Class _i^ Book_i yi .. .... GENER.\L EDITOR CHARLES H. IL\SKINS Professor of History in Harvard University Under the Editorship of Charles H. Haskins, Professor of History in Harvard University A series of text-books intended, like the American Science Series, to be comprehensive, systematic, and authoritative. Ready Europe Since 1815. By Charles D. Hazen, Professor in Columbia University. Modern European History. By Charles D. Hazen. Historical Atlas. By William R. Shepherd, Professor in Columbia University Atlas of Ancient History. By William R. Shepherd. History of England. By L. JVI. Larson, Professor in the University of Illinois. History of American Diplomacy. By Carl Russell Fish, Professor in the University of Wisconsin. In preparation Medieval and Modem Europe. By Charles W. Colbv, Professor in McGill University. The Reformation. By Preserved Smith. The Renaissance. By Ferdinand Schevill, Professor in the University of Chicago. Europe in the XVII. and XVIII. Centuries. By Sidney B. Fay, Professor in Smith College. History of Greece. By Paul Shorey, Professor in the University of Chicago. History of Rome. By Jesse B. Carter, Director of the American School of Classical Studies at Rome. History of Germany. By Guy Stanton Ford, Professor in the University of Minnesota. History of the United States. By Frederick J. Turner, Professor in Harvard University. MODERN EUROPEAN HISTORY BY CHARLES DOWNER IL\ZEN PROFESSOR OF HISTORY I.V COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS NEW YORK HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY COPYRIGHT, I917, BY H E X R Y HOLT AND COMPANY FEB 23 1917 ©CI.A455679 PREFACE To all thoughtful persons the European War has brought home with overwhelming power the importance of a knowledge of modem European history. For without such knowledge no one can understand, or begin to understand, the significance of the forces that have made it, the vastness of the issues involved, the nature of what is indisputably one of the gravest crises, if not the very gravest, in the history of mankind. The destinies of ever\' nation in this world and the conditions of life of ever>' individual will inevitably be changed, and may be profoundly changed, by the outcome of this gigantic and portentous contiict. Xo citizen of a free country who takes his citizenship seriously, who considers himself responsible, to the full extent of his personal influence, for the character and conduct of his government, can, without the crudest self- stultification, admit that he knows nothing and cares nothing about the histon,- of Europe. If he cares for his own national inheritance and tradition, for its characteristic and fundamental poUcies and principles, then he will care most emphatically about what happens in Europe. Xothing that happens there is really foreign to us, for the fortunes of Europe and America are inextricably intertwined. This, in my opinion the most outstanding fact in the modem world, was exemplified in the eighteenth century in the person of Lafayette, an American patriot and a French patriot, a hero of two revolutions. In Lafayette's hbrary hung appropriately side by side two momentous documents, the American Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man, two utterances that have had memorable consequences in the world because multitudes of men have been willing to give their lives that these principles might prevail and multitudes have given their lives that they should not prevail. Fundamentally this struggle for Uberty has been the warp and woof of modem European histor}* and the vicissitudes of the struggle are, in the deepest sense, what I have attempted to set forth in this volume. vi PREFACE Complicated, exceedingly, has been the history of this conflict, and many other elements have entered into the problem and solution. These I have given their due place, but I have also endeavored to keep them in just subordination to the central theme. As furnishing the background for the story, I have described in the opening chapters the chief features of the eighteenth century, the Old Regime in Europe and in France. That regime was boldly challenged and roughly handled by the French revolution. I have endeavored to indicate the spirit and meaning of that revolution as well as to de- scribe its stirring events and personalities. That revolution clashed with Europe and started a European revolution, which has had its ups and downs, its victories and defeats, its varying issues in the different countries. The contest assumed the character of world warfare under Napoleon, who said of himself that he was "the Revolution" and that he had "killed the Revolution." Neither statement was correct; yet each possessed an element of truth. This essential duality of the Napoleonic system. Old Regime and New Regime commingled in impossible union, I have sought to make clear. Napoleon partially conquered the New Regime, and those who con- quered Napoleon and sent him to St. Helena were anxious to conquer it still more. They for a while succeeded, but in the end the new spirit which was abroad in the world was too strong for them and they and their works were severely battered by the widespread revolutions of 1848. To those who are content to look at the surface, the revolutions of that year seemed ephemeral; to those who look beneath they appear anything but ephemeral. This ebb and flow has been the rhythm of European history since the close of the eighteenth century. The new has indisputably pro- gressed, but it has progressed unequally in the different countries, as was natural and inevitable, since those countries are very dissimilar in character, in stages of development, and in mental outlook. This all- absorbing conflict has not yet ended. This struggle for freedom has had many aspects. The spirit of nation- alism, so prominent a feature of the nineteenth century, has in some cases been an expression of the desire for liberty; in other cases it has been the expression of the old familiar desire for national greatness and power, nothing more. I have attempted in my narrative to show the varying operation of this spirit in the different countries. PREFACE vii Again, where economic and social factors have been formative in national policy, I have described them, as for instance the conditions that prevailed in France before the Revolution, the free trade movement in England, the abolition of serfdom in Russia, the Zollverein in Ger- many, the tariff policies, the labor legislation, and the various measures of social reform which have been a growing feature of the modern world. In the treatment of the past century I have drawn freely upon my larger work, Europe Since 1815. The numerous illustrations which accompany the text have been selected with reference to their historical importance, and it is hoped that they will render the scenes and persons they portray more actual. I am greatly indebted to Dr. Ernest F. Henderson and his pubUshers, Messis. G. P. Putnam's Sons, for permis- sion to use several illustrations from Dr. Henderson's vivid and illumi- nating book Symbol and Satire in the French Revolution; and to Miss Louise Stetson Fuller of the Department of History of Smith College for the preparation of the Index. C. D. H. CoLXJMBiA University, January, 191 7 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. The Old Regime in Europe i II. The Old Regime in Fr.\nce • 31 III. Beginnings of the Revolution 60 IV. The Making of the Constitution 86 V. The Legislatu-e Assembly loi VI. The Conv-ention 120 \TI. The Directory 152 VIII. The Consulate 179 ■ .'IX. The Eably Years of the Empire 19 X. The Empire at its Height 215 XI. The DecldsE .ant) Fall of Xapoleon 228 XII. The Congresses 249 XIII. France lender the Restoilation 270 XIV. Revolutions beyond France 280 XV. The Reign of Locns Philippe 289 X\T. Central Eltiope in Revolt 298 XVII. The Second French Republic and the Founden'g of the Second Empire 313 XVIII. The Making of the Kingdom of It.aly 325 XIX. The Untfication of Germ.\n-y 341 XX. The Second Empire and the Fran-co-Prussian W.ar .... 351 XXI. The German Empire 363 XXII. Fr.\nce l^n-der the Third Republic 3 84 XXIII. The Kingdom of Italy since 1870 409 XXIV. Austria-Hungary since 1848 416 XXV. England from 1815 to 1868 428 XXVI. England since 1868 453 '^ XXVII. The British Empire 487 XXVIII. The Partition of Africa. 507 XXIX. Sp.ain and Portugal 515 XXX. Holland and Belgium since 1830 522 XXXI. SwaTZERLAND 527 XXXII. The Scantdinavian States • 533 ix X CONTENTS XXXIII. The Disruption of the Ottoman Empire and the Rise of the Balkan States 54° XXXIV. Russia to the War with Japan 558 \- XXXV. The Far East 57-2 XXXVI. Russia since the War with Japan .585 XXXVII. The Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913 590 XXVIII. The European War 608 Index 6iq LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Frederick the Clrcat i6 Peter the Great 23 Catherine II 25 Maria Theresa 29 The Palace of Versailles 33 The Coach Ornamented with Sym- bols in which Louis XVI went to His Coronation in 1774 . . 35 The Parlement of Paris 45 Sieyes 47 Protestant Worship in the Wilder- ness 49 Montesquieu 53 Voltaire 54 Jean Jacques Rousseau 56 The King's Bedchamber at Ver- sailles 58 Louis XVI 61 The Coronation of Louis XVI, in the Cathedral of Rheinis, 1775 63 Marie Antoinette 65 Necker 67 The Opening of the States-General 71 Costumes of the Three Orders 72 Mirabeau 74 The Tennis Court Oath 75 The Storming of the BastiUe, July 14, 1789 77 The Session of August 4 79 The March of the Women to Ver- sailles, October 5, 1789 ... 82 The Palace of Versailles on October 6, 1789 83 Lafayette 86 An Assignat 94 The Tuileries 97 The Return from Varennes. Arri- val in Paris 98 The Jacobin Club 106 A Session at the Jacobin Club 107 Liberty Cap and Pike 108 Madame Roland 1 1 1 The Attack upon the Tuileries, August 10, 1792 115 The Prison of the Temple .... 117 Marat 118 Dan ton 122 Last Portrait of Louis XVI ... 1 23 The Execution of Louis XVI 125 The Hall of the Convention ... 128 The Guillotine 131 The Execution of Marie Antoinette 136 Mile. Maillard, "Goddess of Rea- son" 138 Robespierre 141 The Fete of the Supreme Being, June 8, 1794 143 Card of Admission to the Festival of the Supreme Being .... 144 A Director in Oflicial Costume . . 152 Charles Bonaparte 153 Laetitia Ramolino, Napoleon's Mother 154 The House at Ajaccio in which Napoleon was Born 155 The Bridge of Lodi 160 Napoleon at Areola 163 Removal of the Bronze Horses from Venice, May, 1797 . . . 167 William Pitt 169 Official Costume of a Member of the Council of the Five Hundred . 1 75 xu ILLUSTRATIONS Lucien Bonaparte 176 Bonaparte, First Consul 179 Josephine 180 Josephine at Malmaison 184 The Three Consuls 191 The Duke d'Enghien 192 Napoleon Crowning Josephine . . 197 Napoleon in the Imperial Robes 198 Joseph Bonaparte, King of Naples 203 Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland 204 Elise Bonaparte, Princess of Lucca 205 Pauline Bonaparte, Princess Bor- ghese 206 Caroline Bonaparte, Duchess of Berg, and Marie Murat . . . 207 Joachim Murat, Duke of Berg 208 Jerome Bonaparte 209 Napoleon Receiving Queen Louise of Prussia at Tilsit, July 6, 1807 212 Lord Nelson . 213 Queen Louise of Prussia 215 Empress Marie Louise 226 Baron vom Stein 231 Pope Pius VII 232 Napoleon's Camp Bed 235 Napoleon Returning from France, December, 181 2 237 Napoleon's War Horse, "Marengo" 239 The Duke of WelHngton 243 Bliicher . . . . 244 Napoleon Embarking on the "Bel- lerophon" 245 The Island of St. Helena .... 245 Longwood, Napoleon's House at St. Helena 246 Napoleon's Tomb in the Invalides, Paris 247 Tomb of Napoleon at St. Helena 248 The Congress of Vienna 251 Metternich 256 Louis XVIII 271 The Construction of a Barricade 275 Street Fighting on July 28, 1830 277 Leopold I 282 Alexander I 284 Louis Philippe 290 Guizot 293 Louis Kossuth 299 Francis Joseph I 304 The Parliament of Frankfort . . . 309 Lamartine in 1832 314 Napoleon III 321 Empress Eugenie 323 Joseph Mazzini 327 Cavour 331 Garibaldi 337 Victor Emmanuel II 338 William I 342 Bismarck 345 Moltke 348 Leon Gambetta 359 The Proclamation of William I as German Emperor, Versailles, January 18, 1871 361 Dropping the Pilot 377 WiUiam II 381 Thiers 385 Marshal MacMahon 391 Jules Grevy 392 Jules Ferry 393 Sadi-Carnot 394 Casimir Perier 396 Felix Faure 396 EmOe Loubet 398 Alfred Dreyfus 399 Interior of the Chamber of Deputies 402 Theophile Delcasse 407 Francis Deak 417 The Old Parliament Buildings. Burned in 1834 429 Passing of the Reform Bill in the House of Lords 440 Queen Victoria at the Age of 20 443 Richard Cobden 447 John Bright 448 Sir Robert Peel 449 Houses of Parliament, London. Begun 1840, Completed 1852 450 William E. Gladstone 458 Benjamin Disraeli, Lord Beacons- field 462 ILLUSTRATIONS xiu Charles Stewart Parnell 467 Queen Victoria, at the Age of Seventy-eight 474 Da\-id Llo\'d George 478 Herbert Asquith 479 Interior of the House of Commons 481 Interior of the House of Lords . . 483 The Cabinet Room 484 Majuba Hill 500 Joseph Chamberlain 502 Paul Kruger 503 Lord Roberts 503 General Gordon 513 Lord Kitchener 514 King Albert I 524 Facsimile of Article VII of the Treat}' of 1839, which Guaran- teed the Independence and Perpetual Neutrality of Bel- gium 52s Oscar II 536 The Congress of Berlin 549 Abdul Hamid II 556 Alexander II 566 Nicholas II 569 Francis Joseph 596 Sir Edward Grey 615 MAPS IN COLOR Europe in 1789 Frontispiece Europe in 1 740 i Italy in the Eighteenth Century, 1770 8 The Growth of Prussia under Frederick the Great 14, Germany in 1789 18 k The Partition of Poland 30^' France before the Revolution 36.' France by Departments giV Northern Italy Illustrating Bonaparte's First Campaign 164 v Europe in 181 1 228 v/ Europe in 1815 254 > Distribution of Races in Austria-Hungary 258 ' The German Confederation, 1815-1866 260 ■ Italy, 1815-1859 266 The Unification of Italy 334 % The Growth of Prussia since 1815 3503/ The German Empire, 1910 380 Colonial Possessions of the European Powers in 181 5 488 Canada and Newfoundland 492 Africa. European Possessions in 1884 510 Africa, 1910 514 The Rise of the Balkan States 546 Asia in 1914 582 The Balkan States According to the Treaty of Bucharest 604 Colonial Possessions of the European Powers in 1910 608 Europe in 1912 , . 612 IN BLACK Egypt and Syria 171 Map Illustrating Campaigns of Napoleon 225 Australia and New Zealand 496 MODERN EUROPEAN HISTORY CHAPTER I THE OLD REGIME IN EUROPE Anyone who seeks to understand the stirring period in which we are now Uving becomes quickly aware that he must first know the history of the French Revolution, a movement that inaugurated a new era, not only for France but for the world. The years from 1789 importance to 1 81 5, the years of the Revolution and of Napoleon, of the French effected one of the greatest and most difficult transitions of which history bears record, and to gain any proper sense of its signifi- cance one must have some glimpse of the background, some conception of what Europe was like in 1789. That background can only be sketched here in a few broad strokes, far from adequate to a satisfactory appre- ciation, but at least indicating the point of departure. What was Europe in 1789? One thing, at least, it was not: it was not a unity. There were states of every size and shape and with every form of government. The States of the Church were theo- Europe in cratic; capricious and cruel despotism prevailed in Turkey; ^"^^^ absolute monarchy in Russia, Austria, France, Prussia; constitutional monarchy in England; while there were various kinds of so-called re- publics — federal republics in Holland and Switzerland, a republic whose head was an elective king in Poland, aristocratic republics in Venice and Genoa and in the free cities of the Holy Roman Empire. Of these states the one that was to be the most persistent enemy of France and of French ideas throughout the period we are about to describe was England, a commercial and colonial empire of the first importance. This empire, of long, slow growth, had passed ., , 1.- 1, • -r . 1 . 1 A momentous through many highly significant experiences during the century in eighteenth century. Indeed that century is one of the most English momentous in English history, rendered forever memorable by three great series of events which in important respects transformed the national life of England and her international relations, giving them 2 THE OLD REGIME IN EUROPE the character and tendency which have been theirs ever since. TJiese three streams of tendency or lines of evolution out of which the modern power of Britain has emerged were: the acquisition of what are still the most valuable parts of her colonial empire, Canada and India; the estab- lishment of the parliamentary system of government, that is, government of the nation by its representatives, not by its royal house, the undoubted supremacy of Parliament over the Crown; and the beginnings of what is called the Industrial Revolution, that is, of the modern factory system of production on a vast scale which during the course of the nineteenth century made England easily the chief industrial nation of the world. The evolution of the parliamentary system of government had, of course, been long in progress but was immensely furthered by the ad- Accession of '^^^^ in 1 7 14 of a new royal dynasty, the House of Hanover, the House of still at this hour the reigning family. The struggle between Crown and Parliament, which had been long proceeding and had become tense and violent in the seventeenth century in connec- tion with the attempts of the Stuart kings to make the monarchy all- powerful and supreme, ended finally in the eighteenth century with the victory of Parliament, and the monarch ceased to be, what he remained in the rest of Europe, the dominant element in the state. In 1 701 Parliament, by mere legislative act, altered the line of suc- cession by passing over the direct, legitimate claimant because he was a Catholic, and by calling to the throne George, Elector of Hanover, be- cause he was a Protestant. Thus the older branch of the royal family was set aside and a younger or collateral branch was put in its place. This was a plain defiance of the ordinary rules of descent which gener- ally underlie the monarchical system everywhere. It showed that the will of Parliament was superior to the monarchical principle, that, in a way, the monarchy was elective. Still other important consequ^^nces followed from this act. George I, at the time of his accession to the English throne in 17 14 fifty-four years of age, was a German. He continued to be a Ge •'^i.an The early prince, more concerned wdth his electorate of Hanover than Hanoverians -^riiYi his new kingdom. He did not understand a word of English and, as his ministers were similarly ignorant of German, he was compelled to resort to a dubious Latin when he wished to communicate with them. He was king from 1714 to 1727, and was followed by his son, George II, who ruled from 1727 to 1760 and who, though he knew PARLIAMENTARY GOVERNMENT IN ENGLAND 3 English, spoke it badly and was far more interested in his petty German principality than in imperial Britain. The first two Georges, whose chief interest in England was the money they could get out of it, therefore allowed their ministers to carry on the government and they did not even attend the meetings of Development the ministers where questions of policy were decided. For of Cabinet forty-six years this royal abstention continued. The result was the establishment of a regime never seen before in any country r~^ The royal power was no longer exercised by the king, but was exercised y by his ministers, who, moreover, were members of Parliament. In other y* words, to use a phrase that has become famous, the king reigns but does / not govern. Parliament really governs, through a committee of its / members, the ministers. ^ The ministers must have the support of the majority party in Par- liament, and during all this period they, as a matter of fact, relied upon the party of the Whigs. It had been the Whigs who had The Whigs carried through the revolution of 1688 and who were com- "^ power mitted to the principle of the limitation of the royal power in favor of the sovereignty of Parliament. As George I and George II owed their throne to this party, and as the adherents of the other great party, the Tories, were long supposed to be supporters of the discarded Stuarts, England entered upon a period of Whig rule, which steadily undermined the authority of the monarch. The Hanoverian kings owed their posi- tion as kings to the Whigs. They paid for their right to reign by the abandonment of the powers that had hitherto inhered in the monarch. The change that had come over their position did not escape the attention of the monarchs concerned. George II, compelled to accept ministers he detested, considered himself "a prisoner upon the throne." ''Your ministers, Sire," said one of them to him, "are but the instruments of your government." George smiled and replied, "In this country the ministers are king." Besides the introduction of this unique form of government the other great achievement of the Whigs during this period was an extraor- dinary increase in the colonial possessions of England, Qj-owth of the real launching of Britain upon her career as a world the British .^ power, as a great imperial state. This sudden, tremen- ™P"'^ dous expansion was a result of the Seven Years' War, which raged from 1756 to 1763 in every part of the world, in Europe, in America, in Asia, 4 THE OLD REGIME IX EUROPE . and on the sea. ^lany nations were involved and the struggle was highly complicated, but two phases of it stand out particularly and in high relief, the struggle between England and France, and the struggle between Prussia on the one hand and Austria, France, and Russia on Jthe other. The Seven Years' War remains a mighty landmark in the "\histor\- of England and of Prussia, its two conspicuous beneficiaries. ^ England found in William Pitt, later Earl of Chatham, an incompar- able leader, a great orator of a declamatory' and theatrical type, an in- corruptible statesman, a passionate patriot, a man instinct with energ}', aglow with pride and confidence in the splen- dor of the destinies reserved for his coimtry. Pitt infused his own energ}', his irresistible dri\'ing power into every branch of the pubhc service. Head of the ministry- from 1757 to 1761, he aroused the na- tional sentiment to such a pitch, he directed the national efforts with such contagious and imperious confidence, that he turned a war that had begim badly into the most glorious and successful that England had ever fought. On the sea, in India, and in America, victory after \'ictor}- over the French rewarded the nation's extraordinary efforts. Pitt boasted that he alone could save the country. Save it he surely did. He was the greatest of war ministers, imparting his indomitable resolution to multitudes of others. Xo one, it was said, ever entered his office \\-ithout coming out a braver man. His triiunph was complete when Wolfe defeated ^lontcalm upon the Plains of Abraham. By the Peace of Paris, which closed this epochal struggle, England acquired from France the vast stretches of X'ova Scotia, Canada, and Peace of the region between the Alleghanies and the IVIississippi Paris River, and also acquired Florida from Spain. From France, too, she snatched at the same time supremacy in India. Thus England had become a veritable world-empire imder the inspiring leadership of the "Great Commoner." Her horizons, her interests, had grown vastly more spacious by this rapid increase in miUtar\- renown, in power, in territory. She had mounted to higher influence in the world, and that, too, at the expense of her old historic enemy, just across the Channel. But aU this prestige and greatness were imperiled and gravely com- promised by the reign that had just begun. George III had, in 1760, Accession of come to the throne which he was not to leave until claimed George III ]^y death sixty years later. "The name of George III," writes one EngUsh historian, "cannot be penned without a pang, can THE POLICIES OF GEORCxE THE THIRD 5 hardly be penned without a curse, such mischief was he fated to do the country.'' Unhke his two predecessors, he was not a German, but was a son of England, had grown up in England and had been educated there, and on his accession, at the age of twenty-two, had announced in his most famous utterance that he "gloried in the name of Briton." But wisdom is no birthright, and George III was not des- tined to show forth in his life the saving grace of that qualit}-. With many personal virtues, he was one of the least ^^'ise of monarchs and one of the most obstinate. His mother, a German princess, attached to all the despotic notions of her native land, had frequently said to him, "George, be a king." This maternal advice, that he should not follow the example ^ . . . , ,. Opposifaon of of the first two Georges but should mLx actively m pubhc George III affairs, fell upon fruitful soil. George was resolved not onlv *° *^^ ^^^^' ^ 1 • 1 ' °^* system to reign but to govern in the good old monarchical way. This determination brought him into a sharp and momentous clash with the tendency and the desire of his age. The historical significance of George III lies in the fact that he was resolved to be the chief directing power in the state, that he challenged the system of government which gave that position to Parliament and its ministers, that he threw him- self directly athwart the recent constitutional development, that he intended to break up the practices followed during the last two reigns and to rule personall}' as did the other sovereigns of the world. As the new system was insecurely established, his vigorous intervention brought on a crisis in which it nearly perished. George III, bent upon being king in fact as well as in name, did not formally oppose the cabinet system of government, but sought to make the cabinet a mere tool of his wiU, filling it with men who poiitjcai would take orders from him, and aiding them in controlling methods of Parliament by the use of various forms of bribery and in- ^°^se fluence. It took several years to effect this real perversion of the cabi- net system, but in the end the King absolutely controlled the ministry and the two chambers of Parliament. The WTiigs, who since 16S8 had dominated the monarch and had successfully asserted the predominance of Parliament, were gradually disrupted by. the insidious royal policy, and were supplanted by the Tories, who were always favorable to a strong kingship and who now entered upon a period of supremacy which was to last until well into the nineteenth centurv. 6 THE OLD REGIME IN EUROPE After ten years of this mining and sapping the King's ideas triumphed in the creation of a ministry which was completely submissive to his will. The ministry This ministry, of which Lord North was the leading member, of Lord North lasted twelve years, from 1770 to 1782. Lord North was a minister after the King's own heart. He never pretended to be the head of the government, but accepted and executed the King's wishes with the ready obedience of a lackey. The royal autocracy was scarcely veiled by the mere continuance of the outer forms of a free government. Having thus secured entire control of ministry and Parliament, George III proceeded to lead the British Empire straight toward American destruction, to what Goldwin Smith has called ''the most Revolution tragical disaster in English history." The King and his tools initiated a policy which led swiftly and inevitably to civil war. For the American Revolution was a civil war within the British \ Empire. The King had his supporters both in England and in America; "\ he had opponents both in America and England. Party divisions ' were much the same in the mother country and in the colonies, Whigs ' versus Tories, the upholders of the principle of self-government against the upholders of the principle of the royal prerogative. In this appalling / crisis, not only was the independence of America involved, but parlia- ' mentary government as worked out in England was also at stake. Had George III triumphed not only would colonial liberties have disappeared, but the right of Parliament to be predominant in the state at home would have vanished. The Whigs of England knew this well and their leaders, Pitt, Fox, Burke, gloried in the victories of the rebellious colonists. The struggle for the fundamental rights of free men, for that was what the American Revolution signified for both America and England, Fall of Lord was long doubtful. France now took her revenge for the North humiliations of the Seven Years' War by aiding the thirteen colonies, hoping thus to humble her arrogant neighbor, grown so great at her expense. It was the disasters of the American War that saved the parliamentary system of government for England by rendering the King unpopular, because disgracefully unsuccessful. In 1782 Lord North and all his colleagues resigned. This was the first time that an entire ministry had been overthrown. George the Third's attempt to be master in the state had failed and FOREIGN OPINION OF ENGLAND 7 although the full consequences of his defeat did not appear for some time, nevertheless they were decisive for the future of England. The king might henceforth reign but he was not to govern. ^ , • 1- , • • , r r , Significance To get this cardmal prmcipie 01 tree government under of the monarchical forms established, an empire was disrupted. American ^ ,,..,,, . , Revolution From that disruption ilowed two mighty consequences. The principles of republican government gained a field for development in the New World, and those of constitutional or hmited monarchy a field in one of the famous countries of the Old. These two types of government have since exerted a powerful and an increasing influence upon other peoples desirous of controlling their own destinies. Their importance as models worthy of imitation has not yet been exhausted. But the disaster of the American War was so great that the immedi- ate effect was a decided impairment of England's prestige. It is a curi- ous fact that after that she was considered by most of the England's rulers of Europe a decaying nation. She had lost her most loss of valuable colonies in America. The notion was prevalent ^^^^ ^® that her successes in the Seven Years' War had not been due to her own ability but to the incapacity of Louis XV, whereas they had been due to both. The idea that it was possible to destroy England was current in France, the idea that her empire was really a phantom empire which would disappear at the first hostile touch, that India could be detached far more easily than the thirteen colonies had been. It was considered that as she had grown rich she had lost her virility and energy and was undermined by luxury and sloth. At the same time, although in flagrant contradiction to the sentiments just described, there was a vague yet genuine fear of her. Though she had- received so many blows, yet she had herself in the past given so many to her rivals and especially to France that they did well to have a lurking suspicion after all as to her entire decadence. The rivalry, centuries old, of France and England, was one of the chief elements of the general European situation. It had shown no signs of abating. The issues H of the Revolution were to cause it to flame up porten- ^^ u a a I tously. It dominated the whole period down to Water- the French J loo. In England the French Revolution was destined to ^«^°i"^io° / find its most redoubtable and resolute enemy. ' In Italy, on the other hand, it was to find, partly a receptive pupil, partly an easy prey. The most important thing about Italy was that 8 THE OLD REGIME IN EUROPE it was unimportant. Indeed there was no Italy, no united, single coun- Italy a col- ^^y^ ^^*- ^^^^^ ^ collection of petty states, generally back- lection of ward in their political and economic development. Once pe ty s a es masters in their own house, the Italians had long ago fallen from their high estate and had for centuries been in more or less subjection to foreigners, to Spaniards, to Austrians, sometimes to the French. This had reacted unfavorably upon their characters, and had made them timid, time-serving, self-indulgent, pessimistic. They had no great attachment to their governments, save possibly in Piedmont and Weakness of ^^ ^^^ republics of Venice and Genoa, and there was .no the govern- reason why they should have. Several of the governments ^^^ ^ were importations from abroad, or rather impositions, which had never struck root in the minds or interests of the people. The political atmosphere was one of indifference, weariness, disillusionment. However, toward the end of the eighteenth century there were signs of an awakening. The Italians could never long be unmindful of the glories of their past. They had their haunting traditions which would never allow them to forget or renounce their rights, however oppressed they might be. They were a people of imagination and of fire, though they long appeared to foreigners quite the reverse, as in fact the very stuff of which willing slaves are made, a view which was seriously erro- neous. It cannot be said that there was in the eighteenth century any movement aiming at making Italy a nation, but there were poets and historians who flashed out, now and then, with some patriotic phrase or Aspirations figure that revealed vividly a shining goal on the distant for unity horizon toward which all ItaUans ought to press. ''The day will come," said Alfieri, "when the Italians will be born again, audacious on the field of battle." Humanity was not meant to be shut in by such narrow horizons as those presented by these petty states, but was en- titled to more spacious destinies. This longing for national unity was as yet the passion of only a few, of men of imagination who had a lively sense of Italy's great past and who also possessed an instinct for the future. A French writer expressed a mood quite general with cultivated people when she said: "The Italians are far more remarkable because of what they have been and because of what they might be than because of what they now are." Seeds of a new Italy were already germinating. They were not, however, to yield their fruit until well into the nineteenth century. THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE Turning to the east of France we find Germany, the country that~^ was to be the chief battlefield of Europe for many long years, and that was to undergo the most surprising transformations. Ger- „ . Germany many, like Italy, was a collection of small states, only these the battle- states were far more numerous than in the peninsula to the ^^^^ °^ Europe south. Germany had a form of unity, at least it pretended to have, in the so-called Holy Roman Empire. How many states were I included in it, it is difficult to say; at least 360, if in the reckoning are included all the nobles who recognized no superior save the ^^^ jj , emperor, who held their power directly from him and were Roman subject to no one else. There were more than fifty free or ^P'*"® imperial cities, holding directly from the emperor and managing their own affairs; and numerous ecclesiastical states, all independent of each other. Then there were small states like Baden and Wiirtemberg and Bavaria and many others. In all this empire there were only two states of any importance in the general affairs of Europe, Prussia and Austria. This empire with its high-sounding names, "Holy" and "Roman," \ was incredibly weak and inefficient. Its emperor, not hereditary but V elective, was nothing but a pompous, solemn pretense. He ^j^^ / had no real authority, could give no orders, could create no phantom armies, could follow out no policies, good or bad, for the ^^^^^^^ German princes had during the course of the centuries robbed him of all the usual and necessary attributes of power. He was little more than a gorgeous figure in a pageant. There were, in addition, an imperial diet or national assembly, and an imperial tribunal, but they were as palsied as was the emperor. What was important in Germany was not the ernpire, which was powerless for defense, useless for any serious purpose, but the separate states that composed it, and indeed only a few of these ^j^^ ^^ had any significance. All these petty German princelings German responded to two emotions. All were jealous of their ^ ^ ®^ independence and all were eager to annex each other's territory. They never thought of the interests of Germany, of the empire, of the Fatherland. What power they had they had largely secured by despoiling the empire. Patriotism was not one of their weaknesses. Each was looking out emphatically for himself. To make a strong, united nation out of such mutually repellent atoms would be nothing lo THE OLD REGIME IN EUROPE Jess than magical. The material was most unpromising. Neverthe- less the feat has been accomplished, as we shall see, although, as in the case of Italy, not until well on into the nineteenth century. The individual states were everything, the empire was nothing, and with it the French Revolutionists and Napoleon were destined to play Austria and great havoc. Two states, as has been said, counted par- Prussia the ticularly, Austria and Prussia, enemies generally, rivals only impor- . . tant states always, allies sometimes. Austria was old and famous, in Germany Prussia really quite new but rapidly acquiring a formidable reputation. Then, as now, the former was ruled by the House of Haps- burg, the latter by the House of HohenzoUern. There was no Austrian nation, but there was the most extraordinary jumble of states and races and languages to be found in Europe, whose sole bond of union was loyalty to the reigning house. The Hapsburg dominions were widely, The lands of loosely scattered, though the main bulk of them was in the Hapsburgs ^^^q Danube valley. There was no common Austrian patri- otism; there were Bohemians, Hungarians, Milanese, Netherlanders, Austrians proper, each with a certain sense of unity, a certain self- consciousness, but there was no single nation comprehending, fusing all these elements. Austria was not like France or England. Neverthe- less there were twenty-four millions of people under the direction of one man, and therefore they were an important factor in the politics of Europe. In the case of Prussia, however, we have a real though still rudimen- tary nation, hammered together by hard, repeated, well-directed blows Prussia delivered by a series of energetic, ambitious rulers. Prussia small but as a kingdom dated only from 1701, but the heart of this vigorous state was Brandenburg, and Brandenburg had begun a slow upward march as early as the fifteenth century, when the Hohen- zollerns came from South Germany to take control of it. In the six- teenth century the possessions of this family were scattered from the The Hohen- region of the Rhine to the borders of Russia. How to make zollerns them into a single state, responsive to a single will, was the problem. In each section there were feudal estates, asserting their rights against their ruler. But the Hohenzollerns had a very clear notion of what they wanted. They wished and intended to increase their own power as rulers, to break down all opposition within, and without steadily to aggrandize their domains. In the realization of their program, to which PRUSSIA'S MILITARY DEVELOPMENT ii they adhered tenaciously from generation to generation, they were suc- cessful. Prussia grew larger and larger, the government became more and more autociatic, and the emphasis in the state came to be more and more placed upon the army. Mirabeau was quite correct when he said that the great national industry of Prussia was war. Prussian rulers were hard-working, generally conceiving their mission soberly and seriously as one of service to the state, not at all as one inviting to personal self-indulgence. They were hard-headed and intelligent in developing the economic resources of a country originally little favored by nature. They were attentive to the opportunities afiForded by German and European politics, for the advancement of rulers who had the necessary intelligence and audacity. In the long reign of Frederick II, called the Great (1740-1786), and uncjuestionably far and away the ablest of all the rulers of the Hohenzollern dynasty, we see the brilliant and faithful expression of the most characteristic features, rnethods, and aspirations of this vigorous royal house. The successive monarchs of Prussia justified the extraordinary em- phasis they put upon military force by pointing to the fact that their country had no natural boundaries but was simply an importance undifferentiated part of the great sandy plain of North of the army Germany, that no river or no mountain range gave protec- '° russia tion, that the way of the invader was easy. This was quite true, but it was also equally true that Prussia's neighbors had no greater protection from her than she from them. As far as geography was concerned, in- vasion of Prussia was no easier than aggression from Prussia. At any rate every Prussian ruler felt himself first a general, head of an army which it'was his pride to increase. Thus the Great Elector, who had ruled from 1640 to 1688, had inherited an army of less than 4,000 men, and had bequeathed one of 24,000 to his successor. The father of Frederick II had inherited one of 38,000 and had left one of 83,000. Thus Prussia with a population of two and a half millions had an army of 83,000, while Austria with a population of 24,000,000 had one of less than 100,000. With this force, highly drilled and amply provided with the sinews of war by the systematic and rigorous economies of his father, Frederick was destined to go far. He is one of the few men who have changed the face of Europe. By war, and the subsidiary arts that minister unto it, Frederick pushed his small state into the very fore- front of European politics. Before his reign was half over he had 12 THE OLD REGIME IN EUROPE made it one of the Great Powers, everywhere reckoned as such, al- though in population, area, and wealth, compared with the other Great Powers, it was small indeed. As a youth all of Frederick's tastes had been for letters, for art, for music, for philosophy and the sciences, for conversation, for the deli- _, .. cacies and elegancies of culture. The French language and of Frederick French literature were his passion and remained his chief the Great source of enjoyment all through his life. He wrote French verses, he hated military exercises, he played the flute, he detested tobacco, heavy eating and drinking, and the hunt, which appeared to his father as the natural manly and royal pleasures. The thought that this youth, so indifferent or hostile to the stern, bleak, serious ideals of duty incumbent upon the royal house for the welfare of Prussia, so inter- ested in the frivoUties and fripperies of life, so carelessly self-indulgent, would one day be king and would probably WTeck the state by his in- competence and his levity, so enraged the father, Frederick William I, a rough, boorish, tyrannical, hard-working, and intensely patriotic man, that he subjected the Crown Prince to a Draconian discipline which at times attained a pitch of barbarity, caning him in the presence of the army, boxing his ears before the common people, compelling him from a prison window to witness the execution of his most intimate friend, who had tried to help him escape from this odious tyranny by at- tempted flight from the country. In such a furnace was the young prince's mettle steeled, his heart hardened. Frederick came out of this ordeal self-contained, cynical, crafty, but sobered and submissive to the fierce paternal will. He did not, according to his father's expression "kick or rear" again. For several years he buckled to the prosaic task of learning his future trade in the traditional Hohenzollern manner, dis- charging the duties of minor offices, familiarizing himself with the dry details of administration, and invested with larger responsibiUties as his reformation seemed, in the eyes of his father, satisfactorily to progress. When he came to the throne in 1740 at the age of twenty-eight he came equipped wdth a free and keen intellect, with a character of iron, Frederick ^^^ ^^'■^^ ^^^ ambition that was soon to set the world in becomes flame. He ruled for forty-six years and before half his ^^ reign was over it was evident that he had no peer in Europe. It was thought that he would adopt a manner of life quite different from his father's. Instead, however, there was the same austerity, the same FREDERICK'S POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY 13 simplicity, the same intense devotion to work, the same singleness of aim, that aim being the exaltation of Prussia. The machinery of gov- ernment was not altered but it was now driven at unprecedented speed by this vigorous, aggressive, supple personality. For Frederick possessed supreme ability and displayed it from the day of his accession to the day of his death. He was, as Lord Action has said, "the most consummate practical genius that, in modern times, has inherited a throne." His first important act revealed the character and the intentions of the ruler. For this man who as a youth had loathed the life of a soldier and had shirked its obligations as long as he could was now to Attacks prove himself one of the great military commanders of the Austria and world's history. He was the most successful of the robber ^"^®^ ^ ^^^ barons in which the annals of Germany abounded, and he had the ethics of the class. He invaded Silesia, a large and rich province belonging to Austria and recognized as hers by a peculiarly solemn treaty signed by Prussia. But Frederick wanted it and considered the moment oppor- tune as an inexperienced young woman, Maria Theresa, had just ascended the Austrian throne. "My soldiers were ready, my purse was full," said Frederick concerning this famous raid. Of all the inheritance of Maria Theresa "Silesia," said he, "was that part which was most useful to the House of Brandenburg." "Take what you can," he also remarked, "you are never wrong unless you are obliged to give back." Frederick's In these utterances Frederick paints himself and his reign political in imperishable colors. Success of the most palpable sort p"°"P®s was his reward. Neither plighted faith, nor chivalry toward a woman, nor any sense of personal honor ever deterred him from any policy that might promise gain to Prussia. One would scarcely suspect from such hardy sentiments that Frederick had as .a young man written a treatise against the statecraft of Machiavelli. That eminent Florentine would, it is safe to say, have been entirely content with the practical precepts according to which his titled critic fashioned his actual conduct. The true, authentic spirit of MachiavelU's political philosophy has never been expressed with greater brevity and precision than by Frederick. "If| there is anything to be gained by being honest, honest we will be; and! if it is necessary to deceive, let us be scoundrels." > If there is any defense for Frederick's conduct to be found in the fact that his principles or his lack of them were shared by most of his crowned contemporaries and by many other rulers before and since, he is entitled 14 THE OLD REGIME IN EUROPE to that defense. He himself, however, was never much concerned about this aspect of the matter. It was, in his opinion, frankly neghgible. Frederick seized Silesia with ease in 1740, so unexpected was the attack. He thus added to Prussia a territory larger than Massachusetts, The Silesian Connecticut, and Rhode Island combined, and a popula- Wars j_JQj^ of over a million and a quarter. But having seized it, he was forced to fight intermittently for twenty-three years before he could be sure of his ability to retain it. The first two Silesian wars (i 740-1 748) are best known in history as the wars of the Austrian Succession. The third was the Seven Years' War, a world conflict, as we have seen, involving most of the great states of Europe, but im- portant to Frederick mainly because of its relation to his retention of Silesia. It was the Seven Years' War (17 56-1 763) that made the name and fame of Frederick ring throughout the world. But that deadly struggle The Seven several times seemed about to engulf him and his country in Years' War utter ruin. Had England not been his ally, aiding with her subsidies a^nd with her campaigns against France, in Europe, Asia, America, and on the high seas, thus preventing that country from fully cooperating against Prussia, Frederick must have failed. The odds against him were stupendous. He, the ruler of a petty state with not more than 4,000,000 inhabitants, was confronted by a coalition of Austria, France, Russia, Sweden, and many little German states, with a total population perhaps twenty times as large as Prussia's. This coaUtion had already arranged for the division of his kingdom. He was to be left only Brandenburg, the primitive core of the state, the original terri- tory given to the House of HohenzoUern in 141 5 by the emperor. Practically the entire continent was united against this little state which a short time before had hardly entered into the calculations of Conquest of European politics. But Frederick was undaunted. He Saxony overran Saxony, a neutral country, seized its treasury be- cause he needed it, and, by a flagrant breach of international usage, forced its citizens to fight in his armies, which were thus considerably increased. When reproached for this unprecedented act he laconically replied that he rather prided himself on being original. The war thus begun had its violent ups and downs. Attacked from the south by the Austrians, from the east by the Russians, and always outnumbered, Frederick, fighting a defensive war, owed his salvation to FREDERICK AND THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR 15 the rapidity of his manoeuvres, to the slowness of those of his enemies, to his generally superior tactics, and to the fact that there was an entire lack of coordination amonsr his adversaries. He won the „ ^, ^ Battle of battle of Rossbach in 1757, his most brilliant victory, whose Rossbach, fame has not yet died away. With an army of only 20,000 ]l*ilf™^" ®' 175T he defeated a combined French and German army of 55,000 in an engagement that lasted only an hour and a half, took 16,000 pris- oners, seventy- two cannon, and sustained a loss of less than a thousand men himself. Immense was the enthusiasm evoked by this Prussian triumph over what was reputed to be the finest army in Europe. It mattered little that the majority of the conquered army were Germans. The victory was popularly considered one of Germans over French, and such has remained its reputation ever since in the German national con- sciousness, thus greatly stirred and vivified. Two years later Frederick suffered an almost equally disastrous defeat at the hands of the Austrians and Russians at Kunersdorf. "I have had two horses killed under me," he wrote the „ . . Battle of . night after this battle, "and it is my misfortune that I still Kunersdorf, live myself. ... Of an army of 48,000 men I have only ^"^^* ^^' 3,000 left. ... I have no more resources and, not to lie about it, I think everything is lost." Later, after another disaster, he wrote: "I should like to hang myself, but we must act the play to the end." In this temper he fought on, year after year, through elation, through depression, with defeat Desperate behind him and defeat staring him in the face, relieved by character of occasional' successes, saved by the incompetence and folly ^ ^^^ of his enemies, then plunged in gloom again, but always fighting for time and for some lucky stroke of fortune, such as the death of a hostile sovereign with its attendant interruption or change of policy. The story is too crowded, too replete with incident, to be condensed here. Only the general impression of a prolonged, racking, desperate struggle can be indicated. Gritty, cool, alert, and agile, Frederick managed to hold on until his enemies were willing to make peace. He came out of this war with his territories intact but not increased. Silesia he retained, but Saxony he was forced to relinquish. ^^^ ^^ ^^^ He came out of it, also, prematurely old, hard, bitter, mis- Seven Years' anthropic, but he had made upon the world an indelible im- ^^ - pression of his genius. His people had been decimated and appallingly i6 THE OLD REGIME IN EUROPE Frederick in time of peace impoverished; nevertheless he was the victor and great was his renown. Frederick had conquered Silesia in a month and had then spent many years fighting to retain it. All that he had won was fame, but that he enjoyed in full and overflowing measure. Frederick lived twenty-three years longer, years of unremitting and very fruitful toil. In a hundred ways he sought to hasten the recupera- tion and the de- velopment of his sorely visited land, draining marshes, clear- ing forests, encouraging in- dustries, opening schools, welcoming and favoring im- migrants from other countries. Indeed over 300,000 of these responded to the various in- ducements offered, and Fred- erick founded more than 800 villages. He reorganized the army, replenished the public treasury, remodeled the legal code. In religious affairs he was the most tolerant ruler in Europe, giving refuge to the Jesuits when they were driven out of Catholic countries — France, Portugal, Spain — and when their order was abolished by the Pope himself. "In Prussia," said he, "every one has the right to win salvation in his own way." In practice this was about the only indubitable right the individual possessed, for Frederick's government was unlimited, al- character of though frequently enlightened, despotism. His was an his govern- absolute monarchy, surrounded by a privileged nobility, ment . . restmg upon an impotent mass 01 peasantry. His was a militarist state and only nobles could become general officers. Labori- Frederick the Great From an engraving by Cunejo, after the painting by Cunningham. FREDERICK AS AUTOCRAT 17 ous, rising at three in summer, at four in the winter, and holding himself tightly to his mission as "first servant to the King of Prussia," Fred- erick knew more drudgery than pleasure. But he was a tyrant to his finger tips, and we do not find in the Prussia of his day any room made for that spirit of freedom which was destined in the immediate future to wrestle in Europe with this outworn system of autocracy. In 1772 the conqueror of Silesia proceeded to gather new laurels of a similar kind. In conjunction wiih the monarchs of Russia and Austria he partially dismembered Poland, a crime of which the ^j^^ gj.g^ world has not yet heard the last. The task was easy of partition of accomplishment, as Poland was defenseless. Frederick frankly admitted that the act was that of brigands, and his opinion has been ratified by the general agreement of posterity. When Frederick died in 1786, at the age of seventy-four, he left his kingdom nearly doubled in size and with a population more than doubled. In all his actions he thought, not of Germany, but of Frederick Prussia, always Prussia. Germany was an abstraction the Great that had no hold upon his practical mind. He considered ^° ermany the German language boorish, "a jargon, devoid of every grace," and he was sure that Germany had no literature worthy of the name. Never- theless, he was regarded throughout German lands, beyond Prussia, as a national hero, and he filled the national thought and imagination as no other German had done since Luther. His personality, his ideas, and his methods became an enduring and potent factor in the develop- ment of Germany. But the trouble with despotism as a form of government is that a strong or enlightened despot may so easily be succeeded by a feeble or foolish one, as proved to be the case when Frederick A weak died and was succeeded in 1786 by Frederick William II, despot under whom and under whose successor came evil days, succeeds a , , • 1 1 , •„. 1 strong one contrastmg most unpleasantly with the brilliant ones that had gone before. Lying beyond Austria and Prussia, stretching away indefinitely into the east, was the other remaining great power in European poUtics, Russia. Though the largest state on the continent, Russia did not enter upon the scene of European politics as a factor of importance until very late, indeed until the eighteenth century. During that century she took 1 8 THE OLD REGIME IN EUROPE her place among the great European powers and her influence in the world has gone on increasing down to the present moment. Her previous Race and history had been pecuhar, differing in many and fundamen- ReUgion tal respects from that of her western neighbors. She had Mved apart, unnoticed and unknown. She was connected with Europe by two ties, those of race and rehgion. The Russians were a Slavic people, related to the Poles, the Bohemians, the Serbs, and the other branches of that great family which spreads over Eastern Europe. And as early as the tenth century they had been converted to Christianity, not to that form that prevailed in the West, but to the Orthodox Greek form, which had its seat in Constantinople. The missionaries who had brought religion and at the same time the beginnings of civilization had come" from that city. After the conquest of Constantinople by the in- fidel Turks in 1453 the Russians considered themselves its legitimate heirs, the representatives of its ideas and traditions. Constantinople ; and the Eastern Empire of which it had been the capital exercised over 1 their unaginations a spell that has only increased with time. ' But the great central fact of Russian history for hundreds of years was not her connection with Europe, which, after all, was shght, but her connection with Asia, which was close and profound in its Sded^and effects. The Principahty of Muscoxy, as Russia was then conquered by called from its capital Moscow, was conquered by the Asiatic tribes j^j^j^g^jg^ barbarians from Asia, in the thirteenth century, and for nearlv three hundred years Russian princes paid tribute and made occasional visits of submission to the far-off Great Khan. Though con- stantly resenting this subjection, they did not escape its effects. They themselves became half- Asiatic. The men of Russia dressed in Oriental fashion, wearing the long robes with long sleeves, the turbans and shp- pers of the East. They wore their hair and beards long. The women were kept secluded and were heavily veiled when in public. A young girl saw her husband for the first time the day of her marriage. There was no such thing as society as we understand the term. The government was an Oriental tyranny, unrestrained, regardless of human life. In ad- dressing the ruler a person must completely prostrate himself, his fore- head touching the floor; a difficult as well as a degrading attitude for one human being to assume toward another. In time the Russians threw off the ISIongol domination, after ter- rible struggles, and themselves in turn conquered northern Asia, that . GERMANY IN 1789 n.ili rn/.oll crn Lands Wol tin T.n n.l.s WUrlsharh Lan.ls t 1 Prussia i I Alberttne 1 I Bavaria I I Frnnconian lino I I Krncstinc I I Palalinati' Ol.Ienburfi Lands Hai.s bnrg I. ands I I Denmark I j Imperial Cities I 1 I I I llolstein and I I Kctlesiastical I I Oldenburg States JO 20 40 60 eo '00 Scale of Mil NORTJJ sjh'A^ Slade Hambur .Bremen liickstadt.- '^lE< Alt5(na La now- .inir^" |UCDbur(4 J,iJneb"ir(t fno I ^' n \ ]rV..^-^-erdvn Rofte VS> irvi'W ,-, «cgen r>ctHu>iii Cal... ^pfe»-^^ /-^ Brusse^ ij /;^uli.l,r'^KHO illfesKS^r.Krf^rt- 2.^11 > , j (iMfl-nn . • ■:, f- , v'. -^ ^ .,,.-,, ^i^s«,h.ybfS5/^H^"'""^.:rf ..C/ cutlingeiiV fl(ei'HTnSt<'«i_ :.!?'? ;inu'{ii)«ie^ lt<*i-tt^ >rach!^ ConstancfeiXjijiid:)!! ' Bregti V-urich nsbnicIC JLandeck / .N Long. Ea! THE YOUTH OF PETER THE GREAT 19 is, Siberia. A new royal house came to the throne in 1613, the House of Romanofif, still the reigning family of Russia. But the Russians continued to have only the feeblest connection with Europe, knowing little of its civilization, caring less, content to vegetate in indolence and obscurity. Out of this dull and laggard p^^^j. ^j^^ state they were destined to be roughly and emphatically Great, 1672- roused by one of the most energetic rulers known to his- tory, Peter the Great, whose reign of thirty-six years (1689-1725) marks a tremendous epoch, both by what it actually accomplished and by what it indicated ought to be the goal of national endeavor. As a boy Peter had been given no serious instruction, no training in self-control, but had been allowed to run wild, and had picked up all sorts of acquaintances and companions, many of them for- Peter's eigners. It was the chance association with Europeans boyhood living in the foreign quarter of Moscow that proved the decisive fact of his life, shaping his entire career. From them he got a most irregular, haphazard, but original education, learning a little German, a little Dutch, some snatches of science, arithmetic, geometry. His chief boy- ish interest was in mechanics and its relation to the military art. With ,him playing soldier was more serious than with most boys. He used to build wooden fortresses, surrounded with walls and moats and bastions. Some of his friends would defend the redoubt while he and the others attacked it. Sometimes lives were lost, always some were wounded. Such are the fortunes of war, though not usually of juvenile war. "The boy is amusing himself," was the comment of his sister, who was exer- cising the regency in his name. Passionately fond of military games, Peter was also absorbingly interested in boats and ships,- and eagerly learned all he could of navigation, which was not much, for the arts of shipbuilding and navigation were in their very infancy in Russia. Learning that his 'sister Sophia was planning to ignore his right to the throne and to become ruler herself, he dropped his sham fights and his sailing, swept his sister aside into a nunnery, and assumed control of the state. Convinced that Europe was in every way supe- The acces- rior to Russia, that Russia had everything to gain and ^^°^ °^ ^^^^^ nothing to lose from a knowledge of the ways and institutions of the western countries, Peter's poUcy from the beginning to the end of his reign was to bring about the closest possible connection between his backward country and the progressive and brilliant civiHzation 20 THE OLD REGIME IN EUROPE which had been buih up in England, France, Holland, Italy, and Germany. But even with the best intentions this was not an easy task. For Rus- sia had no point of physical contact with the nations of Western Europe. The policy ^^^ could not freely communicate with them, for between of the " open her and them was a wall consisting of Sweden, Poland, ^' ° and Turkey. Russia was nearly a land-locked country. Sweden controlled all that coast line along the Baltic which is now Russian, Turkey controlled all the coast line of the Black Sea. The only port Russia possessed was far to the north, at Archangel, and this was frozen during nine months of the year. To communicate freely and easily with the West, Russia must "open a window" somewhere, as Peter ex- pressed it. Then the light could stream in. He must have an ice-free port in European waters. To secure this he fought repeated campaigns against Turkey and Sweden. With the latter power there was inter- mittent war for twenty years, very successful in the end, though only after distressing reverses. He conquered the Baltic Provinces from 1 1 Sweden, Courland, Esthonia, and Livonia, and thus secured a long coast ' line. Russia might now have a navy and a merchant fleet and sea- borne commerce. "It is not land I want, but water," Peter had said. He now had enough, at least to begin with. Meanwhile he had sent fifty young Russians of the best families to England, Holland, and Venice to learn the arts and sciences of the West, Peter's especially shipbuilding and fortifications. Later he had travels in gone himself for the same purpose, to study on the spot the civilization whose superiority he recognized and intended to impose upon his own country, if that were possible. This was a famous voyage. Traveling under the strictest incognito, as "Peter Mikail- ovitch," he donned laborer's clothes and worked for months in the ship- yards of Holland and England. He was interested in everything. He visited mills and factories of every kind, asking innumerable questions: "What is this for? How does that work?" He made a sheet of paper with his own hands. During his hours of recreation he visited museums, theaters, hospitals, galleries. He saw printing presses in operation, attended lectures on anatomy, studied surgery a little, and even ac- quired some proficiency in the humble and useful art of pulling teeth. He bought collections of laws, and models of all sorts of machines, and engaged many officers, mechanics, printers, architects, sailors, and work- THE REFORMS OF PETER THE GREAT 21 men of every kind, to go to Russia to engage in the task of unparting instruction to a nation which, in Peter's opinion, needed it and should receive it, willy-nilly. Peter was called home suddenly by the news of a revolt among the imperial troops devoted to the old regime and apprehensive of the com- ing innovations. They were punished wdth every refine- suppresses ment of savage cruelty, their regiments disbanded, and a revolt at veritable reign of terror preceded the introduction of the °°^^ new system. Then the Czar began with energy his transformation of Russia, as he described it. The process continued all through his reign. It was not an elaborate, systematic plan, deliberately worked out beforehand, but first this reform, then that, was adopted and enforced, and in the end the sum total of all these measures of detail touched the national life at nearly every point. Some of them concerned manners pg^ei-'s and customs, others economic matters, others matters measures purely political. Peter at once fell upon the long beards ° ^^ °"° and Oriental costumes, which, in his opinion, symbolized the conserva- tism of Old Russia, which he was resolved to shatter. Arming himself with a pair of shears, he himself clipped the liberal beards and moustaches of many of his nobles, and cut their long coats at the knee. They must set the style and the style must be that of France and Germany. Hav- ing given this sensational exhibition of his imperial purpose, he then compromised somew^hat, allowing men to wear their beards long, but only on condition of submitting to a graduated tax upon these ornaments. The approbation of the emperor, the compulsion of fashion, combined with considerations of economy, rapidly wrought a surprising change in the appearance of the manhood of Russia. Barbers and tailors were stationed at the entrances of towns to facilitate the process by slashing the offending members until they conformed to European standards. Women were forbidden to wear the veil and were released from the cap- tivity of the harem, or terem, as it was called in Russia. Peter had attended the "assemblies" of France and England and. had seen men and women dancing and conversing together in public. He now ordered the husbands and fathers of Russia to bring their wives and daughters to all social entertainments. The adjustments were awkward at first, the women frequently standing or sitting stiffly apart at one end of the room, the men smoking and drinking by themselves at the other. But finally 2 2 THE OLD REGIME IN EUROPE society as understood in Europe emerged from these temporary and amusing difficulties. Peter gave lessons in dancing to some of his nobles, having himself acquired that accomplishment while on his famous trip. They were expected, in turn, to pass the art on to others. The organs of government, national and local, were remodeled by the adoption of forms and methods known to Sweden, Germany, and Creation of Other countries, and the state became more efficient and at an army and the same time more powerful. The army was enlarged, °^^^ equipped, and trained mainly in imitation of Germany. A navy was created and the importance of the sea to the general life of the nation gradually dawned upon the popular intelHgence. The economic development of the country was begun, factories were estabUshed, mines were opened, and canals were cut. The church was brought into closer subjection to the state. Measures were taken against vagabondage and robbery, widely prevalent evils. Education of a practical sort was en- couraged. The Julian calendar was introduced and is still in force, though the other nations of Europe have since adopted another and more accurate chronology. Peter even undertook to reform the lan- guage of Russia, striking out eight of the more cumbersome letters of the alphabet and simphfying the form of some of tjie others. All these changes encountered resistance, resistance born of indo- lence, of natural conservatism, of religious scruples — was it not impious Resistance ^^^ Holy Russia to abandon her native customs and to imi- to these tate the heretics of the West? But Peter went on smashing re orms j^-^ ^^^ through as best he could, crushing opposition by fair means and by foul, for the quality of the means was a matter of in- difference to him, if only they were successful. Here we have the spec- tacle of a man who, himself a semi-barbarian, was bent upon civilizing men more barbarous than he. As the ancient capital, Moscow, was the stronghold of stiff conserv- atism, was wedded to the old ideas and customs, Peter resolved to build The creation ^ ^^^ capital on the Baltic. There, on islands and marshes of Saint at the mouth of a river which frequently overflowed, he built Peters urg ^^ frightful cost in human life and suffering the city of St. Petersburg. Everything had to be created hterally from the ground up. Forests of piles had to be driven into the slime to the solid earth beneath to furnish the secure foundations. Tens of thousands of* sol- diers and peasants were drafted for the work. At first they had no im- THE FOUNDING OF SAINT PETERSBURG 23 plements, but were forced to dig with sticks and carry the rubbish away in their coats. No adequate provisions were made for them; they slept unprotected in the open air, their food was insufficient, and they died by thousands, only to be replaced by other thousands. All through the reign the desperate, rough process went on. The will of the autocrat, rich in expedi- ents, triumphed over all obsta- cles. Every great landowner was required to build in the city a residence of a certain size and style. No ship might enter without bringing a cer- tain quantity of stone for building purposes. St. Peters- burg was cut by numerous canals, as were the cities of Holland. The Czar required the nobles to possess boats. Some of them, not proficient in the handling of these novel craft, were drowned. Toward the close of his reign Peter transferred the government to this city which stood on the banks of the Neva, a monu- ment to his imagination, his energy, and his persistence, a city with no hampering traditions, with no past, but with only an untrammeled fu- ture, an appropriate expression of the spirit of the New Russia which Peter was laboring to create. He was, indeed, a strange leader for a people which needed above all to shake itself free from what was raw and crude, he was himself so raw and crude. A man of violent passions, capable and Peter's guilty of orgies of dissipation, of acts of savage cruelty, character hard and fiendish in his treatment even of those nearest to him, his sister, his wife, and his son, using willingly as instruments of progress the atro- cious knout and wheel and stake, Peter was neither a model ruler, nor a model man. Yet, with all these traits of primal barbarism in his nature. Peter the Great From an engraving by Anderloni. 