Gustav René Hocke uses the International Exposition in Paris as a hook on which to hang his lucid snapshot of the intellectual and political life of the French metropolis. According to him, an abandonment of the chauvinism and snobbism of turn-of-the-century French art can be observed in the fine arts, literature and music. Well aware at the age of 29 that this new openness represents the diametrical opposite of the situation prevailing in contemporary Germany, he formulates a plea for European humanism and Franco-German reconciliation. Occupying a central place in his disquisition is a
quote from Louis Pasteur: I confidently believe that science and peace will triumph over ignorance and war, and that nations will agree to build rather than destroy.