FRANCO-GERMAN WAR; BISMARCK ; NAPOLEON III., etc.) The Treaty of London.—Russia took advantage of the war to declare, Oct. 31, 187o, that she no longer felt herself bound by the treaty of 1856 to observe the neutrality of the Black sea (see STRAITS QUESTION), England protesting that no power could, in dependently, rid itself of treaty engagements. But the States of Europe, feeling powerless, accepted a conference of the signatories in London (Jan. 1871), which annulled the Black sea clauses, at the same time laying down the principle that no contracting party can free itself from the engagements of a treaty without the consent of its co-signatories. This deference to a principle proved that at bottom international law depended, not on respect for treaties, but on the strength of the Powers. In order to justify Russia, Gorchakov wrote : "It would be difficult to maintain that the written law founded on respect for treaties as the basis of international relations, has preserved the same moral force it formerly possessed." Beust said in ne vois plus d'Europe.