24 THE OLD REGIME IN EUROPE he had many redeeming points. Good humored, frank, and compan- ionable under ordinary circumstances, he was entirely natural, as loyal in his friendships as he was bitter in his enmities. Masterful, titanic, there was in him a wild vitaUty, an immense energy, and he was great in the singleness of his aim. He did not succeed in transforming Russia; that could not be accomplished in one generation or in two. But he left an army of 200,000 men, he connected Russia with the sea by the coast Une of the Baltic, thus opening a contact with countries that were more advanced, intellectually and socially, and he raised a standard and started a tradition. Then followed upon his death, a series of mediocre rulers, under whom it seemed Ukely that the ground gained might be lost. But under Peter's Elizabeth (i 741-1762) Russia played an important part in successors j^j-jg Seven Years' War, thus showing her altered position in Europe, and with the advent of Catherine II (i 762-1 796) the process of Europeanizing Russia and of expanding her territories and magnifying her position in international politics was resumed with vigor and carried out with success. Catherine was a German princess, the wife of the Czar Peter III, who, proving a worthless ruler, was deposed, after a reign of a few Accession of months, then done to death, probably with the connivance Catherine of his wife. Catherine became empress, and for thirty-four years ruled Russia with an iron hand. Fond of pleasure, fond of work, a woman of intellectual tastes or at least pretensions, which she satisfied by intimate correspondence with Voltaire, Diderot, and other French philosophers of the day, being rewarded for her condescen- sion and her favors by their enthusiastic praise of her as the "Semir- amis of the North," Catherine passes as one of the enlightened despots of her century. Being of western birth, she naturally sympathized with the policy of introducing western civilization into Russia, and gave that policy her vigorous support. But her chief significance in history is her foreign policy. Three countries, we have seen, stood between Russia and the countries of Western Europe, Sweden, Poland, and Turkey. Peter had conquered Catherine's ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ secured the water route by the Baltic. Cathe- foreign rine devoted her entire reign to conquering the other two. ^° ^^^ The former she accomplished by infamous means and with rare completeness. By the end of her reign Poland had been utterly CATHERINE THE GREAT 25 destroyed and Russia had pushed her boundaries far westward until they touched those of Prussia and Austria. Catherine was not able to dis- member Turkey as Poland was dismembered, but she gained from her the Crimea and the northern shores of the Black Sea from the Caucasus to the Dniester. She had even dreamed of driv- ing the Turk entirely from Europe and of extending her own influence down to the Mediterranean by the estab- lishment of a Byzantine em- pire that should be dependent upon Russia. But any dream of getting to Constantinople was a dream indeed, as the troubled history of a subse- quent century was to show. Henceforth, however, Europe could count on one thing with certainty, namely, that Russia would be a factor to be consid- ered in any rearrangement of the map of the Balkan peninsula, in any determination of the Eastern question. This rise of Russia, like the rise of Prussia, to a position of command- ing importance in European politics, was the work of the eighteenth century. Both were characteristic products of that age. The more one examines in general the governments of Europe in the eighteenth century, and the policies which they followed or attempted to follow, the less is one impressed with either their wisdom l^^ ^Q^^ ^f or their morality. The control was everyv^'here in the European hands of the few and was everywhere directed to the ad- ^° "^^ vantage of the few. The idea that it was the first duty of the state to assure, if possible, the welfare of the great majority of the j^ie spirit of people was not the idea recognized in actual practice. The aggrandize- first duty of the state was to increase its dominions by ™®"* hook or crook, and to provide for the satisfaction of the rulers and the Catherine II After the portrait by SliebanolT. 26 THE OLD REGIME IN EUROPE privileged classes. One could find in all Europe hardly a trace of what we call democracy. Europe was organized aristocratically, and for the Aristocracies benefit of aristocracies. This was true even in such a coun- everywhere try as England, which had a parliament and established in power fiberties; even in republics, like Venice or Genoa or the cantons of Switzerland. The condition of the vast mass of the people in every country was the thing least considered. It was everywhere deplorable, though vary- Deplorable ^'^S more or less in different countries. The masses, who condition of were peasants, were weighed down and hemmed in by ® ™ ^ laws and institutions and customs that took no account of their well-being. In one way or another they were outrageously taxed, so that but a small fraction of what they earned went for their own sup- port. Throughout most of Europe they did not possess what we regard Serfdom ^^ ^^^ mere beginnings of personal liberty, for, except in widely prev- England and France, serfdom, with all its paralyzing re- strictions, was in force. No one dreamed that the people were entitled to education so that they might be better equipped for life. The great substructure of European society was an unhappy, unfree, unprotected, undeveloped mass of human beings, to whom opportunity for growth and improvement was closed on every side. If the governments of Europe (;Jid not seriously consider the interest of the most numerous and weakest class, on whose well-being de- A gloomy pended absolutely the ultimate well-being of the nations, outlook (jj(j i\^Qy discharge their other obligations with any greater understanding or sense of justice? It cannot be said that they did. The distempers in every state were numerous and alarming. The writ- ings of contemporaries abound in gloomy prophecies. There was a widespread feehng that revolutions, catastrophes, ruin were impending, State finance ^^^^ ^^^ body poHtic was nowhere in sound condition, grossly mis- Excessive expenditures for the maintenance of extrava- manage ^^^^ courts, for sumptuous buildings, for favorites of every stripe and feather, excessive expenditures for armies and for wars, which were frequent, resulted in increasing disorder in the finances of the various nations. States resorted more and more to loans with the result that the income had to go for the payment of the interest. Deficits were chronic, and no country except England had a budget, or public and official statement of expenditures and receipts. Taxes THE DESPOTS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 27 were increasing and were detestably distributed. Everywhere in Europe the richer a man was the less he paid proportionately, crushing As new taxes were imposed, exemptions, complete or par- taxation of tial, went with them, and the exemptions were for the ™ ^^^^ nobihty and, in part, fof the middle classes, where such existed. Crush- ing therefore was the burden of the lower orders. It was truly a vicious circle. These evils were so apparent that now and then they prompted the governing authorities to attempt reform. Several rulers in various coun- tries made earnest efforts to improve conditions. These Benevolent were the "benevolent despots" of the eighteenth century despotism who tried reform from above before the French tried it from below. On the whole they had no great or permanent success, and the need of thoroughgoing changes remained to trouble the future. Not only were the governments of Europe generally inefficient in all that concerned the full, symmetrical development of the economic, in- tellectual, and moral resources of the people, not only ' „ . 1 • 1, . Character of were they generally repressive and oppressive, allowmg the govem- little scope to the principle of hberty, but they were, in ™ents of their relations to each other, unprincipled, unscrupulous. The state was conceived as force, not at all as a moral being, subject to moral obligations and restraints. The glory of rulers consisted in extend- ing the boundaries of their states, regardless of the rights of Material other peoples, regardless even of the 'rights of other rulers, success the rr^i 11 , , - , • • , , , only stand- Ihe code that governed their relations with each other ard of con- was primitive indeed. Any means were legitimate, success ^"*^* was the only standard of right or wrong. "He who gains nothing, loses," wrote Catherine of Russia, one of the "enlightened" despots. The domi- nant idea in all government circles was that the greatness of the state was in proportion to its territorial extent, not in proportion to the free- dom, the prosperity, the education of its people. The prevalence of this idea brought it about that every nation sought to be ready to take ad- vantage of any weakness or distress that might appear in ^j^^ f^j^jj_ the situation of its neighbors. Armies must be constantly lessness of at hand and diplomacy must be ready for any scurvy trick ™'''^^''<^^^ or infamous crime that might promise hope of gain. It followed that treaties were to be broken whenever there was any advantage in break- ing them. "It is a mistake to break your word without reason," said 28 THE OLD REGIME IN EUROPE Frederick II, "for thus you gain the reputation of being hght and fickle." To keep faith with each other was no duty of rulers. There was conse- quently no certainty in international agreements. This indifference to solemn promises was nothing new. The eigh- teenth century was full of flagrant violations of most explicit interna- tional agreements. There was no honor among nations. No state had any rights which any other state was bound to respect. These monarchs, "enlightened" and "benevolent" or not, as the case might be, all agreed The insecu- ^^^^ ^^^^ ruled by divine right, by the will of God. Yet rity of this decidedly imposing origin of their authority gave them ^ ^ ^^ no sense of security in their relations with each other, nor did it give to their reigns any exceptional purity or unworldly char- acter. The maxims of statecraft which they followed were of the earth, earthy. While bent upon increasing their own power they did not neglect the study of the art of undermining each other's power, however divinely buttressed in theory it might be. Monarchs were dethroned, states were extinguished, boundaries were changed and changed again, as the result Wars of ag- ^^ aggressive wars, during the eighteenth century. More- gression over, the wars of that time were famous for the exactions of numerous ^j^^ victors and for the scandalous fortunes made by some of the commanders. It was not the French Revolutionists nor was it Napoleon who introduced these customs into Europe. They could not, had they tried, have lowered the tone of war or statecraft in Europe. At the worst they might only imitate their predecessors. The Old Regime in Europe was to be brought tumbling down in unutterable confusion as a result of the storm which was brewing in France and which we are now to study. But that regime Regime had been undermined, the props that supported it had been everywhere destroyed, by its own official beneficiaries and defenders. Ill dsjiccr The Old Regime w^as disloyal to the very principles on which it rested, respect for the established order, for what was old and traditional, for what had come down from the past, regard for legal- No honor ^^^j ^^^ engagements, loyalty to those in authority. How among little regard the monarchs of Europe themselves had for monarc s principles which they were accustomed to pronounce sacred, for principles in which alone lay their own safety, was shown by the part they played in the great events of the eighteenth century already alluded to, the war of the Austrian Succession, and the Partition of THE DESPOTS AS LAND-GRABBERS 29 Prussia grabs Silesia Poland. By the first the ruler of Austria, Maria Theresa, was robbed of the large and valuable province of Silesia by Prussia, aided by France, \ both of which states had re- cently signed a peculiarly solemn treaty called the Pragmatic Sanction, by which her rights had been explicitly and emphatically recognized. Frederick II, however, wanted the province, took it, and kept it. This case shows how lightly monarchs regarded legal obligations, when they conflicted with their ambitions. The other case, the Parti- tion of Poland, was the most iniquitous act of the century. Poland was in geographical extent the largest state in Europe, next to Russia. Its history ran far back. But its government was utterly weak. Therefore in The extinc- 1772 Prussia, Austria, and Russia attacked it for no cause save tion of their own cupidity, and tore great fragments away, annexing ° ^° them to their own territories. Twenty years later they completed the process in two additional partitions, in 1793 and 1795, thus entirely anni- hilating an ancient state. This shows how much regard the monarchs of Europe had for estabhshed institutions, for established authorities. Two things only counted in Old Europe — force and will, the will of the sovereign. But force and will may be used quite as easily for revolu- tion, for the overthrow of what is old and sacred, as for its p^j.^.^ ^j^^ preservation. There need be no surprise at anything that order of the we may find Napoleon doing. He had a sufficient pattern *^ a:nd exemplar in Frederick the Great and in Catherine of Russia, only recently deceased when his meteoric career began. Maria Theresa From a pastel in the possession of the Grand Duke Frederick, Vienna. 30 THE OLD REGIME IN EUROPE The eighteenth century attained its legitimate cUmax in its closing decade, a memorable period in the history of the world. The crash '^ of the Old The Old Regime in Europe was rudely shattered by the Regime in overthrow Europe by Its as quarter of a century. Regime in overthrow of the Old Regime m France, which country, Europe , . . , . . ^ ' . , ^' by Its astonishing actions, was to dominate the next REFERENCES Age of William Pitt: Larson, Short History of England, Chap. XXI; Macaulay, Essays, William Pitt, Earl of Chatham. William Pitt and the Conquest of Canada: Beard, Introduction to the English Historians, pp. 452-465; F. Harrison, Chatham, pp. 94-113; Green, Short History of the English People, pp. 745-757. The Seven Years' War and the Independence of the United States: Green, pp. 757-786. The Industrial Revolution and the American Revolution: Cheyney, Short History of England, pp. 576-596. British Colonial Expansion: Seeley, Expansion of England, Lect. IV. Frederick William I, the Father of Frederick the Great: Henderson, Short History of Germany, II, 87-104; Marriott and Robertson, The Evolution of Prussia, pp. 101-111; Lavisse, The Youth of Frederick the Great, Chap. II; Carlyle, Frederick the Great, Vol. I, Book IV, Chaps. Ill and IV. The Youth OF Frederick THE Great: Henderson, Vol. II, pp. 111-122; Lavisse, The Youth of Frederick the Great; R. P. Dunn Pattison, Leading Figures in European History, pp. 329-357; Robinson and Beard, Readings in Modern European History, Vol. I, pp. 65-67. The Wars of Frederick the Great: Henderson, Vol. II, Chap. IV; Priest, Ger- many Since 1740, pp. 10-22. Frederick the Great in Time of Peace: Henderson, Vol. II, Chap. V; Priest, pp. 23-34. Frederick the Great and the First Partition of Poland: Perkins, France under Louis XV, Vol. I, Chap. XXI; Rambaud, The History of Russia, Vol. II, pp. 122-130. Russia before Peter the Great: Rambaud, Vol. I, Chap. XX; MorfiU, Story of Russia, Chaps. V and VI. Peter the Great's Travels in the W^est: Oscar Browning, Peter the Great, Chaps. X-XII; Motley, Peter the Great, pp. 7-27; Rambaud, Vol. I, Chap. XXII. Reforms of Peter the Great: Wakeman, The Ascendancy of France, pp. 299-310; Browning, Peter the Great, Chap. XV; Schuyler, Peter the Great, Vol. I, Chap. XXV; Vol. II, Chaps. LVII and LXIII. The Founding of St. Petersburg: Schuyler, Vol. II, Chap. XLVI; Browning, Chap. XX. The Three Partitions of Poland: W. A. Phillips, Poland, Chaps. V and VI; W. R. Morfill, The Story of Polatui, Chap. XL CHAPTER II THE OLD REGIME IN FRANCE The French Revolution brought with it a new conception of the state, new principles of poUtics and of society, a new outlook upon life, a new faith which seized the imagination of multitudes, inspiring The French them with intense enthusiasm, arousing boundless hopes. Revolution and precipitating a long and passionate struggle with all those who feared or hated innovation, who were satisfied \yith things as they were, who found their own conditions of life comfortable and Attracts did not wish to be disturbed. Soon France and Europe liberals were divided into two camps, the reformers and the con- ^^^'T^^here servatives, those believing in radical changes along many lines and those who believed in preserving what was old and tried, either because they profited by it or because they felt that men were happier and repels and more prosperous in Hving under conditions and with conservatives institutions to which they were accustomed than under those that might be ideally more perfect but would at any rate be strange and novel and uncertain. In order to understand the French Revolution it is necessary to ex- amine the conditions and institutions of France out of which it grew; in other words, the Old Regime. Only thus can we get our The Revoiu- sense of perspective, our standard of values and of criticism. *^°|^ * t'"ai^- The Revolution accomplished a sweeping transformation in feudaiism°to the life of France. Putting it in a single phrase it accom- democracy plished the transition from the feudal system of the preceding centuries j to the democratic system of the modern world. The entire structure of the French state and of French society was remodeled and planted on new and far-reaching principles. The essence of the feudal system was class divisions and acknowledged privileges for all classes above the lowest. The essence of «r . ,1 . JNature of the new system is the removal of class distinctions, the the feudal abolition of privileges, the introduction of the principle of ^^^*®™ the equality of men, wherever possible. 31 32 THE OLD REGIME IN FRANCE What strikes one most in contemplating the Old Regime is the prevalence and the oppressiveness of the privileges that various classes enjoyed. Society was simply honeycombed with Regime them. They affected life constantly and at every point. based on j^ jg j^q^ ^j^ gg^gy society to describe in a few words, for pnvilege the variations were almost endless. But, broadly speak- ing, and leaving details aside, French society was graded from top to bottom, and each grade differed, in legal rights, in opportunities for enjoyment and development, in power. The system culminated in the monarch, the lofty and glittering head of the state, the embodiment of the might and the majesty of the Divine right nation. The king claimed to rule by the will of God, that monarchy jg^ ]^y divine right, not at all by the consent of the people. He was responsible to no one but God. Consequently in the actual conduct of his office he was subject to no control. He was an absolute monarch. He could do as he chose. It was for the nation to obey. , The will of the king and that alone was, in theory, the only thing that counted. It determined what the law should be that should govern twenty-five million Frenchmen in their daily lives. "This thing is legal because I wish it," said Louis XVI, thus stating in a single phrase the nature of the monarchy, the theory, and the practice also, if the monarch happened to be a strong man. The king made the laws, he levied the taxes, he spent them as he saw fit, he declared wars, made peace, contracted al- liances according to his own inclination. There \vas in The mon- . . i n i • i • arch abso- theory no restriction upon his power, and all his subjects '"*® '° lay in the hollow of his hand. He could seize their prop- power erty; he could imprison them by a mere order, a leltre de cachet, without trial, and for such a period as he desired; he could con- trol, if not their thoughts, at least the expression of them, for his censor- ship of the press, whether employed in the publication of books or newspapers, could muzzle them absolutely. So commanding a figure required a broad and ample stage for the part he was to play, a rich and spacious background. Never was a being more sumptuously housed. While Paris was the capital of France, the The splendor ^^^8 resided twelve miles away amid the splendors of Ver- of his sailles. There he lived and moved and had his being in a palace that was the envy of every other king in Christen- dom, a monumental pile, with its hundreds of rooms, its chapel, theater, THE PALACE OF VERSAILLES 33 36 THE OLD REGIME IN FRANCE the higher nobility who were appointed "governors" and who resided generally in Versailles, contributing their part to the magnificent cere- monial of that showy parade ground. The real, prosaic work was done in the thirty-six "generalities," as another set of divisions was called. Over each of these was an intendant who was generally of the middle or bourgeois class, accustomed to work. These intendants were appointed by the king to carry on the royal gov- The in- ernment, each in his' own district. They generally 'did not tendants originate much, but they carried out the orders that came from the capital and made their reports to it. Their power was practi- cally unrestricted. Upon them depended in large measure the happiness or the misery of the provinces. Judging from the fact that most of them were very unpopular, it must be admitted that this, the real working part of the national government, did not contribute to the welfare of the people. The intendants were rather the docile tools of the misgov- ernment which issued from the five councils which were the five fingers of the king. As the head is, so are the members, and the officials under the intendants for the smaller local areas enjoyed the disesteem evoked by the oppressive or unjust policies of their superiors. Speaking broadly, local self-government did not exist in France, but the local, like the national, government was directed and determined in No local Versailles. Were a bridge to be repaired over some little self- stream hundreds of miles from Paris, were a new roof governmen required for a village church, the matter was regulated from Paris, after exasperating delay. It was the reign of the red tape in every sense of the word. The people stood like dumb, driven cattle before this monstrous system. The only danger lay in the chance that they might not always remain dumb. Here obviously was no school for popular poUtical education — a fact which explains many of the mis- takes and failures of the people when, in the Revolution, they themselves undertook to rule, the monarchy having failed egregiously to discharge its functions efficiently or beneficently. Let no one suppose that because France was a highly centralized monarchy, culminating in the person of the king, that there- centralized fore the French government was a real unity. Nothing but not could be further from the truth. To study in detail the va- unified ..... rious aspects of the royal government, its divisions and sub- divisions, its standards, its agents, its methods of procedure, is to enter LACK OF UNITY IX FREXCIT IXSTITUTIOXS 37 a lane where the mind quickly becomes hopelessly bewildered, so great was the diversity in the machinery employed, so varied were the terms in use. Uniformity was nowhere to be seen. There was unity in the person of the king, necessarily, and there only. Every- lu-con- where else disunity, diversity, variety, without rhyme or structed reason. It would take a volume or many volumes to make of govem- this clear — even then the reader would be driven to despair °^^^^ in attempting to form a true mental picture of the situation. The institutions of France were a hodge-podge — chaos erected into a sys- I tem, with no loss of the chaotic, and with no system. Nowadays the same laws, the same taxes, the same weights and measures prevail i throughout the length and breadth of the land. But in 17S9 no such simplicity or equality prevailed. Weights and measures had different names and different values as one moved from province to province, sometimes as one moved from village to village. In some provinces taxes were, not determined, but at least apportioned, by certain people of the province. In other cases this apportionment was effected directly by the agents of the king, that is, by the central government. In some parts of France the civil laws, that is, the laws that regulated the rela- tions of individuals with each other, not with the state, vanou were of Roman origin or character. There the written law systems prevailed. In other sections, however, mainly in the north, ° ** one changed laws, Voltaire said, as one changed post-horses. In such sections the laws were not written but were cuslomary, that is, feudal in origin and in spirit. There were indeed 285 different codes of customary laws in force, that is 285 different ways of regulating legally the personal relations of men with men, within the confines of France. Again the same diversity in another sphere. Thirteen of the prov- inces of central France enjoyed free trade, that is, merchandise could move freely from one end of that area to the other without provincial restriction. But the other nineteen provinces were sepa- tariff rated from each other, just as nations are, by tariff boun- °"° *"*^ daries, and when goods passed from one such province to another, they passed through custom-houses and duties were paid on them, as on goods that come from Europe to the United States. All these diversities in laws, all these tariff boundaries, are easily ex- plained. They were historical survivals, troublesome and irritating re- minders of the Middle Ages. As the kings of France had during the 38 ' THE OLD REGIME IN FRANCE ages annexed this province and then that, they had, more or less, allowed the local customs and institutions to remain undisturbed. Hence this amazing patchwork which baffles description. One consequence of all this was the persistence in France of that feeling which in American history is known as the states-rights feeling. While all admitted that they were Frenchmen, provincial feeling was The states- Strong and frequently assertive. Men thought of them- rights feeling gelves as Bretons, as Normans, were attached to the things that differentiated them, were inflexible or stubborn opponents of all attempts at amalgamation. Before France could be considered strongly united, fusion on a grand scale had to be accomplished. This was to be one of the memorable and durable achievements of the Revolution. '^ The financial condition of this extravagant and inefficient state was deplorable and dangerous. Almost half of the national income was de- voted to the payment of interest on the national debt. Critical con- ^ ,. , , , . . , i dition of the Expenditures were always larger than receipts, with the national result that there was an annual deficit which had to be met by contracting a new loan, thus enlarging the debt and the interest charges. It appeared to be the principle of state finance, not that expenditures should be determined by income, but that income should be determined by expenditures. The debt therefore constantly increased, and to meet the chronic deficit the government had recourse to well- known methods which only aggravated the evil — the sale of offices, new loans. During twelve years of the reign of Louis XVI, from 1776 to 1788, the debt increased nearly $600,000,000. People became unwilling to loan to the state, and it was practically impossible to increase the taxes. The national finances were in a highly critical condition. Bank- ruptcy impended, and bankruptcy can only be avoided in two ways, either by increasing receipts or by reducing expenditures, or both. Attempts were made in the one direction and in the other, but were ineffectual. The receipts, of course, came from the taxes, and the taxes were already very burdensome, at least for those who paid them. They The system were of two kinds, the direct and the indirect. The direct of taxation taxes were those on real estate, on personal property, and combed with on income. From some of these the nobles and the clergy favoritism were entirely exempt and they therefore fell all the more heavily upon the class that remained, the third estate. From others the SYSTEM OF TAXATION 39 nobles, though not legally exempted, were in practice largely freed, be- cause the authorities did not assess noble property nearly as high as they did the property of commoners. Tax assessors stood in awe of the great. Thus the royal princes who were subject to the income tax and who ought to have paid nearly two and a half million francs, as a matter of fact paid less than two hundred thousand. Again, a marquis who ought to have paid a property tax of 2,500 francs paid 400 and a bourgeois in the same province who ought to have paid 70 in reaHty paid 760. Such crass favoritism, which always worked in favor of the nobles, never in favor of members of the third- estate, naturally served only deeply to embitter the latter class. Those who were the wealthiest and therefore the best able to support the state were the very ones who paid the least, thus conforming to the principle that to those that have shall be given and from those that have not shall be taken away even that which they have. It has been estimated that the state took from the middle classes, and from the workingmen and peasants, half their annual earnings in the form of these direct taxes. There was another branch of the system of taxation which was op- pressive and offensive for other reasons. There were certain indirect taxes which were collected, not by state officials, but by unpopular private individuals or companies, the farmers of taxes, as *^'^^^ they were called, who paid a lump sum to the state and then themselves collected the taxes, seeking of course to extract as much as possible from the people. Not only has this system of tax-collecting always proved most hateful, both in ancient and modern times, as the tax-farmers have always, in order to make as much as possible, applied the screws with pitiless severity, thus generating a maximum of odium and hatred; but in this particular case several of the indirect taxes would have been un- just and oppressive, even if collected with leniency, a thing never heard of. There was, for instance, the salt-tax, or gabelle, which The odious came home, in stark odiousness, to every one. The trade salt-tax in salt was not open to any one who might wish to engage in it, but was a monopoly of a company that bought the privilege from the state, and that company was most astoundingly favored by the law. For every person above seven years of age was required to buy at least seven pounds of salt annually whether he wished it or not. Even the utterly poor, who had not money enough to buy bread, were severely punished if they refused or neglected to buy the stated amount of salt. Moreover 40 THE OLD REGIME IN FRANCE the tax-collectors had the right to search all houses from top to bottom to see that there was no evasion. Illicit trade in this necessary com- modity was incessantly tracked down and severely punished. On the very eve of the Revolution it was ofi&cially estimated that 20,000 persons were annually imprisoned and over 500 annually condemned to death, or to service in the galleys, which was hardly preferable, for engaging in the illegal trade in salt. Moreover by an extra refinement in the art of oppression the seven pounds that all must buy could be used only for cooking or on the table. If one desired to salt down fish or meats for preservation, one must not use this particular salt for that purpose, but must buy an additional amount. There was another equally intolerable tax, the excise on wine. The making of wine was a great national industry which had existed for The excise centuries, but if ever there was a system calculated to de- tax on wine press it, it was the one in vogue in France. Wine was taxed all along the line from the producer to the consumer. Taxed at the moment of manufacture, taxed at the moment of sale by the producer, it was also taxed repeatedly in transportation, — thirty-five or forty times for instance, between the south of France and Paris, so that the combined taxes amounted in the end to nearly as much as the cost of the original production. A trade exposed to such constant and heavy impositions could not greatly flourish. Again the taxes both on salt and on wine were not uniform, but varied from region to region, so that the sense of unjust treatment was kept alive every day in the ordinary course of business, and smuggling was in many cases extremely profitable. This in turn led to savage punishments, which only augmented the universal discontent and en- tered like iron into the souls of men. In the system of taxation, as in the political structure, we find every^vhere inequality of of taxation treatment, privileges, arbitrary and tyrannical regulations, unfair and coupled with uncertainty from year to year, for the regula- tions were not infrequently changed. No wonder that men, even nobles, criticized this fiscal system as shockingly unjust and scandalously oppressive. The social organization of France, also, was far from satisfactory. On even the most cursory view many notorious abuses, many intolerable grievances, many irritating or harmful maladjustments stood forth, condemned by reason or the interest of large sections of the population. CLASS DIVISIONS 41 Forms outworn, and institutions from which the life had departed, but whence issued a benumbing influence, hampered development in many- directions. French society was frankly based upon the principle of in- equality. There were three classes or orders, the clerery, „ . ' oj ' The three the nobility, and the third estate. Not only were the two classes of former classes privileged, that is, placed upon a better French footing than the last, but it is curious to observe how the pervasive principle of unequal rights broke up even the formal unity of each of these classes. There was inequahty of classes and there was also inequality between sections of the same class. The two privileged orders were favored in many ways, such as com- between and plete or partial exemption from taxes, or the right them- w*thin these selves to tax — the clergy through its right to tithes, the nobility through its right to exact feudal dues. Even some of the mem- bers of the third estate enjoyed privileges denied the rest. There were classes within classes. Of the 2^,000,000 of Frenchmen the clergy numbered about 130,000, the nobihty 140,000, leged classes while possibly about as many bourgeois as these two com- * ^™^'^ ^ . JO minonty bined enjoyed privileges that separated them from the mass of their class. Thus the privileged as a whole numbered less than 600,000, while the unprivileged numbered well over 24,000,000. One man in forty therefore belonged to the favored minority whose lot was differentiated from that of their fellowmen by artificial advantages and distinctions. The clergy of the Roman Catholic Church formed the first order in the state. It was rich and powerful. It owned probably a fifth of the land of France. This land yielded a large revenue, and, in The addition, the clergy exacted tithes on all the agricultural Church products of the realm. This was in reaUty a form of national taxation, with this difference from the other forms, that the proceeds went, not to the nation, but to the Church. The Church had still another source of income, the dues which it exacted as feudal landlord from those to whom it stood in that relation. The total income of this corpora- Its income tion Avas approximately $100,000,000 of our money. Out and the of this it was the duty of the Church to maintain religious services it edifices and services, to support many hospitals and schools, to relieve personal distress by charity, for there was no such thing in France as organized poor relief by the state or municipality. Thus the 42 THE OLD REGIME IN FRANCE Church was a state within the state, performing several functions which in most modern societies are performed by the secular authority. This rich corporation was relieved from taxation. Although from time to time it paid certain lump simis to the national treasury, these were far smaller than they would have been had the Church been taxed on its property and on its income in the same proportion as were the commoners. An income so large, had it been wisely and justly expended, might have aroused no criticism, for many of the services performed by this p . . organization were essential to the w^ell-being of France, within the But here as elsewhere in the institutions of the country ^^'^ we find gross favoritism and wanton extravagance, which shocked the moral sense of the nation and aroused its indignation, be- cause they belied so completely pretensions to a peculiar sanctity on which the Church based its claims to its privileged position. For the organization did not treat its own staff with any sense of fair play. Much the larger part of the income went to the higher clergy, that is, to the 134 bishops and archbishops, and to a small number of abbots, canons, and other dignitaries — in all probably not more than 5,000 or 6,000 ecclesiastics. These highly lucrative positions were monopo- lized by the younger sons of the nobility, who were eager to accept the Th Olid- salaries but not disposed to perform the duties. Many of liness of the them resided at court and lived the gay and worldly life, hig er c ergy ^.-^^^i scarcely anything, save some slight peculiarity of dress, to indicate their ecclesiastical character. The morals of many were scandalous and their intellectual ability was frequently mediocre. They did not consider themselves men set apart for a high and noble calling, they did not take their duties seriously — of course there were honorable exceptions, yet they were exceptions — but their aims were distinctly finite and they conducted themselves as typical men of the world, attentive to the problem of self-advancement, devoted to all the pleasures, dissipations, and intrigues of Versailles. Some held several offices at once, discharging the obligations of none, and enjoying princely revenues. The archbishop of Strassburg had an income of $300,000 a year and held high court in a splendid palace, entertaining 200 guests at a time. Even the saucepans of his kitchens were of silver. A hundred and eighty horses were in his stables, awaiting the pleasure of the guests. A fevv^ of the bishops received small incomes, but the average among them was over $50,000 a year. They were in the main absentees, resid- PRIVILEGE WITHIN THE CHURCH 43 ing, not in their dioceses, but in Versailles, where further plums were to be picked up by the lucky, and where at any rate life was gay. Some of the bishoprics had even become the hereditary possessions of certain families, passing from uncle to nephew, as in the secular sphere many offices passed from father to son. On the other hand, the lower clergy, the thousands of parish priests, who did the real work of spiritual consolation and instruction, who labored faithfully in the vineyard, were wretchedly recom- ^^e poverty Densed. They were sons of the third estate, while their of the lower • • clcrcv proud and prosperous superiors were sons of the nobility, and they were treated as plebeians. With wretched incomes of a few hundred francs, they had difficulty in keeping body and soul together. No wonder they were discontented and indignant, exclaiming that their ■lot "made the very stones and beams of their miserable dw^eUings cry aloud." No wonder they were bitter against their superiors, who neg- lected and exploited them with equal indifference. The privileged order of the clergy is thus seen to be divided into two classes, widely dissimi- lar in position, in origin, and in outlook upon life. The parish priests came from the people, experienced the hardships and sufferings of the people, saw the injustice of the existing system, and sympathized with plans for its reform. The clergy was divided into two ^^^ ^^^^^^ classes. The triumph of the popular cause in the Revolu- divided tion was powerfully aided by the lower clergy, w^ho at criti- J|^^* cal moments threw in their lot with the third estate and against their clerical superiors who raUied to the support of the abso- lute monarchy which had been so indulgent and so lavish to them. A house divided against itself, however, cannot permanently stand. Somewhat similar was the situation of the second order, the nobility. As in the case of the clergy, there was here also great variety of con- dition among the members of this order, although all were privileged. There were several subdivisions, clearly enough marked. There were two main classes, the nobihty of the sword and the nobility of ^j^^ nobiUty the robe, that is, the old military nobility of feudal origin and its sub- and the new judicial nobility, which secured its rank from ^^^^"'^^ the judicial offices its members held. The nobility of the sword consisted of the nobles of the court and of the nobles of the provinces. The former were few in number, perhaps a thousand, but they shone with peculiar brilliancy, for they were the ones who lived in Versailles, danced attend- 44 THE OLD REGIME IN FRANCE ance upon the king, vied with each other in an eager competition fc appointments in the army and navy and diplomatic service, for pension! and largesses from the royal bounty. These they needed, as they lived^ in a luxurious splendor that taxed their incomes and overtaxed them. Residing at court, they allowed their estates to be administered by bail- iffs or stewards, who exacted all that they could get from the peasantrj The court who cultivated them. Everybody was jealous of tl nobles nobles of this class, for they were the favored few, who practically monopoHzed all the pleasant places in the sun. The contrast was striking between them and the hundred thousand provincial nobles who for various reasons did not live at court, were not known to the king, received no favors, and who yet were conscious that in purity of blood, in honorableness of descent and tradition, they were the equals or superiors of those who crowded about the monarch's per- son. Many of them had small incomes, some pitifully small. They The pro- could cut no figure in the world of society, they had few vincial chances to increase their prosperity, which, in fact, tended "° ^^ steadily to decrease. Their sons were trained for the army, the only noble profession, but could never hope to rise very high because all the major appointments went to the assiduous suitors of the clique at court. They resided among the peasants and in some cases were hardly distinguishable from them, except that they insisted upon main- taining the tradition of their class, their badge of superiority, a life of leisure. To work was to lose caste. This obliged many of them to insist rigorously upon the payment of the various feudal dues owed them by the peasantry, some of which were burdensome, most of which were irri- tating. In some parts of France, however, as in the Vendee and in Brit-| tany they were sympathetic and helpful in their relations with the] peasants and were in turn respected by them. The nobility as a whole enjoyed one privilege that was a serious and] unnecessary injury to the peasants, making harder the conditions of their j lives, always hard enough, namely the exclusive right of hunting, consid- ered the chief noble sport. This meant in actual practice that the peas- ants might not disturb the game, although the game was destroying their crops. This was an unmitigated abuse, universally execrated by them. The odium that came to be attached in men's minds to the nobility was chiefly felt only for the selfish and greedy minority. The provincial THE NOBILITY OF THE ROBE 45 lobility, like the lower clergy, were themselves discontented with the existing order, for abundant reasons. They might not wish a sweeping transformation of society, but they were disposed to favor political reforms that would at least give all within the order an approximately equal chance. They were devoted to the king, but they experienced in their own persons the evils of an arbitrary and capricious govern- ment which was highly partial in its favors. There was yet another section of the nobility whose status and whose The nobUity outlook o^ the robe were different still. Many offices in France could be bought. They and their perquisites became the property of those who purchased them and who could transmit them to their children, and one of the perquisites that such offices carried was a pat- ent of nobiHty. This was the created nobil- ity, the nobility of the robe, so called because its most conspicuous members were the judges, or members of the higher tribunals or parlemcnts. TJiese judges appeared, in one aspect, as liberals in that as lawyers they opposed certain unpopu- lar innovations attempted by the king. But in reahty as soon as their own privileges were threatened they became the stiff est of defenders of many of the most odious abuses of the Old Regime. In the opening days of the Revolution the third estate found no more bitter opponents than these ennobled judges. Such were the two privileged orders. The rest of the population The Parleml-m of Paris After a drawing by Binet. 46 THE OLD REGIME IN FRANCE comprising the vast majority of the people, was called the third estate. The Third Differing from the others in that it was unprivileged, it Estate resembled them in that it illustrated the principle of in- equality, as did they. There were the widest extremes in social and eco- nomic conditions. Every one who was not a noble or a clergyman was a member of the third estate, the richest banker, the most illustrious man of letters, the poorest peasant, the beggar in the streets. Not at all homogeneous, the three chief divisions of this immense mass were the bourgeoisie, the artisans, and the peasants. The bourgeoisie, or upper middle class, comprised all those who were not manual laborers. Thus lawyers, physicians, teachers, literary men, The hour- were bourgeois: also merchants, bankers, manufacturers, geoisie Despite great national reverses, the bourgeoisie had grown richer during the past century as commerce had greatly increased. This economic growth had benefited the bourgeosie almost exclusively and many large fortunes had been built up and the general level of material welfare had been distinctly raised. These were the practical business men who loaned money to the state and who were frequently appointed to ofhces where business ability was required. Intelligent, energetic, educated, and well-to-do, this class resented most keenly with the the existing system. For they were made to feel in numer- existing Qyg galling ways their social inferiority, and, conscious that ^^^ ^ they were quite as well educated,' quite as well mannered as the nobles, they returned the disdain of the latter with envy and hatred. Having loaned immense sums to the state, they were increas- ingly apprehensive, as they saw it verging rapidly toward bankruptcy, because their interests were greatly imperiled. They favored therefore a political reorganization which should enable them to participate in p. . ,.._ the government, to control its expenditures, to assure its ical and so- solvency, that thus they might be certain of their interest cial reforms ^^^ principal, that thus abuses which impeded or injured business might be redressed, and that the precariousness of their position might be remedied. They wished also a social revolution. Well educated, saturated with the Hterature of the period, which they read with avidity, their minds fermented with the ideas of Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu, and the economists. Personally, man for man, they were as cultivated as the nobles. They wished social equahty, they wished the laws to recognize THE LABORING CLASSES 47 what they felt the facts proved, that the bourgeois was the equal of the noble. They chafed under pretensions which they felt unjustified by any real superiority. Their fnood was brilliantly expressed by a pam- phlet written by one of their members, the Abbe Sieyes, which circu- lated enormously on the eve of the Revolution. " What is the Third Estate?" asked Sieyes. "Every- thing. What has it been in poHtics until now? Nothing. What does it desire? To become something." Belonging to this estate but beneath the bourgeoisie were the artisans — perhaps two milUon and a half, Uving in The the towns and cities, artisans They were a comparatively small class because the industrial life of France was not yet highly de- veloped. They were generally or- ganized in guilds which had their rules and privileges that gave rise to bickerings galore and that were generally condemned as preventing the free and full expansion of indus- try and as artificially restricting the right to work. The other large division of the third estate was the peasantry. This was by far the largest section. Indeed it was the nation. France was an agricultural country, more than nine-tenths of the population were peasants, more than 20,000,000. About a million of them were serfs, the rest were free men, yet their lot was an unhappy one. The burdens of society fell wdth crushing weight upon them. They paid fifty-five per cent of what they were able to earn to the state, according The peas- to the sober estimate of Turgot. They paid tithes to the ®°*''y clergy and numerous and vexatious feudal dues to the nobles. The peasant paid tolls to the seigneur for the use of the roads and bridges. When he sold his land he paid a fee to the former seigneur. He was com- pelled to use the seigneur's wine press in making his wine, the seigneur's mill, the seigneur's oven, always paying for the service. The loss of money was one aspect of the business, the loss of time another. In Sieves From an engraving by Fiesinger, after a draw ing by J. Guerin. 48 THE OLD REGIME IN FRANCE some cases, for instance, the mill was four or five hours distant, and a dozen or more rivers and rivulets had to be crossed. In summer, even if the water was too low to turn the wheel, nevertheless the peasant was obliged to bring his grain to be ground, must wait perhaps three days or must pay a fee for permission to have the grain ground by various elsewhere. Adding what he paid to the king, the Church, and heavy g^j^^j iy^q seigneur, and the salt and excise duties, the total was often not far from four-fifths of his earnings. With the remaining one-fifth he had to support himself and family. The inevitable consequence was that he lived on the verge of disaster. Bad weather at a critical moment supervening, he faced dire want, even starvation. It happened that the harvest was bad in 1788 and that the following winter was cruelly severe. According to a foreign ambassador water froze almost in front of the fireplace. It need occasion no surprise that owing to such conditions hundreds of thousands of men became beggars or brigands, driven to frenzy by hunger. It has been estimated that in Paris alone, with a population of 650,000, there were nearly 120,000 paupers. No wonder there were abundant recruits for riots and deeds of violence. The 20,000,000 peasants, who knew nothing of state- A rofoundly craft, who were ignorant of the destructive and subversive discontented theories of Voltaire and Rousseau, were daily and hourly *^^^^^ impressed with the imperative necessity of reforms by the hard circumstances of their lives. They knew that the feudal dues would have to be abolished, that the excessive exactions of the state would have to be reduced before their lives could become tolerable. Their reasons for desiring change were different from those of the other classes, but it is evident that they were more than sufficient. The combined demand for reform increased as time went on and swelled in volume and in intensity. The voice of the people spoke with no uncertain sound. Such was the situation. On the eve of the Revolution Frenchmen enjoyed no equality of status or opportunity but privileges of the most varied kinds divided them from each other. They also enjoyed no hberty. Religious Hberty was lacking. Since Restrictions ^^^ revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 Protestant- upon reiig- ism had been outlawed. It was a crime punishable with ious liberty j^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ practise that rehgion. Under Louis XVI the persecution of Protestants was in fact suspended, but it might be resumed RESTRICTIONS UPON RELIGIOUS LIBERTY 49 ^ S Z oj ff^^.^ pTDes with the same detachment and objectivity which a botanist shows in the study of his specimens. Two or three leading ideas "The Spirit emerged from the process. One was that the Enghsh gov- °^ ^&^s " ernment was on the whole the best, since it guaranteed personal liberty to all citizens. It was a monarchy which was limited in power, and controlled by an assembly which represented the people of Eng- land — in other words what, in the language of modern poUtical science, is called a constitutional monarchy. Montesquieu also em- phasized the necessity in any well- regulated state of separating care- fully the three powers of govern- ment, the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. In the French monarchy all were blended and fused in the single person of the king, and were subject to no earthly control — and, as a matter of fact, to no divine control that was perceptible. These concep- tions of a COnstitu- prajgeg tional as preferable to an absolute monarchy, and of the constitutional necessity of providing for a separation of the three powers, ™°°^''*^ ^ have dominated all the constitutions France has had since 1789 and have exerted an influence far beyond the boundaries of that country. Pro- pounded by a studious judge, in language that was both grave and ele- gant, Montesquieu's masterpiece was a storehouse of wisdom, destined to be provocative of much thought, discussion, and action, both in France and elsewhere. Very different, but even more memorable, was the work of Voltaire, one of the master minds of European history, whose name has become the name of an era. We speak of the Age of Voltaire as Voltaire we speak of the Age of Luther and of Erasmus. Voltaire (1694-1788) stands for the emancipation of the intellect. His significance to his Montesquieu From the engraving by B. L. Henriquez after the picture at the Academic Franjaise. 54 THE OLD REGIME IN FRANCE An impas- sioned champion of freedom times is shown in the title men gave him — King Voltaire. The world has not often seen a freer or more intrepid spirit. Supremely gifted for a life of letters, Voltaire proved himself an accomplished poet, historian, dramatist, even scientist, for he was not a specialist, but versatility was his forte. Well known at the age of twenty- three, he died at the age of eighty-four in a veritable deli- rium of applause, for his exit from the world was an amaz- ing apotheosis. World-re- nowned he melted into world history. He had not trod the prim- rose path of dalliance but had been a war- rior all his hfe, for multifarious and generally honor- able causes. With many weaknesses of character, of which excessive vanity was one, he was a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night for all who enlisted in the fight for the liberation of mankind. He had personally experienced the oppression of the Old Regime and he hated it with a deep and abiding hatred. He had more than once been thrown into prison by the odious arbitrary lettres de cachet because he had incurred the enmity of the great. A large part of his life had been spent in exile because he was not safe in France. By his prodigious intellectual activity he had amassed a large of every fortune and had become one of the powers of Europe. Show him a case of arbitrary injustice, a case of religious persecution hounding an innocent man to an awful death — and there were such cases — and you would see him taking the field, ^^r "^ "^ '^'^^^^^^H^l 1 1 |bP 1 1 ^V^;" fTf^ Ml 1 Hpl ' ffl Hwit' . \ ■■ 1 Voltaire From the bust by Houdon. form of tyranny THE INFLUENCE OF VOLTAIRE 55 aflame with wrath against the authors of the monstrous deed. It was literally true in the age of Voltaije that the pen was far mightier than the sword. His style has been superlatively praised and cannot be praised too highly. Clear, pointed, supple, trenchant, it was a Damas- cus blade. He was never tiresome, he was always interesting, and he was generally instructive. The buoyancy of his spirit was jjjg remark- shown in everything he wrote. A master of biting satire able literary and of pulverizing invective, he singled out particularly for ^ his attention the hypocrisies and cruelties and bigotries of his age and he raked them with a rapid and devastating fire. This brought him into conflict with the State and the Church. He denounced the abuses and iniquities 'of the laws and the judicial system, of arbitrary imprison- ment, of torture. Voltaire was not a careful and sober student, like Montesquieu. In an age which had no journaHsm he was the most brilliant and mordant of journalists, writing as he listed, on the events or problems of his day. The variety and piquancy of his writings were astonishing. Voltaire was not primarily a political thinker. He attacked indi- vidual abuses in the state and he undermined the respect for authority, but he evidently was satisfied with monarchy as an institution. His ideal of government was a benevolent despotism. He was not a democrat. He would rather be ruled by one lion than by a hundred rats, was the way in which he expressed his preference. The Church was his bete noire', as he considered it the gloomy fastness of moldering superstitions, the enemy of freedom of thought, the per- secutor of innocent men who differed from it, as the seat of Voltaire's intolerance, as the supporter of all kinds of narrow and vehement bigoted prejudices. Voltaire was not an atheist. He be- attacks upon 1- , • ^ , , 1 ,-1 1 ,• • ^ r^i • • ■ tlie Church neved m God, but he did not believe in the Christian or in the Hebrew God, and he hated the Roman Catholic Church and all its works and dealt it many redoubtable blows. In eighteenth-century France the Church, as we have seen, presented plenty of vulnerable sides for his fiery shafts. Voltaire's work was not constructive but destructive. His religious faith was vague at best and not very vital. He scorned all formal creeds. Very different in tone and tendency was the work of another author, Jean Jacques Rousseau. In Voltaire we have the dry, white light of reason thrown upon the dark places of the world. In Rousseau we have 56 THE OLD REGIME IN FRANCE reason, or rather logic, suffused and powerfully refracted with emo- Rousseau tion. If the former was primarily engaged in the attempt (1712-1778) jQ destroy, the latter was constructive, imaginative, pro- phetic. Rousseau was the creator of an entire political system; he was the confident theorist of a new organization of so- ciety. Montesquieu and Voltaire desired pohtical reforms in the interest of individual hberty, desired the end of tyranny. But Rousseau swept far be- yond them, wishing a total reorganization of so- ciety, because no amount of patching and renovat- ing could make the present system tolerable, because nothing less would render liberty possible. He wrote a magic prose, rich, sono- rous, full of melancholy, full of color, of musical cadences, of solemn and pensive elo- Rousseau's lack of the quence. The historical past had no sense power over him ; he lacked completely the historical sense. The past, indeed, he despised. It was to him the enemy par excellence, the cause of all the multiplied ills from which humanity was suffering and must free itself. Angry with the world as it was — his own life had been hard — he, the son of a Genevan watchmaker, had wandered here and there practising different trades, valet, music-teacher, tutor — he had Civilization known misery and had no personal reason for thinking well the enemy Qf ^}^g world and its boasted civilization. In his first work he propounded his fundamental thesis that man, naturally good and Jean Jacques Rousseau From an engraving bj^ J. E. Nochez after A. Ramsaj'. THE POLITICAL THEORIES OF ROUSSEAU 57 just .and happy, had been corrupted and degraded by the very thing he called civilization. Therefore sweep civilization aside, and on the ground freed from its artificial and baneful conventions and institutions erect the idyllic state. Rousseau's principal work was his Social Contract, one of the most faiTxOus and in its results one of the most influential books ever written. Opening with the startling statement that '"man was born "The Social free and is ever^'^vhcre in chains," he proceeded to outline. Contract" by pure abstract reasoning, and with a lofty disregard of all that history had to teach and all that psychology revealed of the nature of the human mind, a purely ideal state, which was in complete contrast to the one in which he lived. Society rests only upon an agreement of the persons who compose it. The people are sovereign, not any individual, nor any class. All men are free and equal. The purpose of any government should be to preserve the rights of each. Rousseau did not at all agree with Montesquieu, whose praise of the English form of gov- Criticises ernment as insuring personal liberty he considered falla- the English cious. "The English think themselves free," he said, "but ^°"° 0^ sov- they are mistaken, for they are free only at the moment in which they elect the members of Parliament." As soon as these are chosen, the people are slaves, they are nothing, since the members of Parliament are rulers, not the people. Only when the next election comes round will they be free again, and then only for another moment. Rousseau repudiated the representative system of government and de- manded that the people make the laws themselves directly. Govern- ment must be government by majorities. The majority may make mistakes, nevertheless it is always right — a dark saying. Rousseau's state made no provision for safeguarding any rights of the minority which the majority might wish to infringe. The harmful feature of his system was that it rendered possible a tyranny by a majority over a minority quite as complete and odious and unrestrained as any tyranny of a king could be. But two of his ideas stood out in high rehef — the sovereignty of the people and the pohtical equality extreme of all citizens, two democratic principles which were ut- democratic terly subversive of the states of Europe as then constituted. ""^ ^'^ These principles powerfully influenced the course of the Revolution and have been preached with fervor and denounced with passion by rival camps ever since. They have made notable progress in the world since 58 THE OLD REGIME IN FRANCE Rousseau gave them thrilling utterance, but they have still much ground to traverse before they gain the field, before the reign of democracy every- where prevails. **" ■ill i^'^^B*'' ■ •-'■ rlln ,- ■ ■■ ft^ pjiii|.p|g| L4««««« ".■"■'!'^"* immlm^M ITTl IJIW?* ffi j^J^m^r The King's Bedchamber at Versailles There were many other writers who, by attacking this abuse and that, contributed powerfully to the discrediting, the sapping of the Old Regime. A conspicuous group of them busied themselves with economic studies and theories, enunciating principles which, if ap- Critics of the ,. , , , , • . , • f • , , • , prevailing plied, would revolutionize the industrial and commercial economic ^jfg q{ ^]^g nation by sweeping away the numerous and formidable restrictions which hampered it and which per- meated it with favoritism and privilege, and by introducing the maxi- mum of liberty in commerce, in industry, in agriculture, just as the writers whom we have described enunciated principles which would revolutionize France politically and socially. All this seed fell upon fruitful soil. Remarkable was to be the harvest as we shall shortly see. The Revolution was not caused by the philosophers, but by the con- ditions and evils of the national life and by the mistakes of the govern- THE WRITERS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 59 ment. Nevertheless these writers were a factor in the Revolution, for they educated a group of leaders, instilled into them certain decisive The influ- doctrines, furnished them with phrases, formulas, and argu- ence of the ments, gave a certain tone and cast to their minds, imparted t^ ekh°- ^° them certain powerful illusions, encouraged an excessive teenth cen- hopefulness which was characteristic of the movement. ^^^ They did not cause the Revolution, but they exposed the causes brilliantly, focused attention upon them, compelled discussion, and aroused passion. REFERENCES The King, the .Ajjmixistration, and the Court: Lowell, The Eve of the French Revolution, Chaps. I and II; Mathews, The French Revolution, Chap. I; Perkins, France under the Regency, pp. 129-141; Taine, Ancient Regime, pp. 86-124; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. VIII, Chap. II. Taxation and Finance: Lowell, pp. 207-242; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. VIII, pp. 66-78. The Prtvileged and Unprrileged Classes: Mathews, Chaps. II and I\'; LoweU, Chaps. Ill, VI, and XIII. The Intluence of Men of Letters: Tocqueville, The Old Regime and the Revo- lution, pp. 170-181; Mathews, Chap. V; Morley, Voltaire, Chaps. I and V; Lowell, pp. 274-302. CHAPTER III BEGINNINGS OF THE REVOLUTION / Under Louis XVI the financial situation of France became more and more serious, until it could no longer be ignored. The cost of the participation in the American Revolution, added to the enormous debt inherited from the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV and to the excessive and unregulated expenditures of the state and condition of the wastefulness of the court, completed the derangement the national Qf ^^iq national finances and foreshadowed bankruptcy. In the end this crisis forced the monarch to make an appeal to the people by summoning their representatives. But before taking so grave a step, the consequences of which were incalculable, the government tried various expedients less drastic, which, however, for various reasons, failed. Louis XVI was the unhappy Louis XVI monarch under whom these long accumulating ills cul- (1774-1793) minated. The last of the rulers of the Old Regime, his reign covered the years from 1774 to 1792. It falls into three periods, a brief one of attempted reform (i 774-1 776) and then a relapse for the next twelve years into the traditional methods of the Bourbon mon- archy, and after that the hurricane. During his youth no one thought that Louis would ever be monarch, so many other princes stood between him and the throne that his suc- cession was only a remote contingency. But owing to an unprecedented number of deaths in the direct line this contingency became reality. Louis mounted the throne, from which eighteen years later, by a strange concourse of events, he was hurled. He had never been molded for the high and dangerous ofiice. He was but twenty years old and the Queen, Marie Antoinette, but nineteen when they heard of the death of Louis XV, and instinctively both expressed the same thought, "How unhappy are we. We are too young to rule." The new King was entirely un- trained in the arts of government. He was good, well-intentioned, he had a high standard of morality and duty, a genuine desire to serve his • 60 LOUIS XVI 6i -->v. ^. ■■ Aft' / -n Louis XVI From the engraving by Xargeot, after the painting by Callet. '^ people. But his mind lacked all distinction, his education had been poor, his processes of thought were hesitating, slow, uncer- Character of tain. Awkward, timid, without elegancies or graces of mind ^°"'^ ^^^ or body, no king could have been less to the manner born, none could 62 BEGINNINGS OF THE REVOLUTION have seemed more out of place in the brilliant, polished, and heartle"ss court of which he was the center. This he felt himself, as others felt it, and he often regretted, even before the Revolution, that he could not abdicate and pass into a private station which would have been far more to his taste. He was an excellent horseman, he was excessively fond of hunting, he practised with deliglit the craft of locksmith. He was ready to listen to the advice of wiser men, but, and this was his fatal defect, His lack of ^^ ^^^ ^^ feeble will. He had none of the masterful qualities qualities of necessary for leadership. He was quite unable to see where ip danger lay and where support was to be found. He was not unintelligent, but his intelligence was unequal to his task. He had no clear conception of either France or Europe. He was a poor judge of men, yet was greatly influenced by them. He gave way now to this in- fluence, which might be good, now to that, which might be bad. He was, by nature, like other princes of his time, a reforming monarch, but his impulses in this direction were intermittent. Necker said on one occasion, "You may lend a man your ideas, you cannot lend him your strength of will." "Imagine," said another, "trying to keep a dozen oiled ivory balls touching. I think you couldn't do it." So it was with the King's ideas. At the beginning of his reign Louis XVI was subject to the influence of Turgot, one of the wisest of statesmen. Later he was subject to the influence of the Queen — to his own great misfortune and also to that of France. The influence of women was always great in France under the Bour- bon monarchy, and Marie Antoinette was no exception to the rule. Furthermore that influence was frequently disastrous and here again in the case of the last queen of the Old Regime there was no exception, jyi^j^g If the King proved inferior to his position, the Queen Antoinette proved no less inferior to hers. She was the daughter of (1755-17931 the great Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, and she had been married to Louis XVI in the hope that thus an alliance would be cemented between the two states which had so long been enemies. But, as many Frenchmen disliked everything about this alliance, she was unpopular and exposed to much malevolent criticism from the moment she set foot in France. She was beautiful, gracious, and vivacious. She possessed in large measure some of the very qualities the King so conspicu- ously lacked. She had a strong will, power of rapid decision, a spirit of initiative, daring. But she was lacking in wisdom, in breadth of judg- CORONATION OF LOUIS XVI 63 64 BEGINNINGS OF THE REVOLUTION ment; she did not understand the temperament of the French people or the spirit of the times. Born to the purple, her outlook upon life did not transcend that of the small and highly privileged class to which she belonged. She had grown up in Vienna, one of the gayest capitals of Europe, jjgj. Her education was woefully defective. When she came defective to France to become the wife of Louis XVI, she hardly knew how to write. She had had tutors in everything, but they had availed her little. She was willful and proud, unthinking and extravagant, intolerant of disagreeable facts, frivolous, impatient Her indiscre- ^^ ^^^ restraint, fond of pleasure, and of those who minis- tion and her tered unto it. She committed many indiscretions both in unpopu an y ^^^ conduct and in the kind of people she chose to have about her. Because of these she was grossly calumniated and misjudged. Marie Antoinette was the center of a group of rapacious people who benefited by existing abuses, who were opposed to all reform. Quite unconsciously she helped to aggravate the financial situation and thus to hasten the catastrophe. At the beginning of his reign Louis intrusted the management of finances to a man of rare ability and courage, Turgot. Turgot had been intendant of one of the poorest provinces of France. By controller applying there the principles of the most advanced econo- of ^^^^® mists, whicli may be summed up as demanding the utmost liberty for industry and trade, the abolition of all artificial restrictions and all minute and vexatious governmental regulations, he had made his province prosperous. He now had to face the problem of the large annual deficit. The continuance of annual deficits could mean nothing else than ultimate bankruptcy. Turgot announced his program to the King in the words, "No bankruptcy, no increase of taxation, Turgot's ^^^ more borrowing." He hoped to extricate the national " financial finances by two processes, by effecting economies in ex- ^"''^^ penditures, and by developing public wealth so that the receipts would be larger. The latter object would be achieved by intro- ducing the regime of liberty into agriculture, industry, and commerce. Turgot was easily able to save many millions by suppressing useless expenditures, but in so doing he offended all who enjoyed those sinecures, and they flew to arms. The trade in foodstuffs was hopelessly and dan- gerously hampered up by all sorts of artificial and pernicious legislation THE REFORMS OF TURCOT 65 M^ :' -.vS^^^g Marie Antoinette . From the engraving by Geile after the painting by Vigee le Brun. and interference by the state. All this he swept aside, introducing free trade in grain. A powerful class of speculators was thus xurgot's offended. He aboHshed the trade guilds, which restricted economic production by limiting the number of workers in each Une, and by guarding jealously the narrow, inelastic monopolies they had 66 BEGINNINGS OF THE REVOLUTION established. Their aboUtion was desirable, but all the masters of the guilds and corporations became his bitter enemies. Turgot abolished an odious tax, the royal corvee, which required the peasants to work without pay on the public roads. Instead, he provided that all such work should be paid for and that a tax to that end should be levied upon all landowners, whether belonging to the privileged or the unprivileged classes. The former were re- solved that this should not be, this odious equality of all be- fore the tax-collector. Thus His enemies all those who force his battened and fattened off the old system combined in mer- ciless opposition to Turgot and, reinforced by the parle- ments particularly, and by Marie Antoinette, they brought great pressure upon the King to dismiss the ob- noxious minister. Louis yielded to the vehement im- portunities of the Queen and dismissed the ablest supporter the throne had. Both monarchs were grievously at fault, the King for his lack of will, the Queen for her will- fulness. "M. Turgot and I are the only persons who love the people," said Louis XVI, but he did not prove his love by his acts. A few days earlier Turgot had written him, "Never forget, your Majesty, that it was weakness which brought Charles I to the block." This incident threw a flood of light upon the nature of the Old Regime. All reformers were given warning by the fall of Turgot. Ncckcr (^ -' *^ director of No changes that should affect the privileged classes! As the finances ^\^q national finances could be made sound only by reforms which would affect those classes, there was no way out. Reform was blocked. Necker, a Genevan banker, succeeded Turgot. Turcot After a pastel by Joseph Ducreux. CALONNE'S FINANCIAL POLICY 67 He was a man who had risen by his own efforts from poverty to great wealth. He, too, encountered opposition the instant he proposed econ- omies. He took a step which infuriated the members of the court. He pubHshed a financial report, showing the income and the expenditures of the state. This had never been done before, secrecy having hitherto prevailed in such mat- ters. The court was indignant that such high mysteries should be revealed to the masses, par- ticularly as the report showed just how much went annually in pensions to the courtiers, as free gifts for which they ren- dered no services whatever. For such unconscionable au- dacity Necker was overthrown, the King weakly yielding once more to pressure. This time the court took no chances, but secured a minister quite according to the heart's desire, in Calonne. No minis- ter of finance could be more agreeable. Calonne's purpose was to please, and please he did, for a while. The wand of Prospero was not more felic- itous in its enchantments. The members of the court had only to mal their wishes known to have them gratified. Calonne, a man of charm, of wit, of graceful address, had also a phi- losophy of the gentle art of spending which was highly appreciated by those about him. "A man who wishes to borrow must ^ , • 1 1 Calonne, appear to be rich, and to appear rich he must dazzle by controller spending freely." Money flowed like water during these ^f^^I^.