceded part of Congo's territory to Germany.
Oh, the Spaniards also picked up a bargain. Because of the confrontation between Germany and France, Spain's occupation of northern Morocco was tacitly accepted. Later, France and Spain signed a treaty recognizing each other's spheres of influence.
Of course, the price of settling this dispute was another collapse of the French cabinet! Joseph Caillaux's cabinet, which had been in office for less than half a year, was driven from power by the enraged French people after its secret negotiations with Germany were exposed.
His successor was Raymond Poincaré of the Democratic Republican Party, undoubtedly one of the leaders of the pro-war faction.
Raymond Poincaré was born in Lorraine on August 20, 1860. He advocated more aggressive action against the Germans—simply put, dragging the Entente into taking revenge on Germany!
He believed that as long as France defeated Germany, it could recover Alsace and Lorraine, occupy the Saar Mining District, and perhaps even go a step further and seize the Ruhr District!
Raymond Poincaré's rise to power marked the pro-war faction's seizure of the dominant position in France. A world war had become unavoidable.
Oh, by this time, the French had occupied 35.9% of Africa's territory. The area of their African colonies had surpassed those of both Britain and Germany, placing them first.
France was now the world's second-largest colonial empire, possessing colonies totaling roughly 10.6 million square kilometers—twenty times the area of mainland France—second only to the British Empire.
Meanwhile, Raymond Poincaré's accession further inflamed nationalism within France. The new royalists led by Maurras vigorously incited revenge against Germany, painting Joseph Caillaux and others who