^f,^ halcyon times. In three years, in a time of profound peace, Calonne borrowed nearly $300,000,000. It seemed too good to be true, and it was, by far. The evil days drew nigh for an accounting. It was found in August, 1786, that the treasury was empty and that there were no more fools willing to loan to the state. It was a rude awakening from a bhssful dream. But Calonne now Necker After the drawing by J. S. Duplessis. 68 BEGINNINGS OF THE REVOLUTION showed, what he had not shown before, some sense. He proposed a general tax which should fall upon the nobles as well as upon the com- moners. It was therefore his turn to meet the same opposition from the privileged classes which Turgot and Necker had met. He, too, was balked, and resigned. His successor, Lomenie de Brienne, encountered a similar fate. As there was nothing to do but to propose new taxes, he proposed them. The parlement of Paris immediately protested and demanded the con- vocation of the States-General, asserting the far-reaching principle that taxes can only be imposed by those who are to pay them. The King attempted to overawe the parlement, which, in turn, defied the King. All this, however, was no way to fill an empty treasury, of the Finally the government yielded and summoned the States- States- General to meet in Versailles on May i, 1789. A new chapter, of incalculable possibilities, was opened in the history of France. Necker was recalled to head the ministry, and preparations for the coming meeting were made. The States-General, or assembly representing the three estates of the realm, the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners, was an old institu- tion in France, but one that had never developed as had the parliament of England. The last meeting, indeed, had been held 175 years before. The institution might have been considered dead. Now, in a great national crisis, it was revived, in the hope that it might pull the state out of the deplorable situation into which the Bourbon The States- , , , , 1 • -r. 1 r- ^ 1 General a monarchy had plunged it. But the States-General was a feudal thoroughly feudal institution and France was tired of institution . . .. ^ . . . ^ , , feudalism, its organization no longer conformed to the wishes or needs of the nation. Previously each one of the three estates had had an equal number of delegates, and the delegates of each estate had met separately. It was a three-chambered body, with two of the chambers consisting entirely of the privileged classes. There was ob- jection to this now, since, with two against one, it left the nation exactly , , where it had been, in the power of the privileged classes. Method of ^, , , ' , . , i , • , voting in the They could veto anything that the third estate alone States- wanted; they could impose anything they chose upon the third estate, by their vote of two to one. In other words, if organized as hitherto, they could prevent all reform which in any way affected themselves, and yet such reform was an absolute necessity. Con- MEETING OF THE STATES-GENERAL 69 suited on this problem the parlemcnt of Paris pronounced in favor of the customary organization; in other words, itself a privileged body, it stood for privilege. The parlcment immediately became as unpopular as it had previously been popular, when opposing the monarch. Necker, now showing one of his chief characteristics which was to make him impossible as a leader in the new era, half settled the question and left it half unsettled. He, like the King, lacked the power of deci- sion. He was a banker, not a statesman. It was announced that the third estate should have as many members as the two ^, . . ^ The third other orders combined. Whether the three bodies should estate given still meet and vote separately was not decided, but was ^^^^^^ mem- " bership left undetermined. But of what avail would be the double membership of the third estate — representing more than nine-tenths of the population — unless all three met together, unless the vote was by individuals, not by chambers; by head, as the phrase ran, and not by order. In dodging this question Necker was merely showing his own incapacity for strong leadership and was laying up abundant trouble for the immediate future. The States-General met on May 5, 1789. There were about 1,200 members, of whom over 600 were members of the third estate. In realit\', however, that class of the population had a much _ ^ . , , ^ ^ . , , The opening larger representation as, 01 the 300 representatives elected of the states- by the clergy, over 200 were parish priests or monks, all p^neral, , . . , ■ , , May 5, 1789 commoners by origin and, to a considerable extent, in sym- pathy. Each of the three orders had elected its own members. At the same time the voters, and the vote was nearly universal, were asked to draw up a formal statement of their grievances and of the reforms they favored. Fifty or sixty thousand of these cahiers have jjjg cahiers come down to us and present a vivid and instructive criti- or memorials cism of the Old Regime, and a statement of the wishes of °^ grievances each order. On certain points there was practical unanimity on the part of clergy, nobles, and commoners. All ascribed the ills from which the country suffered to arbitrary, uncontrolled government, all talked of the necessity of confining the government within just limits by The cahiers establishing a conslitiition which should define the rights of express the the king and of the people, and which should henceforth be nation for a binding upon all. Such a constitution must guarantee in- constitution dividual liberty, the right to think and speak and write, — henceforth 70 BEGINNINGS OF THE REVOLUTION no lettres de cachet nor censorship. In the future the States-General should meet regularly at stated times, and should share the law-making power and alone should vote the taxes, and taxes should henceforth be paid by all. The clergy and nobility almost unanimously agreed in their cahiers to relinquish their exemptions, for which they had fought so reso- lutely only two years before. On the other hand, the third estate was willing to see the continuance of the nobility with its rights and honors. The third estate demanded the suppression of feudal dues. There was in their cahiers no hint of a desire for a violent revolution. They all ex- pressed a deep affection for the King, gratitude for his summoning of the States-General, faith that the worst was over, that now, in a union of all hearts, a way would easily be discovered out of the unhappy plight in j which the nation found itself. 1| An immense wave of hopefulness swept over the land. This opti- mism was based on the fact that the King, when consenting to call the States-General, had at the same time announced his accept- optimism ance of several important reforms, such as the periodical of the meeting of the States-General, its control of the national finances, and guarantees for the freedom of the individual. But the King's chief characteristic, as we have seen, was his feebleness of will, his vacillation. And from the day the deputies arrived in Versailles to the day of his violent overthrow this was a fatal factor in the history of the times. In his speech opening the States-General on May 5, the King said not a word about the thought that was in every one's mind, the making of a constitution. He merely announced that it had been called together to bring order into the distracted finances of the country. J The inde- Necker's speech was no more promising. The government, ' cision of the moreover, said nothing about whether the estates should vote ^^^ by order or by head. The crux of the whole matter lay there, for on the manner of organization and procedure depended entirely the outcome. The government did not come forward with any programme, even in details. It shirked its responsibility and lost its opportunity. A needless but very serious crisis was the result. The public was disappointed and apprehensive. Evidently the recent lib- over the eralism of the King had evaporated or he was under a pres- question of g^-g which he had no strength to withstand. A conflict between the orders began on May 6 which lasted until the end of June and which ended in embittering relations which at the out I MEETING OF THE STATES-GENERAL 71 72 BEGINNINGS OF THE REVOLUTION set had seemed likely to be cordial. Should the voting be by order or by member, should the assembly consist of three chambers or of one? The diflficulty arose in the need of verifying the credentials of the members. The nobles proceeded to verify as a separate chamber, by a vote of i88 to 47; the clergy did the same, but by a smaller majority, 133 to 114. Costumes of the Three Orders But the third estate refused to verify until it should be decided that the three orders were to meet together in one indivisible assembly. This was a matter of life or death with it, or at least of power or impotence. Both sides stood firm, the government allowed things to drift, angry passions began to develop. Until organized the States-General could do no business, and no organization could be effected until this crucial ques- tion was settled. Week after week went by and the dangerous deadlock continued. Verification in common -would mean the abandonment of the class system, voting by member and not by order, and the consequent preponderance of the third estate, which considered that it had the right to preponderate as rep- resenting over nine-tenths of the population. Fruitless at- tempts to win the two upper orders by inviting them to join the third estate were repeatedly made. Finally the third estate announced that Shall there be three chambers or only one? THE TENNIS COURT OATH 73 on June 1 1 it would begin verification and the other orders were invited for the last time. Then the parish priests began to come over, sym- pathizing with the commoners rather than with the privileged class of their own order. Finally on June 17 the third estate took the momentous step of declaring itself the National Assembly, a distinctly revolutionary proceeding. The King now, under pressure from the court, made a decision, highly unwise in itself and foolishly executed. When, on June 20, the members of the third estate went to their usual meeting place they found the entrance blocked by soldiers. They were told that there was to be a special royal session later and that the hall was closed in order that necessary arrangements might be made for it, a pretext as miserable as it was vain. What did this action mean? No one knew, but every one was apprehensive that it meant that the assembly itself, in which such earnest hopes had centered, was to be brought to an untimely end and the country plunged into greater misery than ever by the "failure of the great experiment. For a moment the members were dismayed and utterly distracted. Then, as by a common impulse, they rushed to a neighboring building in a side street, which served as a tennis court. There a memorable session occurred, in the large, unfinished hall. Lift- ing their president, the distinguished astronomer, Bailly, to a table, the members surged about him, ready, it seemed, for extreme measures. There they took the famous Tennis Court Oath. All the The Tennis deputies present, with one single exception, voted "never ^°^^^ O^th to separate, and to reassemble wherever circumstances shall require until the constitution of the kingdom shall be established." On the 23d occurred the royal session on which the privileged classes counted. The King pronounced the recent acts of the third estate illegal and unconstitutional, and declared that the three orders ^j^^ j.^ . should meet separately and verify their credentials. He session of rose and left the hall while outside the bugles sounded around his coach. The nobiUty, triumphant, withdrew from the hall; the clergy also. But in the center of the great chamber the third estate remained, in gloomy silence. This was one of the solemn, critical mo- ments of history. Suddenly the master of ceremonies advanced, resplen- dent in his official costume. "You have heard the King's orders," he said. "His Majesty requests the deputies of the third estate to with- draw." Behind the grand master, at the door, soldiers were seen. Were 74 BEGINNINGS OF THE REVOLUTION they there to clear the hall? The King had given his orders. To leave the hall meant abandonment of all that the third estate stood for; to remain meant disobedience to the express commands of the King and probably severe punishment. The occasion brought forth its man. Mirabeau, a noble whom his fellow nobles had refused to elect to the States- General and who had then been chosen by the third es- tate, now arose and advanced im- petuously and imperiously toward the master of ceremonies, de Breze, and with thunderous voice exclaimed, "Go tell your master that we are here by the will of the people and that we shall not leave except at the point of the bayo- ^ „ , net." Then on mo- Defiance of . p T, • 1 the King tion of Mirabeau it expressed by ^^S voted that all Mirabeau persons who should lay violent hands on any mem- bers of the National Assembly would be "infamous and traitors to the nation and guilty of capi- tal crime." De Breze reported the defiant eloquence to the King. All eyes were fixed upon the lat- ter. Not knowing what to do he made a motion indicating weariness, then said: "They wish to remain, do they? Well, let them." Two days later a majority of the clergy and a minority of the nobility came over to the Assembly. On June 27 the King commanded the no- The King bility and clergy to sit with the third estate in a single yields assembly. Thus the question was finally settled, which should have been settled before the first meeting in May. The National Assembly was now complete. It immediately appointed a committee on the constitution. The National Assembly, accomplished by this fusion of the three estates, adopted ^the title Constituent Assembly because of the character of the work it had to do. No sooner was this crisis over than another began to develop. A Mirabeau From an engraving by Fiesinger after a drawing by J. Guerin. -L THE TENNIS COURT OATH 76 BEGINNINGS OF THE REVOLUTION second attempt was made by the King, again inspired by the court, to suppress the Assembly or effectively to intimidate it, to regain the ground that had been lost. Considerable bodies of soldiers began to appear near Versailles and Paris. They were chiefly the foreign mer- . . cenaries, or the troops from frontier stations, supposedly ence of the less responsive to the popular emotions. On July 1 1 Necker Assembly ^j^^j ]^jg colleagues, favorable to reform, were suddenly dis- threatened . , f ' 1111 • missed and Necker was ordered to leave the country im- mediately. What could all this mean but that reaction and repression were coming and that things were to be put back where they had been? The Assembly was in great danger, yet it possessed no physical force. What could it do if troops were sent against it? The violent intervention of the city of Paris saved the day and gave the protection which the nation's representatives lacked, assuring Paris comes their continuance. The storming of the Bastille was an to the rescue incident which seized instantly the imagination of the world, and which was disfigured and transfigured by a mass of legends that sprang up on the very morrow of the event. The Bastille was a fortress commanding the eastern section of Paris. It was used as a state prison and had had many distinguished occupants, among others Voltaire and Mirabeau, thrown into it by lettres de cachet. It was an odious symbol of arbitrary government and it was also a strong fortress which these newly arriving troops might use. There was a large discon- tented and miserable class in Paris; also a lively band of radical or lib- eral men who were in favor of refor«i and were alarmed and indignant at every rumor that the Assembly on which such hopes were pinned was in danger. Paris was on the side of the Assembly, and when the news of the dismissal of Necker arrived it took fire. Rumors of the most alarm- ing character spread rapidly. Popular meetings w^ere addressed by im- promptu and impassioned orators. The people began to pillage the shops The storm- where arms were to be found. Finally they attacked the ing of the Bas- Bastille and after a confused and bloody battle of several tuie, July 14 ]^Qurs the fortress was in their hands. They had lost about 200 men, killed or wounded. The crowd savagely murdered the com- mander of the fortress and several of the Swiss Guard. Though char- acterized by these and other acts of barbarism, nevertheless the seizure of the Bastille was everywhere regarded in France and abroad as the triumph of liberty. Enthusiasm was widespread. The Fourteenth of THE STORMING OF THE BASTILLE 77 78 BEGINNINGS OF THE REVOLUTION July was declared the national holiday and a new flag, the tricolor, the red, white, and blue, was adopted in place of the old white banner of the Bourbons, studded with the fleur-de-lis. At the same time, quite spontaneously, Paris gave itself a new form of municipal government, superseding the old royal form, and organized a new military force, the National Guard, which was destined to become famous. Three days later Louis XVI came to the capital and formally ratified these changes. Meanwhile similar changes were made all over France. Municipal governments on an elective basis and national guards were created every- where in imitation of Paris. The movement extended to rural France. There the peasants, impatient that the Assembly had let two outbreaks months go by without suppressing the feudal dues, took against things into their own hands. They turned upon their op- feudalism pressors and made a violent "war upon the chateaux," de- stroying the records of feudal dues if they could find them or if the owners gave them up; if not, frequently burning the chateaux themselves in order to burn the odious documents. Day after day in the closing week of July, 1789, the destructive and incendiary process went on amid inev- itable excesses and disorders. In this method feudalism was abolished — not legally but practically. It remained to be seen what the effect of this victory of the people would be upon the National Assembly. Its effect was immediate and sensational. On the 4th of August, a committee on the state of the nation made a report, describing the inci- The night dents which were occurring throughout the length and session of breadth of the land, chateaux burning, unpopular tax- August collectors assaulted, millers hanged, lawlessness triumphant. It was night before the stupefying report was finished. Suddenly at eight o'clock in the evening, as the session was about to close, a noble- man, the Viscount of Noailles, rushed to the platform. The only reason, he said, why the people had devastated the chateaux was the heavy burden of the seignorial dues, odious reminders of feudalism. These must be swept away. He so moved and instantly another noble, the Duke d'Aiguillon, next to the King the greatest feudal lord in France, seconded the motion. A frenzy of generosity seized the Assembly. Privilege Noble vied with noble in the enthusiasm of renunciation.. laid low "Xhe Bishop of Nancy renounced the privileges of his order. Parish priests renounced their fees. Judges discarded their distinctions. Rights of chase, rights of tithes went by the board. Representatives THE SESSION OF AUGUST 4 79 8o BEGINNINGS OF THE RE\'OLUTION of the cities and provinces gave up their privileges, Brittany, Burgundy, Lorraine, Languedoc. A veritable delirium of joy- swept in wave after wave over the Assembly. All night long the excitement continued amid tears, embraces, rapturous applause, a very ecstasy of patriotic abandonment, and by eight in the morning thirty decrees, more or less, had been passed and the most extraordinary social revolution that any A social nation has known had been voted. The feudal dues were revolution dead. Tithes were abandoned; the guilds, with their narrow restrictions, were swept away; no longer were offices to be purchasable, but henceforth all Frenchmen were to be equally eligible to all public positions; justice was to be free; provinces and individuals were all to be on the same plane. Distinctions of class were abolished. The prin- ciple of equality was henceforth to be the basis of the state. Years later participants in this memorable session, in which a social revolution was accompHshed or at least promised, spoke of it with ex- Louis XVI citement and enthusiasm. The astonishing session was proclaimed closed with a Te Deum in the chapel of the royal palace, storer of" ^^ ^^^ suggestion of the Archbishop of Paris, and Louis French XVI, who had had no more to do with all this than you or ^^^^ I, was officially proclaimed by the Assembly the "Re- storer of French Liberty." Thus was the dead weight of an oppressive, unjust past lifted from the nation's shoulders. Grievances, centuries old, vanished into the night. That it needed time to work out all these tumultuous and rap- turous resolutions into clear and just laws was a fact ignored by the i people, who regarded them as real legislation, not as a programme merely sketched, to be filled in slowdy in detail. Hence when men awoke to the fact that not everything was what it seemed, that before the actual application of all these changes many adjustments must or should be made, there was some friction, some disappointment, some impatience. The clouds speedily gathered again. Because a number of nobles and bishops had in an outburst of generosity relinquished all their privileges, it was not at all certain that their action would be ratified by even the Reaction majority of their orders and it was indeed likely that the threatened contrary would prove true. The contagion might not ex- once moxe ^^^^ beyond the walls "of the assembly hall. And many even of those who had shared the fine enthusiasm of that stirring session might feel differently on the morrow. This proved to be the case, and THE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONISTS 8i soon Iwo parties appeared, sharply differentiated, the upholders of the revolution thus far accomplished and those who wished to undo it and to recover their lost advantages. The latter were called counter-revolu- tionaries. From this time on they were a factor, frequently highly sig- nificant, in the history of modern France. Although after the Fourteenth of July the more stiff-necked and angry of the courtiers, led by the Count of Artois, brother of the King, had left the country and had begun that "emigration" which was to do much to embroil France with Europe, yet many courtiers still remained and, with the powerful Renewed aid of Marie Antoinette, played upon the feeble monarch, intrigues of The Queen, victim of slanders and insults, was tempera- mentally and intellectually incapable of understanding or sympathizing with the reform movement. She stiffened under the attacks, her pride was fired, and she did what she could to turn back the tide, with results highly disastrous to herself and to the monarchy. Another feature of the situation was the subterranean intriguing, none the less real because difficult accurately to describe, of certain individuals who thought they had much to gain by troubling the waters, such as the Duke of Orleans, cousin of the King, immensely wealthy and equally unscrupulous, who nourished the scur\y ambition of overthrowing Louis XVI and of putting the House of Orleans in place of the House of Bourbon, intrigues of All through the Revolution we find such elements of per- the Duke of sonal ambition or malevolence, anxious to profit by foment- ing the general unrest. At every stage in this strange, eventful history we observe the mixture of the mean with the generous, the insincere with the candid, the h}^ocritical and the oblique with the honest and the patriotic. It was a web woven of mingled yarn. Such were some of the possible seeds of future trouble. In addition, increasing the general sense of anxiety and insecurity, was the fact that two months went by and yet the King did not ratify or r , , • 1 • , , • The attitude accept tlie decrees of August 4, which, without his accept- of Louis ance, lacked legal force. Certain articles of the constitu- ^^^ inspires alarm tion had been already drafted, and these, too, had not yet received the royal sanction. Was the King plotting something, or were the plotters about him getting control of him once more? The people lived in an atmosphere of suspicion; also thousands and thousands of them were on the point of starvation, and the terror of famine reinforced the terror of suspicion. 82 BEGINNINGS OF THE REVOLUTION Out of this wretched condition of discontent and alarm was borni another of the famous incidents of the Revolution. Early in October I Popular rumors reached Paris that at a banquet offered at Versailles j to some of the crack regiments which had been summoned 1 there the tricolor had been stamped upon, that threats had I been made against the Assembly, and that the Queen, by her presence, i had sanctioned these outrages. I suspicion aroused ^, X VJ\ ^)\\'^\ The March of the Women to Versailles, October 5, 1780 After an anonymous water-color. On October 5 several thousand women of the people, set in motion in some obscure way, started to march to Versailles, drawing cannon ^^ ^ with them. It was said they were going to demand the The inarch . . j a a of the reduction of the price of bread and at the same time to see women to ^^^^^ those who had insulted the national flag should be Versailles . '^ punished. They were followed by thousands of men, out of work, and by many doubtful characters. Lafayette, hastily gathering some of the Guards, started after them. That evening the motley and sinister crowd reached Versailles and bivouacked in the streets and in the vast court of the royal palace. All night long obscure preparations as for a battle went on. On the morning of the 6th the crowd forced the gates, killed several of the guards, and invaded the palace, even reaching the entrance to the Queen's apartments. The Queen fled to the apart- ments of the King for safety. The King finally appeared on a balcony, surrounded by members of his family, addressed the crowd, and promised THE GOVERNMENT REMOVED TO PARIS 83 84 BEGINNINGS OF THE REVOLUTION them food. The outcome of this extraordinary and humiliating day was The royal that the King was persuaded to leave the proud palace of family Versailles and go to Paris to live in the midst of his so- forced to . leave called subjects. At two o'clock the grim procession began. Versailles 'pj^g entire royal family, eight persons, packed into a single carriage, started for Paris, drawn at a walk, surrounded by the women, and by bandits who carried on pikes the heads of the guards who had been killed at the entrance to the palace. "We are bringing back the baker, and the baker's wife, and the baker's son!" shouted the women. At eleven o'clock that night Louis XVI was in the Tuileries. Ten days later the Assemb^ followed. The King and the Assembly were now under the daily supervision of the people of Paris. In reality ^, they were prisoners. Versailles was definitely abandoned. The govern- . . ment From this moment dates the great influence of the capital. removed to ^ single city was hence forth always inposition to dominate the Assembly. The people could easily bring their pressure to bear for they were admitted to the thousand or more seats in the gallery of the Assembly's hall of meeting and they considered that they had the freedom of the place, hissing unpopular speakers, vociferating their wishes. Those who could not get in congregated outside, arguing violently the measures that were being discussed within. Now and then some one would announce to them from the windows how matters were proceeding in the hall. Shouts of approval or disapproval thus reached the members from the vehement audience outside. REFERENCES Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette: Lowell, The Eve of the French Revolution, pp. 11-24. Turcot: Say, Turgot, Chaps. V-VII; Morley, Miscellanies, Vol. II, pp. 41-57; 111-162; Lowell, pp. 235-238; Robinson, Readings in European History, Vol. II, pp. 386-391. Attempts at Reform: Mathews, The French Revolution, pp. 91-110. Summoning of the States-General: Mathews, pp. 111-118; Stephens, History of the French Revolution, Vol. I, Chap. I; Bourne, The Revolutionary Period in Europe, pp. 88-92; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. Ylll,^^.96-n2>. j The Cahiers: Lowell, Chap. XXI; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. VIII, pp. 159-169; Robinson and Beard, Readings in Modern European History, Vol. I, pp. 248- 251; University of Pennsylvania, Translations and Reprints, Vol. IV, pp. 24-36. Meeting of the States-General: Mathews, pp. 111-124; Stephens, Vol. I, REFERENCES 85 pp. 55-67; MacLehose, From the Monarchy to the Republic, Chaps. IV-VI; Cambridge ['Modern History, Vol. VIII, pp. 145-158; .\nderson, Constitutions and Documents, iiNos. 1 and 2. The Fall of the Bastille: Mathews, pp. 125-137; Stephens, Vol. I, pp. 128- (l45; MacLehose, Chap. VIII; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. VIII, pp. 159-169. The Fourth of August: Mathews, pp. 138-144; Anderson, No. 4; Acton, Lec- tures on the French Revolution, pp. 94-102; Bourne, pp. 100-103. The Fifth and Sixth of October: Mathews, pp. 144-149; Stephens, Vol. I, ■pp. 219-228; MacLehose, Chaps. XI and XII; Bourne, pp. 104-106. CHAPTER IV THE MAKING OF THE CONSTITUTION The States-General which met in May, 1789, had in June adopted the name National Assembly. This body is also known as the Con- stituent Assembly, as its chief work was the making of a The Decla- . ' • .^ . ration of the constitution. It had begun work upon the constitution Rights of Avhile still in Versailles and the first fruit of its labors was the Declaration of the Rights of Man, a statement of the rights which belong to men because they are human beings, which are not the gift of any gov- ernment. The Declara- tion was drawn up in imitation of American usage. Lafayette, a hero of the American Revolu- tion, and now a prominent figure in the French, brought forward a draft of a declaration just be- fore the storming of the Bastille. He urged two chief reasons for its adop- tion; first it would pre- sent the people with a clear Proposed by Conception of Lafayette ^^g elements of liberty, which, once understanding, they would insist upon possessing; and, secondly, it would be an invaluable guide for the Assembly in its work of elaborating the constitution. All proposi- tions could be tested by comparison with its carefully defined principles. It would be a guarantee against mistakes or errors by the Assembly 86 Lafayette From an engraving by Lavachez, after Duplessis-Berfaux DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MAN 87 itself. Another oralor paid a tribute to America, explaining why "the noble idea of this declaration, conceived in another hemi- ^ . Discussion sphere" ought to be transplanted to France. Opponents ot concerning the proposal declared it useless and harmful because *^^ Deciara- ^ ^ . tion bound to distract the members from important labors, as tending to waste time on doubtful generalizations, as leading to hair- splitting and endless debate, when the Assembly's attention ought to be focused on the pressing problems of legislation and administration. The Assembly took the side of Lafayette and, after intermittent discussion, composed the notable document in August, 1789. As a result of the events of October 5, described above, the King accepted it. The Decla- ration, which has been called "the most remarkable fact in the history of the growth of democratic and republican ideas" in France, as ''the gos- pel of modern times," was not the work of any single mind, nor of any committee or group of leaders. Its collabora- ration a tors were very numerous. The political discussions of the composite product eighteenth century furnished many of the ideas and even sDme of the. phrases. English and American example counted for much. The necessities of the national situation were factors of importance. The National Assemlily has often been severely criticised for devoting time, in a period of crisis, to a Declaration which the critics in the same breath pronounce a tissue of abstractions, of doubtful philosophical theories, topics for everlasting discussion. "A tourney Necessity of of metaphysical speculations" is what one writer calls it. the Decia- But a study of the situation shows that the idea of a dec- ^^ °° laration and the idea of a constitution were indissolubly connected. The one was essential to the other in a country which had no historic princi- ples of freedom. French liberty could not from the nature of the case, like English liberty, slowly broaden down from precedent to precedent. It must begin abruptly and with a distinct formulation. After the enunci- ation of the principles would naturally come their conversion into fact. The Declaration of the Rights of Man laid down the principles of modern governments. The men who drew up that document believed these principles to be universally true and ever^^vhere applicable. They did not estabhsh rights — they merely declared them. Frenchmen well knew that they were composing a purely dogmatic text. But that such a text was extremely useful they believed. And the reason why they believed this was that they had a profound faith in the power of truth, of 88 THE MAKING OF THE CONSTITUTION reason. This was, as Michelet pointed out long ago, the essential orig- inality of the Constituent Assembly, this "singular faith in the power of ideas," this firm belief that "once formed and formulated in law the truth was invincible." These political dogmas seemed to the members of the Assembly so true that they thought they had only to proclaim them to insure their efficiency in the actual conduct of governments. These men believed that they were inaugurating a new phase in the history of humanity, that, by solemnly formulating the creed of the future, they Importance were rendering an inestimable service, not to France alone attached but to the world. Though America had set an example, laration by' ^^ ^'^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ France could "perfect" it for the other the National hemisphere and that the new declaration might perhaps ssem y have the advantage over the other of making "a loftier appeal to reason and of clothing her in a purer language." The seventeen articles of this creed asserted that men are free and equal, that the people are sovereign, that law is an expression of the Contents of popular will, and that in the making of it the people may the Declara- participate, either directly, or indirectly through their rep- ^°°^ resentatives, and that all officials possess only that author- ity which has been definitely given them by law. All those liberties of the person, of free speech, free assembly, justice administered by one's peers, which had been worked out in England and America were asserted. These principles were the opposite of those of the Old Regime. If in- corporated in laws and institutions they meant the permanent aboHtion of that system. As a matter of fact the expectation that the Declaration would con- stitute a new" evangel for the world has not proved so great an exaggera- tion as the optimism of its authors and the pessimism of its critics would prompt one to think. When men wish anywhere to recall the rights of man it is this French document that they have in mind. The Declara- tion long ago passed beyond the frontiers of France. It has been studied, copied, or denounced nearly everywhere. It has been an Widespread r ' j ^ j influence of indisputable factor in the political and social evolution of the Dec- modern Europe. During the past century, whenever a laration . . i ti • ^ ^ • ■ ■ ^ • nation has aspired to liberty, it has sought its principles in the Declaration. "It has found there," says a recent writer, "five or six formulas as trenchant as mathematical propositions, true as the truth itself, intoxicating as a vision of the absolute." FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF THE CONSTITUTION 89 The Declaration was, of course, only an ideal, a goal toward which :iety should aim, not a fulfilment. It was a Ust of principles, not the dization of those principles. It was a declaration of rights, not a guar- tee of rights. The problem of how to guarantee what was so suc- ictly declared has filled more than a century of French history, and is 11 incompletely solved. We shall now see how far the Assembly dch drafted this Declaration was wilhng or able to go in applying its nciples in the constitution, of which it was the preamble. The constitution was only slowly elaborated. Some of its more idamental articles were adopted in 1789. But numerous laws were 3sed in 1790 and 1791, which were really parts of the The new istitution. Thus it grew piece by piece. Finally all this Constitution ;islation was revised, retouched, and codified into a single document, dch was accepted by the King in 1791. Though sometimes called i Constitution of 1789, it is more generally and more correctly known the Constitution of 1791. It was the, first written constitution France d ev£r had. Framed under very different conditions from those under lich the constitution of the United States had been framed only a dvt time before, it resembled the work of the Philadelphia Convention that it was conspicuously the product of the spirit of compromise, ith the exception of the vigorous assertions of the Declaration of the ghts of Man, which was prefixed to it, the document was marked as great a moderation as was consistent with the comprehensive anges that were demanded by the overwhelming public opinion, as ^resented in the cahiers. It is permeated through and ^j^^ f^nda- rough with two principles, the sovereignty of the people, mental governmental powers issuing from their consent and will, p"'^"^ ®^ d the separation of the powers sharply from each other, of the ex- utive, the legislative, and the judicial branches, a division greatly iphasized by Montesquieu as the sole method of insuring liberty. The form of government was to be monarchical. This was in conform- r with the wishes of the people as expressed in the cahiers, and with the jHngs of the Constituent Assembly. But whereas form- _ , ,. , ° . -^ Establishes [y the king had been an absolute, henceforth he was to be a constitu- limited, a constitutional ruler. Indicative of the pro- *'*"^^^ ™°"" archy und difference between these two conceptions, his former le. King of France and of Navarre, now gave way to that of King the French. Whereas formerly he had taken what he chose out of 90 THE MAKING OF THE CONSTITUTION the national treasury for his personal use, now he was to receive a salary or civil list of the definite amount — and no more — of 25,000,000 francs. He was to appoint the ministers or heads of the cabinet departments, The powers but he was forbidden to select members of the legislature of the King fQj- such positions. The English system of parliamentary government was deliberately avoided because it was believed to be vicious in that ministers could bribe or influence the members of Par- liament to do their will, which might not at all be the will of the people. Ministers were not even to be permitted to come before the legislature to defend or explain their policies. A departure from the principle of the separation of powers, in general so closely followed, was shown in the granting of the veto power to the king. The king, who had hitherto made the laws, was now deprived of the law-making power, but he could prevent the immediate enforce- ment of an act passed by the legislature. There was much discussion The question Over this subject in the Assembly. Some were opposed to of the veto g^j^y ^[^id of a veto; others wanted one that should be ab- solute and final. The Assembly compromised and granted the king a suspensive veto, that is, he might prevent the application of a law voted by two successive legislatures, namely, for a possible period of four years. If the third legislature should indicate its approval of the law in question, then it was to be put into operation whether the king assented or not. The king was to retain the conduct of foreign affairs. He was to appoint and receive ambassadors, was to be the head of the navy and army, and was to appoint to higher offices. The Assembly at first thought of leaving him the right to make peace and war, then, fear- ing that he might drag the nation into a war for personal or dynastic and not national purposes, it decided that he might propose peace or war, but that the legislature should decide upon it. The legislative power was given by the Constitution of 1791 to a single assembly of 745 members, to be elected for a term of two years. Several of the deputies desired a legislature of two chambers. The consti- ,.,, ,rT-,i i» • t^ 1 tution and cited the example of England and America. But the creates a second chamber in England was the House of Lords, and Legislature . the French, who had abolished the nobility, had no desire to establish an hereditary chamber. Moreover the English system was based on the principle of inequality. The French were founding their CITIZENS DIVIDED INTO TWO CLASSES 91 new system upon the principle of equality. Even among the nobles themselves there was opposition to a second chamber — the provincial nobility fearing that only the court nobles would be members of it. On the other hand, the Senate of the United States was a concession to the states-rights feeling, a feeling which the French wished The Legis- to destroy by aboUshing the provinces and the local pro- Mature to vincial patriotism, by thoroughly unifying France. Thus single the plan of dividing the legislature into two chambers was cliamber deliberately rejected, for what seemed good and sufficient reasons. How was this legislature to be chosen? Here we find a decided departure from the spirit and the letter of the Declaration, which had asserted that all men are equal in rights. Did not this mean uni- versal suffrage? Such at least was not the opinion of the Constituent Assemblv, which now made a distinction between citizens, ^. . " . 1 • J 1 Citizens declaring some active, some passive. To be considered an active and active citizen one must be at least twenty-five vears of age citizens . , "^ passive and must pay annually in direct taxes the equivalent of three days' wages. This excluded the poor from this class, and the number was large. It has been estimated that there were somewhat over 4,000,000 active citizens and about 3,000,000 passive. The active citizens alone had the right to vote. But even they did not vote directly for the members of the legislature. They chose electors at the ratio of one for every 100 active citizens. These electors must meet a much higher property qualification, the equivalent of from 1 50 to 200 days' wages in direct taxes. As a matter lature elected of fact this resulted in rendering eligible as electors only "^directly by . •'the voters about 43,000 individuals. These electors chose the mem- bers of the legislature, the deputies. They also chose the judges under the new system. Thus the Constituent Assembly, so zealous in abolish- ing old privileges, was, in defiance of its own principles, establishing new ones. Political rights in the new state were made the monopoly of those who possessed a certain amount of property. There was no property qualification required for deputies. Any active citizen was eUgible, but as the deputies w^ere elected by the propertied men, they would in all probability choose only propertied men — the electors would choose from their own class. The judicial power was completely revolutionized. Hitherto judges had bought their positions, which carried with them titles and prix-ileges 92 THE MAKING OF THE COXSTITUTIOX and which they might pass on to their sons. Henceforth all judges, An elective of whatever rank in the hierarchy, were to be elected by the judiciary electors described above. Their terms were to range from two to four years. The jury, something hitherto absolutely unknown to modem France, was now introduced for criminal cases. Hitherto the judge had decided all cases. For purposes of administration and local government a new system was estabhshed. The old thirty-two pro\-inces were abolished and France France was divided into eighty-three departments of nearly divided into uniform size. The departments were di\-ided into arron- epartments (Jigsements, these into cantons, and these into municipaU- ties or communes. These are terms which have ever since been in vogue. France, from being a highly centralized state, became one highly decentralized. WTiereas formerly the central government was repre- France de- sented in each pro\-ince by its own agents or ofl5ce-holders, centraHzed ^]^g intendants and their subordinates, in the departments of the future the central government was to have no representatives. The electors, described above, were to choose the local departmental officials. It would be the business of these officials to carry out the de- crees of the central government. But what if they should disobey? The central government would have no control over them, as it would not appoint them and could neither remove nor discipline them. The Constitution of 1791 represented an improvement in French government; yet it did not work weU and did not last long. As a ffi-st Defects of experiment in the art of seh-government it had its value, but the Con- it revealed inexperience and poor judgment in several stitution points which prepared trouble for the future. The execu- tive and the legislature were so sharply separated that communication between them was difficult and suspicion was consequently easily fostered. The king might not select his ministers from the legislature, he might not, in case of a difference of opinion with the legislature, dissolve the latter, as the Enghsh king could do, thus allowing the voters to decide between them. The king's veto was not a weapon strong enough to pro- tect him from the attacks of the legislature, yet it was enough to irritate the legislature, if used. The distinction between active and passive citi- zens was in plain and flagrant defiance of the Declaration of the Rights of Man, and inex-itably created a discontented class. The administrative T -'^' •^' L A X D -=?' '^J SEINE K ^ K^Uii^M^*"^ ' INFERIEURE .' --. y'^ '^'^:t^u^' ■^^^f"'"' COTES Du/i ^. . ;, r«*«j«>; .^;„-,— .'Ti^? ^ ' "nj^V " '^^ V-— ^-N - J E T ^' Auxjm '^ ' YON~N E •^"V- DOM E '% ,. '. — y v^-^'V-Tv '^ ■HAUTE IfifRE. CANTAL TXpS; J VLOZEREVi if _jftA>rfRON >^\ ^-J- "^'^ , —^i^'- — ■'-1 G E R y '"^Y"'^ -xj T . BAs1K>ei•^Nj^^-.-»E,v^^ -;? frRENEES^T^^be^-^^^^r"^"^ *^U.^ ."HAUTESfcr^* ' l . i A ^, ^-V JWENEES _." .„,S:^: , .4j sTt-rj-' Toulon "^ -I in ^ M£I}JTE R R A SEAiS' 5 ^ -^ FRANCE BV DEPARTMENTS SCALE OF MRXS THE NATIONAL FINANCES 93 decentralization was so complete that the efficiency of the national gov- ernment was gone. France was split up into eighty-three weakness of fragments and the coordination of all these units, their the central direction toward great national ends in response to the will sovernmen of the nation as a whole, was rendered extremely difficult, and in certain crises impossible. The work of reform carried out by the Constituent Assembly was on an enormous scale, immensely more extensive than that of our Federal Convention. We search history in vain for any compan- The work of ion piece. It is unique. Its destructive work proved dur- Constituent • ir- • Assembly able and most important. Much of its constructive work, very ex- however, proved very fragile. Mirabeau expressed his t^i^sive opinion in saying that "The disorganization of the kingdom could not be better worked out." There were other dangerous features of the situation which inspired alarm and seemed to keep open and to embitter the relations of various classes and to foster opportunities for the discontented and , . . . ' . . Its legisla- the ambitious. The legislation concerning the Church tion con- proved highly divisive in its effects. It began with the kerning the r ■ r ■ ■ . , . , Church connscation 01 its property; it was continued in the attempt profoundly to alter its organization. The States-General had been summoned to provide for the finances of the country. As the problem grew daily more pressing, as various attempts to meet it proved futile, as bankruptcy was imminent, the Assembly finally decided to sell for the state the vast properties of the Church. The argument was that the Church was not the owner but was merely the administrator, enjoying only the use of the vast wealth which had been bestowed upon it by the faithful, but bestowed for public, national purposes, namely, the maintenance of houses of wor- ship, schools, hospitals; and that if the state would otherwise provide for the carrying out of the intentions of these numerous benefactors, it might apply the property, which was the property of the nation, not of the Church as a corporation, to whatever uses it might see -pj^g ^J^^^g fit. Acting on this theory a decree was passed by the of the Assembly declaring these lands national. They constituted ^^'^l'^ ^^' perhaps a fourth or a fifth of the territory of France and national represented immense wealth, amply sufficient, it was be- P''°P®'^y lieved, to set the public finances right. 94 THE MAKING OF THE COXSTITUTIOX i bene 6od As si gnat de^inqpuante-sols, payuble^-aio — -porteur. But such property could only be used if converted into money and that would be a slow process, running through years. The expedient was The assignats ^CN-ised of issuing paper money, as the goverimient needed or paper it, against this property as security. This paper money ™°°®^ bore the name of assignats. Persons recei\-ing such assigna could not demand gold for them, as in the case of most of our papr money, but could u^c them in bupng these lands. There was value, therefore, behind these paper emissions. The danger in the use of paper money, however, always is the incUnation, so easy to \-ield to, to issue far more paper than the value of the property behind it. This proved a temptation which the revolutionary^ assembhes did not have strength of mind or ^^'ill to resist. At first the assignats were issued in limited quantities as the state needed the money, and the pubHc willingly accepted them. But later larger and larger emissions were made, far out of proportion to the value of the national domains. This meant the rapid depreciation of the paper. People would not accept it at its face value, as they had at first been wiUing to do. The value of the Church property was esti- mated in 1789 as 4,000,000,000 francs. Between 1789 and 1796 over 45,000,000,000 of assignats were issued. In 1789 an assignat of 100 francs was accepted for 100 francs in coin. But by 1791 it had sunk from par to 82, and by 1796 to less than a franc. This was neither an honest nor an efiEective solution of the perplexing financial problem. It was evasion, it was in its essence re- pudiation. The Constituent Assembly did nothing toward solving the problem that had occasioned its meeting. It left the national finances in a worse welter than it had found them in. .\n Assigxat Redrawn from a photograph. Rapid depreciation of the assignats The Con- stituent As- sembly faUs to solve the financial problem REORG.\XIZATIOX OF THE CHURCH 95 Another piece of legislation concerning the Church, much more seri- ous in its effects upon the cause of reform, was the Ci\dl Constitution of the Clerg\'. By act of the Assembly the number of dioceses was reduced from 134 to 83, one for each department. The bishops and priests were henceforth to be elected by the same persons who elected ^j^^ q^^^ the departmental officials. Once elected, the bishops were Constitution to announce the fact to the Pope who was not to have the ° ^ ^^^ right to approve or disapprove but merely to confirm. He was, then, to recognize them. If he refused, the ordinary courts could be invoked. The clergv were to receive salaries from the state, were, in other words to become state officials. The income of most of the bishops would be greatlv reduced, that of the parish priests, on the other hand, would be considerably increased. This law was not acceptable to sincere Cathohcs, since it altered by act of pohticians an organization that had hitherto been controlled abso- lutely from within. Bishops and priests were to be elected opposition like other officials — that is Protestants, Jews, free think- to this Civil . , . . ^ . 1 . ^, ,. • r *• Constitution ers might participate in choosing the reugious function- aries of the CathoUc Church. Judges, who might, perhaps, be infidels, might yet play a decisive part. The Pope was practically ignored. His nominal headship was not questioned. His real power was largely destroved. He would be informed of what was happening; his approval would not be necessary. The Assembly voted that all clergy-men must take an oath to support this Civil Constitution of the Clerg\'. Only four of the 134 bishops con- sented to do so. Perhaps a third of the parish priests con- ReUgious sented. Those who consented were called the juring, those <^scord who refused, the non-juring or refractory- clergy. In due time elections were held as provided by the law and those elected were called the con- stitutional clerg}-. France w-itnessed the spectacle of two bodies of priests, one non-juring, chosen in the old way, the other elected by the voters indirectly. The scandal was great and the danger appalling, for reU- gious discord was introduced into even>^ city and hamlet. Faith sup- ported the one body, the state supported the other — and the state embarked upon a long, gloomy, and unsuccessful struggle to impose its will in a sphere where it did not belong. Most fatal were the consequences. One was that it made the posi- tion of Louis XM;, a sincere CathoHc, far more difficult and exposed 96 THE MAKING OF THE CONSTITUTION him to the charge of being an enemy of the Revolution, if he hesitated in his support of measures which he could not and did not approve. Another was that it provoked in various sections, notably in Vendee, The non- ^^^ most passionate civil war France had ever known. juring clergy Multitudes of the lower clergy, who had favored and greatly ecome helped the Revolution so far, now turned against it for con- enemies 01 ^ 7 o the science' sake. We cannot trace in detail this lamentable Revolution chapter of history. Suffice it to ss^y that the Constituent Assembly made no greater or more pernicious mistake. The Church had, as the issue proved, immense spiritual influence over the peasants, the | vast bulk of the population. Henceforth there was a divided allegiance — allegiance to the State, allegiance to the Church. Men had to make an agonizing choice. The small counter-revolutionary party of the nobles, hitherto a staff of officers without an army, was now reinforced The counter- by thousands and millions of recruits, prepared to face any revolutionary sacrifices. And worldly intriguers could draw on this fund mensely of piety for purposes which were anything but pious. The augmented j^gg^i- generated by politics is sufficient. There was no need of increasing the temperature by adding the heat of religious controversy. French Revolution or eternal damnation, such was the hard choice placed before the devout. "I would rather be King of Metz than remain King of France in such a position," said Louis XVI, as he signed the decree requiring an oath to Lamentable ^^^ ^^"^'^^ Constitution of the Clergy, "but this will end effect upon soon." The meaning of which remark was that the King Loms XVI ^^,^g ^^^^ through with his scruples, that he was resolved to call the monarchs of Europe to his aid, that he was determined to escape from this coil of untoward events which was binding him tighter and tighter, threatening soon to strangle him completely. The idea of a Shall the royal flight was not new. Marie Antoinette had thought King flee? Qf [^ ^Q^g before. Mirabeau had counseled it under certain conditions which, however, were no longer possible. The nobles who had fled from France, some of them after the fall of the Bastille, more of them after the war upon the chateaux, hung upon the fringes of the kingdom, in Belgium, in Piedmont, and particularly in the petty Ger- man states that lined the fabled banks of the Rhine, eager to have the King come to them, eager to embroil Europe with France, that thus they might return to Paris with the armies that would surely be easily THE FLIGHT TO \ ARENNES 97 victorious, and set back the clock to where it stood in 1789, incidentally celebrating that happy occurrence by miscellaneous punishment of all the notable revolutionists, so that henceforth imaginative spirits would hesi- tate before again laying impious hands upon the Lord's anointed, upon kings by divine right, upon nobles reposing upon rights no less sacred, upon the holy clergy.' The Count of Artois, the proud and empty-headed brother of the King, one of the first to emi- party plots grate, had said: "We shall return within three months." vengeance ■ ° and treason As a matter of fact he was to return only after twenty- three years, a considerable miscalculation, pardonable, no doubt, in that extraordinary age in which every one miscalculated. Louis XVI, wounded in his conscience, now planned to escape from Paris, to go to the eastern part of France, where there were French troops on which he thought he could rely. Then, surrounded by faithful ad- herents, he could reassume the kingly role and come back to Paris, master of the situation. The Tuileries After an engraving by J. Rigaud. Disguised as a valet the King, accompanied by the Queen, disguised 3,8 a Russian lady, escaped from the Tuileries in the* night of June 20, 1791, in a clumsy coach. All the ne.xt day they rolled over the white highways of Champagne under a terrible sun, reaching at The flight about midnight the little village of Varennes, not far from *° Varennes the frontier. There they were recognized and arrested. The National 98 THE MAKING OF THE CONSTITUTION EFFECT OF THE KING'S FLIGHT 99 Assembly sent three commissioners to bring them back. The return was for these two descendants of long lines of kings a veritable ascent of Calvary. Outrages, insults, jokes, ignominies of every kind were hurled at them by the crowds that thronged about them in the villages through which they passed — a journey without rest, uninterrupted, under the annihilating heat, the suffocating dust of June. Reaching Paris they were no longer overwhelmed with insults, but were received in glacial silence by enormous throngs who stood with hats on, as the royal coach passed by. The King was impassive but "our poor Queen," so wrote a friend, "bowed her head almost to her knees." Rows of National Guards stood, arms grounded, as at funerals. At seven o'clock that night they were in the Tuileries once more. Marie Antoinette had in these few days of horror grown twenty years older. Her hair had turned quite white, "like the hair of a woman of seventy." The consequences of this woeful misadventure were extremely grave. Louis XVI had shown his real feelings. The fidelity of his people to him was not entirely destroyed but was irremediably shaken. They no longer believed in the sincerity of his utterances, his oaths £^5^^ of to support the Constitution. The Queen was visited with the King's contumely, being regarded as the arch-conspirator. The ^^ throne was undermined. A republican party appeared. Before this no one had considered a republic possible in so large a country as France. Republics were for small states like those of ancient Greece or medieval Italy. Even the most violent revolutionists, Robespierre, Danton, Marat, were, up to this "time, monarchists. Now, however, France had a little object lesson. During the absence of the King, the government of the Assembly continued to work normally. In the period following, during which Louis XVI was suspended from the exercise creates a of his powers, government went on without damage to the republican state. A king was evidently not indispensable. It has ^^^ ^ been correctly stated that the flight to Varennes created the republican party in France, a party that has had an eventful history since then, and has finally, after many vicissitudes, established its regime. But this repubUcan party was very small. The very idea of a republic frightened the Constituent Assembly, even after the revelation of the faithlessness of the King. Consequently, in a revulsion of feel- ing, the Assembly, after a little, restored Louis XVI to his position, finished the Constitution, accepted his oath to support it, and on loo THE MAKING OF THE CONSTITUTION September 30, 1791, this memorable body declared its mission fulfilled and its career at an end. The National Assembly before adjournment committed a final and unnecessary mistake. In a mood of fatal disinterestedness it voted that A self- none of its members should be eligible to the next legisla- denying ture or to the ministry. Thus the experience of the past two years was thrown away and the new constitution was intrusted to hands entirely different from those that had fashioned it. REFERENCES The Declaration of the Rights of Man: Acton, Lectures on the French Revo- lution, pp. 102-108; Aulard, The French Revolution, Vol. I, pp. 145-160; Robinson and Beard, Readings in Modern European History, Vol. I, pp. 259-262; Anderson, Constitutions and Documents, pp. 58-60. The Making of the Constitution: Mathews, The French Revolution, pp. 150- 165; Bourne, The Revolutionary Period in Europe, Chap. VIII; Anderson, No. 15. The Finances and the Civil Constitution or the Clergy: Bourne, Chap. IX; Acton, pp. 164-173; Stephens, History of the French Revolution, Vol. I, Chap. X; Robinson and Beard, Vol. I, pp. 273-277. The Flight to Varennes: Bourne, pp. 143-146; Mathews, pp. 176-179; Acton, pp. 174-192; Stephens, Vol. I, pp. 434-461. CHAPTER V THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY The Constitution was now to be put into force. France was to make the experiment of a constitutional monarchy in place of the old absolute monarchy, gone forever. In accordance with the provi- _. , . ^ ' , 1 1-1 1 *^ ^ The Legis- sions of the document a legislature was now chosen. Its lative As- first session was held October i, i7qi. Elected for a two- sembly 1-1 (October 1, year term, it served for less than a single year. Expected 1791-Sep- to inaugurate an era of prosperity and happiness by apply- \^J^^^^ ^^' • • 1 r • • r 1792) ing the new principles of government in a time of peace, to consolidate the monarchy on its new basis, it was destined to a stormy life and to witness the fall of the monarchy in irreparable ruin. A few days before it met Paris, adept, as always, in the art of observing fit- tingly great national occasions, had celebrated "the end of the Revolu- tion." The Old Regime was buried. The new one was now to be installed. But the Revolution had not ended. Instead, it shortly entered upon a far more critical state. The reasons for this unhappy turn were grave and numerous. They were inherent in the situation, both in France and in Europe. Would the King frankly accept his new position, with no mental reservations, with no secret determinations, honestly, en- tirely? If so, and if he would by his conduct convince his people of his loyalty to his word, of his intention to rule as a constitutional monarch, to abide by the reforms thus far accomplished, with no thought of up- setting the new system, then there was an excellent chance The Legis- that the future would be one of peaceful development, for l^tive As- T- 1 11 1 • 1 • T • • r 1- sembly favor- r ranee was thoroughly monarchical in tradition, in feeling, able to the and in conviction. The Legislative Assembly was as monar- monarchy chical in its sentiments as the Constituent had been. But if the King's conduct should arouse the suspicion that he was intriguing to restore the Old Regime, that his oaths were insincere, then the people would turn against him and the experiment of a constitutional monarchy would be I02 THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY hazarded. France had no desire to be a repubhc, but it had a fixed and resolute aversion to the Old Regime. Inevitably, since the flight to Varennes, suspicion of Louis XVI was widespread. The suspicion was not dissipated by wise conduct on his part, but was increased in the following months to such a pitch that the Growing revolutionary fever had no chance to subside but necessarily distrust of mounted steadily. The King's views were inevitably col- ored by his hereditary pretensions. Moreover, as we have seen, the religious question had been injected into the Revolution in so acute a form that his conscience as a Catholic was outraged. It was | this that strained to the breaking point the relations of the Legislative Assembly and Louis XVI. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy gave Rebellion in rise to a bitter and distressing civil war. In the great the Vendee province of Vendee several thousand peasants, led by the refractory or non-juring priests, rose against the elected, constitutional priests and drove them out of the pulpits and churches. When the National Guards were sent among them to enforce the law they flew to arms against them, and civil war began. The Assembly forthwith passed a decree against the refractory priests, which only made a bad matter worse. They were required to ^ take the oath to the Civil Constitution within a week. Decree against the If they refused they would be considered ''suspicious" char- non-juring acters, their pensions would be suppressed, and they would be subject to the watchful and hostile surveillance of the government. Louis XVI vetoed this decree, legitimately using the power given him by the Constitution. This veto, accompanied by others, offended pubHc opinion, and weakened the King's hold upon Louis XVI France. It would have been better for Louis had he vetoes this never been given the veto power, since every exercise of ^^^^^ it placed him in opposition to the Assembly and inflamed party passions. The other decrees w^hich he vetoed concerned the royal princes and the nobles who had emigrated from France, either because they no longer felt safe there, or because they thought that by going to foreign countries they might induce their rulers to intervene in French affairs and restore the Old Regime. This was wanton playing with fire. For the effect on France might be the very opposite of that intended. It might so heighten and exasperate popular feeling that the monarchy DECLARATION OF PILLXITZ 103 would be in greater danger than if left alone. This emigration, mostly of the privileged classes, had begun on the morrow of the storming of the Bastille. The Count d'Artois, younger brother of Louis X\T, had left France on July 15, 1789'. The emigration became important in 1790, after the decree abolishing all titles of nobility, a decree The royalist that deeply wounded the pride of the nobles, and it was e°"graiion accelerated in 1791, after the flight to Varennes and the suspension of the King. It was later augmented by great numbers of non-juring priests an,d of bourgeois, who put their fidelity to the Catholic Church above their patriotism. It has been estimated that during the Revolution a hundred and fifty thousand people left France in this way. Many of them went to the little German states on the eastern frontier. There they formed an army of perhaps 20,000 men. The Count of Provence, elder brother of Louis XVI, was the titular leader and claimed that he was the Regent of France on the ground that Louis X\ I was virtually a prisoner. The emigres cease- lessly intrigued in the German and other European courts, trying to insti- gate their rulers to invade France, particularly the rulers of Austria and Prussia, important miUtary states, urging that the fate of one monarch was a matter that concerned all monarchs, for sentimental reasons and for practical, since, if the impious revolution triumphed in Treasonable France, there would come the turn of the other kings for intrigues of similar treatment at the hands of rebellious subjects. In ^ emigres 1 79 1 the emigres succeeded in inducing the rulers of Austria and Prussia to issue the Declaration of Pillnitz announcing that the cause of Louis XVI was the cause of all the monarchs of Europe. This The Decla- Declaration was made conditional upon the cooperation of ration of all the countries and, therefore, it w^as largely bluster and August 27, had no direct importance. It was not sufficient to bring on ^"^^^ war. But it angered France and increased suspicion of the King. The Legislative Assembly passed two decrees, one declaring that the Count of Provence would be deprived of his eventual rights to the j^^ throne if he did not return to France within two months, against the the other declaring that the property of the emigres would ^™^^^^ be confiscated and that they themselves would be treated as enemies, as guilty of treasonable conspiracy, if their armaments were not dis- persed by January i, 1792; also stating that the French princes and public officials who had emigrated should be hkewise regarded as con- I04 THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY spiring against the state and would be exposed to the penalty of death, if they did not return by the same date. Louis XVI vetoed these decrees. He did, however, order his two brothers to return to France. They refused to "obey out of "tenderness" Louis XVI ^*-"^ ^^^ King. The Count of Provence, who had a gift for vetoes these misplaced irony and impertinence, saw fit to exercise it in his reply to the Assembly's summons. If this was not pre- cisely pouring oil upon troubled waters, it was precisely adding fuel to a mounting conflagration, perhaps a natural mode of action for those who are dancing on volcanoes. Prudent people prefer to do their dancing elsewhere. More serious were the war clouds that were rapidly gathering. At the beginning of, the Revolution nothing seemed less likely than a con- flict between France and Europe. France was pacifically inclined, and there were no outstanding subjects of dispute. Moreover the rulers of the other countries were not at all anxious to intervene. They were quite willing to have France occupied exclusively with domestic prob- lems, as thus the field would be left open for their intrigues. They were meditating the final partition of Poland and wished to be left alone while they committed that crowning iniquity. But gradually they came to see the menace to themselves in the new principles proclaimed by the French, principles of the sovereignty of the people and of the equal- ity of all citizens. Their own subjects, particularly the peasants and Gathering the middle classes, were alarmingly enthusiastic over the war clouds achievements of the French. If such principles should in- spire the same deeds as in France, the absolute monarchy of Louis XVI would not be the only one to suffer a shock. Just as the sovereigns were being somewhat aroused from this com- placent indifference in regard to their neighbor's principles, a change was going on in France itself, where certain parties were beginning to pro- claim their duty to share their happiness with other peoples, in other words, to conduct a propaganda for their ideas outside of France. They were talking of the necessity of warring against tyrants, and of liberating peoples still enslaved. Thus on both sides the temper was becoming warlike. When such a mood prevails it is never difficult for willing minds to find sufficient pretexts for an appeal to arms. Moreover each side had a definite and positive grievance. France, as we have seen, viewed with displeasure TROUBLED FOREIGN RELATIONS 105 and concern the formation of the royahst armies on her eastern bor- ders, with the connivance, or at least the consent, of the cayggg „£ German princes. On the other hand the German Empire friction had a direct grievance against France. When Alsace be- prance^and came French in the seventeenth century, a number of the German German princes possessed lands there and were, in fact, ™P""^ feudal lords. They still remained princes of the German Empire, and their territorial rights were guaranteed by the treaties. Only they were at the same time vassals of the King of France, doing homage to him and collecting feudal dues, as previously. When the French abolished feudal dues as we have seen, August 4, 1789, they insisted that these decrees applied to Alsace as well as to the rest of France. The German princes protested and asserted that the decrees were in violation of the Treaties of Westphalia. The German Diet espoused their Controversy cause. The Constituent Assembly insisted upon maintain- °^®'" *^® decrees of ing its laws, in large measure, but offered to modify them. August 4, The Diet refused, demanding the revocation of the obnox- ^"^^^ ious laws and the restoration of the feudal dues in Alsace. The contro- versy was full of danger for the reason that there were many people, both in France and in the other countries, who were anxious for war and who would use any means they could to bring it about. The gale was gathering that was to sweep over Europe in memorable devastation for nearly a quarter of a century. The Legislative Assembly was composed of inexperienced men, be- cause of the self-denying ordinance passed in the closing hours of the Constituent Assembly. Yet this Assembly was vested by the new Con- stitution with powers vastly overshadowing those left with the King. Nevertheless it was suspicious of him, as it had no control over the ministry and as it was the executive that directed the relations with foreign countries. There were, moreover, certain new forces in domestic politics of which the world was to hear much in the coming months. Certain political clubs began to loom up threateningly as possible rivals ^j^^ ^^^ ^j even of the Assembly. The two most conspicuous were political the Jacobin and the CordeHer clubs. These had originated *^'"^^ at the very beginning of the Revolution, but it was under the Legisla- tive Assembly and its successor that they showed their power. The Jacobin Club was destined to the greater notoriety. It was io6 THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY composed of members of the Assembly and of outsiders, citizens of Paris. As a political club the members held constant sessions and debated with great zeal and freedom the questions that were before the Assembly. Its most influential leader at this time was Robespierre, a radical democrat but at the same time a convinced monarchist, a vigorous opponent of the if- ^ k si m WsM ■ si. ^ ^ ^ ^ Ht . 1^ i p.™::^" plljiillfl II r 1 i 1 ^ gsl ^^i ij^ lp ■UkSl MflmR ■V^T ^ If iiM . .... J.\cuiii.\ Club From a Dutch engraving, after Duplessis-Bertaux. small republican party which had appeared momentarily at the time of the epoch-making flight to Varennes. The Jacobin Club grew steadily ^jjg more radical as the Revolution progressed and as its more Jacobin conservativq members dropped out or were eliminated. It ^ also rapidly extended its influence over all France. Jacobin clubs were founded in over 2,000 cities and villages. Affiliated with the mother club in Paris, they formed a vast network, virtually receiving orders from Paris, developing great talent for concerted action. The discipline that held this voluntary organization together was remarkable and rendered it capable of great and decisive action. It became a sort of state within the state and, moreover, within a state which was as de- THE CORDELIER CLUB 107 ;entralized and ineffective as it was itself highly centralized and rapid ind thorough in its action. • The Jacobin Club gradually became a rival of he Assembly itself and at times exerted a preponderant influence upon |.t,yet the Assembly was the legally constituted government of all France, -" ^i A Session at the Jacui^i.n Llli; After an anonymous engraving. The Cordelier Club was still more radical. Its membership was de- rived from a lower social scale. It was more democratic. Moreover, since the flight to Varennes it was the hotbed of republican- The Corde- ism. Its chief influence was with the working classes of ^^^ ^^"^ Paris, men who were enthusiastic supporters of the Revolution, anxious to have it carried further, easily inflamed against any one who was ac- cused as an enemy, open or secret, of the Revolution. These men were crude and rude but tremendously energetic. They were the stuff of which mobs could be made, and they had in Danton, a lawyer, with a power of downright and epigrammatic speech, an able, astute, and ruth- less leader. The Cordelier Club, unlike the Jacobin, was limited lo Paris; it had no branches throughout the departments. Like the Jaco- bins the Cordeliers contracted the habit of bringing physical pressure to bear upon the Government, of seeking to impose their will upon that of the representatives of the nation, the King and the Assembly. io8 THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Here then were redoubtable machines for influencing the public. They would support the Assembly as long as its conduct met their wishes, but they were self-confident and self-willed enough to op- and the pose it and to try to dominate it on occasion. Both were Legislative enthusiastic believers in the Revolution; both were Ivnx- Assembly ' -' eyed and keen-scented for any hostiUty to the Revolution, willing to go to any lengths to uncover and to crush those who should try to undo the reforms thus far accomplished. Both were suspicious of the King. They had inflammable material enough to work upon in the masses of the great capital of France. And these masses were, as the months went by, becoming steadily more excitable and exalted in temper. They wor- shipped liberty frantically and they expressed their Growth of a worship in picturesque and sinister radical ways. They considered themselves, temper -^ ■' among the called themselves the true "patriots," people zxidi, like all fanatics, they were highly jealous and suspicious of their more moderate fel- low-citizens. The new wine, which was decidedly heady, was fermenting dangerously in their brains. They displayed the revolutionary colors, the tri- color cockade, everywhere and on all occasions. They adopted and wore the bonnet rouge or red- cap, which resembled the Phrygian cap of an- tiquity, the cap worn by slaves after their eman- cipation. This was now, as it had been then, the symbol of liberty. This is the period, too, when we hear of the planting of hberty poles or trees everywhere amid popular acclamation and with festivities cal- The Sans- culated to intensify the new-born democratic devotion, culottes Even in dress the new era had its radical innovations and symbolism. The Sansculottes now set the style. They were the men who abandoned the old style short breeches, the culottes, and adopted the long trousers hitherto worn only by workingmen and therefore a badge of social inferiority. Such then was the new quality in the atmosphere, such were the new players who were grouped around the margins of the scene. Their influence was felt aU through its year of fevered history by the Legisla- LiBERTY Cap and Pike THE GROWTH OF DEMOCRATIC SENTIMENT 109 live Assembly, the lawful government of France. These men were all aglow with the great news announced in the Declaration of the Rights of Man, that the people are sovereign here below and that no divinity doth hedge about a king — that was sheer claptrap which had imposed on mankind quite long enough. Now that France was delivered from this sorry hallucination, now that the darkness was dispelled, let the new principles be fearlessly applied! The reaction of all this upon the Legislative Assembly was pro- nounced. One of the first actions of that Assembly was to abolish the terms, "Sire" and "Your Majesty," used in addressing the increasing King. Another evidence that the new doctrine of the sov- radicalism of ° the Legisla- ereignty of the people was not merely a rosy, yet unsub- tive stantial, figment of the imagination, but was a definite Assembly principle intended to be applied to daily poUtics, was the fact that when dissatisfied with the Assembly, the people crowded into its hall more frequently, expressing their disapproval, voicing in unambiguous manner their desires, and the Assembly, which believed in the doctrine too, did not dare resent its application, did not dare assert its inviola- bility, as the representative of France, of law and order. The signs of the times, then, were certainly not propitious for those who would undo the work of the Revolution, who would restore the King and the nobles to the position they had once occu- a vigor- pied and now lost. The pack would be upon them if they °"^ *"^ 111-1 11- suspicious tried. The struggle would be with a rude and vigorous de- democracy in mocracy in which reverence for the old had died, which was existence reckless of traditions, and was ready to suffer and more ready to inflict suffering, if attempts were made to thwart it. Anything that looked like treachery would mean a popular explosion. Yet this moment, so inopportune, was being used by the King and Queen in secret but sus- pected machinations with foreign rulers, with a view to securing their aid in the attempt to recover the ground lost by the monarchy; was being used by the emigrant nobles in Coblenz and Worms for counter-revolu- tionary intrigues and for warlike preparations. Their only safe policy was a candid and unmistakable recognition of the new ^j^^ emigres regime, but this was precisely what they were intellectually play with and temperamentally incapable of appreciating. They were playing with fire. This was all the more risky as many of their enemies were equally willing to play with the same dangerous element. iio THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY There was in the Legislative Assembly a group of men called the I Girondists, because many of their leaders, Vergniaud, Isnard, Buzot and others, came from that section of France known as the Gironde, in the southwest of France. The Girondists have enjoyed a poetic immortality ever since imaginative histories of the Revolution issued from the pen- sive pen of the poet Lamartine, who portrayed them as pure and high- minded patriots caught in the swirl of a wicked world. The description was inaccurate. They were not disinterested martyrs in the cause of good government. They were a group of politicians whose discretion was not as conspicuous as their ambition. They paid for that vaulting emotion the price which it frequently exacts. They knew how to make their tragic exit from life bravely and heroically. They did not know, what is more difficult, how to make their lives wise and profitable to the The world. They were a group of eloquent young men, led by Girondists g^ romantic young woman. For the real head of this group that had its hour upon the stage and then w^as heard no more in the deaf- ening clamor of the later Revolution was Madame Roland, their bright particular star. Theirs was a bookish outlook upon the world. They fed upon Plutarch, and boundless was their admiration for the ancient Greeks and Romans. They were republicans because those glorious fig- ures of the earlier time had been republicans; also because they imag- ined that, in a republic, they would themselves find a better chance to shine and to irradiate the world. Dazzled by these protot^'pes, they burned with the spirit of emulation. The reader must keep steadily in mind that the Girondists and the Jacobins were entirely distinct groups. They were, indeed, destined later to be deadly rivals and enemies. Such were the personages who played their dissimilar parts in the hot drama of the times. The stage was set. The background was the whole fabric of the European state system, now shaking unawares. The action began with the declaration of war by France against Francis II, France de- ruler of Austria, and nephew of Marie Antoinette, a decla- clares war on nation which opened a war which was to be European and Francis II, ,,.,,. , , i , April 20, world-Wide, which was to last twenty-three long years, was ^''^2 |-Q deform and twist the Revolution out of all resemblance to its early promise, was, as by-products, to give France a Repubhc, a Reign of Terror, a Napoleonic epic, a Bourbon overthrow and restora- tion, and was to end only with the catastrophic incident of Waterloo. That war was precipitated by the French, who sent an ultimatum to WAR WITH AUSTRIA the Emperor concerning the emigres. Francis replied by demanding the restoration to the German princes in Alsace of their feudal rights, and in addition, the repression in France "of anything that might alarm Madame Rola.vu A portrait taken from the cover of a bonbonniere in the Carnavalet Museum. From E. F. Henderson's Symbol and Satire in the French Revolution other States." War was declared on April 20, 1792. It was desired by all the parties of the Legislative Assembly. Only seven members voted against it. The supporters of the King wanted it, believing ah parties that it would enable him to recover power once more by rendering him popular as the leader in a victorious campaign and by putting at his disposal a strong miUtary force. Girondists and Jacobins wanted it for precisely the opposite reason, as in the Legislative Assembly in favor of war 112 THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY likely to prove that Louis was secretly a traitor, in intimate relations with the enemies of France. This once established, the monarchy could be swept aside and a republic installed. Only Robespierre and a few others opposed it on the ground that war always plays into the hands Robespierre's °^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ powerful, that the people, on the other hand, opposition the poor, always pay for it and lose rather than gain, that to t e war ^^^^^ j^ never in the interest of a democracy. They were,' however, voices crying in the wilderness. There was a widespread feel- ing that the war was an inevitable clash between democracy, represented by France under the new dispensation, and autocracy, represented by the House of Hapsburg, a conflict of two eras, the past and the future. The national exaltation was. such that the people welcomed the oppor- tunity to spread abroad, beyond the borders of France, the revolution- ary ideas of liberty and equality which they had so recently acquired and which they so highly prized. The war had some of the characteris- tics of a religious war, the same mental exaltation, the same dogmatic belief in the universal applicability of its doctrines, the same sense of duty to preach them everywhere; by force, if necessary. This war was a startling and momentous turning-point in the history of the Revolution. It had consequences, some of which were foreseen, most of which were not. It reacted profoundly upon the The war a , , , ^ . . . , , . turning-point French and before it was over it compromised their own in modern domestic liberty and generated a military despotism of greater efficiency than could be matched in the long his- tory of the House of Bourbon. First and foremost among the effects of the war was this: it swept the illustrious French monarchy away and put the monarchs to At the death. The war began disastrously. Instead of easily beginning conquering Belgium, which belonged fo Francis II, as they the French , ^ , , ^ i t- i n- i suffer had confidently expected to, the French suffered severe reverses reverses. One reason was that their army had been badly disorganized by the wholesale resignation or emigration of its officers, all noblemen. Another was the highly treasonable act of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, who informed the Austrians of the French plan of campaign. This treason of their sovereigns was not known to the French, but it was suspected, and it was none the less efficacious. At the same time that French armies were being driven back, civil war, growing out of the reUgious dissensions, was threatening in France. BRUNSWICK'S MANIFESTO 113 Tlie Assembly, facing these troubles, indignantly passed two decrees, one ordering the deportation to penal colonies of all refractory or non- juring priests, the other providing for an army of 20,000 men for the protection of Paris. Louis X\'T vetoed both measures. Then the storm broke. The Jacobins inspired and organized a great popular demonstration against the King, the object being to force him to sign the decrees. „, ^. Out from the crowded workingmen's quarters emerged, on vetoes two June 20, 1 702, several thousand men, wearing the bonnet ^^^crees of ■^ ' I ^ ' 1 1 ■ 1 , *^® Assembly I'oiii^e, armed with pikes and carrying standards with the Rights of Man printed on them. They went to the hall of the Assem- l)l\- and were permitted to march through it, submitting a petition in which the pointed statement was made that the will of insurrection 25,000,000 people could not be balked by the will of one of June 20, man. After leaving the hall the crowd went to the Tuileries, forced open the gates and penetrated to the King's owm apartments. The King for three hours stood before them, in the recess of a window, protected by some of the deputies. The crowd shouted, "Sign the de- crees! " "Down with the priests! " One of the ringleaders -of the demon- stration, a butcher called Legendre, gained a notoriety that has sufficed to preserve his name from obKvion to this day, by shouting at the King, "Sir, you are a traitor, you have always deceived us, you are de- ceiving us still. Beware, the cup is full." Louis XVI refused to make any promises. His will, for once, did not waver. But he Louis XVI received a bonnet rouge and donned it and drank a glass of remains firm wine presented him by one of the crowd. The crowd finally withdrew, having committed no violence, but having subjected the King of France to bitter humiliation. Immediately a wave of indignation at this affront and scandal swept over France and it seemed likely that, after all, it might redound to the advantage of Louis, increasing his popularity by the sympathy it evoked. But shortly other events supervened and his The Duke position became more precarious than ever. Prussia joined °*. ^runs- '■ '■ . -^ wick's mam- Austria in the war and the Duke of Brunswick, commander festo (July of the coalition armies, as he crossed the frontiers of France, ^^' ^'^^^^ issued a manifesto which aroused the people to a fever pitch of wrath. This manifesto had really been written by an emigre and it was redo- lent of the concentrated rancor of his class. The manifesto ordered the 114 THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY French to restore Louis XVI to complete liberty of action. It went further and virtually commanded them to obey the orders of the mon- archs of Austria and Prussia. It announced that any national guards who should resist the advance of the allies would be punished as rebels and it wound up with the terrific threat that if the least violence or outrage should be offered to their Majesties, the King, the Queen, and the royal family, if their preservation and their liberty should not be immediately provided for, they, the allied monarchs, would "exact an exemplary and ever-memorable vengeance," namely, the complete de- struction of the city of Paris. Such a threat could have but one reply from a self-respecting people. It nerved them to incredible exertions to resent and repay the insult. Patriotic anger swept everything before it. The first to suffer was the person whom the manifesto had singled out for special care, Louis XVI, now suspected more than ever of being the accomplice of these invaders who were breathing fire and destruc- tion upon the French for the insolence of managing their i The insur- f^ . , r ^ * i rection of own affairs as they saw nt. On August lo, 1792, another, August 10, ^j^(j i^j^jg |^^j-[^g niore formidable, insurrection, occurred in 1792 Paris. At nine in the morning the crowd attacked the Tuileries. At ten the King and the royal family left the palace and sought safety in the Assembly. There they were kept in a little room, just behind the president's chair, and there they remained for more than thirty hours. While the Assembly was debating, a furious combat was raging between the troops stationed to guard the Tuileries and the mob. Louis XVI, hearing the first shots, sent word to the guards to cease fire, but the officer who carried the command did not deliver it as long as he thought there was a chance of victory. The Swiss Guards were the heroes and the victims of that dreadful day. They defended the palace until their ammunition gave out and then, receiving the order to retire, they fell back slowly, but were soon overwhelmed by their assailants and 800 of them were shot down. The vengeance of the mob was frenzied. They themselves had lost hundreds of men. No quarter ^jjg was given. More than 5,000 people were killed that day. Tuileries The Tuileries was sacked and gutted. A sallow-complex- ^^^ ® ioned young artillery officer, out of service, named Napo- leon Bonaparte, was a spectator of this scene, from which he learned a few lessons which were later of value to him. THE TUILERIES SACKED IIS ri6 THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY The deeds of August lo were the work of the Revolutionary Com- mune of Paris. The former municipal government had been illegallyi overthrown by the Jacobins who had then organized a new government! The which they entirely controlled. The Jacobins, the masters! Revolution- of Paris, had carefully prepared the insurrection of August mune of lo for the definite purpose of overthrowing Louis XVI. ^^"^ The menaces of the Duke of Brunswick had merely been the pretext. Now began that systematic dominance of Paris in the affairs of France which was to be brief but terrible. At the end The sus- ^^ ^^^^ insurrection the Commune forced the Legislative pension of Assembly to do its wishes. Under this imperious and en- tirely illegal dictation the Assembly voted that the King should be provisionally suspended. This necessitated the making of . ^ . a new constitution as the Constitution of 1701 was mon- A Consti- . ' ^ tutional archical. The present assembly was a merely legisla- ^°"^^'^*'*'° tive body, not competent to alter the fundamental law. Cull 6 CI '^ Therefore the Legislative Assembly, although its term was only half expired, decided to call a Convention to take up the matter of the constitution. Under orders from the Paris Commune it issued' Universal ^^^ decree to that effect and it made a further important I suffrage decision. For elections to the Convention it abolished the procaime property suffrage, established by the Constitution of 1791, and proclaimed universal suffrage. France thus, on August 10, 1792, became a democracy. The executive of France was thus overthrown. During the interval ' before the meeting of the Convention a provisional executive council, with Danton at the head, wielded the executive power, influenced by the Commune. The Assembly had merely voted the suspen- mune im- sion of Louis XVI. The Commune, in complete disregard prisons the ^f jg^^ ^i^^^ [^ defiance of the Assembly, imprisoned the King and Queen in the Temple, an old fortress in Paris. The Commune also arrested large numbers of suspected persons. This Revolutionary Commune or City Council of Paris was hence- forth one of the powerful factors in the government of France. It, and ' not the Legislative Assembly, was the real ruler of the country between the suspension of the King on August 10 and the meeting of the Con- vention, September 20. It continued to be a factor, sometimes predomi- nant, even under the Convention. For nearly two years, from August, THE SEPTEMBER MASSACRES 117 1792, until the overthrow of Robespierre on July 27, 1794, the Com- mune was one of the principal forces in pohtics. It sig- The Com- nalized its advent by suppressing the freedom of the press, ™""^ *^®" . -^ ^'^ r ^ r iT ' stfoys the one of the precious conquests of the reform movement, freedom of by defying the committees of the Assembly when it chose, ^^® P*"^^^ and by carrying through the infamous September Massacres, which left a monstrous and indeli- ble stain upon the Revo- lution. The Commune was the representative of the lower classes and of the Jacobins. Its leaders were all extremely radi- cal, and some were des- perate characters who would stop at nothing to gain their ends. The September Mas- sacres grew out of the feeling of panic which seized the population of Paris as it heard of the steady approach of the Prussians and Austrians under the Duke of Bruns- wick. Hundreds of per- sons, suspected or charged with being real accom- plices of the invaders, were thrown into prison. Finally the news reached Paris that Verdun was besieged, the last fortress on the road to the capi- tal. If that should fall, then the enemy would have but a few days' march to accomplish and Paris would be theirs. The Com- The Com- mune and the Assembly made heroic exertions to raise and '°"'?^ °^- forward troops to the exposed position. The Commune leptember^ sounded the tocsin or general alarm from the bell towers, Massacres and unfurled a gigantic black flag from the City Hall bearing the inscrip- The Prison of the Temple After an anonymous engraving. ii8 THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY tion, "The Country is in Danger." The more violent members began to say that before the troops were sent to the front the traitors within the city ought to be put out of the way. "Shall we go to the front, leaving 3,000 prisoners behind us, who may escape and murder our wives and children?" they asked. The hideous spokesman and in- citer of the foul and cowardly slaughter was Marat, one of the most bloodthirsty characters of the time. The result was that day after day from September 2 to September 6 the cold-blooded murder of non-juring priests, of persons suspected or accused of "aristocracy," went on, without trial, the innocent and the guilty, men and women. The butchery was systematically done by men hired and paid by certain mem- bers of the Com- Attitude of . the Legisla- mune. The Legis- tive Assem- lative Assembly was too terrified itself to bly Marat attempt to stop the infamous business nor could it have done so, had it tried. Nearly 1,200 persons were thus savagely hacked to pieces by the colossal barbarism of those days. One consequence of these massacres was to discredit the cause of the Revolution. Another was to precipitate a sanguinary struggle be- tween the Girondists who wished to punish the " Septembrists " and particularly their instigator, Marat, and the Jacobins, who either de- fended them or assumed an attitude of indifference, urging the Septem- that France had more important work to do than to spend ber Massa- ^^g ^[^^ trying to avenge men who were after all "aristo- crats." The struggles between these factions were to fill the early months of the Convention which met on September 20, 1792, the elections having taken place under the gloomy and terrifying im- pressions produced by the September Massacres. On the same day, September 20, the Prussians were stopped in their onward march at THE VICTORY OF VALMY 119 Valmy. They were to get no farther. The immediate danger was over. The tension was reUeved. REFERENCES The Legislative Assembly: Mathews, The French Revolution, pp. 182-190. Begixning of the War with Europe: Mathews, pp. 191-199; FyfiFe, History of Modern Europe (Popular Edition), Chap. I; Bourne, The Revolutionary Period in Europe, pp. 150-168; Robinson and Beard, Readings in Modern European History, Vol. I, pp. 282-294. The Jacobin Club: Farmer, Essays in French History (The Club of the Jacobins), The Tenth of August and the September Massacres: Mathews, pp. 199-214; Stephens, History of the French Revolution, Vol. II, pp. 107-150; Bourne, pp. 173-183. CHAPTER VI THE CONVENTION The third Revolutionary assembly was the National Convention, which was in existence for three years, from September 20, 1792, to October 26, 1795. Called to draft a new constitution, necessitated by the suspension of Louis XVI, its first act was the abolition of monarchy as an institution. Before its final adjournment three years later it had Achieve- drafted two different constitutions, one of which was never ments of the put in force, it had established a republic, it had organized a provisional government with which to face the appalling problems that confronted the country, it had maintained the integrity and independence of the country, threatened by complete dissolution, and had decisively defeated a vast hostile coalition of European powers. In accomplishing this gigantic task it had, however, made a record for cruelty and tyranny that left the republic in deep discredit and made the Revolution odious to multitudes of men. On September 21, 1792, the Convention voted unanimously that "royalty is abolished in France." The following day it voted that all public documents should henceforth be dated from ''the first year of the French Republic." Thus unostentatiously did the Republic make its France pro- appearance upon the scene, "furtively interjecting itself claimed a between the factions," as Robespierre expressed it. There repubhc (September was no solemn proclamation of the Republic, merely the 22, 1792) indirect statement. As Aulard observes, the Conven- tion had the air of saying to the nation, "There is no possibility of doing otherwise." Later the Republic had its heroes, its victims, its martyrs, but it was created in the first instance simply because there was nothing else to do. France had no choice in the matter. It merely accepted an imperative situation. A committee was im- struggies mediately appointed to draw up a new constitution. Its in the work, however, was long postponed, for the Convention was Convention ' ' , , • i- 1 distracted by a frenzied quarrel that broke out immediately between two parties, the Girondists and Jacobins. The latter party PARTY STRUGGLES IN THE CONVENTION was often called the Mountain, because of the raised seats its members , occupied. It is not easy to define the differences between these factions, i which were involved in what was fundamentally a struggle for power. Both were entirely devoted to the Republic. Between the two factions , there was a large group of members, who swung now this way and now li that, carrying victory or defeat as they shifted their votes. They were the center, the Plain or the Marsh, as they were called because of the location of their seats in the convention hall. On one point, the part that the city of Paris should be permitted to play in the government, the difference of opinion was sharp. The Giron- dists represented the departments and insisted that Paris, The Giron- I which constituted only one of the eighty-three depart- ***^*^ I ments into which France was divided, should have only one eighty- I third of influence. They would tolerate no dictatorship of the capital. On the other hand the Jacobins drew their strength from Paris. They considered Paris the brain and the heart of the country, a center of light to the more backward provinces; they believed that it was the proper and predestined leader of the nation, that it was in a better position than was the country at large to appreciate the signifi- cance of measures and events, that it was, as Danton said, "the chief sentinel of the nation." The Girondists were anxious to observe legal forms and processes; they disliked and distrusted the frequent appeals to brute force. The Jacobins, on the other hand, were ^. , ^. . r , . ... The Jacobins not so scrupulous. They were rude, active, forceful, mdif- ferent to law, if law stood in the way. They were realists and believed in the application of force wherever and whenever necessary. Indeed their great emphasis was always put upon the necessity of the state. That justified everything. In other words anything was legitimate that might contribute to the -safety or greatness of the Republic, whether legal or not. But the merely personal element was even more important in divid- ing and envenoming these groups. The Girondists hated the three leaders of the Jacobins, Robespierre, Marat, and Danton. Marat and Robespierre returned the hatred, which was thus easily fanned to fever heat. Danton, a man of coarse fiber but large mould, above ^ ' ft ' Danton the pettiness of jealousy and pique, thought chiefly and instinctively only of the cause, the interest of the country at the given moment. He had no scruples but he had a keen sense for the practical 122 THE CONVENTION and the useful. He was anxious to work with the Girondists, anxious to smooth over situations, to avoid extremes, to subordinate persons to meas- ures, to ignore the spirit of faction and intrigue, to keep all republicans working together in the same har- ness for the welfare of France. His was the spirit of easy-going com- promise. But he met in the Girondists a stern, unyielding op- position. They would have noth- ing to do with him, they would not cooperate with him, and they finally ranged him among their enemies, to their own irreparable harm and to his. The contest between these two parties grew shriller and more vehement every day, ending in a life and death struggle. It be- gan directly after the meeting of the Convention, in the dis- cussion as to what should be done with Louis XVI, now that monarchy was abolished and the monarch a prisoner of state. The King had unquestionably been disloyal to the Revolution. He had given encouragement to the emigres and had entered into the hostile Louis XVI plans of the enemies of France. After the meeting of the Convention a secret iron box, fashioned by his own hand, had been discovered in the Tuileries containing documents which proved beyond question his treason. Ought he to have the full punishment of a traitor or had he been already sufficiently punished, by the repeated indignities to which he had been subjected, by imprison- ment, and by the loss of his throne? Might not the Convention stay its hand, refrain from exacting the full measure of satisfaction from one so sorely visited and for whom so many excuses lay in the general goodness of his character and in the extraordinary perplexities of his position, per- plexities which might have baffled a far wiser person, at a time when the men of clearest vision saw events as through a glass, darkly? But mercy Danton From an engraving by J. Caron, after the paint- ing by David. and the Revolution THE TRIAL OF LOUIS XVI 123 bins demand immediate execution without trial was not in the hearts of men, particularly of the Jacobins, who consid ered Louis the chief culprit and unworthy of consideration. jj,g j^^.^. The Jacobins at first would not hear even of a trial. Robe- spierre demanded that the King be executed forthwith by a mere vote of the Convention, and Saint- Just, a satellite of Robespierre, recalled that "Caesar was despatched in the very presence of the Senate without other formality than twenty- two dagger strokes." But Louis was given a trial, a trial, however, before a packed jury, which had already shown its hatred of him, before men who were at the same time his accusers and his judges. The trial lasted over a month, Louis himself ap- pearing at the bar, answering the thirty-three questions which were put to him and which covered his conduct during the Revolution. His statements were considered unsatisfactory. Despite the elo- quent defense of his lawyer the Convention voted on The trial of January 15, 1793, Louis xvi that "Louis Capet" was -"guilty of conspiracy against the liberty of the Nation and of a criminal at- tack upon the safety of the state." The vote was unanimous, a few abstaining from voting but not one voting in the negative. Many of the Girondists then urged that the sentence be submitted to the people for their final action. Robespierre combatted this idea with vigor, evi- dently fearing that the people would not go the whole length. This proposition was voted down by 424 votes against 283. What should be the punishment? Voting on this question began at eight o'clock in the evening of January 16, 1793. During twenty- four hours the 721 deputies present mounted the platform one after the other, and announced their votes to the Convention. At eight o'clock Last Poeti IF Loris X\l After a crayon by Ducreux, three days before the execution. 124 THE CONVENTION on the evening of the 17th the vote was completed. The president an- nounced the result. Number voting 721; a majority 361. For death 387; against death, or for delay 334. On Sunday, January 21, the guillotine was raised in the square fronting the Tuileries. At ten o'clock Louis mounted the fatal step The execu- ^^^^ courage and composure. He was greater on the scaf- tion of the fold than he had been upon the throne. He endeavored to "^ speak. "Gentlemen, I am innocent of that of which I am accused. May my blood assure the happiness of the French." His voice was drowned by a roll of drums. He died with all the serenity of a profoundly religious man. The immediate consequence of the execution was a formidable in- crease in the number of enemies France must conquer if she was to live, and an intensification of the passions involved. France was Consequences . of the ex- at war with Austria and Prussia. Now England, Russia, ecution of Spain, Holland, and the states of Germany and Italy en-, Louis XVI i" ' ' .... -^ ^ A tered the war against her, justifying themselves by the "murder of the King," although all had motives much more practical^ than this sentimental one. It was an excellent opportunity to gain terri- tory from a country which was plainly in process of dissolution. Civil war, too, was added to the turmoil, as the peasants of the Vendee, 100,000 strong, rose against the Republic which was the murderer of the king and the persecutor of the' church. Dumouriez, an able commander of one of the French armies, was plotting against the Convention and was shortly to go over to the enemy, a traitor to his country. The ground was giving way everywhere. The Convention stiffened for the fray, resolved to do or die, or both, if necessary. No govern- ment was ever more energetic or more dauntless. It voted to raisej The Con- 300,000 troops immediately. It created a Committee vention General Security, a Committee of Public Safety, a Revolu- chlne^y ™r~ tionary Tribunal, all parts of a machine that was intended strong to concentrate the full force of the nation upon the governmen problem of national salvation and the annihilation of the republic's enemies, whether foreign or domestic. But while it was doing all this the Convention was floundering in the bog of angry party politics. Discussion was beginning its work of dividing the republicans, preparatory to consuming them. The first struggle was between the Girondists and the Jacobins. The Girondists THE EXECUTION OF LOUIS XVI 125 126 THE CONVENTION wished to punish the men who had been responsible for the Septem-I ber Massacres. They wished to punish the Commune for numerous' illegal acts. They hated IVIarat and were able to get a vote divided from the Convention sending him before the Revolutionar) against Tribunal, expecting that this would be the end of him. thciusdvcs Instead, he was acquitted and became the hero of the popu- lace of Paris, more powerful than before and now wilder than ever in his denunciations. Sanguinary Marat, feline Robespierre, dists were resolved on the annihilation of the Girondists. Dan- marked for ^Qj^^ thinking of France and loathing all this discord, when the nation was in danger, ail this exaggeration of self, this contemptible carnival of intrigue, thinking that Frenchmen had enemies enough to fight without tearing each other to pieces, tried to play the peacemaker. But he had the fate that peacemakers frequently have. He accomplished nothing for France and made enemies for himself. The Commune, which supported the Jacobins, and which idolized Marat and respected Robespierre, intervened in this struggle, using, to cut it short, its customary weapon, physical force. It organized an insurrection against the Girondists, a veritable army of 80,000 men with sixty cannon. Marat, himself a member of the Convention, climbed to the belfry of the City Hall and with his own hand sounded the tocsin. This was Marat's day. He, self-styled Friend of the People, was the T,, . leader of this movement from the beginning to the end of Ine insur- '-' '-' rection of the fateful June 2, 1793. The Tuileries, where the Con- june 2, 1793 ^gj^j^^Qj^ gg^|-^ ^^g surrounded by the insurrectionary troops. The Convention was the prisoner of the Commune, the Government of France at the mercy of the Government of "Paris. The Commune demanded the expulsion of the Girondist leaders from the Convention. The Convention protested indignantly against the conduct of the in- surgents. Its members resolved to leave the hall in a body. They were received with mock deference by the insurgents. The demand of their president that the troops disperse was bluntly refused until the Girondists who had been denounced should be expelled. The Con- Girondist vention was obliged to return to its hall conquered and de- leaders graded and to vote the arrest of twenty-nine Girondists, expelled from the For the first time in the Revolution the assembly elected Convention \yy ^j^q voters of France was mutilated. Violence had laid its hand upon the sovereignty of the people in the interest of the rule of THE CONSTITUTION OF 1793 127 : faction. The victory of the Commune was the victory of the Jacobins, /ho, by this treason to the nation, were masters of the Convention. But not yet masters of the country. Indeed this high-handed crime f June 2 aroused indignation and resistance throughout a large section 'f France. Had the departments no rights which the Commune of 'aris was bound to respect? The Girondists called the departments to rms against this tyrannical crew. They responded with alacrity, ex- isperated and alarmed. Four of the largest cities of France, Lyons, Vlarseilles, Bordeaux, and Caen, took up arms, and civil war, born of bolitics, added to the civil war born of religion in the 1 • • (■ • T r • France V^endee, and to the ubicjuitous foreign war, made confusion threatened ivorse confounded. In all some sixty departments out of ^^^^ "^ jiighty-three participated in this movement, three-fourths of France. To meet this danger, to allay this strong distrust of Paris felt oy the departments, to show them that they need not fear the dictator- ship of the Commune, the Convention drafted in great haste the con- stitution which it had been summoned to make, but which it had for months ignored in the heat of party politics. And the . A new con™ Constitution of 1793, the second in the history of the stitution Revolution, guarded so carefully the rights of the depart- hastUy , , . , , , , , . , . • constructed ments and the rights of the people that it made Parisian dictation impossible. The Constitution of 1793 established universal suffrage. It also car- ried decentralization farther than did the Constitution of 1791, which had carried it much too far. The Legislature was to be elected only for a year, and all laws were to be submitted to the people for ".-. . . , ^ ,. . ... Provisions of ratification or rejection before being put into force. This the consti- is the first appearance of the referendum. The executive ^^'^ °^ was to consist of twenty-four members chosen by the legis- lature out of a hst drawn up by the electors and consisting of one person from each department. This constitution worked like a charm in dissipating the distrust of the departments. Their rights could not be better safeguarded. Sub- mitted to the voters the constitution was overwhelmingly . . . ^ ■' The consti- ratined, over 1,000,000 votes in its favor, less than 12,000 tution rati- in opposition. But this is the only way in which this con- ^®^ ^^ *^® stitution ever worked. So thoroughly did it decentralize the state, so weak did it leave the central government, that even those 128 THE CONVENTION who had accepted it cordially saw that it could not be appHed im- mediately, with foreign armies streaming into France from every direc- tion. What was needed for the crisis, as every one saw, was a strong government. Consequently by general agreement the constitution was immediately suspended, as soon as it was made. The suspension was The Hall of the Convention to be merely provisional. As soon as the crisis should pass it should be put into operation. Meanwhile this precious document was put intc a box in the center of the convention hall and was much in the way. To meet the crisis, to enable France to hew her way through the -tangle of complexities and dangers that confronted her, a provisional government was created, a government as strong as the one provided by the constitution was weak, as efficient as that would have proved in- efficient. The new system was frankly based on force, and it inaugurated a Reign of Terror which has remained a hissing and a by-word among the nations ever since. This provisional or revolutionary government was lodged in the Convention. The Convention was the sole nerve center whence shot forth to the farthest confines of the land the iron resolutions THE COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC SAFETY 129 hau beat down all opposition and fired all energies to a single end. The Convention was dictator, and it organized a government ^ provisional hat was more absolute, more tyrannical, more centralized government han the Bourbon monarchy, in its palmiest days, had ver dreamed of being. Montesquieu's sacred doctrine of the separa- ion of powers, which the Constituent Assembly had found so excellent, /as ignored. The machinery of this provisional government consisted of two im- lortant committees, appointed by the Convention, the Committee of •ublic Safety and the Committee of General Security; also of represen- atives on mission,- of the Revolutionary Tribunal, and of the political lubs and committees of surveillance in the cities and villages through- ut the country. The Committee of Pubhc Safety consisted at first of nine, later of welve members. Chosen by the Convention for a term of a month, hey were, as a matter of fact, reelected month after month, ^, ^ -^ ' . . The Com- hanges only occurring when parties changed in the As- mittee of embly. Thus Danton, upon whose suggestion the original ^^^^^ ommittee had been created, was not a member of the en- irged committee, reorganized after the expulsion of the Girondists. le was dropped because he censured the acts of June 2, and his enemy Robespierre became the leading member. At first this committee was harged simply with the management of foreign affairs and of the army, ut in the end it became practically omnipotent, directing the state as o single despot had ever done, intervening in every department of the ation's affairs, even holding the Convention itself, of which in theory : was the creature, in stern and terrified subjection to itself. Installing :self in the palace of the Tuileries, in the former royal apartments, it eveloped a prodigious activity, framing endless decrees, tossing thou- ands of men to the guillotine, sending thousands upon thousands gainst the enemies of France, guiding, animating, tyrannizing ruth- ?ssly a people which had taken such pains to declare itself free, only find its fragile liberties, so resoundingly affirmed in the famous Decla- ation, ground to powder beneath this iron heel. No men ever worked .arder in discharging an enormous mass of business of every kind han did the members of the Committee of Public Safety. Hour after lOur, around a green table, they listened to reports, framed decrees, ppointed officials. Sometimes overcome with weariness they threw I30 THE CONVENTION themselves on mattresses spread upon the floor of their commit room, snatched two or three hours of sleep, then roused themselves the racking work again. Under them was the Cc mittee of mittee of General Security whose business was rei General police duty, maintaining order throughout the count throwing multitudes of suspected persons into pris whence they emerged only to encounter another redoubtable organ this government, the Revolutionary Tribunal. This Tribunal had been created at Danton's suggestion. It was extraordinary criminal court, instituted for the purpose of trying ti The Revo- ^°^^ ^^^ conspirators rapidly. No apipeal could be tal lutionary from its decisions. Its sentences were always senten n una ^^ death. Later, when Robespierre dominated the Cc mittee of Public Safety, the number of judges was increased and tl were divided into four sections, all holding sessions at the same tii Appointed by the Committee, the Revolutionary Tribunal servil carried out its orders. It acted with a rapidity that made a cruel fa of justice. A man might be informed at ten o'clock that he was to ; pear before the Revolutionary Tribunal at eleven. By two o'clock was sentenced, by four he was executed. The Committee of Public Safety had another organ — the repress tatives on mission. These were members of the Convention sent, t Representa- ^^ ^^^'^ department, and two to each army, to see that i tiyes on will of the Convention was carried out. Their powers w practically unlimited. They could not themselves p nounce the sentence of death but a word from them was sufficient send to the Revolutionary Tribunal any one who incurred their s picion or displeasure. There were other parts of this governmental machinery, whe within wheels, revolutionary clubs, affiliated with the Jacobin Club Paris, revolutionary committees of surveillance. Through them the y of the grea;t Committee of Public Safety penetrated to the tiniest haml to the remotest corner of the land. The Repubhc was held tight in t closely-woven mesh. This machinery was created to meet a national need, of the m^ pressing character. The country was in danger, in direst danger, submersion under a flood of invasion; also in danger of disruption fr( within. The authors of this system were originally men who app REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENT 131 iated the critical situation, who grasped facts as they were, who were ^solute to put down every foreign and domestic enemy, nd who thrilled the people with their appeals to boundless, this gov- df-sacrificing patriotism. Had this machinery been used ^^^^^If 1 the way and for the purpose intended, it is not likely hat it would have enjoyed the dismal, repellent reputation with pos- The Guillotine After a contemporary drawing. erity which it has enjoyed. France would have willingly endured and anctioned a direct and strong government, ruthlessly subordinating per- onal happiness and even personal security to the needs of national wel- are. No cause could be higher, and none makes a wdder or surer appeal o men. But the system was not restricted to this end. It was applied .0 satisfy personal and party intrigues and rancors, it was used to further he ambitions of individuals, it was crassly distorted and debased, rhe system did not spring full blown from the mind of any man or any ;roup. It grew piece by piece, now this item being added, now that, rhose who fashioned it believed that only by appealing to a system )r arousing one of the emotions of men, fear, could the ^^^sed on fear government get their complete and energetic support. The success of 132 THE CONVENTION the Revolution could not be assured simply by love or admiration of its principles and its deeds — that was proved by events, the difficulties had only increased. There were too many persons who hated the Revo- lution. But even these had an emotion that could be touched, the sense of fear, horror, dread. That, too, is a powerful incentive to action. "Let terror be the order of the day," such was the offi-cial philosophy of the creators of this government, and it has given their system its name. Punish disloyalty swiftly and pitilessly and you create loyalty, if not from love, at least from fear, which v/ill prove a passable substitute! The Committee of Pubhc Safety and the Convention lost no time in striking a fast pace. To meet the needs of the war a general call for troops Activity of was issued. Seven hundred and fifty thousand men were the Com- secured. "What we need is audacity, and more audacity, mittee of , . ,, , ..... Public and always audacity was a phrase epitomizing this as- Safety ^^q^ gf history, a phrase thrown out by Danton, a man who knew how to sound the bugle call, knew how to mint the passion of the hour in striking form and give it the impress of his dynamic per- sonality. Carnot, one of the members of the Committee of Public Safety, performed herculean feats in getting this enormous mass of men equipped, disciplined, and officered. A dozen armies were the Great citizen result and they were hurled in every direction at the ene- arnues raised jj^jgg q{ France. Representatives of the Convention ac- companied each general, demanding victory of him or letting him know that his head would fall if victory were not forthcoming. Some failed, even under this terrific incentive, this literal choice between victory or death, and they went to the scaffold. It was an inhuman punishment but it had tremendous effects, inspiring desperate energy. The armies made superhuman efforts and were wonderfully successful. A group of fearless, reckless, and thoroughly competent commanders emerged rapidly from the ranks. We shall shortly observe the reaction of these triumphant campaigns upon the domestic political situation. While this terrific effort to hurl back the invaders of France was going on, the Committee of Public Safety was engaged in a lynx-eyed, com- prehensive campaign at home against all domestic enemies or persons accused of being such. By the famous law of "suspects," every one in The law of France was brought within its iron grip. This law was so suspects " loosely and vaguely worded, it indicated so many classes of individuals, that under its provisions practically any one in France THE REIGN OF TERROR 133 could be arrested and sent before the Revolutionary Tribunal. All were guilty of treason, and punishable with death, who ' ' having done nothing against liberty have nevertheless done nothing for it." No guilty, and also no innocent, man could be sure of escaping so elastic a law, or, if arrested, could expect justice from a court which ignored the usual forms of law, which, ultimately, deprived prisoners of the right to counsel, and which condemned them in batches. Yet the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which had seemed a new evangel to an optimistic world, had stated that henceforth no one should be arrested or imprisoned except in cases determined by law and according to the forms of law. A tree is judged by its fruits. Consider the results in this case. In every city, town, and hamlet of France arrests of suspected persons were made en masse, and judgment and execution were -pei-^or the rendered in almost the same summary and comprehensive order of the fashion. Only a few instances can be selected from this ^^ calendar of crime. The city of Lyons had sprung to the defense of the Girondists after their expulsion, from the Convention on June 2. It took four months and a half and a considerable army to put down the opposition of this, the second city of France. When this was accom- plished the Convention passed a fierce decree: "The city of Lyons is to be destroyed. Every house which was inhabited by the Treatment rich shall be demolished. There will remain only the homes °* Lyons of the poor, of patriots, and buildings especially employed for industries, and those edifices dedicated to humanity and to education." The name of this famous city was to be obliterated. It was henceforth to be known as the Liberated City {Commune afranchie). This savage sentence was not carried out, demolition on so large a scale not being easy. Only a few buildings were blown to pieces. But over 3,500 persons were ar- rested and nearly half of them were executed. The authorities began by shooting each one individually. The last were mowed down in batches by cannon or musketry fire. Similar scenes were enacted, though not on so extensive a scale, in Toulon and Marseilles. It was for the Vendee that the worst ferocities were reserved. The Vendee had been in rebellion against the Republic, and in the interest of counter-revolution. The people had been angered by the Treatment laws against the priests. Moreover the people of that sec- of the tion refused to fight in the Republic's armies. It was en- ^^^^^^ tirely legitimate for the government to crush this rebellion and it did so 134 THE CONVENTION after an indescribably cruel war, in which neither side gave quarter. Carrier, the representative on mission sent out by the Convention, es- tablished a gruesome record for barbarity. He did not adopt the method followed by the Revolutionary Tribunal in Paris which at least pretended to try the accused before sentencing them to death. This was too slow a process. Prisoners were shot in squads, nearly 2,000 of them. Drown- ing was resorted to. Carrier's victims were bound, put in boats, and the boats then sunk in the river Loire. Women and children were among the number. Even the Committee of Public Safety was shocked at Car- rier's fiendish ingenuity and demanded an explanation. He had the insolence to pretend that the drownings were accidental. "Is it my fault that the boats did not reach their destination?" he asked. The number of bodies in the river was so great that the water was poi- soned and for that reason the city government of Nantes forbade the eating of fish. Carrier was later removed by the Committee, but was. not further punished by it, though ultimately he found his way to the guillotine. Meanwhile at Paris the Revolutionary Tribunal was daily sending its victims to the guillotine, after trials which were travesties of justice. .... , Guillotines were erected in two of the public squares and Achvihes of . ^ ^ the Revolu- each day saw its executions. Week after week went by, tionary ^^^ head after head dropped into the insatiable basket. Tribunal . ^^ Many of the victims were emigres or non-juring priests who had come back to France, others were generals who had failed of the indispensable victory and had been denounced as traitors. Others still were persons who had favored the Revolution at an earlier stage and had worked for it, but who had later been on the losing side in the fierce party contests which had rent the Convention. Nowadays political struggles • lead to the overthrow of ministers. But in France, as in Renaissance Italy, they led to the death of the defeated party, or at least of its leaders. As the blood-madness grew in intensity, it was voted by the Convention, in order to speed up the murderous pace, that the Rev- ^ olutionary Tribunal after hearing a case for three days might then decide it without further examination if it considered "its conscience sufficiently enlightened." The Girondists were conspicuous victims. Twenty-one of them were guillotined on October 31, 1793, among them Madame Roland, who went to the scaffold "fresh, calm, smiUng," according to a friend THE REIGN OF TERROR 135 who saw her go. She had regretted that she "had not been born a Spar- tan or a Roman," a superfluous regret, as was shown by ^, ^ o 7 . ,, , The execu- the manner of her death, "at only thirty-nme, words tion of the with which she closed the passionate Memoirs she wrote Girondist ^ . leaders while in prison. Mounting the scaffold she caught sight of a statue of liberty. "O Liberty, how they've played with you!" she exclaimed. She had been preceded some days before by Marie Antoinette, the daughter of an empress, the wife of a king, child of fortune and of mis- fortune beyond compare. The Queen had been subjected The execu- to an obscene trial, accused of indescribable vileness, the ^°° ?^ Mane ' Antoinette corruption of her son. "If I have not answered," she (October 16, cried, "it is because nature herself rejects such a charge ^'^^^^ made against a mother: I appeal to all who are here." This woman's cry so moved the audience to sympathy that the officials cut the trial short, allowing the lawyers only fifteen minutes to finish. The Queen bore herself courageously. She did not flinch. She was brave to the end. Marie Antoinette has never ceased to command the sympathy of pos- terity, as her tragic story and the fall to which her errors partly led and the proud and noble courage with which she met her mournful fate have never ceased to move its pity and respect. She stands in history as one of its most melancholy figures. Charlotte Corday, a Norman girl, who had stabbed the notorious Marat to death, thinking thus to free her country, paid the penalty with serenity and dignity. All through these months men witnessed a tragic procession up the scaffold's steps of those who were The Reign great by position or character or service or reputation; °* Terror Bailly, celebrated as an astronomer and as the Mayor of Paris in the early Revolution; the Duke of Orleans, who had played a shameless part in the Revolution, having been demagogue enough to discard his name and call himself Philip Equality, and having infamously voted, as a member of the Convention, for the death of his cousin, Louis XVI; Barnave, next to Mirabeau one of the most brilliant leaders of the Con- stituent Assembly; and so it went, daily executions in Paris and still others in the provinces. Some fleeing the terror that walked by day and night, caught at bay, committed suicide, like Cordorcet, last of the philosophers, and gifted theorist of the Republic. Still others wandered through the countryside haggard, gaunt, and were finally shot down, as 136 THE CONVENTION THE COMMUNE OF PARIS 137 beasts of the field. Yet all this did not constitute "the Great Terror," as it was called. That came later. Thus far there was at least a semblance or pretense of punishing the enemies of the RepubUc, the enemies of France. But now these odious methods were to be used as means of destroying political and personal enemies. Politics assumed the character and risks of war., ■ We have seen that since August 10, 1792, there were two powers in I the state, the Commune or Government of Paris and the Convention or • Government of France, now directed by the Committee of PubUc Safety. These two had in the main cooperated thus mune versus far, overthrowing the monarchv, overthrowing the Giron- *^® Conven- . ' tion dists. But now dissension raised its head and harmony was no more. The Commune was in the control of the most violent party that the Revolution had developed. Its leaders were Hebert and Chaumette. Hebert conducted a journal, the Pere Duchesne, which was both obscene and profane and which radicalism was widely read in Paris by the lowest classes. Hebert °^ *^® Commune and Chaumette reigned in the City Hall, drew their strength from the rabble of the streets which they knew how to incite and hurl at their enemies. They were ultra-radicals, audacious, truculent. They constantly demanded new and redoubled applications of terror. For a while they dominated the Convention. Carrier, one of the Conven- tion's representatives on mission, was really a tool of the Commune. It was the Commune which now forced the Convention to attempt the dechristianization of France. For this purpose a new calendar was de- sired, a calendar that should discard Sundavs, saints' days, ... r ■ ^ , , , . , , Attempted religious festivals, and set up novel and entirely secular dechristiani- divisions of time. Henceforth the month was to be di\dded nation of ... ... France not into weeks, but into decades or periods of ten days. Every tenth day was to be the rest day. The days of the months were changed to indicate natural phenomena, July becoming Thermidor, or period of heat; April becoming Germinal, or budding time; November becoming Brumaire, or period of fogs. Henceforth men were to date, not from the birth of Christ, but from the birth of Liberty. The Year One of Liberty began September 21, 1792. The world was young again. The day was divided into ten hours, not twenty-four, and a republican the ten were subdivided and subdivided into smaller units, calendar This calendar was made obligatory. But great was the havoc created 138 THE CONVENTION by the new chronology. Parents were required to instruct their chil- dren in the new method of reckoning time. But the parents had been brought up on the old system and experienced much difficulty in telling what time of day it was according to the new terminology. Watchmakers were driven to add another circle to the faces of their watches. One circle carried the familiar set of figures, the other car- ried the new. Thus was one dif- ficulty partially conjured away. The new calendar lasted twelve years. It was frankly and inten- tionally anti-Christian. The Christian" era was repudiated. More important was the at- tempt to improvise a new religion. Reason was henceforth to be wor- shipped, no longer the Christian Campaign God. A beginning against " su- was made in the cam- perstition " • r j t. • .• paign tor dechnstian- ization by removing the bells from the churches, "the Eternal's gewgaws," they were called, and by making cannon and coin out of them. Death was declared to be "but an eternal sleep" — thus Heaven, and Hell as well, was abolished. There was a demand that church spires be torn down "as by their domination over other build- ings, they seem to violate the principle of equality," and many were consequently sacrificed. This sorry business reached its climax in the The Worship formal establishment by the Commune of Paris of the Wor- of Reason gj^jp ^f Reason. On November lo, 1793, the Cathedral of Notre Dame was converted into a "Temple of Reason." The cere- mony of that day has been famous for a century and its fame may last another. A dancer from the opera, wearing the three colors of the re- public, sat, as the Goddess of Reason, upon the Altar of Liberty, where formerly the Holy Virgin had been enthroned, and received the homage of her devotees. After this many other churches in Paris, and even in Mlle. Maillard, "Goddess of Reason" After the painting by Garneray. FALL OF HfiBERTISTS AND DANTONISTS 139 the provinces, were changed into Temples of Reason. The sacred vessels used in Catholic services were burned or melted down. In some cases the stone saints that ornamented, or at least diversified, the facades of churches, were thrown down and broken or burned. At Notre Dame in Paris they were boarded over, and thus preserved for a period when their contamination would not be feared or felt. Every tenth day services were held. They might take the form of philosophical or political discourses, or the form of popular banquets or balls. The proclamation of this Worship of Reason was the high-water mark in the fortunes of the Commune. The Convention had been com- pelled to yield, the Committee of Public Safety to acquiesce in conduct of which it did not approve. Robespierre was irritated, partly because he had a religion of his own which he preferred and which he wished in time to bring forward and impose upon France, partly because as a member of the great Committee he resented the existence of a rival Robespierre so powerful as the Commune. The Hebertists had shot opposes the their bolt. Robespierre now shot his. In a carefully pre- ^ er is s pared speech he declared that ''Atheism is aristocratic. The idea of a Supreme Being who watches over oppressed innocence and who punishes triumphant crime, is thoroughly democratic." He furtively urged on all attacks upon the blasphemous Comrnune, as when Danton declared, "These anti-religious masquerades in the Convention must cease." But Robespierre was the secret enemy of Danton as well, though for a very different reason. The Commune stood for the Terror in all its forms and demanded that it be maintained in all its vigor. On the other hand Danton, Camille Desmoulins, and their friends, ar- Robespierre dent supporters of the Terror as long as it was necessary, opposes the believed that now the need for it had passed and wished ^" °"*^ ^ its rigor mitigated and the system gradually abandoned. The armies of the Republic were every^vhere successful, the invaders had been driven back, and domestic insurrections had been stamped out. Sick at heart of bloodshed now that it was no longer required, the Dan- tonists began to recommend clemency to the Convention. The Committee of Public Safety was opposed to both these factions, the Hebertists and the Dantonists, and Robespierre was at the center of an intrigue to ruin both. The description of the machinations and manoeuvres which went on in the Convention cannot be undertaken here. To make them clear would require much space. It must suffice to say I40 THE CONVENTION that first the Committee directed all its powers against the Commune ^, and dared on March i^, 1704, to order the arrest of Hebert The over- ■-" ' ^ throw of the and his friends. Eleven days later they were guillotined. Commune rj^^^ rivalry of the Commune was over. The Convention was supreme. But the Committee had no desire to bring the Terror to an end. Several of its members saw their own doom in any lessening of its severity. .Looking out for their own heads, they therefore resolved to kill Danton, as the representative of the dangerous policy of modera- tion. This man who had personified as no one else had done the national temper in its crusade against the allied monarchs, who had been the very central pillar of the state in a terrible crisis, who, when France was for a moment discouraged, had nerved her to new effort by the electrifying cry, "We must dare and dare again and dare without end," now fell a victim to the wretched and frenzied internecine struggles of the politicians because, now that the danger was over, he advocated, with his vastly Danton heightened prestige, a return to moderation and conciliation. advocates a Terror as a means of annihilating his country's enemies return to o j moderate he approved. Terror as a means of oppressing his fellow- pohcies countrymen, the crisis once passed, he deplored and tried to stop. He failed. The wheel was tearing around too rapidly. He was one of the tempestuous victims of the Terror. When he pleaded for peace, for a cessation of sanguinary and ferocious partisan politics, his rivals turned venomously, murderously against him. Conscious of his patriotism he did not believe that they would dare to strike him. A friend entered his study as he was sitting before the fire in revery and told him that the Committee of Public Safety had ordered his arrest. "Well, then, what then?" said Danton. "You must resist." "That means the shedding of blood, and I am sick of it. I would rather be guil- lotined than guillotine," he repUed. He was urged to fly. "Whither fly?" he answered. "You do not carry your country on the sole of your shoe," and he muttered, "They will not dare, they will not dare." But they did dare. The next day he was in prison. In prison he was heard to say, "A year ago I proposed the establishment of the Revolu- Arrest and tionary Tribunal. I ask pardon for it, of God and man." execution And again, "I leave everything in frightful confusion; not of Danton , . y o o > one ot them understands anything of government. Robe- spierre will follow me. I drag down Robespierre. One had better be a poor fisherman than meddle with the governing of men." On the scaf- IMAXIMILIEN ROBESPIERRE 141 fold he exclaimed, " Danton, no weakness! " His last words were addressed to the executioner. " Show my head to the people; it is worth showing." The fall of Danton left Robespierre the most conspicuous person on the scene, the most influential member of the Convention and of the Committee of Public Safety. He was master of the Jaco- Robespierre bins. The Commune was filled with his friends, anxious to dictator do his bidding. The Revolutionary Tribunal was controlled and oper- ated by his followers. For nearly four months, from April 5 to July 2 7 , he was practically dictator. A very singular des- pot for a people like the French. His qualities were not those which have characterized the leaders or the masses of that nation. The most authoritative French his- torian of this period, Au- lard, notes this fact. As a politician Robespierre was "astute, mysteri- ous, undecipherable." "What we see of his soul is most repellent to our French instincts of frankness and loyalty. Robespierre was a hypo- crite and he erected hy- pocrisy into a system of government." He had begun as a small provincial lawyer. He fed upon Rousseau, and was the narrow and anemic embodiment of Rousseau's ideas. He had made his reputation at the Jacobin Club, where he dehvered speeches carefully retouched and finished, abounding in platitudes character of that pleased, entirely lacking in the fire, the dash, the stir- Robespierre ring, impromptu phrases of a Mirabeau or a Danton. His style was Robespierre After a contemporary sketch attributed to Gerard. J42 THE CONVENTION correct, mediocre, thin, formal, academic. "Virtue" was his stock in trade and he made virtue odious by his everlasting talk of it, by his smug assumption of moral superiority, approaching even the hazardous pretension to perfection. He was forever singing his own praises with a lamentable lack of humor and of taste. "I have never bowed beneath the yoke of baseness and corruption," he said. He won the title of "The Incorruptible." As a poHtician his policy had been to use up his enemies, and every rival was an enemy, by suggesting vaguely but opportunely that they were impure, corrupt, immoral, and by setting the springs in motion that landed them on the scaffold. He had himself stepped softly, warily, past the ambushes that lay in wait for the careless or the impetuous. By such processes he had survived and was now the man of the hour, immensely popular with the masses, and feared by those who disliked him. How would he use his power, his opportunity? He used it, not to bring peace to a sadly distracted country, not to heal the wounds, not to chnch the work of the Revolution, but to at- The " Reign tempt to force a great nation to enact into legislation the of Virtue " j^jga^g Qf ^ highly sentimental philosopher, Rousseau. It was to be a Reign of Virtue. Robespierre's ambition was to make vir- tue triumphant, a laudable purpose, if the definition of virtue be satis- factory and the methods for bringing about her reign honorable and humane. But in this case they were not. Robespierre stands revealed, as he also stands condemned, by the two acts associated with his career as dictator, the proclamation of a new religion and the Law of Prairial altering for the worse the already monstrous Revolutionary Tribunal. Robespierre had once said in public, _. „, "If God did not exist we should have to invent Him." The Wor- ship of the Fortunately for a man of such poverty of thought as he, he Supreme (-jj^j j^q|^ have to resort to invention but found God already Being ... . invented by his idolized Rousseau. He devoted his atten- tion to getting the Convention to give official sanction to Rousseau's ideas concerning the Deity. The Convention at his instigation formally recognized "the existence of the Supreme Being and the Immortahty of the Soul." On June 8, a festival was held in honor of the new religion, quite as famous, in its way, as the ceremonies connected with the inaugu- ration, a few months before, of the Worship of Reason. It was a won- drous spectacle, staged by the master hand of the artist David. A vast WORSHIP OF THE SUPREME BEING 143 = S - UJ -« 144 THE CONVENTION amphitheater was erected in the gardens of the Tuileries. Thither marched the members of the Convention in solemn procession, carrying flowers and sheaves of grain, Robespierre at the head, for he was presi- dent that day and played the pontiff, a part which suited* him. He set fire to colossal figures, symobilizing Atheism and Vice, and then floated forth upon a long rhapsody. "Here," he cried from the platform, "is the Universe assembled. O Nature, how sub- lime, how exquisite, thy power! Card of Admission to the Festival of the How tyrants will pale at the Supreme Being ^-t j- r .,■,< ^ ^ i i tidmgs of our feast! A hundred thousand voices chanted a sacred hymn which had been composed for the occasion and for which they had been training for a week. Robe- Robespierre spierre stood the cynosure of all eyes, at the very summit of Supreme ambition, receiving boundless admiration as he thus in- augurated the new worship of the Supreme Being, and breathed the intoxicating incense that arose. Profound was the irony of this scene, the incredible culmination of a century of skepticism. Some ungodly persons made merry over this mummery, indulging in indiscreet gibes at "The Incorruptible 's" expense. The power of sar- casm was not yet dead in France, as this man who never smiled now learned. Two days later Robespierre caused a bill to be introduced into the Convention which showed that this delicate hand could brandish dag- gers as well as carry flowers and shocks of corn. The irreverent, the dan- gerous, must be swept like chaff into the burning pit. This bill, which The Law of became the Law of 2 2d Prairial, made the procedure of Prainai ^j^g Revolutionary Tribunal more murderous still. The accused were deprived of counsel, .fitnesses need not be heard in cases where the prosecutor could adduce any material or "moral" proof. Any kind of opposition to the government was made punishable with ' death. ^ The question of guilt was left to the "enlightened conscience" of the jury. The jury was purged of all members who were supposed to be lukewarm toward Robespierre. The accused might be sent before this packed and servile court either by the Convention, or by the Committee THE FALL OF ROBESPIERRE 145 of Public Safety, or by the Committee of General Security, or by the pub- , lie prosecutor alone. In other words, any life in France was at the mercy of this latter official, Fouquier-Tinville, a tool of Robespierre. The mem- bers of the Convention itself were no safer than others, nor were the members of the great Committee, if they incurred the displeasure of the dictator. Now began what is called the Great Terror, as if to distinguish it from what had preceded. In the thirteen months which had preceded the 2 2d of Prairial 1,200 persons had been guillotined in The Great Paris. In the forty-nine days between that date and the '^*^"°^ fall of Robespierre, on the 9th of Thermidor, 1,376 were guillotined. On two days alone, namely the 7th and 8th of July, 150 persons were executed. Day after day the butchery went on. It brought about the fall of Robespierre. This hideous measure united his enemies, those who feared him because they stood for clemency, and those who feared him because, though Terrorists themselves, they knew that he had marked them for destruction. They could lose no more by opposing him than by acquiescing, and if they could overthrow him they would gain the safety of their heads. Thus in desperation and in terror was woven a conspiracy — not to end the Terror, but to end Robespierre. The storm broke on July 27, 1794 (the 9th of Thermidor). When Robespierre attempted to. speak in the Convention, which had cowered under him and at his demand had indelibly debased itself by passing the infamous law of Prairial, he was shouted down. Cries of "Down with the tyrant!" were heard. Attempting to arouse the people in the galleries, he this time met with no response. The magic was gone. There was a confused, noisy struggle, lasting several hours. The arrest of Robespierre's voice failed him. "Danton's blood is chok- Robespierre ing him!" exclaimed one of the conspirators. Finally the Convention voted his arrest and that of his satelUtes, his brother. Saint- Just, and Couthon. All was not yet lost. The Revolutionary Tribunal was devoted to Robespierre and, if tried, there was an excellent chance that he would be acquitted. The Commune likewise was favorable to him. It took the initiative. It announced an insurrection. Its agents broke into his prison, released him, and bore him to the City Hall. Thereupon the Convention, hearing of this act of rebelHon, declared him and his asso- 146 THE CONVENTION dates outlaws. No trial therefore was necessary. As soon as re-arrested he would be guillotined. During the evening and early hours of the night a confused attempt to organize an attack against the Convention went on. But a httle before midnight a drenching storm dispersed his thousands of supporters in the square. Moreover Robespierre hesitated, lacked the spirit of decision and daring. The whole matter was ended by the Convention sending troops against the Commune. At and execu- two in the morning these troops seized the Hotel de Villa tion of and arrested Robespierre and the leading members of the ° ^ ^^ Commune. Robespierre had been wounded in the fray, his jaw fractured by a bullet. He was borne to the Convention, which declined to receive him. "The Convention unanimously refused to let him be brought into the sanctu- ary of the law which he had so long polluted," so ran the official report of this session. That day he and twenty others w^ere sent to the guillo- tine. An enormous throng witnessed the scene and broke into wild acclaim. On the two following days eighty-three more executions took place. France breathed more freely. The worst, evidently, was over. In the succeeding months the system of the Terror was gradually aban- The Ther- doned. This is what is called the Thermidorian reaction, midorian The various branches of the terrible machine of government were either destroyed or greatly altered. A milder regime began. The storm did not subside at once, but it subsided steadily, though not without several violent shocks, several attempts on the part of the dwindling Jacobins to recover their former position by again letting loose the street mobs. The policy of the Convention came to be summed up in the cry "Death to the Terror and to Monarchy!" The Convention was now controlled by the moderates but it was unanimously republican. Signs that a monarchical party was reappearing, demand- ing the restoration of the Bourbons, but not of the Old Regime, prompted the Convention to counter-measures designed to strengthen and per- petuate the Republic. To accomplish this and thus prevent the relapse into monarchy, the Convention drew up a new constitution, the third in six years. Though the radicals of Paris demanded vociferously that the suspended Con- stitution of 1793 be now put into force, the Convention refused, find- ing it too "anarchical" a document. Instead, it framed the Constitution THE CONSTITUTION OF 1795 147 of 1795 or of the Year Three. Universal sufifrage was abandoned, the motive being to reduce the poHtical importance of the -pj^g qq^_ Parisian populace. Democracy, established on August 10, stitution of 1792, was replaced by a suffrage based upon property. There was practically no protest. The example of the American states was quoted, none of which at that time admitted universal suffrage. The suffrage became practically what it had been under the monarchical Constitution of 1791. The national legislature was henceforth to consist of two chambers, not one, as had its predecessors. The ex- ^ .^ Provides for ample of America was again cited. "Nearly all the consti- a legislature tutions of these states," said one member, "our seniors in °^ *^° houses the cause of liberty, have divided the legislature into two chambers; and the result has been public tranquillity." It was, however, chiefly the experience which France had herself had with single-cham- bered legislatures during the last few years that caused her to abandon that form. One of the chambers was to be called the Council of Elders. This was to consist of 250 members, who must be at least forty years of age, and be either married or widowers. The other, the Council of the Five Hundred, was to consist of members of at least thirty years of age. This council alone was to have the right to propose laws, which could, however, not be put into force unless accepted by the Council of Elders. The executive power was to be exercised by a Directory, consisting of five persons, of at least forty years of age, elected by the Councils, one retiring each year. The example of America was again The recommended but was not followed because the Conven- Du-ectory tion feared that a single executive, a president, might remind the French too sharply of monarchy or might become a new Robespierre. The Constitution of 1795 was eminently the result of experience, not of abstract theorizing. It established a bourgeois re- ^j^g Republic public, as the Constitution of 1791 had established a no longer bourgeois monarchy. The Republic was in the hands, therefore, of a privileged class, property being the privilege. But the Convention either did not wish or did not dare to trust the voters to elect whom they might desire to the new Councils. Was there not danger that they might elect monarchists and so hand over the new republican constitution to its enemies? Would the members of the Con- vention, who enjoyed power, who did not wish to step down and out, and 148 THE CONVENTION yet who knew that they were unpopular because of the record of the Convention, stand any chance of election to the new legislature? Yet the habit of power was agreeable to them. Would the Repubhc be safe? Was it not their first duty to provide that it should not fall into hostile hands? Under the influence of such considerations the Convention passed decrees ^'^'^ decrees, supplementary to the constitution, providing of the two- that two-thirds of each Council should be chosen from the thirds present members of the Convention. The constitution was overwhelmingly approved by the voters to whom it was submitted for ratification. But the two decrees aroused decided opposition. They were represented as a barefaced device where- by men who knew themselves unpopular could keep themselves in power for a while longer. Although the decrees were finally ratified, it was by much smaller majorities than had ratified the constitution. The vote of Paris was overwhelmingly against them. Nor did Paris remain contented with casting a hostile vote. It proposed to prevent this consummation. An insurrection was organized Opposition against the Convention, this time by the bourgeois and to the wealthier people, in reality a royalist project. The Conven- tion intrusted its defense to Barras as commander-in-chief. Barras, who was more a politician than a general, called to his aid a little Corsican officer twenty-five years old who, two years before, had helped recover Toulon for the Republic. This little Buona-Parte, for this is the form in which the famous name appears in the official report of the day, was an artillery officer, a believer in the efficacy of that weapon. Hearing that there were forty cannon in a camp outside the city in danger of being seized by the insurgents, Bonaparte sent a young dare-devil cavalryman, Joachim Murat, to get them. Murat and his men dashed at full speed through the city, drove back the insurgents, seized the cannon and dragged them, always at full speed, to the Tuile- ries, which they reached by six o'clock in the morning. As one writer has said, "Neither the little general nor the superb cavalier dreamed that, in giving Barras cannon to be used against royalists, each was winning a crown for himself." The cannon were placed about the Tuileries, where sat the Conven- tion, rendering it impregnable. Every member of the Convention was given a rifle and cartridges. On the 13th of Vendemiaire (October 5) THE END OF THE CONVENTION 149 on came the insurgents in two columns, down the streets on both sides of the Seine. Suddenly at four-thirty in the afternoon a jj^^ jnsur- violent cannonading was heard. It was, Bonaparte mak- rection of ing his debut. The Convention was saved and an astound- Hor„i<.;.T" ing career was begun. This is what Carlyle, in his vivid (October 5, way, calls "the whiff of grapeshot which ends what we specifically call the French Revolution," an imaginative and inaccurate statement. Though it did not end the Revolution, it did, however, end one phase of it and inaugurated another. Three weeks later, on October 26, 1795, the Convention declared it- self dissolved. It had had an extraordinary history, only a few aspects of which have been described in this brief account. In the ^j^^ conven- three years of its existence it had displayed prodigious tion comes activity along many lines. INIeeting in the midst of appalling national difhculties born of internal dissension and foreign war, attacked by sixty departments of France and by an aston- ing array of foreign powers, England, Prussia, Austria, its record of Piedmont, Holland, Spain, it had triumphed all along the victories Une. Civil war had been stamped out and in the summer of 1795 three hostile states, Prussia, Holland, and Spain, made peace with France and withdrew from the war. France was actually in possession of the Aus- trian Netherlands and of the German provinces on the west bank of the Rhine. She had practically attained the so-called natural boundaries. War still continued with Austria and England. That problem was passed on to the Directory. During these three years the Convention had proclaimed the Republic in the classic land of monarchy, had voted two constitutions, had sanc- tioned two forms of worship and had finally separated -pj^^ q^^_ church and state, a thing of extreme difficulty in any vention and European country. It had put a king to death, had or- ^ ^^" ganized and endured a reign of tyranny, which long discredited the very idea of a republic among multitudes of the French, and which immeas- urably weakened the Republic by cutting off so many men who, had they lived, would have been its natural and experienced defenders for a full generation longer, since most of them were young. The Republic used up its material recklessly, so that when the man arrived who wished to end it and establish his personal rule, this sallow Italian Buona-Parte, his task was comparatively easy, the opposition being leaderless or poorly I50 THE CONVENTION led. On the other hand, the RepubKc had had its thriUing victories, its heroes, and its martyrs, whose careers and teachings were to be factors in the history of France for fully a century to come. The Convention had also worked mightily and achieved much in the avenues of peaceful development. It had given France a achievements System of weights and measures, more perfect than the of the world had ever seen, the metric system, since widely adopted by other countries. It had laid the foundations and done the preliminary work for a codification of the laws, an The metric achievement which Napoleon was to carry to completion system g^j^^j Qf ^hich he was to monopolize the renown. It de- voted fruitful attention to the problem of national education, believing with Danton, that "next to bread, education is the first need of the people," and that there ought to be a national system, free, compulsory, and entirely secular. The time has come, said the eloquent tribune, to The problem establish the great principle which appears to be ignored, of popular ' ' that children belong to the Republic before they belong to their parents." A great system of primary and secon- dary education was elaborated but it was not put into actual operation, owing to the lack of funds. On the other hand, much was done for cer- tain special schools. Among the invaluable creations of educational the Convention were certain institutions whose fame has *°^**t"d°'^^ steadily increased, whose influence has been profound, the Normal School, the Polytechnic School, the Law and Medical Schools of Paris, the Conservatory of Arts and Crafts, the Na- tional Archives, the Museum of the Louvre, the National Library, and the Institute. While some of these had their roots in earlier institu- tions, all such were so reorganized and amplified and enriched as to make them practically new. To keep the balance of our judgment clear we should recall these imperishable services to civilization ren- dered by the same assembly which is more notorious because of its connection with the iniquitous Reign of Terror. The Republic had its glorious trophies, its honorable records, from which later times were to derive inspiration and instruction. REFERENCES The Establishment of the Republic: Aulard, The French Revolulion, Vol. II, Chap. IV; Fisher, H. A. L., The Republican Tradition in Europe, Chap. IV; Stephens, REFERENCES 151 History of the French Revolution, \o\. II, pp. 150-180; Mathews, The French Rcvolu- l Hon, pp. 207-224. Tri.al and Execution' of Louis XV^I: Acton, Lectures on the French Revolution, pp. 249-255; Carlyle, French Revolution, Vol. Ill, Book II, Chaps. VI-VIII (section entitled "Regicide"). The Reign of Terror: Mathews, pp. 224-251; Stephens, Vol. II, Chaps. X and XI; Gardiner, B. M., The French Revolution, pp. 156-187; Cambridge Modern His- tory, Vol. VIII, pp. 338-371. Overthrow of Hebertists and Dantonists: Gardiner, pp. 188-204. Robespierre: Mathews, pp. 252-265; Morley, Miscellanies, Vol. I, (Essay on 'Robespierre); Gardiner, pp. 204-220; Acton, Chap. XIX. Reaction after the Overthrow of Robespierre: Mathews, pp. 266-285; Gardiner, pp. 221-253; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. VIII, pp. 372-397. The Constitution of 1795: Bourne, The Revolutionary Period in Europe, pp. 223-231; Aulard, Vol. Ill, Chap. VII. CHAPTER VII THE DIRECTORY Its first problem the prosecution of the war The Directory lasted from October 27, 1795, to November 19, 1799. Th D'r - ^^ ^°°^ ^^^ name from the form of the executive branch of tory (1795- the RepubUc, as determined by the Constitution of 1795. ' Its history of four years was troubled, uncertain, and ended in its violent overthrow. Its first and most pressing problem was the continued prosecution of the war. As already stated, Prussia, Spain, and Holland had with- drawn from the coalition and had made peace with the Convention. But Eng- land, Austria, Piedmont, and the lesser German states were still in arms against the Republic. The first duty of the Directory was, therefore, to continue the war with them and to defeat them. France had already overrun the Austrian Netherlands, that is, modern Belgium, and had declared them annexed to France. But to compel Austria, the owner, to recognize this annexation she must be beaten. The Directory, therefore proceeded with vigor to concentrate its attention upon this object. As France had thrown back her invaders, the fight- ing was no longer on French soil. She now became the invader, and that long series of conquests of various The cam- European countries by aggressive French armies began, paign which was to end only twenty years later with the fall of SrS ^^^ greatest commander of modern times, if not of all his- tory. The campaign against Austria, planned by the Di- rectory, included two parallel and aggressive movements against that 152 A Director in Official Costume Redrawn after a sketch by Le Dru. THE FAMILY OF BONAPARTE 153 country — an attack through southern Germany, down the valley of the Danube, ending, it was hoped, at Vienna. This was the campaign north of the Alps. South of the Alps, in northern Italy, France had enemies in Piedmont or Sardinia and again in Austria, which had possession of the central and rich part of the Po val- ley, namely, Lombardy, with Milan as the capital. The campaign in Germany was confided to Jourdan and Moreau; that in Italy to General Bonaparte, who made of it a stepping-stone to fame and power incomparable. Napoleon Bonaparte was born at Ajaccio in Corsica in 1769, a short time after the island had been sold by Genoa to France. The family was of Italian origin but had for two centuries and a half been resident in the island. His father, Charles Bonaparte, was of the nobiHty but was poor, indolent, pleasure-loving, a lawyer by profession. His mother, Laetitia Ramolino, was a woman of great beauty, of remarkable will, of extraordinary energy. Poorly educated, this "mother of kings" was never able to speak the French language without ridiculous mistakes. She had thirteen children, eight of whom lived to grow up, five boys and three girls. The father died when the youngest, Jerome, was only three months old. Napoleon, the second son, was educated in French military schools at Napoleon Brienne and Paris, as a sort of charity scholar. He was educated at military very unhappy, surrounded as he was by boys who looked schools in down upon him because he was poor while they were rich, France because his father was unimportant while theirs belonged to the noblest families in France, because he spoke French like the foreigner he was, Italian being his native tongue. In fact he was tormented in all the ways of which schoolboys are past masters. He became sullen, taciturn, lived Napoleon Bonaparte, an Italian by descent, a Corsican by birth, a Frenchman by nation- ality Charles Bonaparte After the painting by Belliard, engraved by Read. 154 THE DIRECTORY apart by himself, was unpopular with his fellows whom, in turn, he de- spised, conscious, as he was, of powers quite equal to any of theirs, of a spirit quite as high. His boyish letters home were remarkably serious, lucid, intelligent. He was ex- cellent in mathematics, and was fond of history and geog- raphy. At the age of sixteen he left the military school and became a second lieutenant of artillery. One of his teachers described him at this time as follows: "Reserved and studi- ous, he prefers study to amuse- ment of any kind and enjoys reading the best authors; is diligent in the study of the abstract sciences, caring little for anything else. He is taci- turn and loves solitude, is capricious, haughty, and exces- sively self-centered. He talks little but is quick and energetic in his replies, prompt and incisive in repartee. He has great self-esteem, is ambitious, with aspirations that will stop at nothing. Is worthy of patronage." Young Bonaparte read the intoxicating literature of revolt of the eighteenth century, Voltaire, Turgot, particularly Rousseau. "Even when I had nothing to do," he said later, "I vaguely thought that I had no time to lose." As a young sub- lieutenant he had a wretchedly small salary. "I have no resources here but work," he wrote his mother. "I sleep very Httle. I go to bed at ten, I rise at four. I have only one meal a day, at three o'clock." He read his- tory extensively, regarding it as "the torch of truth, the destroyer of Desires to be prejudice." He tried his hand at writing, essays, novels, an historian ^^^ particularly a history of Corsica, for at this time his great ambition was to be the historian of his native land. He hated Laetitia Ramolino, Napoleon's Mother From a painting in the Town Hall at Ajaccio. " When I was a young lieutenant of artillery," later a favor- ite phrase with Napoleon BONAPARTE DURING THE REVOLUTION 155 France and dreamed of a war of independence for Corsica. He spent much time in Corsica, securing long furloughs, which, moreover, he overstayed. As a consequence he finally lost his position in the army I1 14 MiWir^MlT^^'''' M The House at Ajaccio in wtiich Napoleon was born From a drawing by F. Clementson. which, though poorly salaried, still gave him a living. He returned to Paris in 1792, hoping to regain it, but the disturbed state of affairs was not propitious. Without a profession, without resources, he ^ spectator was almost penniless. He ate in cheap restaurants. He of the pawned his watch — and, as an idle but interested specta- tor, he witnessed some of the famous "days" of the Revolution, the Revolution 156 THE DIRECTORY invasion of the Tuileries by the mob on the 20th of June, when Louis XVI was forced to wear the bonnet rouge, the attack of August 10 when he was deposed, the September Massacres. Bonaparte's opinion was that the soldiers should have shot a few hundred, then the crowd would „ . have run. He was restored to his command in August, ful service to 1792. In 1 793 he distinguished himself by helping recover the Republic rj^^^^^^ f^j. ^j^g Republic and in 1795 by defending the Con- vention against the insurrection of Vendemiaire, which was a lucky crisis for him. Having conquered a Parisian mob, he was himself conquered by a woman. He fell madly in love with Josephine Beauharnais, a widow six years older than himself, whose husband had been guillo- marries tined a few days before the fall of Robespierre, leaving her Josephine r>ooT and with two children. Josephine did not lose her Beauharnais heart but she was impressed, indeed half terrified, by the vehemence of Napoleon's passion, the intensity of his glance, and she yielded to his rapid, impetuous courtship, with a troubled but vivid sense that the future had great things in store for him. "Do they" (the Directors) "think that I need their protection in order to rise?" he had exclaimed to her. "They will be glad enough some day if I grant them mine. My sword is at my side and with it I can go far." "This preposterous assurance," wrote Josephine, "affects me to such a degree that I can believe everything may be possible to this man, and, with his imagination, who can tell what he may be tempted to undertake? " Two days before they were married Bonaparte was appointed to the command of the Army of Italy. His sword was at his side. He Bonaparte now unsheathed it and made some memorable passes. appointed 'p^Q ^^y^ after the marriage he left his bride in Paris and commander . of the Army started for the front, in a mingled mood of desperation at of Italy i^j^g separation and of exultation that now his opportunity had come. Sending back passionate love-letters from every station, his spirit and his senses all on fire, feeling that he was on the very verge of achievement, he hastened on to meet the enemy and, as was quickly evident, "to tear the very heart out of glory." The wildness of Corsica, A true son his native land, was in his blood, the land of fighters, the of Corsica j^j^^j ^f ^Yie vendetta, of concentrated passion, of lawless energy, of bravery beyond compare, concerning which Rousseau had written in happy prescience twenty years before, "I have a presentiment BONAPARTE'S OPPORTUNITY 157 that this little island will some day astonish Europe." That day had come. The young eagle it had nourished was now preening for his flight, prepared to astonish the universe. The difficulties that confronted Bonaparte were numerous and not- able. One was his youth and another was that he was unknown. The Army of Italy had been in the field three years. Its generals j^^ ^^f_ did not know their new commander. Some of them were Acuities in older than he and had already made names for themselves. ^ "^^^ They resented this appointment of a junior, a man whose chief exploit had been a street fight in Paris. Nevertheless when this slender, round- shouldered, small, and sickly-looking young man appeared they saw in- stantly that they had a master. He was imperious, laconic, 1-11 iL-r Ml • 1 r , Bonaparte's reserved with them. It was necessary, he said afterward, attitude "in order to command men so much older than myself." toward his si6n6rEls He was only five feet two inches tall but, said Massena, "when he put on his general's hat he seemed to have grown two feet. He questioned us on the position of our divisions, on the spirit and effective force of each corps, prescribed the course we were to follow, announced that he would hold an inspection on the morrow, and on the day following attack the enemy." Augereau, a vulgar and famous old soldier, full of strange oaths and proud of his tall figure, was abusive, derisive, mutinous. He was admitted to the General's pres- ence and passed an uneasy moment. "He frightened me," said Augereau, "his first glance crushed me. I cannot understand it." It did not take these officers long to see that the young general meant business and that he knew very thoroughly the art of war. His speech was rapid, brief, incisive. He gave his orders succinctly and clearly and he let it be known that obedience was the order of the day. The cold reception quickly became enthusiastic cooperation. Bonaparte won ascendency over the soldiers with the same lightning rapidity. They had been long inactive, idling through meaningless manoeuvres. He announced immediate action. The re- t, ^ rJonaparte sponse was instantaneous. He inspired confidence and he and the inspired enthusiasm. He took an army that was discour- ^^'"'^""^ aged, that was in rags, even the officers being almost without shoes, an army on half rations. He issued a bulletin which imparted to them his own exaltation, his belief that the limits of the possible could easily be transcended, that it was all a matter of will. He got into their blood and 1^8 THE DIRECTORY they tingled with impatience and with hope. "There was so much of the future in him," is the way Marmont described the impression, "Soldiers," so ran this bulletin, "soldiers, you are ill-fed and almost naked; the eovernment owes you much, it can give you Bonaparte's ' ° -^ , ., . . bulletins to nothing. Your patience, the courage which you exhibit in the army ^^^ midst of these crags, are worthy of all admiration; but they bring you no atom of glory; not a ray is reflected upon you. I will conduct you into the most fertile plains in the world. Rich provinces, great cities will be in your power; there you will find honor, glory, and wealth. Soldiers of Italy, can it be that you will be lacking in courage or perseverance?" Ardent images of a very mundane and material kind rose up before him and he saw to it that his soldiers shared them. By portraying very earthly visions of felicity Mahomet, centuries before, had stirred the Oriental zeal of his followers to marvelous effort and achievement. Bonaparte took suggestions from Mahomet on more than one occasion in his life. Bonaparte's first Italian campaign has remained in the eyes of mili- tary men ever since a masterpiece, a classic example of the art of war. Bonaparte's ^^ lasted a year, from April, 1796 to April, 1797. It may first Italian be summarized in the words, "He came, he saw, he con- campaign quered." He confronted an allied Sardinian and Austrian army, and his forces were much inferior in number. His policy was therefore to see that his enemies did not unite, and then to beat each in turn. His enemies combined had 70,000 men. He had about half that number. Slipping in between the Austrians and Sardinians he defeated the former, notably at Dego, and drove them eastward. Then he turned westward against the Sardinians, defeated them at Mondovi and opened the way to Turin, their capital. The Sardinians sued for peace and Bonaparte agreed that France should have the provinces of Savoy forces the and Nice. One enemy had thus been eliminated by the to sue for "^^E heroes," now turned into "winged victories." Bona- peace (May, parte summarized these achievements in a bulletin to his 1796) men, which set them vibrating. "Soldiers," he said, "in fifteen days you have won six victories, taken twenty-one stands of colors, fifty-five pieces of cannon, and several fortresses, and conquered the richest part of Piedmont. You have taken 1,500 prisoners and killed or wounded 10,000 men. . . . But, soldiers, you have done nothing, BONAPARTE IN ITALY 159 since, there remains something for you to do. You have still battles to fight, towns to take, rivers to cross." Bonaparte now turned his entire attention to the Austrians, who were in control of Lombardy. Rushing down the southern bank of the Po, he crossed it at Piacenza. Beaulieu, the Austrian commander, ^j^^ ^^^_ withdrew beyond the Adda River. There was no \\;ay to paign against get at him but to cross the river by the bridge of Lodi, ^ "^ "^'^^ a bridge 350 feet long and swept on the other side by cannon. To cross it in the face of a raking fire was necessary but was well-nigh impossible. Bonaparte ordered his grenadiers forward. The bridge Halfway over they were mowed down by the Austrian fire °* ^°^^ and began to recoil. Bonaparte and other generals rushed to the head of the columns, risked their lives, inspired their men, and the result was that they got across in the very teeth of the murderous fire and seized the Austrian batteries. "Of all the actions in which the soldiers under my command have been engaged," reported Bonaparte to the Directory, "none has equaled the tremendous passage of the bridge of Lodi." From that day Bonaparte was the idol of his soldiers. He had shown reckless courage, contempt of death. Thenceforth they called him affec- tionately "The Little Corporal." The Austrians retreated to the farther side of the Mincio and to the mighty fortress of Mantua. On May 16 Bonaparte made a triumphal entry into Milan. He sent The struggle a force to begin the siege of Mantua. That was the key to *°'" Mantua the situation. He could not advance into the Alps and against Vienna until he had taken it. On the other hand if Austria lost Mantua, she would lose her hold upon Italy. Four times during the next eight months, from June, 1796 to Jan- uary, 1797, Austria sent down armies from the Alps in the attempt to relieve the beleaguered fortress. Each time they were defeated by the prodigious activity, the precision of aim, of the French general, who continued his policy of attacking his enemy piecemeal, before their divi- sions could unite. By this policy his inferior forces, for his numbers were inferior to the total of the opposed army, were always as a Bonaparte's matter of fact so applied as to be superior to the enemy on methods of the battlefield, for he attacked when the enemy was divided. ^* ^'^^ It was youth against age, Bonaparte being twenty-seven, Wurmser and the other Austrian generals almost seventy. It was new methods against old, originality against the spirit of routine. The Austrians came down THE DIRECTORY ARCOLA AND RIVOLI i6i from the Alpine passes in two divisions. Here was Bonaparte's chance, and wonderfully did he use it. In war, said Moreau to him two years later, "the greater number always beat the lesser." "You are right," replied Bonaparte. " Whenever, with smaller forces, I was in the pres- ence of a great army, arranging mine rapidly, I fell like a thunderbolt upon one of its wings, tumbled it over, profited by the disorder which always ensued to attack the enemy elsewhere, always with my entire force. Thus I defeated him in detail and victory was always the triumph of the larger number over the smaller." All this was accomplished only by forced marches. "It is our legs that win his battles," said his soldiers. He shot his troops back and forth like a shuttle. By the rapidity of his movements he made up for his numerical weakness. Of course this suc- cess was rendered possible by the mistake of his opponents in dividing their forces when they should hav^e kept them united. Even thus, with his own ability and the mistakes of his enemies co- operating, the contest was severe, the outcome at times trembled in the balance. Thus at Areola, the battle raged for three days. * . T 1- 1 11, 1 r The battle Agam, as at Lodi, success depended upon the control of a of Areola bridge. Only a few miles separated the two Austrian divi- "November sions. If the Austrians could hold the bridge, then their junction would probably be completed. Bonaparte seized a flag and rushed upon the bridge, accompanied by his staff. The Austrians leveled a murderous fire at them. The columns fell back, several officers having been shot down. They refused to desert their general but dragged him. with them by his arms and clothes. He fell into a morass and began to sink. "Forward to save the General! " was the cry and immediately the French fury broke loose, they drove back the Austrians and rescued their hero. He had, however, not repeated the exploit of Lodi. He had not crossed the bridge. But the next day his army was victorious and the Austrians retreated once more. The three days' battle was over (Novem- ber 15-17, 1796). Two months later a new Austrian army came down from the Alps for the relief of Mantua and another desperate battle occurred, at Rivoli. On January 13-14, 1797, Bonaparte inflicted a crushing de- feat upon the Austrians, routed them, and sent them spin- of Rivoli ning back into the Alps again. Two weeks later Mantua (January 13- 14 1797) surrendered. Bonaparte now marched up into the Alps, constantly outgeneraling his brilliant new opponent, the young Arch- i62 THE DIRECTORY duke Charles, forcing him steadily back. When on April 7 he reached the Httle town of Leoben, about 100 miles from Vienna, Bonaparte ' ' forces Aus- Austria sued for peace. A memorable and crowded year tria to make ^ effort was thus brought to a brilliant close. In its twelve peace. Truce ° of Leoben, months' march across northern Italy the French had fought AprU, 1797 eighteen big battles, and sixty-five smaller ones. "You have, besides that," said Bonaparte in a bulletin to the army, "sent 30,000,000 francs from the public treasury to Paris. You have en- riched the Museum of Paris with 300 masterpieces of ancient and mod- ern Italy, which it has taken thirty ages to produce. You have conquered the most beautiful country of Europe. The French colors float for the first time upon the borders of the Adriatic." In another proclamation he told them they were forever covered with glory, that when they had completed their task and returned to their homes their fellow-citizens, when pointing to them, would say, " He was of the Army of Italy:' Thus rose his star to full meridian splendor. No wonder he believed in it. All through this Italian campaign Bonaparte acted as if he were the head of the state, not its servant. He sometimes followed the advice of the Directors, more often he ignored it, frequently he acted Bonaparte's . , - /. ^^.,. ,• , , attitude m defiance of it. Military matters did not alone occupy his toward the attention. He tried his hand at political manipulation, Directory '■ i 1 1 with the same confidence and the same success which he had shown on the field of battle. He became a creator and a destroyer of states. Italy was not at that time a united country but was a collection Treatment of small independent states. None of these escaped the of Genoa transforming touch of the young conquerer. He changed the old aristocratic Republic of Genoa into the Ligurian Republic, giving it a constitution similar to that of France. He forced doubtful princes, like the Dukes of Parma and Modena, to submission and heavy payments. He forced the Pope to a similar humiliation, taking some of his states, sparing most of them, and levying heavy exactions. Bonaparte His most notorious act, next to the conquest of the suc- attacks and cessive Austrian armies, was the overthrow, on a flimsy conquers ' ' -' Venice, pretext and with diaboUc guile, of the famous old Republic ("9^' of Venice. BONAPARTE CONQUERS VENICE 163 Napoleon at Arcola After the painting by Gros. J 54 THE DIRECTORY "Once did she hold the gorgeous East in fee; And was the safeguard of the West: the worth Of Venice did not fall below her birth, Venice, the Eldest Child of Liberty." Such was the thought that came to the poet Wordsworth as he con- templated this outrage, resembling in abysmal immorality the contem- porary partition of Poland at the hands of the monarchs of Prussia, Austria, and Russia. At least this clear, bright, pagan repubUcan general \ could have claimed, had he cared to, that he was no worse than the kings | of the eighteenth century who asserted that their rule was ordained of God. Bonaparte was no worse; he was also no better; he was, more- over, far more able. He conquered Venice, one of the oldest and proudest I states in Europe, and held it as a pawn in the game of diplomacy, to which he turned with eagerness and talent, now that the war was over. Austria had agreed in April, 1797, to the preliminary peace of Leo- ben. The following summer was devoted to the making of the final, peace, that of Campo Formio, concluded October 17, 1797. During these months Bonaparte lived in state in the splendid villa of Montebello, near Milan, basking in the dazzHng sunshine of his sudden and amazing fortune. There he kept a veritable court, receiving ambassadors, talking intimately with artists and men of letters, surrounded by Bonaparte young officers, who had caught the swift contagion of his and his personality and who were advancing with his advance to prosperity and renown. There, too, at Montebello, were Josephine and the brothers and the sisters of the young victor and also his mother, who kept a level head in prosperity as she had in adversity — all irradiated with the new glamour of their changed position in life. The young man who a few years before had pawned his watch and had eaten six-cent dinners in cheap Parisian restaurants now dined in public in the old manner of French kings, allowing the curious to gaze upon him, A body-guard of Polish lancers attended whenever he rode forth. His conversation dazzled by its ease and richness. It was quoted everywhere. Some of it was calculated to arouse concern in high quar- Bonaparte's ^^^^- "What I have done so far," he said, "is nothing. I flights of am but at the beginning of the career I am to run. Do you imagine that I have triumphed in Italy in order to advance the la^vyers of the Directory? . . . Let the Directory attempt to deprive THE TTJRATV (yf CAMTfJ ffykMiO if>% me (ji my c/ymms^nfi and they will see who is the i«aster. The nation mu«it have a hea/1 who 1;^ re^ '>as hy gJory." Two yearii t:>f'T he saw to it that she ha/; ,. The treaty of Campo Formio initiated the tMrof,e!^<* of thstx%m\% the. map of y,'iT',x^- /I'li'h «;!•. ^o f->e carnVI on - ars to , nor Au?itria, champion of the old, (MitttA in their meth<»fk. Both bargained and trailed as f^est fh^ry ^ T],« 'li^isi/vn ment that contravenerl the y;...- .; , , , ,,. „ , . , „,^- ^'^ ti»« M)^'** tion, (A the ri^ts of peopfea t^^j- determine their own destinie?if the prm- ciple of p<)ij>ular sovereignty. For the agreement simply rej-; arbitrament cxf the sword, was frankly fjase*-] on force, and ow ,w . ujg else, French domestic pohcy ha^I been revolutionizerl. French foreign pf bardy and agreed to recognise the new Cisalpine Republic y^^ which Bonaf>arte createrl out of Lomf>ardy, the duchies Oetober, Parma and Mfxlena, and out of parts of the Papal States anrl Venetia- In return for this the city, the islands, and most of the mainland of Venice, were handerl over to Austria, as were also Dalmatia and Istria. Austria became an Adriatic power. The Adriatic ceased ir> \fe a Venetian lake. The French f>eople were enthusiastic over the acquisition of Belgium anrl the left bank of the Rhine. They were dispr>serl, however, tr> j-je inrlignant at the treatment of Venice, the rape of a republic Th« wishes by a ref>ublic. But they were obliged to take the fly with ^ *^* the ointment and to a^lapt themselves to the situation, people not Thus ended the famous Italian campaign, which was the «*»«iited 9te]:>ping-stone by which Napoleon Bonaparte started on his triumphal way. He harl, moreover, not only conquererl Italy. He had plundered her. One fA the features of this campaign had been that it had been based upon the principle that it must pay for itself and yield a prof' - - ' ' - tion, for the French treasury. Bonaparte demanderl large cor, from the princes whom he conquered- The Duke of Modena had to i66 THE DIRECTORY pay ten million francs, the Republic of Genoa fifteen, the Pope twenty. He le\-ied hea\-ilv upon ^lilan. Xot only did he make Italy support his armv but he sent large sums to the Director>-. to meet the ever-threaten- ing deficit. Xot only that, but he shamelessly and s}-stematically robbed her of her works of art. This he made a regular feature of Ms career as conqueror. In this and later campaigns, whenever ^•ictorious. he had systematk ^ his agents ransack the galleries and select the pictures, robber of art -which he then demanded as the prize of war. conduct ^ ^"^ which greatly embittered the \-ictims but produced pleas- urable feelings in France. The entr\- of the first art treasures into Paris created great excitement. Enormous cars bearing pictures and statues, carefully packed, but labeled on the outside, rolled through the streets to the accompaniment of martial music, the wa\Tng of flags, and shouts of popular approval : " The Transfiguration " by Raphael ; *' The Christ " b}- Titian; the Apollo Belvedere, the Xine Muses, the Laocoon, the Venus de Medici. During his career Bonaparte enriched the Museum of the Lou\Te with over a hundred and fifty paintings by Raphael, Rembrandt, Rubens, Titian, and Van Dyck, to mention only a few of the greater names. After his fall years later many of these were returned to their former owners. Yet many remained. The famous bronze horses of Venice, of which the \'enetians had robbed Constantinople centuries before, as Constantinople had long before that robbed Rome, were transported to Paris after the conquest of Venice in 1797. were transported back to Venice after the overthrow of Xapoleon and were put in place again, there to remain for a full 100 years, until the year 1915, when they were removed once more, this time by the Venetians themselves, for purposes of safety- against the dangers of the Austrian war of that year. After this swift revelation of genius in the ItaUan campaign the lau- reled hero returned to Paris, the c\Tiosure of all eyes, the center of Bonaparte's boundless curiosit\'. He knew, however, that the way to return to keep curiosity aHve is not to satisfy it, for, once satisfied, it tirnis to other objects. BeHe\ing that the Parisians, like the ancient Athenians, preferred to worship gods that were unknown, he dis- creetly kept in the background, affected simpficity of dress and demeanor, and won praises for his '"modest^-." quite ironically misplaced. Modesty was not his forte. He was stud}-ing his future very carefully, was analyz- B0XAPARTE5 RETLUX TO PARIS 167 i68 THE DIRECTORY ing the situation very closely. He would have liked to enter the Direc- tory. Once one of the five he could have pocketed the other four. But he was only twenty-eight and Directors must be at least forty years of age. He did not wish or intend to imitate Cincinnatus by returning with dignity to the plow. He was resolved to "keep his glory warm." Per- ceiving that, as he expressed it, "the pear was not yet ripe," he medi- tated, and the result of his meditations was a spectacular adventure. After the Peace of Campo Formio only one power remained at war with France, namely England. But England was most formidable — j« J ^j because of her wealth, because of her colonies, because of still the her navy. She had been the center of the coalition, the pay- enemy mistress of the other enemies, the constant fomenter of trouble, the patron of the Bourbons. "Our Government," said Napoleon at this time, "must destroy the English monarchy or it must expect itself to be destroyed by these active islanders. Let us concentrate our energies on the navy and annihilate England. That done, Europe is at our feet." The annihilation of England was to be the most constant sub- ject of his thought during his entire career, baffling him at every stage, prompting him to gigantic efforts, ending in catastrophic failure eighteen years later at Waterloo, and in the forced repinings of St. Helena. The Directory now made Bonaparte commander of the army of England, and he began his first experiment in the elusive art of destroy- Bonaparte ^"8 these "active islanders." Seeing that a direct invasion appointed of England w^as impossible he sought out a vulnerable spot of tj^g which should at the same time be accessible, and he hit "Army of upon Egypt. Not that Egypt was an English possession, for it was not. It belonged to the Sultan of Turkey. But it was on the route to India and Bonaparte, like many of his contem- poraries, considered that England drew her strength, not from English mines and factories, from English brains and characters, but from the fabulous wealth of India. Once cut that nerve and the mighty colossus would reel and fall. England was not an island; she was a world-empire. As such she stood in the way of all other would-be world-empires, then as now. The year 1914 saw no new arguments put forth by her enemies in regard to England that were not freely uttered in 1797. Bonaparte denounced this "tyrant of the seas" quite in our latter-day style. If there must be tyranny it was intolerable that it should be exercised by others. He now received the ready sanction of the Directors to his I BONAPARTE'S EGYPTIAN PLANS 169 plan for the conquest of Egypt. Once conquered, Egypt would serve as a basis of operations for an expedition to India which would come in time. rr^i T^- Bonaparte The Directors were glad to get him so far plans the away from Paris, where his popularity was burdensome, conquest of . Egypt was, indeed, a constant menace. The plan itself, also, was quite in the traditions of the French foreign ofhce. Moreover the potent fascination of the Orient for all imaginative minds, as offering an inviting, mysterious field for vast and dazzling action, operated pow- erfully upon Bonaparte. What destinies might not be carved out of the gorgeous East, with its limit- less horizons, its immeasurable, unutilized opportunities? The Orient had appealed to Alexander the Great with irresistible force as it now appealed to this imaginative young Corsican, every energy of whose rich and complex personal- ity was now in high flood. "This little Europe has not enough to offer," he remarked one day to his schoolboy friend, Bourrienne. "The Orient is the place to go to. All great reputations have been made there." "I do not know what would have happened to me," he said later, "if I had not had the happy idea of going to Egypt." He was a child of the Mediterranean and as a boy had drunk in its legends and its poetry. As wildly imaginative as he was intensely practical, both imagination and cool calculation recommended the adventure. Once decided on, preparations were made with promptness and in utter secrecy. On May 19, 1798, Bonaparte set sail from Toulon with a fleet of 400 slow-moving transports bearing an army of . , .„. . , Preparations 38,000 men. A brilliant corps of young generals accom- for the panied him, Berthier, Murat, Desaix, Marmont, Lannes, Egyptian Kleber, tried and tested in Italy the year before. He also took with him a traveling library in which Plutarch's Lives and Xeno- WiLLiAM Pitt From a portrait by J. Hoppncr. I lyo THE DIRECTORY phon's Anabasis and the Koran were a few of the significant contents. Fellow-voyagers, also, were over loo distinguished scholars, scientists, artists, engineers, for this expedition was to be no mere military prom- enade but was designed to widen the bounds of human knowledge by an elaborate study of the products and customs, the history and the art of that country, famous, yet little known. This, indeed, was destined to be the most permanent and valuable result of an expedition which laid the broad foundations of modern Egyptology in "The Descrip- tion of Egypt," a monumental work which presented to the world in sumptuous form the discoveries and investigations of this group of learned men. The hazards were enormous. Admiral Nelson with a powerful Eng- lish fleet was in the Mediterranean. The French managed to escape The seizure him. Stopping on the way to seize the important position of Malta Qf Malta and to forward the contents of its treasury to the Directors, Bonaparte reached his destination at the end of June and dis- embarked in safety. The nominal ruler of Egypt was the Sultan of Tur- key but the real rulers were the Mamelukes, a sort of feudal military caste. They constituted a splendid body of cavalrymen but they were no match for the invaders, as they lacked infantry and artillery, and were, moreover, far inferior in numbers. Seizing Alexandria on July 2 the French army began the march to Cairo. The difficulties of the march were great, as no account had been The march taken, in the preparations, of the character of the climate to Cairo ^j^fj ^^g country. The soldiers wore the heavy uniforms in vogue in Europe. In the march across the blazing sands they experi- enced hunger, thirst, heat. Many perished from thirst, serious eye troubles were caused by the frightful glare, suicide was not infrequent. Finally, however, after nearly three weeks of this agony, the Pyramids The battle ^^^^ ^^ sight, just outside Cairo. There Bonaparte ad- of the ministered a smashing defeat to the Mamelukes, encourag- Pyramids j^^ j^-^ soldiers by one of his thrilling phrases, "Soldiers, from the summit of these pyramids forty centuries look down upon you." The Battle of the Pyramids, July 21, 1798, gave the French control of Cairo. The Mamelukes were dispersed. They had lost 2,000" men. Bonaparte had lost very few. But no sooner had the French conquered the country than they became prisoners in it. For, on August i, Nelson had surprised the THE BATTLE OF THE NILE 171 French fleet as it was lying in the harbor of Abukir Bay, east of Alex- andria, and had captured or destroyed it. Only two battle- j^^jg ^ a _ ships and a frigate managed to escape. This Battle of stroys the the Nile, as it was called, was one of the most decisive '^^"'^ ^^* sea fights of this entire period. It was Bonaparte's first taste of British sea power. It was not his last. EGYPT AND S\TMA jBeirut jv D<8nascus Desert Bonaparte received the news of this terrible disaster, which cut him off from France and cooped him up in a hot and poor country, with superb composure. "Well! we must remain in this land, and come forth great, as did the ancients. This is the hour when characters of a. superior order should show themselves." And later he said that the English "will perhaps compel us to do greater things than we intended." He had need of all his resources, material and moral. Hearing that the Sultan of Turkey had declared war upon him, he re- j.^^ ^^^^_ solved, in January, 1799, to invade Syria, one of the Sul- sion of Syria tan's provinces, wishing to restore or reaffirm the confidence ^^''^®' of his soldiers by fresh victories and thinking, perhaps, of a march on jy2 THE DIRECTORY India or on Constantinople, taking "Europe in the rear," as he expressed it. If such was his hope, it was destined to disappointment. The crossing of the desert from Egypt into Syria was painful in the extreme, marked by the horrors of heat and thirst. The soldiers marched amid clouds of sand blown against them by a suffocating wind. They however seized the forts of Gaza and Jaffa, and destroyed a Turkish army at Mt. Tabor, near Nazareth, but were arrested at Acre, which they could not take by siege, because it was on the sea coast and was aided by the British fleet, but which they partly took by storm, only to be forced finally to with- The struggle draw because of terrific losses. For two months the struggle for Acre fgj- Acre went on. Plague broke out, ammunition ran short, and Bonaparte was again beaten by sea-power. He led his army back to Cairo in a memorable march, covering 300 miles in twenty-six days, over scorching sands and amidst appalling scenes of disaster and des- peration. He had sacrificed 5,000 men, had accomplished nothing, and had been checked for the first time in his career. On reaching Cairo he had the effrontery to act as if he had been triumphant, and sent out lying bulletins, not caring to have the truth known. A few weeks later he did win a notable victory, this time at Abukir, against a Turkish army that had just disembarked. This he correctly described when he announced, "It is one of the finest I of Abukir have ever witnessed. Of the army landed by the enemy (July 25, not a man has escaped." Over 10,000 Turks lost their 1799) lives in this, the last exploit of Bonaparte in Egypt. For now he resolved to return to France, to leave the whole adventure in other hands, seeing that it must inevitably fail, and to seek his fortune in fairer fields. He had heard news from France that made Bonaparte . i- • i i 1 r 1 resolves to him anxious to return. A new coalition had been formed return to during his absence, the French had been driven out of France ° ' ..... Italy, France itself was threatened with invasion. The Di- rectory was discredited and unpopular because of its incompetence and blunders. Bonaparte did not dare inform his soldiers, who had endured so much, of his plan. He did not even dare to tell Kleber, to whom he intrusted the command of the army by a letter which reached the latter too late for him to protest. He set sail secretly on the night of August 21, 1799, accompanied by Berthier, Murat, and five other officers and by two or three scientists. Kleber was later assassinated by a Mohammedan fanatic and the French army was forced to capitu- RETURN OF BONAPARTE 173 late and evacuate Egj^pt, in August, 1801. That ended the Egyptian expedition. It was no easy thing to get back from Egypt to France with the Eng- lish scouring the seas, and the winds against him. Sometimes the little sailboat on which Bonaparte had taken passage was beaten The return back ten miles a day. Then the wind would shift at night ^^°°^ Egypt and progress would be made. It took three weeks of hugging the south- ern shore of the Mediterranean before the narrows between Africa and Sicily were reached. These were guarded by an English battleship. But the French slipped through at night, lights out. Reaching Corsica they stopped several days, the winds dead against them. It seemed as if every one on the island claimed relationship with their fellow-citizen who had been rendered "illustrious by glory." Bonaparte saw his native land for the last time in his life. Finally he sailed for France, and was nearly overhauled by the British, who chased him to almost within sight of land. The journey from the coast to Paris was a continuous ovation. The crowds were such that frequently the carriages could advance but slowly. Evenings there were illuminations everywhere. When Paris was reached delirium broke forth. He arrived in the nick of time, as was his wont. Finally the pear was ripe. The government was in the last stages of unpopularity and dis- credit. Incompetent and corrupt, it was also unsuccessful. The Direc- tory was in existence for four years, from October, 1795 to November, 1799. Its career was agitated. The defects of the con- ^j^^ unpop- stitution, the perplexing circumstances of the times, the uiarity of the ambitions and intrigues of individuals seeking personal "^^*^ °^^ advantage and recking Httle of the state, had strained the institutions of the country almost to the breaking point, and had created a widespread feeling of weariness and disgust. Friction had been constant between the Directors and the legislature, and on two occasions the former had laid violent hands upon the latter, once arresting a group of royalist deputies and annulling their election, once doing the same to a group of radical republicans. They had thus made sport of the constitution and destroyed the rights of the voters. Their foreign policy, . '^ ^ -^ A new coah- after Bonaparte had sailed for Egypt, had been so aggres- tion formed sive and blundering that a new coalition had been formed ^g^inst . France against France, consisting of England, Austria, and Russia, which country now abandoned its eastern isolation and entered upon a 174 THE DIRECTORY period of active participation in the affairs of western Europe. The coalition was successful, the French were driven out of Germany back upon the Rhine, out of Italy, and the invasion of France was, perhaps, impending. The domestic poUcy of the Directors had also resulted in fanning once more the embers of religious war in Vendee. In these troubled waters Bonaparte began forthwith to fish. He es- tablished connections with a group of politicians who for one reason and another considered a revision of the constitution desirable and necessary. The leader of the group was Sieyes, a man who plumed himself in having a complete knowledge of the art and theory of gov- ernment and who now wished to endow France with the perfect institu- tions of which he carried the secret in his brain. Sieyes was a man of Olympian conceit, of oracular utterances, a coiner of telling phrases, enjoying an immoderate reputation as a constitution-maker. His phrase was now that to accomplish the desired change he needed "a sword." He would furnish the pen himself. The event was to prove, contrary to all proverbs, that the pen is weaker than the sword, at Bonaparte least when the latter belongs to a Napoleon Bonaparte. and Abbe Bonaparte, who really despised "this cunning priest," as oicycs he called him, was nevertheless quite willing to use him as a stepping-stone. Heaping flatteries upon him he said: "We have no government, because we have no constitution; at least not the one we need. It is for your genius to give us one." The plan these and other conspirators w^orked out was to force the Directors to resign, willy-nilly, thus leaving France without an execu- Plotting a tive, a situation that could not possibly be permitted to coup d'etat continue; then to get the Council of Elders and the Council of the Five Hundred to appoint a committee to revise the constitu- tion. Naturally Sieyes and Bonaparte were to be on that committee, if all went well. Then let wisdom have her sway. The conspirators had two of the Directors on their side and a majority of the Elders, and fortunately the President of the Council of Five Hundred was a brother of Napoleon, Lucien Bonaparte, a shallow but cool-headed rhet- orician, to whom the honors of the critical day were destined to be due. Thus was plotted in the dark the coup d'etat of Brumaire which landed What is a Napoleon in the saddle, made him ruler of a great state, coup 'etat? ^^^ opened a new and prodigious chapter in the history of Europe. There is no English word for coup d'etat, as fortunately the BONAPARTE AS CONSPIRATOR 175 thing described is alien to the history of EngUsh-speaking peoples. It is the seizure of the state, of power, by force and ruse, the overthrow of the form of government by violence, by arms. There had been coups d'etat before in France. There were to be others later, in the nineteenth century. But the coup d'etat of iSth and 19th Bru- maire (November 9 and 10, 1799) is the most classical example of this device, the most successful, the most momentous in its con- sequences. But how to set the artful scheme in motion? There was the danger that the ^he risk the deputies of the Five conspirators Hundred might block the way, danger of a popu- lar insurrection in Paris, of the old familiar kind, if the rumor got abroad that the Republic was in peril. The conspirators must step warily. They did so — and they nearly failed — and had they failed, their fate would have been that of Robespierre. A charge was trumped up, for which no evidence was given, that a plot was being concocted against the Republic. Not an instant must be lost, if the state was to be saved. The Council of Elders, The work of informed of this, and already won over to the conspiracy, ^^ Brumaire thereupon voted, upon the iSth of Brumaire, that both Councils should meet the following day at St. Cloud, several miles from Paris, and that General Bonaparte should take command of the troops for the purpose of protecting them. The next day, Sunday, the two Councils met in the palace of St. Cloud. Delay occurring in arranging the halls for the ex- Bonaparte in traordinary meeting, the suspicious legislators had time to the Council confer, to concert opposition. The Elders, when their ses- ° ^^^ sion finally began at two o'clock, demanded details concerning the pre- Official Costume of a Member of the Council of the Five Hundred From a water-color by David. 176 THE DIRECTORY tended plot. Bonaparte entered and made a wild and incoherent speech. They were "standing on a volcano," he told them. He was no "Caesar" or "Cromwell" intent upon destroying the liberties of his country. LuciEN Bonaparte From the painting by R. Lefevre. "General, you no longer know what you are saying," whispered Bour- rienne, urging him to leave the chamber, which he immediately did. This was a bad beginning; but worse was yet to come. Bonaparte went to the Council of Five Hundred, accompanied by four grenadiers. Bonaparte He was greeted with a perfect storm of wrath. Cries of in the "Outlaw him, outlaw him!" "Down with the Dictator, the Five down with the tyrant! " rent the air. Pandemonium reigned. Hundred jjg received blows, was pushed and jostled, and was finally dragged fainting from the hall by the grenadiers, his coat torn, his face THE END OF THE DIRECTORY 177 bleeding. Outside he mounted his horse in the courtyard, before the soldiers. It was Lucien who saved this badly bungled day. Refusing to put the motion to outlaw his brother, he left the chair, made his way to the courtyard, mounted a horse and harangued Lucien saves the soldiers, telling them that a band of assassins was *^® ^^^ terrorizing the assembly, that his life and that of Napoleon were no longer safe, and demanding, as President of the Five Hundred, that the soldiers enter the hall and clear out the brigands and free the Council. The soldiers hesitated. Then Lucien seized Napoleon's sword, pointed it at his brother's breast, and swore to kill him if he should ever lay violent hands on the Republic. The lie and the melodrama worked. The soldiers entered the hall, led by Murat. The legislators escaped through the windows. That evening groups of Elders and of the Five Hundred who favored the conspirators met, voted the abolition of the Directory, jj^g Du-g,.. and appointed three Consuls, Sieyes, Ducos, and General tory over- Bonaparte, to take their place. They then adjourned for Brumaire four months, appointing, as their final act, committees to November cooperate with the Consuls in the preparation of a new ' constitution. The three Consuls promised "fidelity to the Republic, one and in- divisible, to liberty, equality, and the representative system of govern- ment." At six o'clock on Monday morning every one went Establish- back to Paris. The grenadiers returned to their garrison ment of the singing revolutionary songs and thinking most sincerely that they had saved the Republic and the Revolution. No outbreak oc- curred in Paris. The coup d'etat was popular. Government bonds rose rapidly, nearly doubling in a week. Such was the Little Corporal's rise to civil power. It was fortunate, as we have seen, that not all the ability of his remarkable family was monopolized by himself. Lucien had his particular share, a distinct advantage to his kith and kin. REFERENCES Early Life of Napoleon Bonaparte: Fisher, Napoleon (Home University Li- brary), pp. 7-28; Johnston, R. M., Napoleon, pp. 1-25; Fournier, Napoleon I, Chaps. I and II; Rose, J. H., Life of Napoleon I, Chaps. I-IV; Sloane, Napoleon Bonaparte, 1 78 THE DIRECTORY Vol. I, Chaps III and V; Robinson and Beard, Readings in Modern European History, Vol. I, pp. 309-312. Bonaparte's First Italian Campaign: Fisher, pp. 28-56; Johnston, pp. 27-47; Fournier, pp. 72-110; Rose, Vol. I, Chaps. V-VII; Sloane, Chaps. XXV-XXVI; Tarbell, Ida M., Napoleon's Addresses, Selections from the Proclamations, Speeches, and Correspondence of Napoleon Bonaparte. The Egyptian Expedition: Fisher, pp. 56-72; Fournier, Chap. VI; Rose, Vol. I, Chaps. VIII and IX; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. VIII, Chap. XIX. The Coup d'Etat of Brumaire: Johnston, pp. 59-79; Fournier, Chap. VII; Rose, Vol. I, Chap. X; Sloane, Vol. II, Chaps. X and XI; Fyffe, History of Modern Europe, pp. 135-144. CHAPTER VIII THE CONSULATE Thus the famous young warrior had clutched at power and was not soon to let it slip. It had been a narrow escape. Fate had trembled dan- gerously in the balance on that gray November Sunday afternoon, but the gambler had won. His thin, sallow face, his sharp, -pj^^ ^^^^ metallic voice, his abrupt, imperious gesture, his glance that and pattern cowed and terrified, his long disordered hair, his delicate ° * ™^° hands, became a part of the history of the times, manifesting the intensely vivid impression which he had made upon his age and was to deepen. He was to etch the im- press of his amazing per- sonality with deep, precise, bold strokes upon the in- stitutions and the life of France. He was, in reality, a flinty young despot- with a pronounced taste for military glory. "I love power," he said later, "as a musician loves his violin. I love it as an artist." He was now in a position to indulge his taste. Pending a wider and a higher flight, there were two tasks that called for the immediate atten- tion of the three Consuls, who now took the place formerly occupied by the five Directors. A new constitution must be made, and the war against the coahtion must be carried on. 179 BoN'APARTE, First CoNsri, From an engraving by Momal, after Isabey. i8o THE CONSULATE The Constitution of the Year VIII (i799)> the fourth since the begin- ning of the Revolution, hastily composed and put into force a month The making after the coup d'etat, was in its essentials the work of Bona- of the con- parte and was designed to place supreme power in his stitulion of rr^u- u j the Year hands. 1 his had vni not been at all the purpose of Sieyes or of the committees appointed to draft the document. But Sieyes' plan, which had not been carefully worked out but was confused and uncertain in many particulars, encoun- tered the abrupt disdain of Bonaparte. There was to be a Grand Elector with a palace at Versailles and an income of six million francs ayear. This was the place evidently in- tended for Bonaparte, who immediately killed it with the statement that he had no de- sire to be merely "a fatted pig." Impatient with this scheme and with others sug- gested by the committees, Bonaparte Bonaparte practically dictated the constitution, using, to the consti- tution-maker Josephine After a drawing by Isabey. be sure, such of the suggestions made by the others as seemed to him good or harmless. The result was the or- ganization of that phase of the history of the Republic which is called the Consulate and which lasted from 1799 to 1804. The executive power was vested in three Consuls who were to be elected for ten years and to be reeligible. They were to be elected by Bonaparte ^he Senate but, to get the system started, the constitution First indicated who they should be — Bonaparte, First Consul; Cambaceres, the second, and Lebrun, the third. Practi- cally all the powers were to be in the hands of the First Consul, the ap- pointment of ministers, ambassadors, officers of the army and navy, THE CONSTITUTION OF 1799 i8i and numberless civil officials, including judges, the right to make war and peace, and treaties, subject to the sanction of the legislature. The First Consul was also to have the initiative in all legislation. Bills were to be prepared by a Council of State, were then to be submitted to a body called the Tribunate, which was to have the right to discuss them but not to vote them. Then they were to go to the Legisla- The legisla- tive Body which was to have the power to vote them, but not ^^® power discuss them. Moreover this "assembly of 300 mutes" must discharge its single function of voting in secret. There was also to be a fourth body, higher than the others — the Senate, which was to be the The guardian of the constitution and was also to be an electing Senate body, choosing the Consuls, the members of the Tribunate and the Legis- lative Body from certain lists, prepared in a cumbersome and elaborate way, and pretending to safeguard the right of the voters, for the suffrage was declared by the constitution to be universal. No time need be spent on this aspect of the constitution, for it was a sham and a deception. All this elaborate machinery was designed to keep up the fiction of the sovereignty of the people, the great assertion of the Revolution. The Republic continued to exist. The people were voters, ^j^^ fiction They had their various assemblies, thus ingeniously se- of popular lected. Practically, however, and this is the matter that sovernmen most concerns us, popular sovereignty was gone, Bonaparte was sover- eign. He had more extensive executive powers than Louis XVI had had under the Constitution of 1791. He really had the legislative powder also. No bill could be discussed or voted that had not po^^ers of been first prepared by his orders. Once voted it could not the First go into force until he promulgated it. France was still a republic in name; practically, however, it was a monarchy, scarcely veiled at that. Bonaparte's position was quite as attractive as that of any monarch by divine right, except for the fact that he was to hold it for a term of ten years only and had no power to bequeath it to an heir. He was to remedy these details later. Having given France a constitution, he secured the enactment of a Jaw which placed all the local government in his hands. Bonaparte There was to be a prefect at the head of each department, establishes a centralized a subpreject for each arrondissement, a mayor for every town administra- or commune. The citizens lost the power to manage their **^® system own local affairs, and thus their training in self-government came to an i82 THE CONSULATE end. Government, national and local, was centralized in Paris, more effectively, even, than in the good old days of the Bourbons and their intendants. Having set his house in order, having gained a firm grip on the reins of power, Bonaparte now turned his attention to the foreign enemies of War against France. The coalition consisted of England, Austria, and the second Russia. England was difficult to get at. The Russians were dissatisfied with their allies and were withdrawing from cooperation. There remained Austria, the enemy Bonaparte had met before. One Austrian army was on the Rhine and Bonaparte sent Moreau to attack it. Another was in northern Italy and he went in person to attend to that. While he had been in Egypt the Austrians Bonaparte's , second ital- had won back northern Italy. Melas, their general, had iaii cam- driven Massena into Genoa where the latter hung on like paign (1800) . . . ° grim death, with rations that would soon be exhausted. Bonaparte's plan was to get in between the Austrians and their own country, to attack them in the rear, thus to force them to withdraw from the siege of Genoa, in order to keep open their line of communica- tion. In the' pursuit of this object he accomplished one of his most famous exploits, the crossing of the Great Saint Bernard ing of the Pass over the Alps, with an army of 40,000, through snow R^^* and ice, dragging their cannon in troughs made out of hollowed logs. It was a matter of a week. Once in Italy he sought out the Austrians and met them unexpectedly at Marengo (June 14, 1800). The battle came near being a defeat, owing to the fact that Bonaparte blundered badly, having divided his forces, and that Desaix's division was miles away. The battle began at dawn and went disastrously for the French. At one o'clock the Austrian com- mander rode back to his headquarters, believing that he had won and that the remaining work could be left to his subordinates. The French were pushed back and their retreat threatened to become a stampede. The day was saved by the appearance of Desaix's division on the scene, at about five o'clock. The battle was resumed with fury, Desaix himself was killed, but the soldiers avenged his glorious death by a glorious vic- tory. By seven o'clock the day of strange vicissitudes was over. The Austrians signed an armistice abandoning to the French all northern Italy as far as the Mincio. THE PEACE OF AMIENS 183 Six months later Moreau won a decisive victory over the Aus- trians in Germany at Hohenhnden (December 3, 1800), Moreau thus opening the road to Vienna. Austria was now com- Au^trians at pelled to sue for peace. The Treaty of Luneville (Feb- Hohen- ruary 9, 1801) was in the main a repetition of the Treaty cember 3^" of Campo Formio. I8OO) As had been the case after Campo Formio, so now, after the break-up of this second coaHtion, France remained at war wdth only one nation, England. These two nations had been at war continuously for eight years. England had defeated the French navy and had conquered many of the colonies of France and of the allies or dependencies of France, that is, of Holland and Spain. She had just compelled the French in Egypt, the army left there by Bonaparte, to agree to evacuate that country. But her debt had grown enormously and there was widespread popular dislike of the war. A change in the ministry occurred, removing the great war leader, William Pitt. England agreed to discuss the ques- tion of peace. The discussion went on for five months . . The Peace and ended in the Peace of Amiens (March, 1802). England of Amiens recognized the existence of the French Republic. She re- ^'^^ ^°s- . land stored all the French colonies and some of the Dutch and Spanish, retaining only Ceylon and Trinidad. She promised to evacu- ate Malta and Eg>^t, which the French had seized in 1798 and which she had taken from them. Nothing was said of the French conquest of Bel- gium and the left bank of the Rhine. This was virtual acquiescence in the new boundaries of France, which far exceeded those of the ancient monarchy. Thus Europe was at peace for the first time in ten years. Great was the enthusiasm in both France and England. The peace, however, was most unstable. It lasted just one year. Napoleon said on one occasion, "I am the Revolution." On another he said that he had "destroyed the Revolu- Napoieon tion." There was much error and some truth in both and the these statements. Revolution The Consulate, and the Empire which succeeded the Consulate, preserved much of the work of the Revolution and abolished much, in conformity with the ideas and also the personal interests of the new ruler. Bonaparte had very definite opinions concerning the Revolu- tion, concerning the French people, and concerning his own ambitions. THE CONSULATE These opinions constituted the most important single factor in the life of France after 1799. Bonaparte sympathized with, or at least tolerated, one of the ideas of the Revolution, Equahty. He detested Josephine at Malmaison From the painting by Prudhon. the Other leading idea. Liberty. In his youth he had fallen under the magnetic spell of Rousseau. But that had passed and thenceforth he dismissed Rousseau summarily as a "madman." He accepted the prin- ciple of equality because it alone made possible his own career and because he perceived the hold it had upon the minds of the people. He had no desire to restore the Bourbons and the feudal system, the BONx\PARTE'S POLITICAL OPINIONS 185 incarnation of the principle of inequality and privilege. He stood right athwart the road to yesterday in this respect. It was he Napoleon and his system that kept the Bourbons exiles from France and the Old fifteen years longer, so long indeed that when they did ^sune finally return it was largely without their baggage of outworn ideas. Bonaparte thus prevented the restoration of the Old Regime. That was done for, for good and all. Privilege, abolished in 1789, remained abol- ished. The clergy, nobility, and third estate had been swept away. There remained only a vast mass of French citizens subject to the same laws, paying the same taxes, enjoying equal chances in life, as far as the state was concerned. The state showed no partiality, had no favorites. All shared in bearing the nation's burdens in proportion to their ability. And no class levied taxes upon another — tithes and feudal dues were not restored. No class could exercise a monopoly of any craft or trade — the guilds with all their restrictions remained abolished. Moreover, all now had an equal chance at public employment in the state or in the army. Bonaparte summed this policy up in the phrase "careers open to talent." This idea was not original with him, it was contained in the Declaration of the Rights of Man. But he held it. Under him there were no artificial barriers, any one might rise as high as his ability, his industry, his service justified, always on condition of his loyalty to the sovereign. Every avenue was kept open to ambition and energy. Napo- leon's marshals, the men who attained the highest positions in his armies, were humbly born — Massena was the son of a saloon-keeper, Augereau of a mason, Ney of a cooper, and Murat of a country inn-keeper. None of these men could have possibly become a marshal under the Old Regime, nor could Bonaparte himself possibly ever have risen to a higher rank than that of colonel and then only when well along in life. Bonaparte did not think that all men are equal in natural gifts or in social position, but he maintained equality before the law, that priceless acquisition of the Revolution. He did not believe in liberty nor did he believe that, for that matter, the French believed in it. His career was one long denial r • TVT • 1 iM r 1 1-7 r Napoleon the or negation 01 it. Neither hberty of speech, nor liberty of enemy of the press, neither intellectual nor political liberty received I'^^rty in anything from him but blows and infringements. In this respect his rule meant reaction to the spirit and the practice of the i86 THE CONSULATE Old Regime. It is quite true that the Convention and the Directory- had also trampled ruthlessly upon this principle but it is also quite true that neither he nor they could successfully defy what is plainly a domi- nant preoccupation, a deep-seated longing of the modern world. For the last hundred years the ground has been cumbered with those who thought they could silence this passion for freedom, and who found out, to their cost and the cost of others, that their eiJorts to imprison the human spirit were unavaihng. There are still, after all these instructive hundred years, rulers who share that opinion and act upon it. They have been able to preserve themselves and their methods of government in certain countries. But their day of reckoning, it may safely be prophe- sied, is coming, as it came for Napoleon himself. They fight for a losing cause, as the history of the modern world shows. The activities of Bonaparte as First Consul, after Marengo and dur- ing the brief interval of peace, were unremitting and far-reaching. It Bonaparte was then that he gave his full measure as a civil ruler. He as ruler ^^g concerned w^ith binding up the wounds or open sores of the nation, with determining the precise form of the national institutions, with fashioning the mould through which the national life was to go pulsing for a long future, with consolidating the foundations of his power. A brief examination of this phase of his activity is essential to a knowl- edge of the later history of France, and to our appreciation of his own matchless and varied ability, of the power of sheer intellect and will applied to the problems of a society in flux. First, the party passions which had rioted for ten years must be quieted. Bonaparte's policy toward the factions was conciliation. His policy coupled with stern and even savage repression of such ele- ct concilia- ments as refused to comply with this primary requirement. There was room enough in France for all, but on one con- dition, that all accept the present rulers and acquiesce in the existing institutions and laws of the land. Offices would be open freely to former royalists, Jacobins, Girondists, on equal terms,. no questions asked save that of loyalty. As a matter of fact Bonaparte exercised his vast ap- Liberal pointing power in this sense for the purpose of effacing all lmiSrL°d distinctions, all unhappy reminders of a troubled past. The non-juring laws against the emigres and the recalcitrant priests were priests relaxed. Of over 100,000 emigrants, all but about 1,000 irreconcilables received, by successive decrees, the legal right to return BONAPARTE'S RELIGIOUS POLICY " 187 and to recover their estates, if these had not been already sold. Only those who placed their devotion to the House of Bourbon above all other considerations found the door resolutely closed. Bonaparte soon perceived that the strength of the Bourbon cause lay not in the merits or talents of the royal family itself or its aristocratic sup- porters, but in its close identification with the authorities of the Roman Catholic Church. Through all the angry religious warfare of the Revo- lution the mass of the people had remained faithful to the priests and the priests were subject to the bishops. The bishops had refused to accept the various laws of the Revolution concerning them and had as a consequence been driven from the country. They were living mostly in England and in Germany, taking their cue from the Pope, who recognized Louis XVIII, brother of Louis XVI, as the legitimate ruler of France. Thus the religious dissension was fused with political opposition — royalists and bishops were in the same galley. Bonaparte determined to sever this connection, thus leaving the extreme royalists „ . ■' Bonaparte high and dry, a staff of officers wdthout an army. No resolved to sooner had he returned from Marengo than he took meas- undermine . the royalists ures to show the Catholics that they had nothing to fear from him, that they could enjoy their religion undisturbed if they did not use their liberty, under cover of religion, to plot against him and against the Revolutionary settlement. He was in all this not actuated by any religious sentiment himself, but by a purely political sentiment — he was himself as he said, "Mohammedan in Egypt, Catholic in France," not because he considered that either was in the exclusive or authentic possession of the truth, but because he was a man of sense who saw the futility of trying to dragoon by force men who were relig- ious into any other camp than the one to which they naturally belonged. Bonaparte also saw that religion was an instrument which he might much better have on his side than allow to be on the side of his enemies. He looked on religion as a force in politics, nothing else. Bonaparte Purely political, not spiritual, considerations determined considered . . . . religion his policy in now concluding with the Pope the famous merely as a treaty or Concordat, which reversed much of the work of political force the Revolutionary assemblies, and determined the relations of church and state in France for the whole nineteenth century. This important piece of legislation of the year 1S02 lasted 103 years, being abrogated only under the present republic, in 1905. iSS THE CONSULATE Bonaparte's thought was that by restoring the Roman Catholic Chvirch to something Uke its former primacy he would weaken the ro>'al- Bonaparte ists. The people must have a reUgion, he said, but the reli- determined g[Q^ must be in the hands of the government. ^Many of supp^ of his adherents did not agree at all -^-ith him in this attitude, the Church Thev thought it far %A-iser to keep church and state divorced as they had been by the latest legislation of the Revolution. Bonaparte discussed the matter with the famous philosopher Volney, whom he had bii an i^^^ appointed a senator, sa\'ing to him, ''France desires a opposition to reUgion." Volney rephed that France also desired the his plan Bourbons. At this Bonaparte assaulted the philosopher and gave him such a kick that he fell and lost consciousness. The army officers who were anti-clerical were bitter in their opposition and jibes, but Bonaparte went resolutely ahead. He knew the influence that priests exercise over their flocks and he intended that they should ex- ercise it in his behaH. He meant to control them as he controUed the army and the thousands of state officials. The control of reUgion ought to be vested in the ruler. ''It is impossible to govern without it," he said. He therefore turned to the Pope and made the treaty. "If the Pope had not existed," he said, "I should have had to create him for this occasion."' By the Concordat the Cathohc reUgion was recognized by the Re- pubUc to be that "of the great majority of the French people" and its free exercise was permitted. The Pope agreed to a reorganization involv- ing a diminution in the number of bishoprics. He also recognized the sale of the church property effected by the Revolution. Henceforth the bishops were to be appointed by the First Consul but were to be actu- aUy invested by the Pope. The bishops in turn were to appoint the priests, with the consent of the goverrmaent. The bishops must take the oath of fideUty to the head of the state. Both bishops and priests were to receive salaries from the state. They really became state officials. The Concordat gave great satisfaction to the mass of the population for two reasons — it gave them back the normal exercise of the religion The Church ^ which they beUeved, and it confirmed their titles to the controUed by lands of the Church which thev had bought during the the State « . ' . Revolution, titles which the Church now recognized as legal. The Church soon found that Bonaparte regarded it as merely another source of influence, an instrument of rule. The clerg>' now be- THE CIML CODE 189 came his supporters and in large measure abandoned royalism. More- over Bonaparte, by additional regulations to which he did not ask the Pope's assent, bound the clerg}^ hand and foot to his own chariot. The Concordat was nevertheless a mistake. France had worked out a poUcy of entire separation of church and state which, had it been al- lowed to continue, would have brought the blessing of tol- Effect of the eration into the habits of the country'. But the Concordat Concordat cut this promising development short and by t\-ing church and state together in a union which each shortly found disagreeable it left to the entire nineteenth century an irritating and a dangerous problem. Xor did it preserve, for long, happy relations between Napoleon and the Pope. Xot many years later a quarrel arose between them which grew and grew until the Pope excommunicated Xapoleon and Napoleon seized the Pope and kept him prisoner. Napoleon himself came to consider the Concordat as the worst blunder in his career. However its immedi- ate advantages were considerable. "My real glory," said Napoleon at St. Helena, "is not my having won forty battles. What will never be effaced, what will endure forever, is my Civil Code." He was undoubtedly mistaken as to the The Code durability of this achievement, but he was correct in placing Napoleon it higher than that activity which occupied far more of his time. The famous Code Xapoleon was an orderly, systematic, compact statement of the laws of France. Pre-revolutionary France had been governed by a perplexing number of systems of law of different historical origins. Then had come, with the Revolution, a flood of new legislation, inspired by different principles and greatly increasing the sum-total of laws in force. It was desirable to sift and harmonize all these statutes, and to present to the people of France a body of law, clear, rational, and logi- cally arranged, so that henceforth all the doubt, uncertaintv, and con- fusion which had hitherto characterized the administration of justice might be avoided and e\ery Frenchman might easily know what his legal rights and relations were, with reference to the state and The Code his fellow citizens. The Constituent Assemblv, the Con- ^^^^^ "P°° , „. Ill, . , , ^ , r , . foundations vention, the Du-ectory, had all appreciated the need of this laid by the codification and had had committees at work upon it, but ^^o^s 1 T 1 x^ -1 , Revoiution- tne work had been uncompleted. Bonaparte now lent the ary Assem- driving force of his personahty to the accomplishment of ^^^^ this task, and in a comparatively brief time the la\\yers and the I90 THE CONSULATE Council of State to whom he intrusted the work had it finished. The code to which Napoleon attached his name preserved the principle of civil equality established by the Revolution. It was immediately put into force in France and was later introduced into countries conquered or influenced by France, Belgium, the German territories west of the Rhine, and Italy. Bonaparte's own direct share in this monumental work was consid- erable and significant. Though no lawyer himself, and with little tech- nical knowledge of law, his marvelous intellectual ability, Bonaparte's . . ^ , . /. ' share in the the precision, penetration, and pertinence of many of his °^^^J^s of criticisms, suggestions, questions, gave color and tone and character to the complete work. He presided over many of the sessions of the Council of State devoted to the elaboration of this code. "He spoke," says a witness, "without embarrassment and with- out pretension. He was never inferior to any member of the Council; he often equaled the ablest of them by the ease with which he seized the point of a question, by the justness of his ideas and the force of his reasoning; he often surprised them by the turn of his phrases and the originality of his expression." Called a new Constantine by the clergy for having made the Concordat, Bonaparte was considered by the lawyers a new Justinian. He was as a matter of fact, in many respects, the superior of both. During these years of the Consulate Bonaparte achieved many other things than those which have been mentioned. He improved the The Bank System of taxation greatly, and brought order into the of France national finances. He founded the Bank of France which still exists — and another institution which has come down to our own day, the Legion of Honor, for the distribution of honors and emoluments The Legion to those who rendered distinguished service to the state. of Honor Opposed as undemocratic, as offensive to the principle of equality, it was nevertheless instituted. Though open to those who had rendered civil service as well as to those who had rendered military, as a matter of fact Napoleon conferred only i ,400 crosses out of 48,000 upon civilians. Nor did this exhaust the list of durable achievements of this crowded National period of the Consulate. The system of national education education ^^g ^^ pg^j-j^ reorganized, and industry and commerce re- ceived the interested attention of the ambitious ruler. Roads were BONAPARTE AND ROYALIST CONSPIRATORS 191 improved, canals were cut, ports were dredged. The economic develop- ment of the country was so rapid as to occasion some uneasiness in England. Thus w^as carried through an extensive and profound renovation of the national life. This period of the Consulate is that part of Bonaparte's career which was most useful to his fellow men, most contrib- utory to the welfare of his country. His work was not accomplished without risk to himself. As his reputation and authority increased, the wrath of those who saw their way to power barred by his formid- able person increased also. At first the royalists Bonaparte had looked to him and the to imitate the '^^^ English General Monk who had used his position for the restoration of Charles II. But Bonaparte had no notion of acting any such graceful and altruistic a part. When this became apparent certain reckless royalists commenced to plot against him, began considering that it was possible to murder him. An attack upon him occurred shortly after Marengo. Many lives w^ere lost but he escaped wdth his by the narrowest margin. A more serious plot was woven in London in the circle of the Count of Artois, younger brother of Louis XVI. The principal agents were Georges Cadoudal and Pichegru. Bonaparte, through his police, knew of the plot. He hoped, in allowing it to develop, to get his -^j^^ hands on the Count of Artois. But the Count did not land Cadoudal in France. Cadoudal and his accomplices were taken and shot. Pichegru was found strangled in prison. Bonaparte wished to make an example of the House of Bourbon which would be remembered. This led him to commit a monstrous crime. He ordered the seizure on German soil of the young Duke d'Enghien, the Prince of Conde, a mem- ber of a branch of the Bourbon family. The prince, who was innocent The Three Consuls After the medal in bronze by Jeuffroy. 192 THE CONSULATE of any connection whatever with the conspiracy, was abducted, brought . X to Vincennes at five o'clock on the evening of March 20, Execution of • 1 1 > 1 1 the Duke 1804, was sent before a court-martial at eleven o clock and d'Enghien ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^-^^ night was taken out into the court- yard and shot. This was assassination pure and simple and it was Bonaparte's own act. It has remained ever since an odious blot upon his name, which the multitudinous seas cannot wash out. Its immediate object, how- ever, was achieved. The royal- ists ceased plotting the murder of the Corsican. A few days after this Bona- parte took another step forward in theconsoUdationof his powers. In 1802, after the Treaty of Amiens had been made, he had astutely contrived to have his consulate for ten years transformed into a consulate for life, with the right to name his successor. The only remaining step was taken in 1804 when a servile Senate approved a new constitution, declaring him Emperor of the French, "this change being demanded by the interests of the French people." It was at any rate agreeable to the French people, who in a popular vote or plebis- cite ratified it overwhelmingly. Henceforth he is designated by his first name, in the manner of monarchs. It happened to be a more musical and sonorous name than most monarchs have possessed. "I found the crown of France lying on the ground," Napoleon once said, "and I picked it up with my sword," a vivid summary of an important chapter in his biography. General Bonaparte becomes Napoleon I, Emperor of the French (1804) The Duke d'Enghien From an engraving after an original drawing by Count de Lely. REFERENCES 193 Napoleon's Personal Qualities: Taine, Modern Regime, Vol. I, pp. 1-90; Rose, J. H., The Personality of Napoleon. The Campaign of 1800: Ropes, The First Napoleon, pp. 49-58; Fournier, Napo- leon I, pp. 188-208; Rose, Life of Napoleon I, Vol. I, pp. 221-245. Bonaparte's Policies as First Consxjl: Fisher, Napoleon, Chap. IV; Fournier, Chap. IX, pp. 221-241; Johnston, Napoleon, Chap. \1I, pp. 88-102; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. IX, pp. 148-187; Rose, J. H., pp. 112-147. Napoleon and the Re\olution: Fisher, Bonapartism, pp. 7-24. CHAPTER IX ■ ; THE EARLY YEARS OF THE EMPIRE i The Empire lasted ten years, from 1804 to 18 14. It was a period of uninterrupted warfare in which a long series of amazing victories was swallowed up in final, overwhelming defeat. The central, overmastering figure in this agitating story, dominating the decade so completely that The Napo- it is known by his name, was this man whose ambition leomc Age vaulted SO dizzily, only to o'erleap itself. Napoleon ranks with Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, as one of the most powerful conquerers and rulers of history. It would be both interesting and in- structive to compare these four. It is by no means certain that Napoleon would not be considered the greatest of them all. Certainly we have far more abundant information concerning him than we have concerning the others. When he became emperor he was thirty-five years old and was in the full possession of all his magnificent powers. For he was marvelously Personal gifted. His brain was a wonderful organ, swift in its proc- characteris- esses, tenacious in its grip, lucid, precise, tireless, and it was served by an incredibly capacious and accurate mem- ory. ''He never blundered into victory," says Emerson, "but won his battles in his head, before he won them on the field." All his intellectual resources were available at any moment. He said of himself, "Different matters are stowed away in my brain as in a chest of drawers. When I wish to interrupt a piece of work I close that drawer and open another. None of them ever get mixed, never does this inconvenience or fatigue me. When I feel sleepy I shut all the drawers and go to sleep." Napoleon possessed a varied and vivid imagination, was always, as he said, "living two years in advance," weaving plans and dreams and then considering coolly the necessary ways and means to realize them. This union of the practical and the poetic, the reahstic and the imag- inative, each raised to the highest pitch, was rendered potent by a will that recognized no obstacles, and by an almost superhuman activity. 194 NAPOLEON'S PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 195 Napoleon loved work, and no man in Europe, and few in all history have labored as did he. "Work is my element, for which „. ^ -^ His extraor- I was born and fitted," he said at St. Helena, at the end of dinary his life. "I have known the limits of the power of my capacity for work arms and legs; I have never discovered those of my power of work." Working twelve or sixteen and, if necessary, twenty hours a day, rarely spending more than fifteen or twenty minutes at his meals, able to fall asleep at will, and to awaken with his mind instantly alert, he lost no time and drove his secretaries and subordinates at full speed. We gain some idea of the prodigious labor accomplished by him when we consider that his published correspondence, comprising 23,000 pieces, fills thirty-two volumes and that 50,000 additional letters dictated by him are known to be in existence but have not yet been printed. Here was no do-nothing king but the most industrious man in Europe. Happy, too, only in his work. The ordinary pleasures of men he found tedious, indulging in them only when his position rendered it necessary. He rarely smiled, he never laughed, his conversation was gen- His bearing erally a monologue, but brilliant, animated, trenchant, '° society rushing, frequently impertinent and rude. He had no scruples and he had no manners. He was ill-bred, as was shown in his relations with women, of whom he had a low opinion. His language, whether Italian or French, lacked distinction, finish, correctness, but never lacked sali- ency or interest. The Graces had not presided over his birth, but the Fates had. He had a magnificent talent as stage manager and actor, setting the scenes, playing the parts consummately in all the varied ceremonies in which he was necessarily involved, coronation, reviews, diplomatic audiences, interviews with other monarchs. His proclama- tions, his bulletins to his army were masterpieces. He could cajole in the silkiest tones, could threaten in the iciest, could shed tears or burst into violence, smashing furniture and bric-a-brac when he felt that such actions would produce the effect desired. The Pope, Pius VII, seeing him once in such a display of passion, observed, "tragedian," "comedian." He had no friends, he despised all theorists like those who had sowed the fructifying seeds of the Revolution broadcast, he harried all opponents out of the country or into silence, he made His mastery i his ministers mere hard-worked servants, but he won the °^ others admiration and devotion of his soldiers by the glamor of his victories, he held the peasantry in the hollow of his hand by constantly guaran- 196 THE EARLY YEARS OF THE EMPIRE teeing them their lands, and their civil equality, the things which were, in their opinion, the only things in the Revolution that counted. He was as little as he was big. He would lie shamelessly, would cheat at cards, was superstitious in strange ways. He was a man of whom more evil and more good can be said and has been said than of many historical figures. He cannot be easily described, and certainly not in any brief compass. Now that Napoleon was emperor he proceeded to organize the state imperially. Offices with high-sounding, ancient titles were created and Napoleon filled. There was a Grand Chamberlain, a Grand Marshal establishes of the Palace, a Grand Master of Ceremonies and so on. A court was created, expensive, and as gay as it could be made to be at a soldier's orders. The Emperor's family, declared Princes of France, donned new titles and prepared for whatever honors and emoluments might flow from the bubbling fountain-head. The court resumed the manners and customs which had been in vogue before the Revolution. Republican simplicity gave way to imperial Napoleon pretensions, attitudes, extravagances, pose. The consti- crowned in tution was revised to meet the situation, and Napoleon Notre Dame , . t 1 i , was crowned m a memorable and sumptuous ceremony m Notre Dame, the Pope coming all the way from Rome to assist — ■ but not to crown. At the critical point in the splendid ceremony Napoleon crowned himself and then crowned the Empress. But the Pope poured the holy oil upon Napoleon's head. This former lieutenant of artillery thus became the "anointed of the Lord," in good though irregular standing. He crowned himself a little later King of Italy, after he had changed the Cisalpine RepubHc into the Kingdom of Italy (1805). The history of the Empire is the history of ten years of uninter- rupted war. Europe saw a universal menace to the independence and The period liberty of all states in the growing and arrogant ascend- pke^one'of ^^^^ °^ France, an ascendency and a threat all the more uninterrupted obvious and dangerous now that that country was abso- *^" lutely in the hands of an autocrat, and that too an auto- crat who had grown great by war and whose military tastes and talents would now have free rein. Napoleon was evoking on every occasion, intentionally and ostentatiously, the imperial souvenirs of Julius Caesar and of Charlemagne. What could this mean except that he planned to rule not only France, but Europe, consequently the THE CROWNING OF JOSEPHINE 197 198 THE EARLY YEARS OF THE EMPIRE Napoleon in the Imperial Robes From an engraving after the picture by Gerard. world? Unless the other nations were willing to accept subordinate positions, were willing to abdicate their rank as equals in the family of nations, they must fight the dictatorship which was manifestly impend- ing. Fundamentally this is what the ten years' war meant, the right of other states to live and prosper, not on mere sufferance of Napoleon, but by their own right and because universal domination or the undue SEA-POWER VERSUS LAND-POWER 199 ascendency of any single state would necessarily be dangerous to the other states and to whatever elements of civilization they represented. France already had that ascendency in 1804. Under Napoleon she made a tremendous effort to convert it into absolute and England the universal domination. She almost succeeded. That she constant failed was due primarily to the steadfast, unshakable, oppo- ®"^™^ sition of one power, England, which never acquiesced in her preten- sions, which fought them at every stage with all her might, through good report and through evil report, stirring up opposition wher- sea-power ever she could, weaving coalition after coalition, using her versus land- money and her navy untiringly in the effort. It was a war ^°^^^ of the giants. A striking aspect of the matter was the struggle between sea-power, directed by England, and land-power, directed by Napoleon. While the Empire was being organized in 1804 a new coalition was being formed against France, the third in the series we are studying. England and France had made peace at Amiens in 1802. Reasons for That peace lasted only a year, until May 17, 1803. Then England's the two states flew to arms again. The reasons were vari- °^ * ' y ous. England was jealous of the French expansion which had been secured by the treaties of Campo Formio and Luneville, French control of the left bank of the Rhine, French domination over considerable parts of the Italian peninsula, particularly French conquest of Bel- gium, including the fine port of Antwerp. England had always been opposed to French expansion, particularly northward along the Chan- ,' nel, which Englishmen considered and called the English Channel. Thej English did not wish any rival along those shores. However, despite, this, they had finally consented to make the Peace of Amiens. The chief motive had been the condition of their industries. The long war, since 1793, had damaged their trade enormously. They hoped, by making peace with France, to find the markets of the Continent _, , „ ' .... The hollow- open to them once more, and thus to revive their trade, ness of the But they shortly saw that this was not at all the idea of ^^^^^ o^ Amiens France. Napoleon wished to develop the industries of France, wished to have French industries not only supply the French market but win the markets of the other countries on the Continent. He therefore established high protective tariffs with this end in view. Thus English competition was excluded or at least greatly reduced. The English were extremely angry and did not at all propose to lie 200 THE EARLY YEARS OF THE EMPIRE down supinely, beaten without a struggle. That had never been their custom. War would be less burdensome, said their business men. For England, commerce was her very breath of life. Without it she could not exist. This explains why, now that she entered upon a struggle in its defense, she did not lay down her arms again until she had her rival safely imprisoned on the island of St. Helena. There were other causes of friction between the two countries which rendered peace most unstable. With both nations ready for war, though not eager for it, causes for rupture were not hard to find. War broke Renewal of out between them in May, 1803. Napoleon immediately the war seized Hanover, a possession in Germany of the English France and king. He declared the long coast of Europe from Hanover England southward and eastward to Taranto in Italy blockaded, that is, closed to English commerce, and he began to prepare for an invasion of England itself. This was a difficult task, requiring much time, for France was inferior to England on the seas and yet, unless she could control the Channel for a while at least, she could not send an army of invasion. Napoleon established a vast camp of 150,000 men at Boulogne to be ready for the descent. He hastened the con- Napoleon CD ^ threatens struction of hundreds of flat-boats for transport. Whether to invade ^j^ ^]^[^ ^g^g i;nere make-believe intended to alarm England, England r n • whether he knew that after all it was a hopeless undertak- ing, and was simply displaying all this activity to compel England to think that peace would be wiser than running the risk of invasion, we do not positively know. At any rate England was not intimidated. She prepared for de- fense, and she also prepared for offense by seeking and finding alhes on the Continent, by building up a coalition which might hold Napoleon in check, which might, it was hoped, even drive France back within her original boundaries, taking away from her the recent acquisitions of Belgium, the left bank of the Rhine, and the ItaUan annexa- England \ -r^ ^ ^ ^ ^i.- buUds up a tions and protectorates. England made a treaty to tnisi new coali- effect with Russia, which had her own reasons for opposing i France — her dread of his projects in the Eastern Medi- terranean at the expense of the Turkish Empire. For if any one was to carve up the Turkish Empire, Russia wished to do it herself. The Eng- ' Hsh agreed to pay subsidies to the Czar, a certain amount for every 100,000 men she should furnish for the war. NAPOLEON ATTACKS AUSTRIA 201 Finally in 1805 Austria entered the coalition, jealous of Napoleon's aggressions in Italy, anxious to wipe out the memory of Austria the defeats of the two campaigns in which he had con- joins the quered her in 1796 and 1800, eager, also, to recover the position she had once held as the dominant power in the Italian peninsula. Such was the situation in 1805. When he was quite ready Napoleon struck with tremendous effect, not against England, which he could not reach because of the silver streak of sea that lay between Napoleon's them, not against Russia, which was too remote for immedi- ^^'5^ ^^^~ ... . paign ate attention, but against his old-time enemy, Austria, and against he bowled her over more summarily and more humiliatingly Austria than he had ever done before. The campaign of 1805 was another Napoleonic masterpiece. The Austrians, not waiting for their aUies, the Russians, to come up, had sent an army of 80,000 men under General Mack up the Danube into Bavaria. Mack had taken his position at Ulm, expecting that Naploeon would come through the passes of the Black Forest, the most direct and the usual way for a French army invading southern Germany. But not at all. Napoleon had a very different plan. Sending enough troops into the Black Forest region to confirm Mack in his opinion that this was the strategic point to hold, and thus keeping him rooted there, Napoleon transferred his Grand Army from Boulogne and the shores of the English Channel, where it had been training for the past two years, across Ger- many from north to south, a distance of J ; Napoleon twenty-three days of forced marches, conducted in aston- attacks ishing secrecy and with mathematical precision. He thus Mack at threw himself into the rear of Mack's army, between it and Vienna, cutting the line of communication, and repeating the strategy of the Great Saint Bernard and Marengo campaign of 1800. Mack had expected Napoleon to come from the west through the Black Forest. Instead, when it was too late, he found him coming from the east, up ] the Danube, toward Ulm. Napoleon made short work of Mack, forcing him to capitulate at Ulm, October 20. "l have accomplished what I set out to do," he wrote Josephine. "I have destroyed the Austrian army by means of marches alone." It was a victory won by legs — 60,000 prisoners, 1 20 guns, more than thirty generals. It had cost him only 1,500 men. 202 THE EARLY YEARS OF THE EMPIRE The way was now open down the Danube to Vienna. Thither, along poor roads and through rain and snow Napoleon rushed, covering the distance in three weeks. Vienna was entered in triumph and with- out resistance as the Emperor Francis had retired in a northeasterly direction, desiring to effect a junction with the oncoming Russian army. Napoleon followed him and on December 2, 1805, won of Auster- perhaps his most famous victory, the battle of Austerlitz, litz iDecem- ^^j^ [\^q j^j-st anniversary of his coronation as Emperor. All day long the battle raged. The sun breaking through the wintry fogs was considered a favorable omen by the French and hence- forth became the legendary symbol of success. The fighting was terrific. The bravery of the soldiers on both sides was boundless, but the gen- eralship of Napoleon was as superior as that of the Austro-Russians was faulty. The result was decisive, overwhelming. The allies were routed and sent flying in every direction. They had lost a large number of men and nearly all of their artillery. Napoleon, with originally in- ferior numbers, had not used all he had, had not thrown in his reserves. The " Sun of No wonder he addressed his troops in an exultant strain. AusterUtz" "Soldiers, I am satisfied with you. In the battle of Aus- terhtz you have justified all my expectations by your intrepidity; you have adorned your eagles with immortal glory." No wonder that he told them that they were marked men, that on returning to France all they would need to say in order to command admiration would be: "I was at the battle of Austerlitz.'' The results of this brief and brilliant campaign were various and striking. The Russians did not make peace but withdrew in great dis- order as best they could to their own country. But Austria immediately signed a peace and a very costly one, too. By the Treaty of Pressburg, _, ^ , dictated by Napoleon, who now had beaten her disastrously The Treaty of J f } ..... Pressburg lor the third time, she suffered her greatest humiliation, (December Yiev severest losses. She ceded Venetia, a country she had 26,1805) • , • , held for eight years, since Campo Formio, to the Kingdom of Italy, whose king was Napoleon. Istria and Dalmatia also she ceded to Napoleon. Of all this coast line of the upper Adriatic she retained only the single port of Trieste. Not Austria but France was henceforth the chief Adriatic power. The German principaHties, Bavaria and Baden, had sided with Napoleon in the late campaign and Austria was now compelled to cede to each of them some of her valuable possessions in NAPOLEON THE KING-MAKER 203 South Germany. Shut out of the Adriatic, shut out of Italy, Austria lost 3,000,000 subjects. She became nearly a land-locked country. Moreover she was compelled to acquiesce in other changes that Napoleon had made or was about to make in various countries. Napoleon began now to play with zest the congenial role of Charle- magne, about which he was prone to talk enthu- siastically and with rhe- torical extravagance. Having magically made himself Emperor, he now made others kings. As he abased mountains so he exalted valleys. In the early months of 1806 he created four kings. He raised Napoleon Bavaria and the king- i^T ■■ i. maker W u r t e m - berg, hitherto duchies, to the rank of kingdoms, which they have since held, "in grateful rec- ompense for the attach- ment they have shown the Emperor," he said. During the campaign the King of Naples had at a critical moment sided wdth his enemies. Na- poleon therefore issued a simple decree, merely stating that "The House of Bourbon has ceased to rule in Naples." He gave the vacant throne to his brother Joseph, two years older than himself. Joseph, who had first studied to become a priest, then to become an army officer, and still later to become a lawyer, now found himself a king, not by the grace of God, but by the grace of a younger brother. The horn of plenty was not yet empty. Napoleon, after Auster- litz, forced the Batavian Republic, that is Holland, to become a mon- JosKi'ii i;i'\M'\;ii, King OF N.\PLES After the painting by J. B. J. Wicar. 204 THE EARLY YEARS OF THE EMPIRE archy and to accept his brother Louis, thirty-two years of age, as its king. Louis, as mild as his brother was hard, thought that the way to rule was to consult the interests and win the affections of his subjects. As this was not Napoleon's idea, Louis was destined to a rough and unhappy, and also brief, experience asking. " When men say of a king that he is a good man, it means that he is a failure," was the infor- mation that Napoleon sent Louis for his instruction. The number of kingdoms at Napoleon's disposal was limited, temporarily at least. But he had many other favors to bestow, which were not to be despised. The family Nor were they de- circle spised. His sister Elise was made Princess of Lucca and Carrara, his sister Pauline, a beautiful and luxurious young creature, married Prince Borghese and became Duchess of Guastalla, and his youngest sister, Caroline, who resembled him in strength of character, married Murat, the dashing cavalry officer, who now became Duke of Berg, an artificial state which Napoleon created along the lower Rhine. Two brothers, Lucien and Jerome, were not provided for, and thereby hangs a tale. Each had incurred Napoleon's displeasure, as each had Lucien and married for love and without asking his consent. He Jerome in had Other plans for them and was enraged at their in- dependence. Both were expelled from the charmed circle, until they should put away their wives and marry others accord- ing to Napoleon's taste, not theirs. This Lucien steadfastly refused to do and so he who, by his presence of mind on the 19th of Brumaire, had saved the day and rendered all this story possible, stood outside the imperial favor, counting no more in the history of the times. When Jerome, the youngest member of this astonishing family, and made of more pliable stuff, awoke from love's young dream, at the furious de- 1 t ** ! ^^s i _ Hbl n ^Hk. H H PJPH|^ " 1^'^ r ' '"■ i'^*^ Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland After the painting by Wicar, engraved by Read. CHANGES IN THE MAP OF GERMANY 205 mands of Napoleon, and put away his beautiful American bride, the Baltimore belle, Elizabeth Patterson, then he too became a king. All who worshiped Mammon in those exciting days received their appro- priate reward. It would be pleasant to continue this catalogue of favors, scattered right and left by the man who had rapidly grown so great. Officials of the state, generals of the army, and more distant relatives received glittering prizes and went on their way rejoicing, anxious for more. Appetite is said to grow by that on which it feeds. More important far than this flowering of family fortunes was another result of the Austerlitz campaign, the transformation of Germany, effected by the French with the eager and ^he trans- selfish cooperation of formation of many German G«^°^«°y princes. That transformation, which greatly reduced the dis- tracting number of German states, by allowing some to absorb others, had already been going on for several years. When France acquired the German territory west of the river Rhine, it w^as agreed, in the treaties of Campo Formio and Luneville, that the princes thus dispossessed should receive compensations east of the river Rhine. This obviously could not be done literally and for all, as every inch of territory east of the Rhine already had its ruler. As a matter of fact the change was worked out by compensating only the hereditary rulers. There were, both on the left bank and on the right and all throughout Germany, many petty states whose rulers were not hereditary — ecclesiastical states, and free impe- rial cities. Now these were tossed to the princes who ruled by heredi- tary right, as compensation for the territories they had lost west of the river Rhine. This wholesale destruction of petty German states for the advantage of other lucky German states was accomplished not by the Elise Bonaparte, Princess of Lucca From an anonymous engraving, after the painting by Counis. 2o6 THE EARLY YEARS OF THE EMPIRE Paris the center for the brisk traffic in German lands Germans themselves, which would have been shameless enough, but was accomplished in Paris. In the antechambers of the First Consul, particularly in the parlors of Talleyrand, the disgraceful begging for pelf went on. Talleyrand . grew rapidly rich, so many were the "gifts" — one dreads to think what they would be called in a vulgar de- mocracy — which German princes gave him for his support in de- spoiUng their fellow-Germans. For months the disgusting traffic went on and, when it ended in the " Conclusion" of March, 1803, really dictated by Bonaparte, the number of German principalities had greatly decreased. All the ecclesiastical states of Germany, with one single exception, had disappeared and of the fifty free cities only six remained. All went to enlarge other states. At least the map of Germany was simpler, but the position of the Church and of the Empire was greatly altered. Of the 360 states which composed the Holy Roman or German Empire in 1792 only eighty-two remained in 1805. All this had occurred before Austerlitz. After AusterHtz the pace was increased, ending in the complete destruction of the Empire. Paris Effects of the ^gain became the center of German politics and intrigues, Austerlitz as in 1803. The result was that in 1806 the new kings of campaign Bavaria and Wiirtemberg and fourteen other German princes renounced their allegiance to the German Emperor, formed a new Confederation of the Rhine (July 12, 1806), recognized Napoleon as their "Protector," made an offensive and defensive the Confed- alliance with him which gave to him the control of their eration of foreign policy, the settlement of questions of peace and the Rhine b t^ j 1 n ^ . , . war, and guaranteed him 63,000 German troops for his wars. Fresh annexations to these states were made. Thus perished Paulink liii\Ai'AKTE, Princess Boegiiese After the painting by Lefevre. CONFEDERATION OF THE RHINE 207 I 1 Wmm 9 H ^K '. "^'^^1^1 ^^^■^X«Vl ^^^^^H ~' '''^^«';*A^K^^^H ■ Caroline Bonaparte, Duchess of Berg, and Marie Murat From the painting by Vigee le Brun. many more petty German states, eagerly absorbed by the fortunate sixteen. Perished also the Holy Roman Empire which had been in existence, real or shadowy, for a thousand years. The secession of ,. . ,,.. ri/^ri Destruction the sixteen prmces and the formation of the Confedera- of the Holy tion of the Rhine killed it.. It was only formal interment, Roman therefore, when Napoleon demanded of the Emperor Fran- cis, whom he had defeated' at Austerlitz, that he renounce his title 208 THE EARLY YEARS OF THE EMPIRE as Holy Roman Emperor. This Francis hastened to do (August 6, 1806), contenting himself henceforth with the new title he had given himself two years earlier, when Napoleon had assumed the imperial title. Hence- forth he who had been Francis II of the Holy Roman Empire was called Francis I, Hereditary Em- peror of Austria. Napoleon, who could neither read nor speak a word of German, was now the real ruler of a large part of Germany, the strongest factor in German politics. To French in- French domination fluence in of West Germany, Germany j ^ t7 annexed to r ranee earlier, came an important in- crease of influence. It was now that French ideas began in a modified form to remould the civil life of South Germany. Tithes were abolished, the inequality of social classes in the eyes of the law was reduced though not destroyed, religious liberty was established, the position of the Jews was improved. The Germans lost in self-respect from this French domination, the patriotism of such as were patriotic was sorely wounded at the sight of this alien rule, but in the practical contrivances of a modernized social life, worked out by the French Revolution, and now in a measure introduced among them, they had a salutary compensation. While all this shifting of scenes was being effected Napoleon had kept a large army in South Germany. The relations with Prussia, The relations which country had been neutral for the past ten years, an/ pj^"- ^^^^^ ^^^ Treaty of Basel of 1795, were becoming strained become and grew rapidly more so. The policy of the Prussian stramed King, Frederick WiUiam III, was weak, vacillating, covet- ous. His diplomacy was playing fast and loose with his obligations as a neutral and with his desires for the territorial aggrandizement of Prussia. Napoleon's attitude was insolent and contemptuous. Both Joachim Mukat, Duke of Berg After the painting by Gros. THE WAR PARTY IN BERLIN 209 sides made an unenviable but cliaracteristic record in double-dealing. The sordid details, highly discreditable to both, cannot be narrated here. Finally the war party in Berlin got the upper hand, led by the high- spirited and beautiful .Queen Louise and by the mihtary chiefs, relics Jerome Bonaparte Engraved by I. G. Miiller. knight, and Frederich Miiller, son, en- gravers to his Majesty the King of Wiirtemberg, after a drawing by Madame Kinson. of the glorious era of Frederick the Great, who thought they could do what Frederick had done, that is, defeat the French with ease. As if to give the world some intimation of the terrible significance of their dis- pleasure they went to the French Embassy in Berlin and bravely whetted their swords upon its steps of stone. The royalist officers at Versailles in the early days of the Revolution had shown no more inane folly in playing with fire than did the Prussian military caste at this time. The 2IO THE EARLY YEARS OF THE EMPIRE one had learned its lesson. The other was now to go to the same pitiless school of experience. Hating France and having an insensate confidence in their own supe- riority, the Prussian war party forced the government to issue an ulti- matum to Napoleon, Emperor of the French, demanding France and that he withdraw his French troops beyond the Rhine. Prussia Napoleon knew better how to give ultimatums than how to receive them. He had watched the machinations of the Prussian ruling class with close attention. He was absolutely prepared when the rupture came. He now fell upon them like a cloudburst and administered a crushing blow in the two battles of Jena and Auerstadt, Disastrous fought on the same day at those two places, a few miles defeat of the apart (October 14, 1806), he himself in command of the Jena and former, Davout of the latter. The Prussians fought bravely Auerstadt ^^j- ^j^gij- generalship was bad. Their whole army was disorganized, became panic-stricken, streamed from the field of battle as best it could, no longer receiving or obeying orders, many throwing away their arms, fleeing in every direction. Thousands of prisoners were taken and in succeeding days French officers scoured the country after the fugitives, taking thousands more. The- collapse was complete. There was no longer any Prussian army. One after another all the fortresses fell. On the 25th of October Napoleon entered Berlin in triumph. He had previously visited the tomb of Frederick the Great at Potsdam in order to show his admiration for his genius. He had the execrable enters Ber- taste, however, to take the dead Frederick's sword and ^^ 1?^^°^^^ sash and send them to Paris as trophies. "The entire king- 25, 1806) dom of Prussia is in my hands," he announced. He planned that the punishment should be proportionate to his rage. He drew up a decree deposing the House of Hohenzollern but did not issue it, waiting for a more spectacular moment. He laid enormous war contributions upon the unhappy victim. Napoleon postponed the announcement of the final doom until he ^^ „ ,. should have finished with another enemy, Russia. Be- The Berlin -" Decrees fore leaving Berlin for the new campaign he issued the against famous decrees which declared the British Isles in a state England of blockade and prohibited commerce with them on the part of his dominions and those of his allies. THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST RUSSIA 211 In the campaign of 1806 the Russians had been allied with the Prus- sians although they had taken no part, as the latter had not waited for them to come up. Napoleon now turned his attention to ^j^g ^^^_ them. Going to Warsaw, the leading city of that part of paign against Poland which Prussia had acquired in the partition of that country, he planned the new campaign, which was signalized by two chief battles, Eylau and Friedland. The former was one of the most bloody of his entire career. Fighting in the midst of a blinding snow- storm on February 8, 1807, Napoleon narrowly escaped defeat. The slaughter was frightful — " sheer butchery," said Napoleon later. " What carnage," said Ney, "and no results," thus accurately describing this en- counter. Napoleon managed to keep the field and in his usual way he represented the battle as a victory. But it was a drawn battle. For the first time in Europe he had failed to win. The Russian soldiers fought with reckless bravery — "it was necessary to kill them twice," was the way the French soldiers expressed it. Four months later, however, on June 14, 1807, on the anniversary of ^ Marengo, Napoleon's star shone again unclouded. He won a victory at Friedland which, as he informed Josephine, "is the worthy _ . ' 1 The battle sister of Marengo, Austerlitz, and Jena." The victory was of Friedland at any rate so decisive that the Czar, Alexander I, consented H^^^ ^^> ■' ' ' 1807) to make overtures for peace. The Peace of Tilsit was con- cluded by the two Emperors in person after many interviews, the first one of which was held on a raft in the middle of the river Niemen. Not only did they make peace but they went further and The Treaties made a treaty of alliance, offensive and defensive. Napo- °* ^^^^^ leon gained a great diplomatic victory, which completely altered the pre- vious diplomatic system of Europe, a fitting climax to three years of remarkable achievement upon the field of battle. Exercising upon Alex- ander all his powers of fascination, of flattery, of imagination, of quick and sympathetic understanding, he completely won him over. The two Emperors conversed in the most dulcet, rapturous way. " Why did not we two meet earlier?" exclaimed the enthusiastic Czar prance and of All the Russias. With their two imperial heads bowed Russia be- over a map of Europe they proceeded to divide it. Alex- *^°™® ^^ ander was given to understand that he might take Finland, which he coveted, from Sweden, and attractive pickings from the vast Turkish Empire were dangled somewhat vaguely before him. On the other hand 212 THE EARLY YEARS OF THE EMPIRE he recognized the changes Napoleon had made or was about to make in western Europe, in Italy, and in Germany. Alexander was to offer himself as a mediator between those bitter enemies, England and France, Napoleon Receiving Queen Louise of Prussia at Tilsit, July 6, 1807 After the painting by Gosse. and, in case England declined to make peace, then Russia would join France in enforcing the continental blockade, which was designed to bring England to terms. Napoleon out of regard for his new friend and ally promised to allow Prussia dis- Prussia still to exist. The decree dethroning the House of membered Hohenzollern was never issued. But Napoleon's terms to Prussia were very severe. She must give up all her territory west of the i NAPOLEON CREATES NEW STATES 213 The Con- federation of the Rhine enlarged River Elbe. Out of this and other German territories Napoleon now made the Kingdom of Westphalia which he gave to his brother Jerome, who had by this time divorced his American wife. Prussia's eastern pos- sessions were also diminished. Most of what she had acquired in the par- titions of Poland was taken from her and created into the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, to be ruled over by the sovereign of Saxony, whose title of Elector Napo- leon at this juncture now changed into that of King. These three states, Westpha- lia, Saxony, and the Duchy of Warsaw now entered the Con- federation of the Rhine, whose name thus became a misnomer, as the Confedera- tion included not only the Rhenish and South German states but stretched from France to the Vistula, includ- ing practically all Germany except Prussia, now reduced to half her former size, and except Austria. Naturally Napoleon was in high feather as he turned homeward. Naturally, also, he was pleased with the Czar. " He is a handsome, good young emperor, with more mind than he is generally credited with" — such was Napoleon's encomium. Next to being sole master of all Europe came the sharing of mastery with only one other. A few months later he wrote his new ally that "the work of Tilsit will regulate the destinies of the world." There only re- mained the English, ''the active islanders," not yet charmed or con- quered. In the same letter to the Czar Napoleon refers to them as " the enemies of the world" and told how they could be easily brought to book. He had forgotten, or rather he had wished to have the world forget, that there was one monstrous flaw in the apparent perfection of Lord Nelson From an engraving by S. Freeman, after the paint- ing by Abbott. 214 THE EARLY YEARS OF THE EMPIRE his prodigious success. Two years before, on the very day after the capitulation of Ulm, Admiral Nelson had completely de- The Battle ^ ' . . ^ of Trafalgar stroyed the French fleet in the battle of Trafalgar (October (October 21, 21, 1805), giving his life that England might live and in- 1805 ) £ ^ spiring his own age and succeeding ages by the cry, Eng- land expects every man to do his duty! " The French papers did not mention the battle of Trafalgar but it nevertheless bulks large in history. This was Napoleon's second taste of sea-power, his first having been, as we have seen, in Egypt, several years before, also at the hands of Nelson. Napoleon returned to Paris in the pride of power and of suprem.e achievement. But, it is said, pride cometh before a fall. Was the race mistaken when it coined this cooling phrase of proverbial wisdom? It remained to be seen. REFERENCES Napoleon becomes Emperor: Rose, Life oj^ Xapolcou I, Vol. I, Chap. XX, pp. 429-444; Fournier, Napoleon I, pp. 278-282; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. IX, pp. 107-122. The Austerlitz Campaign: Fisher, Napoleon, pp. 125-142; Johnston, Napoleon, pp. 119-129; Ropes, Tlie First Napoleon, pp. 108-117; Fournier, Chap. XI, pp. 283- 324; Rose, Vol. II, pp. 1-46. The Battle of Trafalgar: Mahan, Influence of Sea Power upon French Revolu- tion and Napoleon, Vol. II, Chap. XVI; Mahan, Life of Nelson, Vol. I, Chap. X; Vol. II, Chaps. XVI and XXIII. CHAPTER X THE EMPIRE AT ITS HEIGHT After Tilsit there remained England, always England, as the enemy of France. In 1805 Napoleon had defeated Austria, in 1806 Prussia, in 1807 Russia. Then the last named power had shifted its policy com- pletely, had changed partners, and, discarding its former allies, had become the ally of its former enemy. Napoleon was now in a posi- tion to turn his attention to Eng- land. As she was mistress of the seas, as she had at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805 destroyed the French navy, the Emperor was compelled to find other means, if there were any, of hum- bling the elusive enemy. England beaten, but how? Napoleon now adopted a policy which the Con- vention and the Directory had originated. Only he gave to it a gigantic application and development. This was the Continental System, or the Continental Blockade. If England could not be conquered directly by French fleets and armies, she might be conquered indirectly. England's power lay in her wealth, and her wealth came from her factories and her commerce which carried their products to the markets of the world, which brought her the necessary raw materials, and which kept open the fruitful connection with her scattered colonies. Cut this 215 Napoleon now free to deal with England must be QiTEEN Louise of Prussia From an engraving by Ruscheweyh. J 2i6 THE EMPIRE AT ITS HEIGHT artery, prevent this commerce, close these markets, and her prosperity would be destroyed. Manufacturers would be compelled The source -' of England's to shut down their factories. Their employees, thrown out strength ^^ work, would face starvation. With that doom impend- ing, the working classes and the industrial and commercial classes, threatened with ruin, would resort to terrific pressure upon the English government, to insurrections, if necessary, to compel it to sue for peace. Economic warfare was now to be tried on a colossal scale. By exhausting England's resources it was hoped and expected that Eng- land would be exhausted. By the Berlin Decrees (November, 1806), Napoleon declared a block- ade of the British Isles, forbade all commerce with them, all corre- Napoleon spondence, all trade in goods coming from England or her declares a colonies, and ordered the confiscation and destruction of blockade of the British all English goods found m France or m any of the countries ^^^®^ allied with her. No vessel coming from England or Eng- land's colonies should be admitted to their ports. To this England re- plied by severe Orders in Council, which Napoleon capped by additional decrees, issued from Milan. This novel form of warfare had very important consequences. This struggle with England dominates the whole period from 1807 to 18 14. Epochal It is the central thread that runs through all the tangled character of g^j^^ tumultuous history of those years. There were plays the struggle . . -^ •' . ^ -^ with Eng- within the play, complications and struggles with other ^^°^ nations w^hich sometimes rose to such heights as momen- tarily to obscure the titanic contest between sea-power and land-power. But the fundamental, all-inclusive contest, to which all else was subsid- iary or collateral, was the war to the knife between these two, England and France. Everywhere we see its influence, whether in Spain or Russia, in Rome or Copenhagen, along the Danube or along the Tagus. The Continental System had this peculiarity, that, to be successful in annihilating EngHsh prosperity and power, it must be applied every- The Conti- where and constantly. The Continent must be sealed nentai hermetically against English goods. Only then, with their necessary markets closed to them everywhere, would the English be forced to yield. Let there be a leak anywhere, let there be a strip of coast, as in Portugal or Spain or Italy, where English ships could touch and land their goods, and through that leak England could and NAPOLEONIC ANNEXATIONS 217 would penetrate, could and would distribute her wares to eager customers, thus escaping the industrial strangulation intended by the Emperor of the French. This necessity Napoleon saw clearly. It was never absent from his mind. It inspired his conduct at every step. It involved him inevitably and, in the end, disastrously, in a policy of systematic and widespread aggressions upon other countries, consequently in a costly succession of wars. To close simply the ports of France and of French possessions to English commerce would not at all accomplish the object aimed at. Napoleon must have the support of every other seaboard country in Europe. This he sought to get. He was willing to get it peacefully if he could, prepared to get it forcibly if he must. He secured the ad- hesion of Russia by the Treaty of Tilsit. Austria and Prussia, having been so decisively beaten, had to consent to apply the system to their dominions. Little Denmark, perforce, did the same when Attempts to the demand came. Sweden on the other hand adhered to enforce the the English alliance. Consequently Russia was urged to jg°^ ^^^ take Finland, which belonged to Sweden, with its stretch of repeated acts coastline and its excellent harbors. Napoleon's brother ° aggression Louis, King of Holland, would not enforce the blockade, as to do so meant the ruin of Holland. Consequently he was in the end forced to abdicate and Holland was annexed to France (1810). France also annexed the northern coasts of Germany up to Lubeck, including the fine ports of Bremen and Hamburg and the mouths of those rivers which led into central Germany (1810). In Italy the Pope wished to remain neutral but there must be no neutrals, in Napoleon's and also in England's opin- ion, if it could be prevented. In this case it could. Consequently Na- poleon annexed part of the Papal States to the so-called Kingdom of Italy, of which he was himself the King, and part he incorporated directly and without ado into the French Empire (1809). Immediately the Pope excommunicated him and preached a holy war against the Rupture impious conqueror. Napoleon in turn took the Pope pris- with the oner and kept him such for several years. This was in- °^* jecting the religious element again into politics, as in the early days of the Revolution, to the profound embitterment of the times. Some of these events did not occur immediately after Tilsit but did occur in the years from 1S09 to iSii. What did occur immediately after Tilsit was a famous and fatal 2i8 THE EMPIRE AT ITS HEIGHT /misadventure in Portugal and Spain. Portugal stood in close economic .,, , and political relations with England and was reluctant to Attack upon " i^ o Portugal enforce the restrictions of the Continental Blockade. Her ^^^°'^' coastline was too important to be allowed as an open gap. Therefore Napoleon arranged with Spain for the conquest and partition of that country. French and Spanish armies invaded Portugal, aiming at Lisbon. Before they arrived Napoleon had announced in his impres- sive and laconic fashion that " the fall of the House of Bra- " The House r • , r i ••••!, of Braganza ganza furnishes one more proof that rum is inevitable to has ceased whomsoever attaches himself to the English." The royal to rciffn" family escaped capture by sailing for the colony of Brazil and seeking safety beyond the ocean. There they remained until the overthrow of Napoleon. This joint expedition had given Napoleon the opportunity to intro- duce large bodies of troops into the country of his ally, Spain. They now remained there, under Murat, no one knew for what purpose, — no one, except Napoleon, in whose mind a dark and devious plan was maturing. The French had dethroned the House of Bourbon in France during the Revolution. Napoleon had himself after Austerlitz dethroned the House of Bourbon in Naples and had put his brother Joseph in its place. There remained a branch of that House in Spain, and that branch was in a particularly corrupt and decadent condition. The King, Charles IV, was The situa- utterly incompetent; the Queen grossly immoral and en- tion in dowed with the tongue of a fishwife; her favorite and ^ '° paramour, Godoy, was the real power behind the" throne. The whole unsavory group was immensely unpopular in Spain. On the other hand, the King's son, Ferdinand, was idolized by the Spanish people, not because of anything admirable in his personality, which was utterly despicable, but because he was opposed to his father, his mother, and Godoy. Napoleon thought the situation favorable to his plan, which was to seize the throne thus occupied by a family rendered odious by its character and impotent by its dissensions. By a treacherous and hypo- critical diplomacy he contrived to get Charles IV, the Queen, Godoy, and Ferdinand to come to Bayonne in southern France. No hungry spider ever viewed more coolly a more helpless prey entangled in his web. By a masterly use of the black arts of dissimulation, vituperation, and intimidation he swept the whole royal crew aside. Charles abdi- cated his throne into the hands of Napoleon, who thereupon forced THE COSTLY SPANISH ADVENTURE 219 Ferdinand to renounce his rights under a thinly veiled threat that, if he did not, the Duke d'Enghien would not be the only member of the House of Bourbon celebrated for an untoward fate. Fer- Napoleon dinand and his brothers were sent as prisoners to a chateau makes his at Valen(;ay. The vacant throne was then given by Napo- Joseph King leon to his brother Joseph, who thereupon abdicated the of Spain kingship of Naples, which now passed to Murat, Napo- leon's brother-in-law. Napoleon later admitted that it was this Spanish business that de- stroyed him. "I embarked very badly on the Spanish affair, I confess; the immorality of it was too patent, the injustice too cyniQal." But this was the judgment of retrospect. He entered upon the venture with a light heart, confident that at most he would encounter only a feeble opposition. " Countries full of monks like yours," he told Ferdinand, " are easy to subdue. There may be some riots, but the Spaniards will quiet down when they see that I offer them the integrity of the boun- daries of their kingdom, a liberal constitution, and the preservation of their religion and their national customs." Contrary to -j-jj^ gpan- his expectation the conduct of the Spaniards was quite the iards rise reverse of this. He might offer them, as he did, better government than they had ever had. They hated him as a thief and trickster, also as a heretic, as a man whose character and policies andX ideas were anathema. Napoleon embarked on a five years' war with \ them, which baffled him at every stage, drained his resources, in a con- I test that was inglorious, resources which should have been husbanded 1 most carefully for more important purposes. " If it should cost me 80,000 V men" to conquer Spain, "I would not attempt it," he said at the begin- / ning, "but it will not take more than 12,000." A ghastly miscalculation, / for it was to take 300,000 and to end in failure. { He encountered in Spain an opposition very different in kind and - quality from any he had met hitherto in Italy or Germany, baffling, elusive, wearing. Previously he had waged war with gov- \ ,,,. ^ . . f , . . Napoleon \ ernments only and their armies, not with peoples rising as arouses the one man, resolved to die rather than suffer the loss of their ^p^"* °f. nationalism independence. The people of Italy, the people of Austria, the people of Germany, had not risen. Their governments had not ap- pealed to. them, but had relied upon their usual weapon, professional armies. Defeating these, as Napoleon had done with comparative ease, 2 20 THE EMPIRE AT ITS HEIGHT the governments had then sued for peace and endured his terms. No / great wave of national feehng, daring all, risking all, had swept over / the masses of those countries where he had hitherto appeared. France ' had herself undergone this very experience and her armies had won their great successes because they were aglow with the spirit of nation- * \ ality, which had been so aroused and intensified by the Revolution. \ Now other countries were to take a page out of her book, at the very \ time when she was showing a tendency to forget that page herself. The Spanish rising was the first of a series of popular, national, instinctive 1 movements that were to end in Napoleon's undoing. The kind of warfare that the Spaniards carried on was peculiar, determined by the physical features of the land and by the cir- Character of cumstances in which they found themselves. Lacking the war in Spain leadership of a government — their royal family being virtually imprisoned in France — poor, and without large armies, they fought as guerillas, little bands, not very formidable in themselves in- dividually, but appearing now here, now there, now everywhere, picking off small detachments, stragglers, then disappearing into their mountain fastnesses. They thus repeated the history of their long struggles with The influ- the Moors. Every peasant had his gun and every peasant ence of the -^g^g inspired by loyalty to his country, and by religious zeal, against as the Vendeans had been. The Catholic clergy entered isTapoieon again upon the scene, fanning the popular animosity against this despoiler of the Pope, and against these French free-thinkers. Na- poleon had aroused two mighty forces which were to dog his footsteps henceforth, that of religious zeal, and that of the spirit of nationaUty, each with a fanaticism of its own. Even geography, which Napoleon had hitherto made minister to his successes, was now against him. The country was poor, the roads were Geography execrable, the mountains ran in the wrong direction, right against him across his path, the rivers also. In between these successive mountain ranges, in these passes and vaUeys, it was difficult for large armies, such as Napoleon's usually were, to operate. It was easy for mishaps to occur, for guerilla bands or small armies to cut off lines of communication, for them to appear in front and in the rear at the same time. The country was admirable for the defensive, difficult for the offensive. This was shown early in the war when General Dupont was caught in a trap and obhged to capitulate with an army of 20,000 at THE ERFURT INTERVIEW 221 Baylen (July, 1808). This capitulation produced a tremendous impres- sion throughout Europe. It was the first time a French army corps had been compelled to ground arms in full cam- lation of naign. It was the heaviest blow Napoleon had yet received ^^y}^^ *^ ° . (July, 1808) in his career. It encouraged the Spaniards, and other peoples also, who were only waiting to see the great conqueror trip and w^ho were how fired with hope that the thing might be done again. Napo- leon was enraged, stormed against the unfortunate army, declared that from the beginning of the world nothing "so stupid, so silly, so cow- ardly" had been seen. They had had a chance to distinguish them- selves, " they might have died," he said. Instead they had surrendered. Joseph, the new King, who had been in his capital only a week, left it hurriedly and withdrew toward the Pyrenees, writing his brother that Spain was like no other country, that they must -^ Joseph have an army of 50,000 to do the fighting, another of 50,000 seeks safety to keep open the line of communications, and 100,000 "^ ^ gallow^s for traitors and scoundrels. There w'as another feature of this war in the Peninsula, England's participation. An army was sent out under Sir Arthur Wellesley, later Duke of Wellington, to cooperate w^ith the Portuguese and * ^ ^ The English Spaniards. W^ellesley, who had already distinguished him- join in the self in India, now began to build up a European reputation Peninsula . . campaign as a careful, original, and resourceful commander. Land- ing at Lisbon, the expedition shortly forced the French commander Junot to capitulate at Cintra (August, 1808), as Dupont had been forced to in the preceding month at Baylen. These were disasters which Napoleon could not allow to stand unanswered. 'His prestige, his reputation for invincibility must remain undiminished or Europe generally would become rest- . 1 1 r 11 -TT Napoleon less, With what result no one could foretell. He resolved resolves to therefore to go to Spain himself and show the Spaniards ^o to Spain 1 11 1 1 1 1 1 • himself and all other peoples how hopeless it was to oppose him, how minor and casual defeats of his subordinates meant nothing, how his own mighty blow^s could no more be parried than before. But, before going, he wished to make quite sure of the general European sit- uation. He arranged therefore for an interview at Erfurt in the center of Germany with his ally, Alexander of Russia. The two emperors spent a fortnight discussing their plans, examining every phase of the inter- 222 THE EMPIRE AT ITS HEIGHT national situation (September-October, 1808). This Erfurt Interview The Erfurt was the most spectacular episode in Napoleon's career as Interview g^ diplomatist. He sought to dazzle Europe with his might, -October, to impress the imaginations of men, and their fears, to show 1808) i\^^i i]^Q Franco-Russian alliance, concluded at Tilsit the year before, stood taut and firm and could not be shaken. All the kings and princes of Germany were summoned to give him, their " Protector," an appropriate and glittering setting. Napoleon brought with him the best theatrical troop in Europe, the company of the Theatre Franqais, and they played, as the pretentious expression was, to " a parterre of kings." On one occasion when Talma, the famous tragedian recited the words, " The friendship of a great man Is a true gift of the gods," the Czar arose, seized Napoleon's hand, and gave the signal for applause. Day after day was filled with festivities, dinners, balls, hunts, reviews. The gods of German literature and learning, Goethe and Wieland, paid their respects. Meanwhile the two allies carefully canvassed the situa- tion. In general the Czar was cordial, for he saw his Napoleon . . and Alex- profit in the alliance. But now and then a little rift in the ander in j^|^g appeared. One day, as they were discussing, Napo- concerning leon became angry, threw his hat on the floor and stamped the destinies upon it. Alexander merely observed "You are angry, I of the world ^ . -^ . . ,11 am stubborn. With me anger gains nothing. Let s talk, let's reason together, or I shall leave." The result of the interview was in the main satisfactory enough to both. The accord between the two seemed complete. The alliance was renewed, a new treaty was made, which was to be kept secret "for ten years at least," and now Napoleon felt free to direct his attention to the annoying Spanish problem, resolved to end it once for all. As- sembling a splendid army of 200,000 men he crossed the Pyrenees and in a brief campaign of a month he swept aside all obstacles with comparative ease, and entered Madrid (December, 1808). conquers There he remained a few weeks sketching the institu- u^^'^ol?^^*^^'"' tions of the new Spain which he intended to create. It ber 1808) _ ^ would certainly have been a far more rational and enlight- ened and.progressive state than it ever had been in the past. He declared the Inquisition, which still existed, abolished; also the remains of the feudal system; also the tariff boundaries which shut off province from THE WAR OF 1809 WITH AUSTRIA 223 province to the great detriment of commerce. He closed two-thirds of the monasteries, which were more than superabundant in the land. But, just as no individual cares to be reformed under the compul- sion of a master, so the Spaniards would have nothing to do with these modern improvements in the social art, imposed by a heretic and a ty- rant, who had wantonly filched their throne and invaded their country. Napoleon might perhaps have established his control over Spain so firmly that the new institutions would have struck Napoleon root, despite this opposition. But time was necessary hurries back and time was something he could not command. In Madrid only a month, he was compelled to hurry back to France because of alarming news that reached him. He never returned to Spain. Austria had thrown down the gauntlet again. It was entirely nat- ural for her to seek at the convenient opportunity to avenge the humiUa- tions she had repeatedly endured at the hands of France, Austria to recover the position she had lost. Moreover the close ^^s^^ ^ ^. . . new war alliance of Russia and France and Napoleon's seizure of with France the Spanish crown filled her with alarm. If Napoleon was '-^P'"'^' 1^°^' capable of treating in this way a hitherto submissive ally, such as Spain had been, what might he not do to a chronic enemy and now a mere neutral like Austria, particularly as the latter had nowhere to look for support since Russia had deserted the cause. Moreover Austria had learned something from her disastrous experiences; among , , . •,. , , Reform in Other thmgs that her previous military system was defec- the military tive in that it made no appeal to the people, to national system of Ar » ,• , . , , Austria sentiment. After Austerhtz the army was reorganized and a great mihtia was created composed of all men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five. A promising invigoration of the national consciousness began. What occasion could be more convenient for pay- ing off old scores and regaining lost ground than this, with Napoleon weakened by the necessity of holding down a spirited and outraged nation like the Spanish, resolved to go to any lengths, and by the neces- sity of checking or crushing the English in Portugal? Under the influence of such considerations the war party gained the ascendency, and Austria, under the lead of Archduke Charles, brother of the Emperor and a very able commander, began a war in the spring of 1809. This war, which Napoleon did not seek, from which he had 2 24 THE EMPIRE AT ITS HEIGHT nothing to gain, was another Austrian mistake. Austria should have allowed more time for the full development of her new mihtary system before running perilous risks again. The Austrians paid for their precipitancy. Napoleon astonished them again by the rapidity of his movements. In April, 1809, he fought Napoleon them in Bavaria, five battles in five days, thro\\ing them conquers back. Then he advanced down the Danube, entered Vienna the fourth without difficulty and crossed the river to the northern *™^ bank, whither the army of the Archduke had withdrawn. There Napoleon fought a two days' battle at Esshng (May 21-22). The fighting was furious, the village of Essling changing hands nine times. Napoleon was seriously checked. He was obhged to take refuge for six weeks on the Island of Lobau in the Danube, until additional troops were brought up from Italy, and from Germany. Then, when his army was sufficiently reinforced, he crossed to the northern bank again and fought ^ , the great battle of Wagram (July 5-6). He was victorious The battle . . at --r-'i of Wagram but m no superlative sense as at Austerlitz. The Arch- (Juiy 5-6, duke's army retired from the field in good order. The 1809) ■' ° losses had been hea\y but no part of the army had been captured, none of the flags taken. This was the last victorious campaign fought by Napoleon. Even in it he had won his victory with unaccus- tomed difficulty. His army was of inferior quality, many of his best troops being detained by the inglorious Spanish adventure and the new soldiers proving inferior to the old veterans. Moreover he was encoun- tering an opposition that was stronger in numbers, because of the army reforms just alluded to, while opposing generals w^ere learning lessons from a study of his methods and were turning them against him. Arch- duke Charles, for instance, revered Napoleon's genius but he now fought him tooth and nail and with abihty. After Wagram, Austria again made peace with Napoleon, the Peace of Vienna or of Schonbrunn. Austria was obliged to rehnquish exten- „, „ ^ sive territories. Galicia, which was the part of Poland The Treaty _ _ ' ^ ^ ^ of Vienna she had acquired in the famous partitions, now went — 1809*)^^'^' ^ P^^^ °^ ^^ ^° ^^^ Grand Duchy of Warsaw, a part of it to Russia. She was also forced to cede to France Trieste, Carniola, and part of Carinthia and Croatia. These were made into the Illyrian Provinces which were declared imperial territory, although not formally annexed to France. Austria lost 4,000,000 subjects, nearly a 226 THE EMPIRE AT ITS HEIGHT sixth of all that she possessed. She lost her only port and became en- tirely land-locked. Having defeated Austria for the fourth time, Napoleon treated Europe to one of those swift transformation scenes of which he was fond ars showing his easy and incalculable mastery of the situation. He con- tracted a marriage alliance with the House of Hapsburg which he had so repeatedly humbled, one of the proudest royal houses in Europe. He had long considered the advisability of a divorce from Josephine, as she had given him no heir and as the stabiUty of the system he had erected depended upon his having one. At his demand the Senate dissolved his marriage with Josephine, and the ecclesiastical court in Paris was even more accommodating, declaring that owing to some irregularity the marriage had never taken place at all. Free thus by action of the State and the Church he asked the Emperor of Austria for the hand of his daughter, the Archduchess Ma- rie Louise, and received it. This political marriage was considered ad- vantageous on both sides. It seemed likely to prevent any further trouble between the two countries, to serve as a protection to Austria, to raise Napoleon's prestige by his connection with one of the oldest and proudest reigning houses of Europe, and to in- sure the continuance of the regime he had established with such display of genius. Thus only seventeen years after the execution of Marie Antoinette, another Austrian princess sat upon the throne of France. The marriage occurred in 1810 and in the following year was born the son for whom the title "King of Rome" stood ready. Napoleon marries the Archduchess Marie Louise (April, 1810) Empress Marie Louise From a picture by Prudhon. i^^ -^"^^ff-:^ k\^, >^ ^--' REFERENCES 227 Na. oleonic Crkations: Fisher, pj). 153-168; Fournier, Chaj). XII, pp. 325-355; Fyffe, History of Modern Europe, pp. 166-173. The Campaigns against Prussia and Russia: Johnston, Chap. X, pp. 130-140; Fournier, Chap. XIII, pp. 356-385; Rose, Vol. II, Chaps. XXV and XXVI; Fyffe, Chap. VII; Priest, Germany Since 1740, pp. 46-54. Tilsit: Fyffe, Chap. VII; Fournier, pp. 385-390; Rose, Vol. II, Chap. XXVII, pp. 115-128. The Continental System: Beard, Introduction to the English Historians, pp. 520-537; Rose, Life of Napoleon I, Vol. II, Chap. XXVI, pp. 95-99; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. IX, pp. 361-389. The Attack upon Spain and the Erfurt Interview: Fisher, Napoleon, pp. 168-180; Johnston, Napoleon, pp. 147-155; Fournier, Napoleon I, pp. 427-453; Rose, Vol. II, pp. 146-173. The Austrian Campaign of 1809: Fisher, pp. 181-189; Ropes, The First Napo- leon, pp. 141-150; Johnston, pp. 157-174; Fournier, pp. 452^92; Rose, Vol. II, Chap. XXX, pp. 174-191. CHAPTER XI THE DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON Napoleon was now at the zenith of his power. He ruled directly over an empire that was far larger than the former Kingdom of France. In Napoleon ^^°9 ^^ annexed what remained of the Papal States in at the zenith Italy, together with the incomparable city of Rome, thus s power gj^(jij^g^ {qj- ^j^g ^[j^^q q^^ least, the temporal power of the Pope. In 1 8 ID he forced his brother Louis to abdicate the kingship of Holland, which country was now incorporated in France. He also, as has been already stated, extended the empire along the northern coasts of Germany from Holland to Liibeck, thus controlling Hamburg, Bremen, and the mouths of the important German rivers. Each one of these annexations was in pursuance of his policy of the Continental Blockade, closing so much more of the coastline of Europe to the commerce of England, the remaining enemy which he now expected to humble. He „ . . was Emperor of a state that had i ^o departments. He Napoleon's ^ . power out- was also King of Italy, a state in the northeastern part of side of ^Yie peninsula. He was Protector of the Confederation of France '^ the Rhine, which included all Germany except Prussia and Austria, a confederation which had been enlarged since its formation by the addition of Westphalia and Saxony and the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, extending, therefore, clear up to Russia. His brother Joseph was King of Spain, his brother Jerome King of Westphalia, his brother-in-law Murat King of Naples. All were mere satellites of his, receiving and ex- ecuting his orders. Russia was his willing ally. Prussia and Austria were his allies, the former because forced to be, the latter at first for the same reason, and later because she saw an advantage in it. No ruler in history had ever dominated so much of Europe. This supreme, incom- parable preeminence had been won by his sword, supplemented by his remarkable statesmanship and diplomacy. England alone remained outside the pale, England alone had not been brought to bend the knee to the great conqueror. Even she was 228 WEAKNESS OF THE NAPOLEONIC SYSTEM 229 breathing heavily, because the Continental System was inflicting ter- rible damage upon her. Factories were being forced to England shut down, multitudes of laborers were being thrown out shows signs of work or were receiving starvation wages, riots and other evidences of unrest and even desperation seemed to indicate that even she must soon come to terms. But this vast and imposing fabric of power rested upon uncertain bases. Built up, story upon story, by this highly imaginative and able mind, the architect left out of reckoning or despised the Elements of strains and stresses to which it was increasingly subjected, weakness in . the Napo- The rapidity with which this colossal structure fell to pieces iconic struc- in a few years shows how poorly consolidated it was, how *"^® rickety and precarious its foundations. Even a slight analysis will re- veal numerous and foreboding elements of weakness beneath all this pomp and pageantry of power. Erected by the genius of a single man, it depended solely upon his life and fortunes — and fortune is notoriously fickle. Built up by war, by conquest, it was necessarily environed by the hatred of the conquered. With every advance, every annexation, it annexed additional sources of discontent. Based on force, it could only be maintained by force. There could be and there was in „ , Napoleon's all this vast extent of empire no common loyalty to the system Emperor. Despotism, and Napoleon's regime was one of ^^^ed on pitiless despotism, evoked no loyalty, only obedience based on fear. Europe has always refused to be dominated by a single nation or by a single man. It has run the risk several times in its history of passing under such a yoke, but it always in the end succeeded in escaping it. Universal dominion is an anachronism. The secret of Great Britain's hold upon many of the component parts of her empire lies in the fact that she allows them liberty to develop their own life in their own way. But such a conception was utterly beyond Napo- leon, contrary to all his instincts and convictions. His empire meant the negation of liberty in the various countries which he dominated, France included. Napoleon's conquests necessarily ranged against him this powerful and unconquerable spirit. The more con- , . , ... , r , All Europe quests, the more enemies, only waiting intently for the mo- waits for the ment of liberation, scanning the horizon everywhere for the ^°"^ °* . liberation first sign of weakness which to them would be the harbinger of hope. This they found in Spain, and in the Austrian campaign in 1809 230 THE DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON in which the machinery of mihtary conquest had creaked, had worked clumsily, had threatened at one moment to break down. There was a force in the world which ran directly counter to Napo- leon's projects, the principle of nationality. Napoleon despised this feeling, and in the end it was his undoing. He might have contempt for seen that it had been the strength of France a few years the spirit of earlier, that now this spirit had passed beyond the natural boundaries and was waking into a new life, was nerving to a new vigor, countries like Spain, even Austria and, most conspicu- ously, Prussia. Prussia after Jena underwent the most serious humiliation a nation can be called to endure. For several years she was under the iron heel Prussia of Napoleon, who kept large armies quartered on her soil, after Jena ^,]^q drained her resources, who interfered peremptorily in the management of her government, who forbade her to have more than 42,000 soldiers in her army. But out of the very depths of this national degradation came Prussia's salvation. Her noblest spirits were aroused to seek the causes of this unexpected and immeasurable national calamity and to try to remedy them. From 1808 to 181 2 Prussians, under the very scrutiny of Napoleon, who had eyes but did not see, worked passion- ately upon the problem of national regeneration. The result surpassed belief. A tremendous national patriotism was aroused by the poets and thinkers, the philosophers and teachers, all bending their energies to the task of quickening among the youth the spirit of unselfish devotion to the fatherland. An electric current of enthusiasm, of idealism, swept through the educational centers and through large masses of the people. The University of Berlin, founded in 1809, in Prussia's darkest hour, was, from the beginning, a dynamic force. It. and other universities became nurseries of patriotism. Prussia underwent regeneration in other ways. Particularly memor- able was the work of two statesmen, Stein and Hardenberg. Stein, in considering the causes of Prussia's unexampled woes, came to the con- clusion that they lay in her defective or harmful social and legal institu- Abolition f ^^^^^- The masses of Prussia were serfs, bound to the soil, serfdom in their personal liberty gravely restricted, and, as Stein said, ^1807^ "patriots cannot be made out of serfs." He persuaded the King to issue an edict of emancipation, abolishing serfdom. The Prussian King, he said, was no longer "the king of slaves, but of STEIN'S REFORMS IN PRUSSIA 231 forms show the influence of the French Revolution free men." Many other reforms were passed abolishing or reducing class distinctions and privileges. In all this Stein was largely imitating the French Revolutionists who by their epoch-making reforms stein's re- had released the energies of the French so that their power had been vastly augmented. The army, too, was reorganized, op- portunity was opened to talent, as in France, with what magi- cal results we have seen. As Napoleon forbade that the Prussian army should number more than 42,000 men, the in- genious device was hit upon of having men serve with the colors only a brief time, long enough to learn the essentials of the soldier's life. Then they would pass into ^^^y ^^_ the reserve and forms in ^, 111 Prussia others would be put rapidly through the same training. By this method sev- eral times 42,000 men received a military training whose effec- tiveness was later to be proved. Thus Prussia's regeneration went on. The new national spirit, wonderfully invigorated, waited with impatience for its hour of probation. It should be noted, however, that these reforms, which resembled in many respects those accomplished in France by the Constituent Assembly and the Convention, and which were in fact suggested by them, rested however, on very different principles. There was in Prussia no assertion of the Rights of Man, j^^ yielding no proclamation of the people as sovereign. In Prussia it by Prussia was the king who made the reforms, not the people. The °^^^^ ^_ theory of the divine right of the monarch was not touched ciples of but was maintained as sacred as ever. There was reform 8°^®"^™®'^ in Prussia but no revolution. Prussia took no step toward democracy. Baron vom Stein From an engraving by Liitzenkirchen. 232 THE DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON This distinction has colored the whole subsequent history of that king- dom and colors it today. "Everything for the people, nothing by the people," was evidently the underlying principle in this work of national reorganization. Even these reforms were not carried out completely, ■owing to opposition from within the kingdom and from without. But, though incomplete, they were very vitalizing. Napoleon's policies had created other enmi- ties in abundance which were mining the ground beneath him. His treat- The Church ^lent of the hostile to Pope, whom Napoleon ^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^ prisoner and whose tem- poral power he had abol- ished by incorporating his states, a part in the French Empire and a part in the Kingdom of Italy, made the Catholic clergy everywhere hostile, and offended the faithful. Rome, hitherto the papal capital, was declared the second city of the Empire and served as a title for Napoleon's son. All rights of the Pope were thus cavalierly ignored. The vast and subtle influence of the Church was of course now directed to the debasement of the man it had previously conspicuously favored and exalted. In addition to combat- ting the rising tide of nationality, Napoleon henceforth also had his quarrel with the Papacy. Into these entanglements he had been brought by the necessities of Disastrous his conflict with England, by the Continental Blockade. Continental ^'^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ system that drove him on from one aggres- Biockade sion to another, from annexation to annexation. That sys- tem, too, created profound discontent in aU the countries of the conti- PoPE Pius VII From an engraving by Oudaille, after the painting by David. EFFECTS OF THE CONTINENTAL BLOCKADE 233 nent, including France itseK. By enormously raising the price of such necessaries as cotton and sugar and coffee and tea, products of Brit- ain's colonies or of the tropical countries with which she traded, they in- troduced hardship and irritation into every home. The normal course of business was turned inside out and men suddenly found their livelihood gone and ruin threatening or already upon them. To get the commod- ities to which they were accustomed they smuggled on a large and des- perate scale. This led to new and severe regulations and widespread harsher punishments, and thus the tyrannical interference economic in their private lives made multitudes in every country ^" ^^"^^ hate the tyranny and long for its overthrow. Widespread economic suffering was the inevitable result of the Continental System and did more to make Napoleon's rule unpopular throughout Europe than did anything else except the enormous waste of life occasioned by the in- cessant warfare. That system, too, was the chief cause of the rupture of the alliance between Russia and France, in 181 2, a rupture which led to appalling disaster for Napoleon and was the beginning of the end. The whole stupendous superstructure of Napoleonic statecraft and diplomacy fell like a house of cards in the three years 1812, 1813, and 1814. The Franco-Russian AUiance, concluded so hastily and unexpectedly at Tilsit in 1807, lasted nominally nearly five years. It was however unpopular from the beginning with certain influential classes ^j^g pranco- in Russia and its inconveniences became increasingly ap- Russian parent. The aristocracy of Russia, a powerful body, hated this alliance with a country which had abolished its own nobiUty, leav- ing its members impoverished by the loss of their lands and privileges. There could be no sympathy between the Russian no- j^g unpopu- bility, based upon the grinding serfdom of the masses, and larity in the country which had. swept all traces of feudalism aside and proclaimed the equality of men. Moreover, the Russian nobility hated the Continental System, as it nearly destroyed the commerce with England in wheat, flax, and timber, which was the chief source of their wealth. Furthermore, the Czar Alexander I, having ob- ^ , . ° Relations tained some of the advantages he had expected from his between alliance, was irritated, now that he did not obtain others Napoleon and Alexander I for which he had hoped. He had gained Finland from Sweden and the Danubian Principalities from Turkey, but the vague 234 THE DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON though alluring prospect of a division of the Turkish Empire stiU remained unfulfilled and was, indeed, receding into the limbo of the unhkely. He wanted Constantinople, and Napoleon made it clear he could never have it. Moreover Alexander was alarmed by Napoleon's schemes with the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, a state made out of the Polish provinces which had been acquired by Prussia and Austria. Alexander had no objection to Prussia and Austria losing their Pohsh provinces, but he himself had Polish provinces and he dreaded anything that looked like a resurrection of the former Kingdom of Poland, any appeal to the Pohsh national feeling. But the main cause of Alexander's gradual alienation from his ally was the Continental Blockade. This was working great financial loss The alliance to Russia. Moreover its inconveniences were coming undermined home to him in Other ways. To enforce the system more t^ental completely in Germany Napoleon seized in 1811 the System Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, which belonged to Alexander's brother-in-law. Thus the alliance was being subjected to a strain it could not stand. In 181 2 it snapped, and loud was the report. Napoleon would not allow The Franco- any breach of the Continental Blockade if he could prevent Russian j^ jjg resolved to force Russia, as he had forced the rest £LUlfl.IlC6 breaks down of the continent, to do his bidding. He demanded that she in 1812 \[yQ up ^Q hgj. promises and exclude British commerce. The answers were evasive, unsatisfactory, and in June, 181 2, Napoleon crossed the Niemen with the largest army he ever commanded, over Napoleon ^^^^ ^ million men, the "army of twenty nations," as the invades Russians called it. About one-half were French. The rest were a motley host of Italians, Danes, Croatians, Dal- matians, Poles, Dutchmen, Westphalians, Saxons, Bavarians, Wiirtem- bergers, and still others. For the first time in his military career Napoleon commanded the cooperation of Austria and Prussia, both of which were compelled to send pontingents. There were 100,000 cavalry and a numerous and powerful artillery. He had around him a brilliant staff of officers, Murat, Ney, Eugene Beauharnais and others. It seemed as if no power on earth could resist such an engine of destruction. Napoleon himself spoke of the expedition as the "last act" of the play. It was not quite that, but it was. a supremely important act, one full of surprises. From the very start it was seen that in numbers there is THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN OF 1812 235 sometimes weakness, not strength. This vast machine speedily com- menced to give way beneath its own weight. The army Disorgan- had not advanced five days before the commissary depart- •f^^io'i "^ 1 ' 11- ^"® com- ment began to break down and bread was lackmg. Horses, missary improperly nourished, died by the thousands, thus still department further demoralizing the commissariat and imperiling the artillery. The Russians adopted the policy of not fighting but constantly re- treating, luring the . , , The Rus- enemy farther and sians con- farther into a coun- tinually try which they took the pains to devastate as they retired, leaving no provisions or supplies for the invaders, no sta- tions for the incapacitated, as they burned their villages on leaving them. Napoleon, seek- ing above everything a battle, in which he hoped- to crush the enemy, was denied the oppor- tunity. The Russians had studied the Duke of Wellington's methods ia Portugal and profited by their study. It was 700 miles from the Niemen to Moscow. Napoleon had had no intention of going so far, but the tactics of his enemy forced him steadily to proceed. The Czar had announced that he would retire into Asia if necessary, rather than sign a peace with his enemy on the sacred soil of Russia. Napoleon hoped for a battle at Smolensk but only succeeded in getting a rear-guard action and a city in flames. This policy of continual retreat, so irritating to the French Emperor, was equally irritating to the Russian people, who did not understand the reason and who clamored for a change. The Russians therefore took up a strong position at Borodino on the route to Moscow. There a battle occurred on September 7, 181 2, between the French army of The battle 125,000 men and the Russian of 100,000. The battle was °^ Borodino one of the bloodiest of the whole epoch. The French lost 30,000, the Rus- sians 40,000 men. Napoleon's victory was not overwhelming, prob- ably because he could not bring himself to throw in the Old Guard. The Napoleu.n .-, Camp Bed Redrawn from a photograph. 236 THE DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON Russians retreated in good order, leaving the road open to Moscow, Napoleon which city Napoleon entered September 14. The army had enters experienced terrible hardships all the way, first over roads Moscow ^ . ^ •' ' September soaked by constant rains, then later over roads intensely 14, 1812 heated by July suns and giving forth suffocating clouds of dust. Terrible losses, thousands a day, had characterized the march of seven hundred miles from the Niemen to Moscow. Napoleon had resolved on the march to Moscow expecting that the Russians would consent to peace, once the ancient capital was in danger. But no one appeared for that purpose. He found Moscow practically The burning deserted, only 15,000 there, out of a population of 250,000. of Moscow Moreover the day after his entry fires broke out in various parts of the city, probably set by Russians. For four days the fearful conflagration raged, consuming a large part of the city. Still Napoleon stayed on, week after week, fearing the effect that the news of a retreat might produce, and hoping, against hope, that the Czar would sue for peace. Finally there was nothing to do, after wasting a month of precious time, but to order the retreat. This was a long-drawn-out agony, during The retreat which an army of 100,000 men was reduced to a few paltry from Moscow thousands, fretted all along the route by which they had come by Russian armies and by Cossack guerilla bands, horrified by the sight of thousands of their comrades still unburied on the battlefield of Borodino, suffering indescribable hardships of hunger and exhaustion and finally caught in all the horrors of a fierce Russian winter, clad, as many of them were, lightly for a summer campaign. The scenes that accompanied this flight and rout were of unutterable woe, culminating The crossing ^^ ^^^ hideous tragedy of the crossing of the Beresina, the of the bridge breaking down under the wild confusion of men fighting to get across, horses frightened, the way blocked by carts and wagons, the bridges raked by the fire of the Russian artillery. Thousands were left behind, many fell or threw themselves into the icy river and were frozen to death. In the river, says one writer, when the Russians came up later they saw "awful heaps of drowned soldiers, women, and children, emerging above the surface of the waters, and here and there rigid in death like statues on their ice-bound horses." A few thousand out of all the army finally got out of Russia and across the Nie- men. Many could only crawl to the hospitals asking for "the rooms where people die." History has few ghastlier pages in all its annals. UPRISING OF PRUSSIA AGAINST NAPOLEON 237 Napoleon himself left the army in December, and traveled rapidly in- cognito to Paris, which'he reached on the 1 8th. "I shall Napoleon be back on the Niemen in the spring," was the statement plans a new with which he tried to make men think that the lost posi- '^^^p^^ tion would be soon recovered. Napoleon Returning to France, December, 1812 Redrawn from a sketch by Faber du Faur. Not made on the spot but probably presenting approximately the kind of equipage in which Napoleon travelled. He was accompanied by five other persons only. He did not quite keep the promise. He did not get as far back again as the Niemen. But 1813 saw him battling for his supremacy in Ger- many, as 181 2 had seen him battling for it in Russia. The Russian disas- ter had sent a thrill of hope through the ranks of his enemies everywhere. The colossus might be, indeed appeared to be, falling. Had not the auspicious moment arrived for annihilating him? Particularly violent was the hatred of the Prussians who had, more than other peoples, felt the ruthlessness of his tyranny for the last six years. They trembled with eagerness to be let loose and when their King made a treaty of alliance with Russia and subsequently made a more direct and per- p ... sonal appeal to his people than any Prussian monarch had Russia ever made before, they responded enthusiastically. There ^^'of* n was a significant feature about this Treaty of Kalisch with (February Russia. Russia was not to lay down her arms against Na- poleon until Prussia had recovered an area equal to that which she had 238 THE DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON possessed before the battle of Jena. But the area was not to be the same, for Russia was to keep Prussia's PoHsh provinces, now included in the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, whose doom was decreed. Prussia should have compensation in northern Germany. Could Napoleon rely on the Confederation of the Rhine and on his ally Austria? This remained to be seen. A reverse would almost surely Napoleon's ^*^^^ ^™ ^^^- support of the former and the neutrality of doubtful the latter. Their loyalty would be proportioned to his success. There was with them not the same popular wrath as with the Prussians. On the other hand their princes had a keen eye for the main chance. Austria surely would use Napoleon's necessities for her own advantage. The princes of the Rhenish Confederation wished to retain the advantages they had won largely through their complaisant cooperation with Napoleon during recent years. Austria wished to re- cover advantages she had lost, territory, prestige, badly tattered and torn by four unsuccessful campaigns. Napoleon, working feverishly since the return from Russia, finally got an army of over 200,000 men together. But to do this he had to draw The cam- upon the youth of France, as never before, calling out re- paignof 1813 cruits a year before their time for service was due. A large part of them were untrained, and had to get their training on the march into Germany. The army was weak in cavalry, a decisive instrument in following up a victory and clinching it. Napoleon was back in central Germany before the Russians and Prussians were fully prepared. He defeated them at Llitzen and at Baut- zen in May, 181 3, but was unable to follow up his victories because of the lack of sufficient cavalry, and the campaign convinced him that he A fat 1 could accomplish nothing decisive without reinforcements, armistice in He therefore agreed, in an unlucky moment, as it later mdgn^™" proved, to a six weeks' armistice. During that time he did get large reinforcements but his enemies got larger. And during that interval the diplomatic intriguing went against him so that when the armistice was over Austria had joined the alliance of Austria joins ^^^^ia, Prussia, and England, against him. He defeated the alliance the Austrians at Dresden (August 26-27), his last great N^a^pofeon victory. His subordinates were, however, beaten in vari- ous subsidiary engagements and he was driven back upon Leipsic. There occurred a decisive three days' battle, the "Battle of NAPOLEON LOSES GERMANY 239 the Nations," as the Germans call it (October 16-18). In point of numbers involved this was the greatest battle of the Napoleonic era. Over half a million men took part, at most 200,000 under ^^^ ^^^^^^ Napoleon, 300,000 under the commanders of the allies, of Leipsic Napoleon was disastrously defeated and was sent flying ig'^^igig. ^^' back across the Rhine with only a small remnant of his army. The whole political structure which he had built up in Ger- Napoleon's War Horse, "Marengo" many collapsed. The members of the Confederation of the Rhine de- serted the falling star, and entered the alliance against him, on the guarantee of their possessions by the allies. Jerome fled j^^ie crash of from Westphalia and his brief kingdom disappeared, the Napo- Meanwhile Wellington, who for years had been aiding the ^°"^^ ^^^ Spaniards, had been successful and was crossing the Pyrenees into southern France. The coils were closing in upon the lion, who now stood at bay. The allies moved on after the retreating French toward the Rhine. It had been no part of their original purpose to demand Napoleon's abdication. They now, in November, 181 3, offered him peace To yield, or on the basis of the natural frontiers of France, the Rhine, "°^ *° ^^^^^^ the Alps, and the Pyrenees. He would not accept but procrastinated. 240 THE DECLINE AND FALL OF XAPOLEON and made counter-propositions. Even in February, 1814, he could have retained his throne and the historic boundaries of the old Bourbon monarchv, had he been willing to renounce the rest. He daUied with the suggestion, secretly hoping for some turn in luck that would spring the coaUtion apart and enable him to recover the ground he had lost. In thus refusing to recognize defeat, refusing to accept an altered situation, he did great harm to France and completed his own downfall. His stiff, uncompromising, unpelding temper sealed his doom. He was no longer acting as the -^"ise statesman, responsible for the wehare of a great people who, by their imstinted sacrifices, had put him under hea\y obUgations. His was the spirit of the gambler, thinking to win all by a happy turn of the cards. He was also will incarnate. With will and luck all might yet be retrieved. He had said on lea\'ing Germany, ''I shall be back in ^lay with 250,000 men.'' He did not expect a winter campaign and he felt confident that The cam- ^^ ^^^Y ^^ could have another army. The allies, however, paign in did not wait for May but at the close of December, 1S13 streamed across the Rhine and invaded France from various directions. France, \-ictorious for eighteen years, now experienced what she had so often administered to others. The campaign was brief, only two months, February and March, 1814. Xapoleon was hopelessly out- mmibered. Yet this has been called the most briUiant of his campaigns. Fighting on the defensive and on inner lines, he shov\-ed mars-eUous mas- ter}' of the art of war, striking here, striking there, with great precision and swiftness, undaunted, resourceful, tireless. The aUies needed every bit of their overwhelming superiority in numbers to compass the end of their redoubtable antagoiust, with his back against the wall and his brain working with matchless lucidity and with Hghtning-like rapidity. They thought they could get to his capital in a week. It took them two months. However there could be but one end to such a campaign, if the aUies held together, as they did. On the 30th of ^larch Paris capitu- lated and on the following day the Czar Alexander and Frederick WiUiam The allies ^^^' ^^^ King of Prussia, made their formal entr}- into the enter Paris city which the Duke of Brunswick twenty-two years before 181?*^^ ^^' ^^^ threatened with destruction if it laid sacrilegious hands upon the King or Queen. Since that day much water had flowed under the bridge, and France and Europe had had a strange, eventful histor}', signif>-ing much. THE RESTORATION OF THE BOURBONS 241 The victors would not longer tolerate Xapoleon. He was forced to abdicate unconditionally. He was allowed to retain his title of Emperor but henceforth he was to rule only over Elba, an island nineteen miles long and sLx miles wide, lying off the coast of Tuscany whence his Itahan ancestors had sailed for Corsica two centuries and a hah before he was born. Thither he repaired, having said farewell to the Old Guard in the courtyard of the palace of Fontainebleau, kissing the flag of France made lustrous on a hundred fields. "Nothing but sobbing was heard in all the ranks," wrote one of the soldiers who saw the scene, "and I can say that I too shed tears when I saw my Emperor depart." On the day that Napoleon abdicated, the Senate, so-called guardian of the constitution, obsequious and servile to the Emperor in his days of fortune, turned to salute the rising sun, and in solemn , . „, ' . . . . Louis XVIII session proclaimed Louis X\TII King of France. The allies, becomes who had conquered Napoleon and banished him to a petty ?^s of island in the Mediterranean, thought they were done with him for good and all. But from this complacent self-assurance they were destined to a rude awakening. Their own errors and wranglings at the Congress of Vienna, whither they repaired in September, 1814 to divide the spoils and determine the future organization of Europe, and the mis- lakes and indiscretions of the Bourbons whom they restored to rule in France, gave Napoleon the opportunity for the most audacious and wonderful adventure of his life. Louis XVni, the new king, tried to adapt himself to the greatly altered circumstances of the country to which he now returned in the wake of foreign armies after an absence of twenty-two years. He saw that he could not be an absolute king as his ancestors had been, and he therefore granted a charter to the French, giving them a legislature and guaranteeing certain rights which they had won and which he saw could not safely be withdrawn. His regime assured much larger hberty than France had ever experienced under Napoleon. Nevertheless certain attitudes of his and ways of speaking, and the actions of the royaHsts who surrounded him, and several un\\-ise measures of government, soon rendered him unpopular and irritated and alarmed the people. He spoke of himseh as King by the grace of God, thus denying the so\'- ^j^^ j^^_ ereignty of the people; he dated his first document, the Con- takes of the stitutional Charter, from "the nineteenth year of my reign," °^ as if there had never been a Republic and a Napoleonic Empire; he re- 242 THE DECLINE AND FALL OF N.APOLEON stored the white flag and banished the glorious tricolor which had been carried in triumph throughout Europe. What was much more serious, he offended thousands of Napoleon's army officers by retiring or putting them on half pay, many thus being reduced to destitution, and all feehng themselves dishonored. Moreover many former nobles who had early in the Revolution emigrated from France and then fought against her re- ceived honors and distinctions. Then, in addition, the Roman Catholic clergy and the nobles of the court talked loudly and unwisely about getting back their lands which had been confiscated and sold to the peasants, although both the Concordat of 1802 and the Charter of 1814 distinctly recognized and ratified these changes and promised that they should not be disturbed. The peasants were far and away the most ^j^g numerous class in France and they were thus early alienated peasantry from the Bourbons by these threats at their most vital in- alarmed terest, their property rights, which Napoleon had always stoutly maintained. Thus a few months after Napoleon's abdication the evils of his reign were forgotten, the terrible cost in human life, the bur- densome taxation, the tyranny of it all, and he was looked upon as a friend, as a hero to whom the soldiers had owed glory and repute and the peasants the secure possession of their farms. In this way a mental atmosphere hostile to Louis XVHI, and favorable to Napoleon was created by a few months of Bourbon rule. Napoleon, penned up in his little island, took note of all this. He also heard of the serious dissensions of the allies now that they were trying to divide the spoils at Vienna, of their jealousies Dissension ,. •• i-i-t among the and ammosities, which, m January, 181 5, rose to such a allies at pitch that Austria, France, and England prepared to go to war with Prussia and Russia over the allotment of the booty. He also knew that they were intriguing at the Congress for his banish- ment to some place remote from Europe. For ten months he had been in Ms miniature kingdom. The psycho- Napoleon logical moment had come for the most dramatic action of resolves to his life. Leaving the island with twelve hundred guards, and escaping the vigilance of the British cruisers, he landed at Cannes on ]March i. That night he started on the march to Paris and The return on March 20 entered the Tuileries, ruler of France once from Elba more. The return from Elba will always remain one of the most romantic episodes of history. With a force so small that it could THE RETURN FROIM ELBA 243 easily have been taken prisoner, he had no alternative and no other wish than to appeal directly to the confidence of the people. Never was there such a magnificent response. All along the route the peasants re- ceived him enthusiastically. But his appeal was particularly to the army, to which he issued one of his stirring bulle- tins. "Soldiers,'' it be- gan, "we have not been conquered. We were be- trayed. Soldiers! Come and range yourselve> under the banner of your chief: his existence de- pends wholly on yours: his interests, his honor, and his glory are your interests, your honor, your glory. Come! Victory will march at double quick. The eagle with the national colors shall fiy from steeple to steeple to the towers of Notre Dame. Then you will be able to show your scars with honor: then you will be able to boast of what you have done: you will be the liberators of your country." Regiment after regiment went over to him. The royahsts thought he would be arrested at Grenoble where there was a detachment of the army under a royalist commander. Napoleon w'ent straight up to them, threw open his grey coat and said, "Here I flock to am: you know^ me. If there is a soldier among you who Napoleon's ■' . ° -^ standard Wishes to shoot his Emperor, let him do it." The soldiers flocked over to him, tearing off the white cockades and putting on the tricolor, w^hich they had secretly carried in their knapsacks. Opposition melted away all along the route. It became a triumphant procession. When lies would help, Napoleon told them — among others that it was not ambition that brought him back, that "the forty-five best heads of the government of Paris have called me from Elba and my return is sup- The Duke of Wellington After the painting by Sir Thomas Lawrence. 244 THE DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON enters the Tuileries (March 20, 1815) ported by the three first powers of Europe." He admitted that he had made mistakes and assured the people that henceforth he desired only Napoleon to foUow the paths of peace and liberty. He had come back to protect the threatened blessings of the Revolution. The last part of this intoxicating journey he made in a car- riage attended by only a half dozen Polish lancers. On March 20, Louis XVIII fled from the Tuileries. That evening Na- poleon entered it. "What was the happiest period of your life as Emperor?" some one asked him at St. He- lena. "The march from Cannes to Paris," was the quick reply. His happiness was limited to less than the "Hundred Days" The "Hun- which this period of dred Days " yg j-gign is called. Attempting to reassure France and Europe, he met from the former, tired of war, only half- hearted support, from the allies only remorseless opposition. When the diplomats at the Con- gress of Vienna heard of his escape from Elba they immediately ceased their contentions and banded themselves together against "this disturber of the peace of Europe." They declared him an outlaw and set their armies in motion. He saw that he must fight to maintain himself. He resolved to attack The cam- before his enemies had time to effect their union. The battlefield was in Belgium, as Wellington with an army of English, Dutch, Belgians, and Germans, and, at some dis- tance from them, Bliicher with a large army of Prussians, were there. If Napoleon could prevent their union, then by defeating each separately, he would be in a stronger position when the Russian and Austrian armies came on. Perhaps, indeed, they would think it wiser not to come on at all but to conclude peace. In Belgium consequently occurred a four Blucher After a miniature by Miiller. paign in Belgium ST. HELENA 245 Napoleon I 1 r, on the " Bellerophon " Designed and engraved by Baugeau. The Island of St. Helena After the drawing by F. Clementson. 246 THE DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON days' campaign culminating on the famous field of Waterloo, twelve The Battle miles south of Brussels. There, on a hot Sunday in June, of Waterloo Napoleon was disastrously defeated (June 18, 181 5). The sun of Austerlitz set forever. The battle began at half past eleven in the morning, was characterized by prodigies of valor, by tremendous charges of cavalry and infantry back and forth over a sodden field. WeUington held his position hour after hour as wave after wave of French troops LoNGwooD, Napoleon's House at St. Helena rushed up the hill, foaming in and about the solid unflinching British squares, then, unable to break them, foamed back again. Wellington held on, hoping, looking for the Prussians under Blucher, who, at the beginning of the battle, were eleven miles away. They had promised to join him, if he accepted battle there, and late in the afternoon they kept the promise. Their arrival was decisive, as Napoleon was now greatly outnumbered. In the early evening, as the sun was setting, the last charge of the French was repulsed. Repulse soon turned into a rout and the demoralized army streamed from the field in utter panic, fiercely pursued by the Prussians. The Emperor, seeing the utter annihilation of his army, sought death, but sought in vain. "I ought to have died ST. HELENA V H7 at Waterloo," he said later, "but the misfortune is that when a man seeks death most he cannot find it. Men were killed around rne, be- fore, behind — everywhere. But there was no bullet for me." He fled to Paris, then toward the western coast of France hoping to escape to the United States, but the English cruisers off the shore rendered that impossible. Making the best of necessity he threw himself upon the generosity of the British. 'I have come," he announced, Napoleon "like Themistocles, to seek the hospitality of the British banished to 1. T 1 r • • ., 1 1 i ^ St Helena nation. Instead of receiving it, however, he was sent to a rock in the South Atlantic, the island of St. Helena, where he was kept under a petty and ignoble surveillance. Si.x years later he died of \\i'i)i.i<>\ s i()\ii) r\ riii: Iwalidts. I'ahis cancer of the stomach at the age of fifty-two, leaving an e.xtraordinary legend behind him to disturb the future. He was buried under a slab that bore neither name nor date and it was twenty years before he was borne to his final resting-place under the dome of the Invalides in Paris, although in his last will and testament he had said: "My wish is to be buried on the banks of the Seine in the midst of the French people whom I have loved so well." 248 REFERENCES The Regeneration of Prussia: Fyffe, History of Modern Europe, Chap. VII; Henderson, Short History of Germany, Vol. II, pp. 270-286; Rose, The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Era, pp. 184-193; Marriott and Robertson, The Evolution of Prussia, Chap. VII, pp. 225-239; Schevill, The Making of Modern Germany, pp. 76-82; Priest, Germany Since 1740, pp. 55-65. The Russian Cajvipaign: Fisher, Napoleon, pp. 189-201; Ropes, The First Napo- leon, pp. 158-195; Johnston, Napoleon, pp. 174-187; Fournier, Napoleon I, Chap. XVII, pp. 536-579. The Campaign in Germany, 1813: Fisher, pp. 201-212; Johnston, pp. 189-197; Ropes, pp. 195-217; Fournier, Chap. XVIII, pp. 580-642; Rose, Life of Napoleon I, Vol. II, Chap. XXXV, pp. 303-338. The Campaign in France, 1814: Johnston, pp. 198-209; Fournier, Chap. XIX, pp. 643-680. The First Restoration and Elba: Johnston, Chap. XVI, pp. 210-221; Fournier, pp. 680-693; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. IX, Chap. XVIII, pp. 555-575. Waterloo: Fisher, pp. 217-242; Johnston, pp. 222-237; Ropes, pp. 242-295; Rose, Vol. II, pp. 417-471; Victor Hugo, Les Miserables, Part II, Book I; Encyclo- pedia Britannica, Article, Waterloo Campaign. Napoleon at St. Helena: Fournier, Chap. XXI, pp. 721-743; Rosebery, Napo- leon, the Last Phase, Chaps. IV-VII, XII-XVI; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. IX, Chap. XXIV, pp. 756-771. Tomb of Napoleon at St. Helena CHAPTER XII THE CONGRESSES THE CONGRESS OK VIENNA The overthrow of Napoleon brought with it one of the most compli- cated and difficult problems ever presented to statesmen and diplomatists. As all the nations of Europe had been profoundly affected E^gctg of ^^ by his enterprises, so all were profoundly affected by his overthrow of fall. The destruction of the Napoleonic regime must be *^° ^°°^ followed by the reconstruction of Europe. This work of reconstruction was undertaken by the Congress of Vienna, one of the most important diplomatic gatherings in the history of Europe (September, 1814 — June, 1815). Never before had there been seen such an assemblage of celebrities. ''The city of Vienna," wrote one of the participants, " presents at this moment an overwhelm- ing spectacle; all the most illustrious personages in Europe are repre- sented here in the most exalted fashion." There were the emperors of Austria and Russia, the kings of Prussia, Bavaria, Wiirtemberg, Den- mark, a multitude of lesser princes, and all the diplomats of Europe, of whom Metternich and Talleyrand were the most conspicuous. All the powers were represented except Turkey. There were representatives of the great European banking houses too, "money-changers," Wellington called them, and a multitude of adventurers and hangers-on of every stripe. The main work of the Congress was the distribution of the terri- tories that France had been forced to relinquish. Certain arrangements had been agreed upon by the Allies before going to Vienna, in the First Treaty of Paris, May 30, 1814, and needed now but to be carried out. The King of Piedmont, a refugee in his island of Sardinia during Na- poleon's reign, was restored to his throne, and Genoa was given him that thus the state which borders France on the southeast might be the stronger to resist French aggression. Belgium, previously an Austrian 249 2 50 THE CONGRESSES possession, was annexed to Holland and to the House of Orange, now re- stored, that this state might be a barrier in the north. It was understood Principle of that, in general, the doctrine of legitimacy should be followed legitimacy [^ determining the rearrangement of Europe, that is, the principle that princes deprived of their thrones and driven from their states by Napoleon should receive them back again at the hands of collective Europe, though this principle was ignored whenever it so suited the interests of the Great Powers. The AlUes who had, after immense effort and sacrifice, overthrown Napoleon, felt that they should have their reward. The most powerful Demands of monarch at Vienna was Alexander I, Emperor of Russia, Russia who, ever since Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia, had loomed large as a liberator of Europe. He now demanded that the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, whose government fell with Napoleon, be given to him. This state had been created out of Polish territories which Prussia and Austria had seized in the partitions of that country at the close of the eighteenth century. Alexander wished to unite them with a part of Poland that had fallen to Russia, thus largely to restore the old Polish kingdom and nationality to which he intended to give a parliament and a constitution. There was to be no incorporation of the restored kingdom in Russia, but the Russian Emperor was to be King of Poland. The union was to be merely personal. Prussia was willing to give up her Polish provinces if only she could be indemnified elsewhere. She therefore fixed her attention upon the Demands of rich Kingdom of Saxony to the south, with the important Prussia cities of Dresden and Leipsic, as her compensation. To be sure there was a King of Saxony, and the doctrine of legitimacy would seem clearly to apply to him. But he had been faithful to his treaty obligations with Napoleon down to the battle of Leipsic, and thus, said Prussia, he had been a traitor to Germany, and his state was lawful prize. Russia and Prussia supported each other's claims but Austria and England and France opposed them stoutly, in the end even agreeing to go to war to prevent this aggrandizement of the two northern nations. It was this dissension among those who had conquered him that caused Napoleon to think that the opportunity was favorable for his return from Elba. But, however jealous the Allies were of each other, they, one and all, hated Napoleon and were firmly resolved to be rid of him. THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 251 252 THE CONGRESSES They had no desire for more war and consequently quickly compromised their differences. The final decision was that Russia should receive the lion's share of the Duchy of Warsaw, Prussia retaining only the prov- ince of Posen, and Cracow being erected into a free city; that the King of Saxony should be restored to his throne; that he should retain the important cities of Dresden and Leipsic, but should cede to Prussia about two-fifths of his kingdom; that, as further compensation, Prussia should receive extensive territories on both banks of the Rhine. Prussia also acquired Pomerania from Sweden, thus rounding out her coast line on the Baltic. Russia emerged from the Congress with a goodly number of addi- tions. She retained Finland, conquered from Sweden during the late Russian ac- wars, and Bessarabia, wrested from the Turks; also Turk- quisitions [^\^ territories in the southeast. But, most important of all, she had now succeeded in gaining most of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. Russia now extended farther westward into Europe than ever, and could henceforth speak with greater weight in European affairs. Austria recovered her Polish possessions and received, as compensa- tion for the Netherlands, northern Italy, to be henceforth known as the Austrian ac- Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom, comprising the larger and quisitions richer part of the Po valley. She also recovered the Illyr- ian provinces along the eastern coast of the Adriatic. Thus, after twenty years of war, almost uninterruptedly disastrous, she emerged with considerable accessions of strength, and with a population larger by four or five millions than she had possessed in 1792. She had ob- tained, in lieu of remote and unprofitable possessions, territories which augmented her power in central Europe, the immediate annexation of a part of Italy, and indirect control over the other Italian states. England, the most persistent enemy of Napoleon, the builder of repeated coalitions, the pay-mistress of the Allies for many years, foimd English ac- her compensation in additions to her colonial empire. She quisitions retained much that she had conquered from France or from the allies or dependencies of France, particularly Holland. She occupied Helgoland in the North Sea, Malta and the Ionian Islands in the Mediterranean; Cape Colony in South Africa; Ceylon, and other islands. It was partially in view of her colonial losses that Holland was indemnified by the annexation of Belgium, as has been already stated. THE WORK OF THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 253 Another question of great importance, decided at Vienna, was the disposition of Italy. The general principle of action had already been agreed upon, that Austria should receive compensation here The future for the Netherlands, and that the old dynasties should be °^ ^^^ restored. Austrian interests determined the territorial arrangements. Austria took possession, as has been said, of the richest and, in a mili- tary sense, the strongest provinces, Lombardy and Venetia, from which position she could easily dominate the peninsula, especially as the Duchy of Parma was given to Marie Louise, wife of Napoleon, and as princes connected with the Austrian imperial family were restored to their thrones in Modena and Tuscany. The Papal States were also reestab- lished. No union or federation of these states was effected. It was Met- ternich's desire that Italy should simply be a collection of independent states, should be only a "geographical expression." The doctrine of legitimacy, appealed to for the restoration of "geograph- dynasties, was ignored by this congress of princes in the '*^^ expres- u sion" case of republics. Republics are no longer fashionable," said the Czar to a Genoese deputation which came to protest against this arrangement. Genoa and \'enice were handed over to others. Romilly mentioned in the English House of Commons that the Corin- thian horses which Napoleon had brought from St. Mark's to Paris were restored to the Venetians, but that it was certainly a strange act of justice " to give them back their statues, but not to restore to them those far more valuable possessions, their territory and their republic," which had been wrested from them at the same time. Other changes in the map of Europe, now made or ratified, were~\ these: Norway was taken from Denmark and joined with Sweden; ^ Switzerland was increased by the addition of three cantons which had ' recently been incorporated in France, thus making twenty-two cantons in aU. The frontiers of Spain and Portugal were left untouched. Such were the territorial readjustments decreed by the Congress "; of Vienna, which were destined to endure, with slight changes, for i nearly fifty years. It is impossible to discover in these criticism negotiations the operation of any loft}- principle. Self- • of the / interest is_the key to tliis welter of bargains and agree- ^°°^®^^ / jnents. Not that these titled brokers neglected to attempt to convince Europe of the nobility of their endeavors. Great phrases, such as " the 254 THE CONGRESSES reconstruction of the social order," "the regeneration of the political system of Europe," a "durable peace based upon a just division of power" were used by the diplomats of Vienna in order to impress the peoples of Europe, and to lend an air of dignity and elevation to their august assemblage, but the peoples were not deceived. They witnessed the unedifying scramble of the conquerors for the spoils of victory. They saw the monarchs of Europe, who for years had been denouncing Napoleon for not respecting the rights of peoples, acting precisely in the same way, whenever it suited their pleasure. The Congress of Vienna was a congress of aristocrats, to whom the / ideas of nationality and democracy as proclaimed by the French Revo- Character of lotion were incomprehensible or loathsome. The rulers / the Congress rearranged Europe according to their own desires, disposing of Vienna ^^ j^ ^^ •£ -^ ^^^^^ their own personal property, ignoring the sentiment of nationality, which had lately been so wonderfully aroused, indifferent to the wishes of the people. The people were treated as children incapable of thought in such high matters as their own destiny, ' with no right, because of their inexperience and immaturity, to be heard. The world was to be held in tutelage as always hitherto by The principle "^^^^ ^^^ considered themselves appointed to that end, the of national- anointed of the Lord. They did not strive so to draw ity Ignore ^^^ boundaries of the different states as to satisfy the as- pirations of the various peoples and thus to lay the foundations of a permanent peace. They aimed rather in their adjustments to create a so-called "balance of power." Theirs could be no "settlement" be- ^ cause they ignored the factors that alone would make the settlement permanent. The history of Europe from 1815 to the present day has been the attempt to undo this cardinal error of the Congress of Vienna. In addition to the Treaties of Vienna the allies signed in 181 5 two other documents of great significance in the future history of Europe, The Holy that establishing the so-called Holy Alliance, and that es- AUiance tablishing the Quadruple Alliance. The former proceeded from the initiative of Alexander I, of Russia, whose mood was now deeply religious under the influence of the tremendous events of recent years and the fall of Napoleon, which to his mind seemed the swift verdict of a higher power in human destinies. He himself had been freely praised as the White Angel, in contrast to the fallen Black Angel, and he had been called the Universal Saviour. He now submitted a THE HOLY ALLIANCE 255 document to his immediate allies, Prussia and Austria, which was fa- mous for a generation, and which gave the popular name to the system of repression which was for many years followed by the powers that had conciuered in the late campaign. The document stated that it waS^ the intention of the powers henceforth to be guided, both in their domes- I tic and foreign policies, solely by the precepts of the Christian religion. / The rulers announced that they would regard each other as brothers / and their subjects as their children, and they promised to aid each other on all occasions and in all places. All those powers which might wish to make avowal of these "sacred principles shall be received into the Holy Alliance with as much cordiality as affection." The other powers, thus asked by the Emperor of Russia to express their approval of Chris- tian principles, did so, preserving what dignity they could in playing what most of them considered a farce of questionable taste. For, know- ing the principles that had actually governed the Czar and the other rulers at the Congress of Vienna, they did not consider them particularly biblical or as likely to inaugurate a new and idyllic diplomacy in Europe. As a matter of fact no state even made any attempt to act in accordance with the principles so highly approved. The only im^ portant thing about the Holy Alliance was its name which was, in the opinion of all liberals, too good to be lost, so ironically did it contrast with what was known of the characters and policies of the rulers of Russia, Prussia, and Austria, the "Holy Allies." The other document signed in 18 15, by Russia, Prussia, Austria, and \ England, established a Quadruple Alliance providing that these powers should hold congresses from time to time for the puq3ose The \ of considering their common interests and the needs of Quadruple Europe. The congresses that were held during the next (November few years in accordance with this agreement were con- ^o, 1815) verted into engines of oppression everywhere largely through the influence of Prince Metternich, Chancellor of the Austrian Empire, whose influence upon their deliberations was decisive. Metternich appeared to the generation that lived between 18 15 and 1848 as the most commanding personality of Europe, whose importance is shown in the phrases, " Era of Metternich," " System of Metternich, Metternich." He was the central figure not only in Aus- 1773-1859 trian and German politics, but in European diplomacy. He was the most famous statesman Austria produced in the nineteenth century. 256 THE CONGRESSES A man of high rank, wealthy, polished, blending social accomplishments wdth literar}- and scientific pretensions, his foible was omniscience. He was the prince of diplomatists, thoroughly at ease amid all the intrigu- mg of Eviropean pohtics. His egotism was Olympian. He spoke of Mettemich's himself as self-esteem being born " to prop up the decaying structure *' of European society. He felt the world resting on his shoulders. " My position has this peculiarity," he says, " that aU eyes, all expectations are directed to precisely that point where I happen to be." He asks the question: "why, among so many million men, must I be the one to think when others do not think, to act when others do not act, and to write because others know not how?" He himself admitted at the end of a long career that he had "never strayed from the path of eternal law," that his mind had "never enter- tained error." He felt and said that he would leave a void when he disappeared. On analysis, however, his thinking appears singularly negative. It consisted of his execration of the French Revolution. His Ufe-long role Mettemich's ^'^^ ^^^^ '^^ incessant opposition to everything compre- historical hended in the word. He denounced it in rabid and lurid impo ce phrases. It was "the disease which must be cured, the volcano which must be extinguished, the gangrene which must be Metterxich After the painting by Sir Thomas Lawrence. METTERNICH'S OPINIONS 257 burned out with the hot iron, the hydra with jaws open to swallow up the social order." He beheved in absolute monarchy, and considered himself " God's Heutenant" in supporting it. He hated parliaments and representative systems of government. All this talk of liberty, equaUty, constitutions, he regarded as pestilential, the odious chatter of Tevolu- tionary French minds. He defined himself as a man of the status quo. Keep things just as they are, all innovation is madness, such was the con- stant burden of his song. He was the convinced and resourceful op- ponent of all struggles for national independence, of all aspirations for self-government. Democracy could only '' change daylight into darkest night." Napoleon once said of Metternich that "he mistook intrigue for statesmanship." The acuteness of this characterization will be seen as we watch him at work upon his "system" in Austria, Germany, Italy, and Spain in the decade following the overthrow of the French Emperor. RE.\CTIOX IX EUROPE AFTER 1815 AUSTRIA "The battle of Waterloo," remarked Napoleon at St. Helena, "will be as dangerous to the liberties of Europe as the battle of Philippi was dangerous to the liberties of Rome." Napoleon was not exactly an au- thority on Uberty, but he did know the difference between enlightened despotism and imenlightened. His was, in the main, of the former sort. The kind that succeeded his in central Europe could not be so characterized. The style was set by Austria, the leading state on the Continent from 1815 to 184S. Austria was not a single nation, like France, but was composed of many races. To the west were the Austrian duchies, chiefly German, the ancient unity in the possessions of the House of Hapsburg; to the north Bohe- Austrian mia, an ancient kingdom acquired by the Hapsburgs in 1526; to the east the Kingdom of Hungar}% occupying the immense plain of the middle Danube; to the south the Kingdom of Lombardy- Venetia, purely Italian. The two leading races were the Germans, forming the body of the population in the duchies, and the ^Magj'ars, originally an Asiatic folk, encamped in the Danube valley since the ninth centur\' and forming the dominant people in Hungar}^ There were many branches of the Slavic race in both Austria and Hungar}^ There were also Roumanians, a different people still, in eastern Hungary. 258 THE CONGRESSES To rule so conglomerate a realm of twenty-eight or twenty-nine million people was a difficult task. This was the first problem of Francis I (1792-183 5) and Metternich. Their policy was to resist all demands for reform, and to keep things as they were, to make the world stand still. The people were sharply divided into classes, ... each resting on a different basis. Of these the nobility land of the occupied a highly privileged position. They enjoyed free- egune ^^^ from compulsory military service, large exemptions from taxation, a monopoly of the best offices in the state. They pos- sessed a large part of the land, from which in many cases they drew enormous revenues. On the other hand the condition of the peasants, who formed the immense mass of the people, was deplorable in the ex- treme. They were even refused the right to purchase relief from the heaviest burdens. Absolutism in government, feudalism in society, special privileges for the favored few, oppression and misery for the masses, such was the condition of Austria in 18 15. It was the fixed purpose of the government to maintain things as they were and it succeeded largely for thirty-three years, during the reign of Francis I, till 1835, and of his successor, Ferdinand I (1835-48). The police During all this period Metternich was the chief minister, system jjjg system, at war with human nature, at war with the modern spirit, rested upon a meddlesome police, upon elaborate espio- nage, upon a vigilant censorship of ideas. Censorship was applied to theaters, newspapers, books. The frontiers were guarded that foreign books of a liberal character might not slip in to corrupt. Political science and history practically disappeared as serious studies. Spies were everywhere, in government offices, in places of amusement, in educational institutions. Particularly did this government fear the universities, because it feared ideas. Professors and students were subjected to humiliating regulations. Spies attended lectures. The government insisted on having a complete list of the books that each professor took out of the university library. Text-books were prescribed. Students might not study abroad, nor might they have societies of their own. Austrians might not travel to foreign countries without the per- mission of the government, which was rarely given. Austria was sealed as nearly hermetically as possible against the liberal thought of Europe. Intellectual stagnation was the price paid. A system like this needed careful bolstering at every moment and at every point. The best pro- 14 A^ 16 BresL DISTRIBUTION OF RACE S IX AUSTRIA-HUNGARY Snfffish * Mtles I 1 /f'/fy [ ] PfN/flf//NfOlS L. J iiuihaiuws I I J/a^fY//:y THE METTERNICH SYSTEM 259 tection for the Austrian system was to extend it to other countries. Having firmly established it at home, Metternich labored AppUcation of with great skill and temporary success to apply it in sur- theMettemich . , 11- system in rounding countries, m Germany through the Diet and the other state governments, in Italy through interventions and countries treaties, binding Italian states not to follow policies opposed to the Austrian, and in general by bringing about a close accord of the Great Powers on this illiberal basis. We shall now trace the application of this conception of govern- ment in other countries. This will serve among other things to show the dominant position of the Austrian Empire in Europe from 181 5 to 1848. Vienna, the seat of rigid conservatism, was now the center of European affairs, as Paris, the home of revolution, had been for so long. GERMANY One of the important problems presented to the Congress of Vienna concerned the future organization of Germany. The Holy Roman Empire had disappeared in 1806 at the hands of Napoleon. Ge^nany - The Confederation of the Rhine, which he had created to loose con- take its place, had disappeared with its creator. Something ^ elation must evidently be put in its place. The outcome of the deliberations was the establishment of the German Confederation which was the government of Germany from 1815 to 1866. The Confederation con- sisted of thirty-eight states. The central organ of the government was to be a Diet, meeting at Frankfort. This was to consist, not of repre- sentatives chosen by the people, but of delegates appointed by the different sovereigns and serving during their pleasure. They were to be, not deputies empowered to decide questions, but simply diplomatic representatives, voting as their princes might direct. Austria was always to have the presidency of this body. The method of procedure within the Diet was complicated and exceedingly cum- brous, making action difficult, delay and obstruction easy. The Con- federation did not constitute a real nation but only a loose league of independent states. The states agreed not to make war upon each other and that was about the only serious obligation they assumed. The federal government was remarkable mainly for its defects. The legislature, or Diet of Frankfort, was most inefficient. In all important legislation each state had practically a veto. In addition there was 26o THE CONGRESSES really no executive, and the judicial branch was extremely rudimentary. It was left to the rulers of the separate states to carry out the de- cisions of the Diet. As a matter of fact they executed them only when they wished to. The Confederation was a union of princes, not of peoples. It was created because each prince was jealous of every other prince, and was ^, „ ^ , far more concerned with the preservation of his own power The Confed- '^ eration a than With the prosperity of Germany. Now the spirit of union of nationality had been tremendously aroused by the struggles with Napoleon. All the more progressive spirits felt that the first need of Germany was unity and a strong national government. But German unity was, according to Metternich, an " infamous object" and Metternich was supported by the selfishness of the German rulers, not one of whom was willing to surrender any particle of his authority. Intense was the indignation of all Liberals at what they called this " great deception" of Vienna. The Liberals experienced another disappointment too. As they de- sired unity, they also desired liberty. They wished a constitution for The demand ^^^^ °^^ ^^ ^^^ thirty-eight States; they wished a parlia- for consti- ment in each; they wished to have the reign of absolutism brought to a close. It had seemed at one moment as if this might be achieved. In appealing to his people to rally around him in the war against Napoleon, the King of Prussia had very recently protnised his people a constitution and had urged at the Congress of Vienna that the Federal Act should require every member of the Confed- eration to grant a representative constitution to his subjects within a year. Metternich, even more opposed to free political institutions than Metternich's ^° ^ Strong central government, succeeded in thwarting the successful reformers at this point also, by having this explicit and opposi ion mandatory declaration made vague and lifeless. Thus the famous Article XIII of the Federal Act which established the Confed- eration was made to read: "A constitution based upon the system of estates will be established in all the states of the union." The character of the promised constitution was not sketched; and the time limit was omitted. A journalist was justified in saying that all that was guaranteed to the German people was an " unlimited right of expecta- tion." The future was to show the vanity even of expectation, the hollowness of even so mild a promise. The Liberals had desired some- THE GERM^Jf CONFEDERATION 1815-18G6. L I Empire of Austria E— 3 luiigdoiii of Pi-ijssia nrfcn/j/rpdnlloitr ABBREVrATIONS : ^\x%\.' Custozza Bnisw' ■ Hm/isiYirh- W H Ifrssi'/t -Hi'm/iiiiy K.H.- EinfNessia id\-- Sr/,y/u/MY//ff/'K S .L : M/m/iiilJiin/J.i/j/)^ WIDESPREAD DISCONTENT IN GERMANY 261 thing more substantial than hope. Austria and Prussia, the two lead- ing states, governing the great mass of the German people, never executed this provision. Nor did many of the smaller states. A few of the princes, however, did, notably the Grand Duke of Saxe- Weimar, the patron of Goethe and Schiller. Metternich's programme was to secure the prevalence in Germany of the same principles that prevailed in Austria. He believed that to allow the people to participate in government was to flood the state with ignorance, passion, envy, and all uncharitableness : that any con- cessions to democracy would lead straight to anarchy. His purpose was to instill this idea into the minds of those sovereigns who did not have it; also to arouse timid rulers, like the King of Prussia, to such a pitch of fear, that they would actively cooperate with him in his efforts to stamp out liberal ideas wherever they might appear. Certain inci- dents of the day gave him favorable occasions to apply the system of repression which in his opinion was the only sure cure for the ills of this world. The years immediately succeeding 181 5 were years of restlessness and discontent. The disappointment of Liberals was intense, their criticism bitter, when they saw their hopes turned to ashes, jy^^^ ^.^^ The chief seat of disaffection was found in the universities ment of Ger- and in newspapers edited by university men. Student socie- "^^"^ Liberals ties kept alive the exalted feelings for unity aroused by the wars with Napoleon, and were ardently patriotic and democratic in sentiment. In the year 181 7 a large number of delegates from these student socie- ties in the various universities held a patriotic festival at the Wartburg, a castle famous in connection with the career of Martin Luther. Their festival was religious as well as patriotic and was a com- ^j^^ memoration of the battle of Leipsic and of the Reforma- Wartburg tion. Its members partook of the Lord's Supper together ^^^^^^^ and listened to impassioned speeches commemorating the great moments m German history. They showed their enthusiastic admiration of the Duke of Weimar. In the evening they built a bonfire and threw into it various symbols of the hated reaction, notably an illiberal pamphlet of which the King of Prussia had expressed his approval. Such was the Wartburg Festival, which Metternich described in gloomy The murder language to the rulers of Germany. Somewhat later a stu- °^ Kotzebue dent killed a journalist and playwright, Kotzebue, who was hated in 262 THE CONGRESSES university circles as a Russian spy. These and other occurrences played perfectly into the hands of Metternich who was seeking the means of establishing reaction in Germany as it had been established in Austria. He secured the passage by the frightened princes of the Carlsbad Decrees (1819). These decrees were rushed through the Diet by illegal and The Carlsbad violent methods. By them Metternich became the con- Decrees queror of the Confederation. They were the work of Austria, seconded by Prussia. They signfied in German history the sup- pression of liberty for a generation. They really determined the political system of Germany until 1848. They provided for a vigorous censorship of the press, and subjected the professors and students of the univer- sities to a close government supervision. All teachers who should prop- agate "harmful doctrines," that is, who should in any way criticise Metternich 's ideas of government, should be removed from their posi- tions and once so removed could not be appointed to any other posi- tions in Germany. The student societies were suppressed. Any student expelled from one university was not to be admitted into any other. By these provisions it was expected that the entire academic commu- nity, professors and students, would be reduced to silence. Another provision was directed against the establishment of any further con- stitutions of a popular character. Thus free parliaments, freedom of the press, freedom of teaching, and free speech were outlawed. The Carlsbad Decrees represent an important turning-point in the history of Central Europe. They signalized the dominance of Metternich in Germany as well as in Austria. Prussia Reaction , -^ the order now docilely followed Austrian leadership, abandoning all of the day li^gj-^j policies. The King, Frederick William III, had, in Germany . . ^ ®' . . ' ' in his hour of need, promised a constitution to Prussia. He never kept this promise. On the other hand he inaugurated a peculiarly odious persecution of all Liberals, which was marked by many acts as inane as they were cruel. Prussia entered upon a dull, drab period of oppression. Let us now see how the same ideas were applied in other countries. SPAIN In 1808 Napoleon had, as we have seen, seized the crown of Spain, and until 1814 had kept the Spanish king, Ferdinand VII, virtually a prisoner in France, placing his own brother Joseph on the vacant throne. REACTION AND REVOLUTION IN SPAIN 263 The Spaniards rose against the usurper and for years carried on a vigor- ous guerilla warfare, aided by the English, and ending finally in success. As their King was in the hands of the enemy they proceeded in his name to frame a government. Being liberal-minded they drew up a consti- tution, the famous Constitution of 181 2, which was closely modeled on. the French Constitution of 1791. It asserted the sovereignty of the people, thus discarding the rival theory of the monarchy by divine right which; had hitherto been the accepted basis of the Spanish state. Ferdinand This democratic document however did not have long to Vil (1814- live, as Ferdinand, on his return to Spain after the over- throw of Napoleon, immediately suppressed it and embarked upon a policy of angry reaction. The press was gagged.' Books of a liberal character were destroyed wherever found, and particularly all copies of the constitution. Thousands of political prisoners were severely punished. Vigorous and efficient in stamping out all liberal ideas, the govern- ment of Ferdinand was indolent and incompetent in other matters. Spain, a country of about eleven million people, was wretch- inefficiency edly poor and ignorant. The government, however, made of the gov- no attempt to improve conditions. Moreover it failed to discharge the most fundamental duty of any government, that is, to preserve the integrity of the empire. The Spanish colonies in America had been for several years in revolt against the mother country and the government had made no serious efforts to put down the rebellion. Such conditions, of course, aroused great discontent. The army particularly was angry at the treatment it had received and became a . breeding place of conspiracies. A military uprising occurred Revolution in 1820 which swept everything before it and which forced °^ ^^^° the King to restore the Constitution of 181 2 and to promise henceforth to govern in accordance with its provisions. The text of the constitu- tion was posted in every city, and parish priests were ordered to expound it to their congregations. Thus revolution had triumphed again, and only five years after Waterloo. An absolute monarchy, based on divine right, had been changed into a constitutional monarchy based on the sovereignty of the people. Would the example be followed elsewhere? Would the Holy Alliance look on in silence? Had the revolutionary spirit been so carefully smothered in Austria, Germany, and France, only to blaze 264 THE CONGRESSES forth in outlying sections of Europe? Answers to these questions were quickly forthcoming. ITALY Italy, like other countries, had been profoundly affected by the liberal ideas of the French Revolution, and particularly by the restless Na oleon's activity of Napoleon who, from the beginning of his career activity in to its close, had drawn her within the range of his policies *^ ^ and manipulations. At first the Italians had hailed him as the looked-for deliverer from oppression, a feeling that gave way to hatred when the youthful conqueror set up, in the place of the despotism overthrown, a despotism more severe, although at the same time more intelligent. For many years the fate of Italy was determined by his will. He did much to improve the laws, much to stimulate industry, much The awaken- to break up musty old habits and conventions. New ideas, ing of Italy political and social, penetrated the peninsula with him. He shook the Italians out of their somnolence and imparted to them an energy they had not known for centuries. But he offended them by his heavy exactions of men and money for his constant wars, by his shame- less robbery of their works of art, and by his treatment of the Pope. Then he fell, and the Congress of Vienna restored most of the old states which had existed before he first came into Italy. There were The ten henceforth ten of them: Piedmont, Lombardy-Venetia, itaUan Parma, Modena, Lucca, Tuscany, the Papal States, Naples, Monaco, and San Marino. Genoa and Venice, until re- cently independent republics, were not restored, as republics were not fashionable." The one was given to Piedmont, the other to Austria. These states were too small to be self-sufficient, and as a result Italy was for nearly fifty years the sport of foreign powers, dependent, hence- forth, not upon France but upon Austria. This is the cardinal fact in the situation and is an evidence, as it is a partial cause, of the com- manding position of the Austrian monarchy after the fall of Napoleon. Th d ■ Austria was given outright the richest part of the Po valley nance of as a Lombardo- Venetian kingdom. Austrian princes or Austria in princesses ruled over the duchies of Modena, Parma, and Tuscany, and were easily brought into the Austrian system. Thus was Austria the master of northern Italy; master of southern Italy, too, for Ferdinand, King of Naples, made an offensive and defensive REACTION IN ITALY 265 treaty with Austria, pledging himself to make no separate alliances and to grant no liberties to his subjects beyond those which obtained in Lombardy and Venetia. Naples was thus but a satellite in the great Austrian system. The King of Piedmont and the Pope were the only Italian princes at all likely to be intractable. And Austria's strength in comparison with theirs was that of a giant compared with that of pygmies. Thus the restoration was accomplished. Italy became again a col- lection of small states, largely under the dominance of Austria. Each of the restored princes was an absolute monarch. In none of the states was there a parliament. Italy had neither unity nor constitutional forms, nor any semblance of popular participation in the government. The use which the restored princes made of their unfettered liberty of action was significant. Hating the French, they undertook to extinguish all reminders of that odious people. They abolished all constitutions and many laws and institutions of French origin. Vaccination and gas illu- Universal mination were forbidden for the simple reason that the reaction French had introduced them. In Piedmont French plants in the Botanic Gardens of Turin were torn up, French furniture in the royal palace was destroyed in response to this vigorous and infantile emotion. In every one of the states there was distinct retrogression and the Italians lost ground all along the line — politically, industrially, socially. In general the Inquisition was restored. Education was handed over to the clergy. The course of studies was carefully purged of every- thing that might be dangerous. The police paid particular attention to "the class called thinkers." Thus Italy was ruled by petty despots and in a petty spirit. More- over most of the princes took their cue from Austria, the nature of whose policies we have already examined. The natural re- widespread suit of such conditions was deep and widespread discontent, discontent All the progressive elements of the population which believed in free- dom in education, in religion, in business were disaffected, as were also many who were dismissed from the army or from governmental posi- tions on the ground that they had been contaminated with the previous French regime. They discontented joined the Carbonari, a secret society, and bided their time. That time came when the news reached Italy of the successful and 266 THE CONGRESSES bloodless Spanish Revolution of 1820. In Naples a military insurrectio: . The Revolu- broke out. The revolutionists demanded the Spanish Con tion of 1820 stitution of 181 2, not because they knew much about i in apes ^^^^ ^^^^^ -j. ^^^ ^^^^ democratic and possessed the ad vantage of being ready-made. The King immediately yielded anc the constitution was proclaimed. THE CONGRESSES Thus in 1820 the Revolution, so hateful to the diplomats of 181 5. had resumed the offensive. Spain and Naples had overthrown the regime that had been in force five years, and had adopted constitutions that were thoroughly saturated with the principles of Revolutionary France. There had likewise been a revolution against the established regime in Portugal. There was shortly to be one in Piedmont. Metternich, the most influential personage in Europe, who felt the world resting on his shoulders, had very clear views as to the require- ments of the situation that had arisen. Anything that prepare'To'^^ threatened the peace of Europe was a very proper thing suppress for a European congress to discuss. A revolution in one lutions ' country may encourage a revolution in another and thus the world, set in order by the Congress of Vienna, may soon find itself in conflagration once more, the established order every- where threatened. Metternich recommended as a sure cure the doctrine _^ . ^ . of the " right of intervention," a doctrine new in inter- The doctrine . ° . of the right national law but which he succeeded in, having applied for of interven- several years. The doctrine was that, as modern Europe was based upon opposition to revolution, the powers had the right and were in duty bound to intervene to put down revolution, not only in their otvn states respectively, but in any state of Europe, against the will of the people of that state, even against the will of the sovereign of that state, in the interests of the established monarch- ical order. A change of government within a given state was not a domestic but an international affair. Metternich won the support of Russia, Prussia, and Austria for this doctrine, which virtually denied the independence of every nation, the right of the people of any state to change their form of government to any other model than that of absolute monarchy. These were the original "Holy Allies," all absolute monarchs, and it was their steady, REVOLUTIONS IN ITALY 267 undeviating support of the ominous principle which made the Holy Alliance a synonym everywhere for tyranny, odious to all liberals in Europe and America. A Congress was held at Troppau in 1820 and at Laibach in 1821 to consider the question of Naples. It was participated in by the three powers mentioned and by France and England. The two last named did not join in the declaration of the new doc- gress of trine but they remained passive and the absolute powers, ?f»^^^"' Austria, Prussia, and Russia had their way. They com- "n, missioned Austria to send an army into the Kingdom of Naples, to abolish the constitution, and to restore al^solutism. This was done. The results were for the Neapolitans most deplorable. The reaction that ensued was unrestrained. Hundreds were imprisoned, exiled, executed. Arbi- trary government of the worst kind was meted out to this unfortunate people. Just as this Neapolitan revolution was being snuffed out a similar revolution blazed up at the opposite end of the peninsula, in Pied- mont, the revolutionists demanding the Spanish Consti- ^^^ Revo- tution of 1812, as the most liberal one they knew of, and lution in war against Austria as the great enemy of Piedmont and Italy. The King, Victor Emanuel I, rather than yield to the demand for a revolution abdicated and was succeeded by his brother, Charles Felix (March 13, 182 1). The new King was a despot by nature and he now had the support of the same powers that had shown their intentions in regard to revolutions. Charles Felix, assisted by the Austrians, routed the revolutionists at Novara. The revolution was over. Once more the demand for constitutional freedom had been suppressed, once more Metternich had triumphed. Needless to say he was quite satisfied. "I see the dawn of a better day," he wrote. "Heaven seems to will it that the world shall not be lost." The two Italian revolutions had been suppressed. The doctrine of intervention was working satisfactorily to its authors. It was now ap- plied again, this time to Spain, in which country, as we ^|jg q^^_ have seen, the revolutionary movement of these years had gress of begun. The consideration of Spanish affairs had had to give way to the more immediate and pressing affairs of Italy. The principle there, however, was the same and the Allies now prepared to assert it. This was the work of the Congress of Verona (1822). Austria, 268 THE CONGRESSES Russia, and Prussia regarded a constitutional government in Spain as a menace to their own system of absolutism. They therefore commis- sioned France, now a thoroughly reactionary country, to restore Ferdi- nand to his former power. England opposed this policy with high indignation, but in vain. The French sent an army of a hundred thou- sand men into the peninsula which was easily victorious. The war was soon over and Ferdinand was back on his absolute throne, by act of France, supported by the Holy Alliance. There now began a period of odious reaction. All the acts passed by the Cortes since 1820 were annulled. An organization called the Reaction in "Society of the Exterminating Angel" began a mad hunt Spain fQj. Liberals, throwing them into prison, shooting them down. The war of revenge knew no bounds. " Juntas of Purification" urged it on. Thousands were driven from the country, hundreds were executed. The French government, ashamed of its protege, endeavored to stop the savagery, but with slight success. It is an odious chapter in the history of Spain. The Holy Alliance, by these triumphs in Naples, Piedmont, and Spain, showed itself the dominant force in European politics. The sys- tem, named after Metternich, because his diplomacy had triumph of built it up and because he stood in the very center of it, tile Holy seemed firmly established as the European system. But it had achieved its last notable triumph. It was now to receive a series of checks which were to limit it forever. Having restored absolutism in Spain the Holy Allies considered re- storing to Spain her revolted American colonies. In this purpose they encountered the pronounced opposition of England and the Alliance and United States both of which were willing that Spain herself ttie Monroe should try to recover them but not that the Holy Alliance Doctrine ■' •' should recover them for her. As England controlled the seas she could prevent the Alliance from sending troops to the scene of revolt. The President of the United States, James Monroe, in a mes- sage to Congress (December 2, 1823), destined to become one of the most „, famous documents ever written in the White House, an- " Metternich nounced that we should consider any attempt on the part chedTd' *^^ these absolute monarchs to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety, as the "manifestation of an Unfriendly disposition toward the THE MONROE DOCTRINE 269 United States." This attitude of England and the United States pro- duced its effect. After this no new laurels were added to the Holy Alliance. A few years later Russia was herself encouraging and sup- porting a revolution on the part of the Greeks against the Turks, and in 1830 revolutions broke out in France and Belgium which demolished the system of Metternich beyond all possible repair. REFERENCES Congress of Vienna: Fyffe, History of Modern Europe, pp. 380-387; 411-418; Marriott and Robertson, The Evolution of Prussia, pp. 256-276; Sybel, The Founding of the German Empire, Vol. I, Chap. Ill; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. IX, Chaps. XIX and XXI. Reaction in Germany after 1815: Henderson, Short History of Germany, Vol. II, Chap. VIII, pp. 324-343; Marriott and Robertson, Chap. IX, pp. 277-304; Sche- vill. The Making of Modern Germany, pp. 99-114; Fyffe, pp. 446—469; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. X, Chap. XI, pp. 340-382. Reaction in Italy after 1815: Prob3Ti, Italy, 1815 to 1870, pp. 1-27; Bolton King, A History of Italian Unity, Vol. I, Chaps. III-V; Thayer, Dawn of Italian Inde- pendence, Vol. I, pp. 139-311; Stilbnan, Unity of Italy, pp. 1-40; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. X, Chap. IV, pp. 104-130. Reaction in Spain after 1815: Butler Clarke, Modern Spain, Chaps. II and III; Hume, Modern Spain, Chap. V; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. X, pp. 205-230. The Congresses: Fyffe, pp. 478-524; Phillips, Modern Europe, pp. 57-134; Seignobos, Political History of Europe Since 1814, pp. 747-762; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. X, Chap. I, pp. 1-39. I CHAPTER XIII FRANCE UNDER THE RESTORATION THE REIGN OF LOUIS XVIII The House of Bourbon had been put back upon the throne of France by the AUies who had conquered Napoleon in 1814. It was put back a The restora- second time in 18 1 5, after Waterloo. But the new mon- tion of the arch, Louis XVIII, recognized, as did the Allies, that the not^a restora- restoration of the royal line did not at all mean the resto- tion of the ration of the Old Regime. He saw that the day of the egune absolute monarchy had passed forever in France. The monarchy must be constitutional and must safeguard many of the ac- quisitions of the Revolution or its life would certainly be brief. The King, recognizing that he must compromise with the spirit of the age, issued in 1814 the Constitutional Charter. This established a ' parliament of two houses, a Chamber of Peers, appointed stitutionai for life, and a Chamber of Deputies, elected for a term of iRiT*^"^ °^ ^^^ years, but by a restricted body of voters, for the suf- frage was so limited by an age and property qualification that there were less than 100,000 voters out of a population of 29,000,000, and not more than 12,000 were eligible to become deputies. The Charter proclaimed the equality of all Frenchmen, yet only a petty minority were given the right to participate in the government of the country. France was still in a political sense a land of privilege, only privilege was no longer based on birth but on fortune. Nevertheless, this was a more liberal form of government than she had ever had under Napoleon, and was the most liberal to be seen in Europe, outside of England. There was another set of provisions in this document of even greater importance than those determining the future form of government. Provisions namely, that in which the civil rights of Frenchmen were concerning narrated. These provisions showed how much of the ng s work of the Revolution and of Napoleon the Bourbons were prepared to accept. They were intended to reassure the people 270 THE RESTORATION AND THE REVOLUTION 271 of France, who feared to see in the Restoration a loss of Hberties or rights which had become most precious to them. It was declared that all Frenchrhen were equal before the law, and thus the cardinal principle of the Revolution was preserved; that all were equally eligible to civil and military positions, that thus no class should monopolize public service, as had _ Recognition largely been the case of the work before the Revolu- °^ ^^e Revo- lution tion; that no one should be arrested or prosecuted save by due process of law, that thus the day of arbitrary im- prisonment was not to return; that there should be complete re- ligious freedom for all sects, al- though Roman Catholicism was declared to be the religion of the state; that the press should be free. Those who had purchased the confiscated property of the crown, the church, and the nobles, during the Revolution were as- sured that their titles were in- violable. The personality of Louis XVIII seemed admirably adapted to the situation in which Louis XVIII France found itself. A man of moderate opinions, cold- (1814-1824) blooded, skeptical, free from illusions, free from the passion of revenge, indolent by nature, Louis desired to avoid conflicts and to enjoy his power in peace. But there were difficulties in the way. He had been restored by foreign armies. His presence on the throne was a constant reminder of the humiliation of France. But a more serious feature was the character of the persons with whom he was in constant contact. The court was now composed of the nobles who had suffered greatly from the Revolution, who had been robbed of their property, who had seen many of their relatives executed by the guillotine. It was but natural that these men should have come back full of hatred for the authors of their woes, that they should detest the ideas of the Revolu- Loms XVIII From an engraving by P. Audouin, after the bust by A. Valois. 272 FRANCE UNDER THE RESTORATION tion and the persons who had been identified with it. These men were not free from passion, as was Louis XVIII. More eager to restore the former glory of the crown, the former rank of the nobility and the clergy, more bitter toward the new ideas than the King The Ultras , . *•'' , , ^^. ,. ^ -,„^ himself, they were the Ultra-royahsts, or Ultras — men more royalist than the King, as they claimed. They saw in the Revo- lution only robbery and sacrilege and gross injustice to themselves. They bitterly assailed Louis XVIII for granting the Charter, a danger- ous concession to the Revolution, and they secretly wished to abolish it, meanwhile desiring to nullify its liberal provisions as far as possible. Their leader was the Count of Artois, brother of Louis XVIII, who, the King being childless, stood next in line of succession. For some years Louis XVIII was able to hold this extreme party in check and to follow a moderate policy. He was supported in this by the The work of ^^i^S^ majority of Liberals, nyoderate like himself, who until reorganiza- 1820 controlled Parliament. Much useful work was thus accomplished. The enormous war indemnity which the Allies had imposed in 18 15 was paid off and this liberated the country from the army of occupation also imposed by them. The military sys- tem of France was reorganized and provision was made for an army of about 240,000 men. Promotion was to be for service and merit alone, a principle that was violently opposed by the Ultras as it destroyed all chances of the nobihty securing a monopoly of the best positions. The legislation enacted at this time concerning the press and the electoral system was also of a liberal character. The Ultras were indignant at the moderation of the King and Parliament and did their best to break it down. They were alert Activity of to Seize upon every incident that might discredit the party the Ultras [^ power. A number of radicals were elected to the Chamber of Deputies. The Ultras raged against them, painting a lurid future. The murder in 1820 of the Duke of Berry who stood in line for the throne gave them their chance. The King was so horrified by this crime, as were also many moderate members of Parliament, that Death of ^^ offered less and less resistance to the Ultras. The Louis XVIII closing years of the reign were less liberal than the earlier (1824 ) ones. Louis XVIII died in 1824 and was succeeded by his brother, the Count of Artois, who assumed the title of Charles X. REACTIONARY LEGISLATION 273 THE REIGN OF CHARLES X • The characteristics of the new King were well known. He was the convinced leader of the reactionaries in France from 18 14 to 1830. He had been the constant and bitter opponent of his brother's Charles X liberalism, and had finally seen that liberalism forced to (1824-1830) yield to the growing strength of the party which he led. He was not likely to abandon lifelong principles at the age of sixty-seven, and at the moment when he seemed about to be able to put them into force. The coronation of the King revealed the temper of the new reign. France was treated to a spectacle of mediaeval mummery that amused and at the same time disgusted a people that had never been known to lack an appreciation of the ridiculous. Charles was anointed on seven parts of his person with s^,cred oil, miraculously preserved, it was asserted, from the time of Clovis. The legislation urged by the King and largely enacted showed the belated political and social ideas of this government. Nearly a billion francs were voted as an indemnity to the nobles for their ^j^^ nobles lands which had been confiscated and sold by the state indemnified during the Revolution. Many Frenchmen thought that confiscate'd^ France had more urgent needs than to vote money' to during the those who had deserted the country and had then fought ^^° " '°° against her. But the King had been leader of the emigres and was in entire sympathy with their point of view. Another law that cast discredit upon this reign, and helped under- mine it with the great mass of Frenchmen, was the law against sacrilege. By this act burglaries committed in ecclesiastical buildings ^j^^ j^^ and the profanation of holy vessels were, under certain against conditions, made punishable with death. This barbaric law ^^^ ®^® was, as a matter of fact, never enforced, but it bore striking witness to the temper of the party in power, and has ever since been a mark of shame upon the Bourbon monarchy. It helped to weaken the hold of the Bourbons upon France. It created a feeling of intense bitterness among the middle and lower classes of society, which were still largely dominated by the rationalism of the eighteenth century. These classes began to fear the clerical reaction more even than the polit- clerical ical and social. Their apprehension was not decreased reaction when a little later they saw the King himself, clad in the violet robe of a 274 FRANCE UNDER THE RESTORATION prelate and accompanied by the court, walking in a religious procession and carrying a lighted candle through the streets of Paris. Was it the purpose of the aristocratic and clerical party to restore both the nobility and the church to the proud position they had occupied before the Revolution? That it was, was proclaimed by Polignac, the most reactionary min- ister of this reign, who declared, on his accession to office in 1S29, that _.. his object was "to reorganize society, to restore to the PoUgnac clergy its former preponderance in the state, to create a °^^*^*^^ powerful aristocracy and to surround it with privileges." The appointment of this ministry, indeed, aroused a remarkable exhibition of hostile feeling, vastly intensified by this declaration which was a direct challenge to Liberals of every shade, since it stated, as clearly as language could, that. all the characteristic work of the French Revolution must be undone, that the pre-Revolutionary state and society should be restored, that the constitutional, political, social, and economic reorganization, the large installment of freedom, achieved during that momentous and fruitful period, should be. swept aside, and that older ideas and ideals were to be enthroned once more. The appointment of the Polignac ministry and its audacious and alarming announcement precipitated a crisis, which shortly exploded in Conflict ^ revolution. The Chamber of Deputies practically de- between manded the dismissal of the unpopular ministry. The and the King replied by declaring that " his decisions were un- Chamber of changeable" and by dissolving the Chamber, hoping by epu les means of new elections to secure one subservient to his will. But the voters thought otherwise. The elections resulted in a crushing defeat for the King and his ministry. Charles would not yield. His own brother, Louis XVI, had come to a tragic end, he said, because he had made concessions. Charles thought that he himself had learned something from history. In fact, he had learned the wrong lesson. Other methods of gaining his ends having failed, he now determined upon coercion. On July 26, 1830, he issued several ordinances, suspend- Xhe ^^g the liberty of the press, dissolving the Chamber of Ordinances. Deputies, changing the electoral system, reducing the num- ber of voters from 100,000 to 25,000, and ordering new elections. In other words, the King was the supreme lawgiver, not at THE JULY REVOLUTION (1830) 27s 276 FRANCE UNDER THE RESTORATION . all hampered by the Charter. If these ordinances were to stand the people would enjoy their liberties simply at the humor of the monarch. Not to have opposed them would have been to acquiesce quietly in the transformation of the government into the absolute monarchy of Louis XIV. But the people of Paris did not acquiesce. As the significance of the ordinances became apparent, popular anger began to manifest itself. The July Rev- Crowds assembled in the streets shouting "Down with the oiution (1830) Ministry"; "Long live the Charter." On Wednesday, July 28, civil war broke out. The insurgents were mainly old soldiers, Carbonari, and a group of republicans and workmen — men who hated the Bourbons, who followed the tri-color flag as the true national emblem, rather than the white flag of the royal house. This war lasted three days. It was the July Revolution — the Glorious Three Days. It was a street war and was limited to Paris. The insurgents were not very numerous, probably not more than ten thousand. But the government had itself probably not more than fourteen thousand troops in Paris. The insurrection was not difficult to organize. The streets of Paris ■were narrow and crooked. Through such tortuous lanes it was impos- sible for the government to send artillery, a weapon which it alone The char- possessed. The streets were paved with large stones, acter of These could be torn up and piled in such a way as to make ^ '"^ fortresses for the insurgents. In the night of July 27-28 the streets were cut up by hundreds of barricades made in this manner of paving stones, of overturned wagons, of barrels and boxes, of furni- ture, of trees and objects of every description. Against such obstacles the soldiers, could make but httle progress. If they overthrew a barri- cade and passed on, it would immediately be built up again behind them more threatening than before because cutting their line of reinforce- ments and of possible retreat. Moreover, the soldiers had only the flint-lock gun, a weapon no better than that in the hands of the in- surgents. Again, the officers had no knowledge of street fighting, whereas the insurgents had an intimate knowledge of the city, of its streets, and lanes. Moreover, the soldiers were reluctant to fight against the people. Abdication of The fighting continued amid the fierce heat of July. On Charles X j^^y ^i Charles, seeing that all was lost, abdicated in favor of his nine year old grandson, the Duke of Bordeaux, son of the murdered Duke of Berry, and fled to England with his family. For two years he THE JULY REVOLUTION (1830) 277 2 78 FRANCE UNDER THE RESTORATION lived in Great Britain, keeping a melancholy court in Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh, of somber memory in the life of Mary, Queen of Scots. Removing later to Austria, he died in 1836. What was the future government to be, now that triumphant revo- lution had swept for the second time a Bourbon monarch from his throne? No serious consideration was given to the claims of Bourbon °^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ Duke of Bordeaux, unimpeachable from the or the " point of view of monarchical theory and practice. He was Orleans? ^^^ legitimate sovereign of France but he was quietly ig- nored by a people who were tired of the legitimate mon- archy. Those who had done the actual fighting undoubtedly wanted a republic. But the journalists and deputies and the majority of the Paris- ians were opposed to such .a solution, having vivid and unpleasant mem- ories of the former republic, and believing that the proclamation of the republic would embroil France with monarchical Europe. They favored Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, who represented a younger branch of the royal family, a man who had always sympathized with liberal opin- ions. With such a man as king, it was said, there would be no more attempts to reenthrone the nobility and the clergy, but the govern- ment would be liberal, resting on the middle classes, and the Charter would be scrupulously observed. The final decision between monarchy and republic lay in the hands of Lafayette, the real leader of the Republicans. He finally threw Louis ^^ influence in favor of Louis Philippe, arguing that a Philippe monarchy under so liberal and democratic a prince would ^°^ after all be "the best of republics." On August 7 the Chamber of Deputies called Louis Philippe to the throne, ignoring the claims of the legitimate ruler. / Such was the July Revolution, an unexpected, impromptu affair. I Not dreamed of July 25, it was over a week later. One king had been I overthrown, another created, and the Charter had been slightly mod- \ ified. Parliamentary government had been preserved; a return to \ aristocracy prevented. This ends the Restoration and the reign of Louis Philippe now begins. The end Those who brought about the final overthrow of the elder of the Bourbons received no adequate reward. They had the tri-color flag once more, but the rich bourgeoisie had the government. The Republicans yielded, but without renouncing their THE JULY REVOLUTION 279 principles or their hopes. Cavaignac, one of their leaders, when thanked for the abnegation of his party, replied, "You are wrong in thanking us; we have yielded because we are not yet strong enough. Later it will be different." The Revolution, in fact, gave great impetus to the doc- trine of the sovereignty of the people. REFERENCES The Constitutional Charter of 1814: .\nderson, Consiilidions and Documents, No. 93, pp. 456-464. Reign of Loms XVIII: Fyffe, History of Modern Europe, pp. 375-380, 427-447, 469-475; Phillips, Modern Europe, pp. 23-36, 81-86; Seignobos, Political History of Europe Since 181 4, pp. 103-121. Reign of Charles X: Fyffe, pp. 603-619; Seignobos, pp. 121-132; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. X, pp. 85-103. CHAPTER XIV REVOLUTIONS BEYOND FRANCE The influence of the Revolution of 1830 was felt all over Europe — in Poland, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, England, and the Netherlands. Widespread It was the signal and encouragement for widespread pop- the^Tuly^ ° ^^^^ movements which for a short time seemed to threaten Revolution the whole structure erected in 181 5 at Vienna. It created an immediate problem for the rulers of Europe. They had bound them- selves in 181 5 to guard aga,inst the outbreak of "revolution," to watch over and assure the " general tranquillity" of Europe. They had adopted and applied since then, as we have seen, the doctrine of intervention in the affairs of countries infected by revolutionary fever, as the great preservative of public order. Would this self-constituted international police acquiesce in the overthrow of the legitimate king of France by the mob of Paris? Now that revolution had again broken out in that restless country, would they "intervene" as they had done in Spain and Italy? At first they were disposed to do so. Metternich's immedi- ate impulse was to organize a coalition against this " king of the barri- cades." But when the time came this was seen to be impracticable, „ , ' for Russia was occupied with a revolution in Poland, Powerless- . . .*^ . ness of the Austria with revolutions in Italy, Prussia with similar ^°'y movements in Germany, and England was engrossed in the most absorbing discussion of domestic problems she had faced in many decades. Moreover, England approved the revolu- tion. All the powers, therefore, recognized Louis Philippe, though with varying indications of annoyance. In one particular, consequently, the settlement of 181 5 was undone forever. The elder branch of the House of Bourbon, put upon the throne of France by the Allies of 181 5, was now pushed from it, and the revolution, hated of the other powers, had done it. 280 DISCONTENT IN THE NETHERLANDS 281 Another part of the diplomatic structure of 181 5 was now over- thrown. The Congress of Vienna had created an essentially artificial state to the north of France, the Kingdom of the Nether- ^j^^ q^^_ lands. It had done this explicitly for the purpose of hav- gress of ing a barrier against France. The Belgian provinces, the^xtngdom hitherto Austrian, were in 181=5 annexed to Holland, to of the Neth- strengthen that state in order that it might. be in a posi- ^'^ ^°^ ^ tion to resist attack until the other powers should come to its rescue. But it was easier to declare these two peoples formally united under one ruler than to make them in any real sense a single nation. Though it might seem by a glance at the map that the peoples of ^ yj^i^^ ^j this little corner of Europe must be essentially homoge- two dissimi- neous, such was not at all the case. There were many more " ^^°^ ^^ points of difference than of similarity between them. They spoke dif- ferent languages. They belonged to different religions, the Dutch being Protestant, the Belgians Catholic. They differed in their economic life and principles. The Dutch were an agricultural and commercial people and inclined toward free trade, the Belgians were a manufactur- ing people and inclined toward protection. For the Belgians the union with the Dutch was an unhappy one from the start. They saw themselves added to and subjected to another people inferior in numbers to themselves, whereas the feeling of nation- ality had been aroused in them as in other peoples by the spirit and example of the French Revolution and they had hoped for a larger and more independent life than they had ever had before. A union so inharmoniously begun was never satisfactory to the Bel- gians. Friction was constant. The Belgians resented the fact that the officials in the state and army were nearly all Dutch. They 1 • 1 , t;-- . r 1 T^ 1 , Friction objected to the Kmg s attempts to force the Dutch Ian- between the guage into a position of undue privilege. The evident Belgians and . , . the Dutch desire of the King to fuse his two peoples into one was a constant irritation. The system was more and more disliked by the Belgians as the years went by. The July Revolution came as a spark in the midst of all this inflam- mable material. There was street fighting in Brussels as ^j^^ Belgians there had been in Paris. The revolution spread rapidly, declare their The royal troops were driven out and on October 4, 1830, '^ ^^^^ ^"^^ Belgium declared itself independent. A congress was called to deter- 282 REVOLUTIONS BEYOND FRANCE mine the future form of government. It decided in favor of a mon- archy, adopted a liberal constitution, and elected as king Leopold of Coburg who, in July, 1831, was crowned. Would the Great Powers which in 18 15 had added Belgium to Hol- land consent to the undoing of their work? Would they recognize the new kingdom? They had suppressed revolutions in Spain and Italy, as we have seen. Would they do it again in the interest of their handi- work, the treaties of Vienna? Now, however, they were divided, and in this division lay the salvation of the new state. The Czar wished to intervene and Prussia seemed similarly inclined, but Louis Philippe, knowing that his own throne would be overthrown by the Parisians if he allowed these abso- lute monarchies to crush the new liberties of the Belgians, gave ex- plicit warning that if they inter- vened France also would intervene " in order to hold the balance even." The powers therefore made the best of the situation. At a confer- ence in London, Rus- Re cognition of the King- sia, Prussia, Austria, dom of France, and England Belpum . ° recognized the independence of Belgium; they went fur- ther and formally promised to respect its neutrality forever. This part of the work of the Congress of Vienna had consequently been undone. A new state had arisen in Europe, as a result of revolution. The success of the Belgian revolution had to a considerable extent been rendered possible by a revolution in Poland, which ended in dis- astrous failure. Neither Russia, nor Prussia, nor Austria would have acquiesced so easily in the dismemberment of the Kingdom of the Neth- erlands had they not feared that if they went to war with France con- cerning it, France would in turn aid the Poles, and the future of the Poles was of far greater immediate importance to them than the future Leopold I Engraved by Levy after the painting by Winterhalter. POLAND AND THE PRINCIPLE OF NATIONALITY 283 of the Netherlanders. The French Revolution of 1830 was followed by the rise of the Kingdom of Belgium; but it was also followed by the disappearance of the Kingdom of Poland. REVOLUTION IN POLAND In the Middle Ages Poland had been a more powerful state than Russia and included territory which stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea and from the Oder to the Dnieper. It had remained an independent state down to the last quarter of the eighteenth century. During that quarter its independence had been destroyed and its territory seized by its three neighbors, Russia, Prussia, ^j^^ destmc- and Austria, in the famous, or rather infamous, partitions tion of of 1772, 1793, and 1795. Nothing was left of Poland on the map. The Poles made a brave and desperate resistance but "free- dom shrieked when Kosciusko fell." "No sophistry in the world," writes a recent historian, " can extenuate the villainy of the Second Par- tition," which was the critical one. "The theft of territory is its least offensive feature. It is the forcible suppression of a national movement of reform, the hurling back into the abyss of anarchy and corruption of a people who, by incredible efforts and sacrifices, had struggled back to liberty and order, which makes this great political crime so wholly infamous. Yet here again the methods of the Russian Em- The crime press were less vile than those of the Prussian King. ^* ^'^^^ Catherine openly took the risk of a bandit who attacks an enemy against whom he has a grudge; Frederick William II came up, when the fight was over, to help pillage a victim whom he had sworn to defend." ' The effects of this assassination of an independent state by the three absolute monarchies of eastern Europe were destined to be momentous and far-reaching. The Polish question has been a factor ^ permanent in all the subsequent history of Europe. It is an important Polish factor to-day. The Poles, naturally, like any freedom-lov- ^"^^ ^°°^ ing people, refused to acquiesce in a fate so unmerited, so cruel. But they could only wait and hope. "No wise or honest man," wrote Edmund Burke at the time, "can approve of that partition, or can contemplate it without prognosti- cating great mischief from it to all countries at some future date." The '■ Nisbet Bain, Slavonic Europe, p. 404. REVOLUTIONS BEYOND FRANCE particular effect of this odious act of the royal and titled highway- men was the extraordinary intensification it gave to what was to The destruc- prove one of the most vital and troublesome tendencies tion of Po- Qf modern history. As Lord Acton says: "This famous land arouses . r i i i i i the spirit of measure, the most revolutionary act of the old absolu- nationality tism, awakened the theory of nationality in Europe, con- verting a dormant right into an aspiration, and a sentiment into a political claim." The Polish people's passionate love of country was given an imperish- able ideal, a pillar of cloud by day, a pillar of fire by night, riveting the attention of the nation so wantonly destroyed, pointing the way, not yet traversed, to a happy issue out of their troubles. The Poles had hoped that the French Revolution, and, later, that Napoleon might restore their nationality. In this they were disap- The pointed; but in 1815 at restoration j-j^g Congress of Vienna of the King- ^. r . , ■, dom of Po- they iound unexpected land in 1815 ^j^j^ though it proved in the end illusory. Alexander I, Czar of Russia, was at that time aglow with generous and romantic senti- ments and was for a few years a patron of liberal ideas in various countries. Under the influence of these ideas he conceived the plan of restoring the old Kingdom of Poland. Poland should be a kingdom entirely separate from the Empire of Russia. He would be Emperor of Russia and King of Poland. The union of the two states would be simply personal. Alexander had desired to restore Poland to the full extent of its pos- sessions in the eighteenth century. To render this possible Prussia and Austria must relinquish the provinces they had acquired in the three partitions. This, however, was not accomplished at the Congress of Vienna. Although Prussia and Austria did give back some of their Polish possessions, they retained some. The tragedy of Poland, then as now, was that the Poles, in spirit a single people, were subjects of Alexander 1 From an engraving by Allais. REVOLUTION IN POLAND 285 three nations and as such might be forced to fight each other, in that most dreadful of conflicts, that of brother against brother. The new PoHsh Kingdom, erected in 1815, was simply a part, there- fore, of historic Poland, nor did it include all of the Polish territories that Russia had acquired. Of this new state Alexander . 11- rr-. • 1 • • Alexander I was to be kmg. To it he granted a constitution, estab- grants a lishing a parliament of two chambers, with considerable constitution ^ r^ , ,• • • J , *o Poland powers. Roman Catholicism was recognized as the state religion; but a generous measure of toleration was given to other sects. Liberty of the press was guaranteed, subject to laws designed to prevent its abuse. The Polish language was made the official language. All positions in the government were to be filled by Poles, not by Russians. No people in central Europe possessed such liberal institutions as those with which the Poles were now invested. A prosperous career as a con- stitutional monarchy seemed about to begin. The Poles had never enjoyed so much civil freedom, and they were now receiving a con- siderable measure of home-rule. But this regime, well-meant and full of promise, encountered obstacles from the start. The Rus- „ '■ . Friction sians were opposed to the idea of a restored Poland, and between the particularly to a constitutional Poland, when they them- ^°'^^ ^"^ *^® Russians selves had no constitution. Why should their old enemy be so greatly favored when they, the real supporters of the Czar, were not? The hatred of Russians and Poles, a fact centuries old, continued un-- diminished. Moreover, what the dominant class of Poles desired, far more than liberal government, was independence. They could never forget the days of their prosperity. Unfortunately they ^j^g p^j^g had not the wisdom or self-control to use their present con- divided into siderable liberties for the purpose of building up the social solidarity which Poland had always lacked, by redressing the crying grievances of the serfs against the nobles, by making all Poles feel that they were a united people rather than two classes of oppressors and oppressed. They did not seek gradually to develop under the pro- tection of their constitution a true and vigorous nationality, which might some day be strong enough to win its independence, but they showed their dissatisfaction with the limited powers Alexander had granted. They criticised the Czar's government for various things and were immediately warned by the Czar. Friction developed and grew at the very time that Alexander's early liberalism was fading away. 286 REVOLUTIONS BEYOND FRANCE His successor, Xicholas I, who came to the throne in 1825, was a thorough-going absolutist, animated by an entirely different temper. The spirit of unrest was strong among the mass of the lesser Polish nobility, a class little accustomed to self-control and also strongly in- fluenced by the democratic ideas of western Europe. This party was Influence of ^'^^^ inflamed by the reports of the successful revolution the July in France; by the belief that the French would aid them evo u ion ^ ^^^^ strove to imitate their example. When, therefore, the Czar summoned the Polish army to prepare for a campaign whose object was the suppression of the Belgian revolution, the determination of the Liberals was quickly made. They rose in insurrection toward the end of 1830, declared that the House of Romanoff had ceased to rule in Poland, and prepared for a life and death struggle. Russia's military resources, however, were so great that Poland could not hope alone to achieve her national independence. The Poles The Polish expected foreign intervention, but no intervention came. expectation Enthusiasm for the Poles w^as widespread among the of foreign . . . aid disap- people in France, m England, and m Germany. But pointed ^]^g governments, none of which was controlled by public opinion, refused to move. Thus Poland was left to fight alone with Russia and of the outcome there could be no doubt. The Poles fought with great bravery, but The failure without good leadership, without careful organization, of the insur- without a spirit of subordination to military authorities. The war went on from January, 1831, until September of that year, when Warsaw fell before the Russians. The results of this ill-advised and iU-executed insurrection were deplorable in the extreme. Poland ceased to exist as a separate kingdom and became merely a prov- ince of the Russian Empire. Its constitution was abolished and it was henceforth ruled with great severity and arbitrariness. The insurgents were savagely punished. Many were executed, many sent to Siberia. Thousands of Polish officers and soldiers escaped to the countries of western Europe and became a revolutionary element in Paris, Berlin, and Vienna, always ready to fight for liberty. They were the sworn foes of tyranny everywhere as they were its most conspicuous victims. Even the Pohsh language seemed doomed, so repressive was the policy now followed by Russia. The Poles' sole satisfaction was a highly al- truistic one, that by their revolt they had contributed greatly to the DISTURBANCES IX GERMANY 287 success of the revolutions in France and Belgium. They had prevented the Holy Alliance from interv^ening to suppress the revolutions of 1830, as it had suppressed those of 1820. REVOLUTION IX ITALY Another country which felt the revolutionary wave of 1830 was Italy. Revolutions broke out in the duchies of Modena and Parma, whose rulers were forced to flee, and in parts of the Papal Revolutions States. Hatred of Austria and dissatisfaction with local *° ^*^y easily sup- arbitrary and despotic governments were the causes. The pressed in revolutionists expected the hostility of Austria but they ^^^^ hoped for the support of France as well as of the people of other Italian states. But none was forthcoming, Louis Philippe feeling too insecure himself at home. The result was that Austrian troops appeared upon the scene and easily restored the exiled rulers. The Pope recovered his provinces. The episode was over. Reaction again held sway in Italy. RE\'OLUTIOX IX GERJMAXY Thus in 1830 revolution raged with varying vehemence all about Germany — in France, in Belgium, in Poland, and in Italy. The move- ment also affected Germany itself. In Brunswick, Saxony, Revolution Hesse-Cassel, and in two Saxon duchies revolutionary "^ Germany movements broke out with the result that several new constitutions were added to those already granted. The new ones were chiefly in North German, whereas the earlier ones had been mainly in South Ger- man states. But the two great states, Austria and Prussia, passed un- scathed and set themselves to bring about a reaction, as soon as the more pressing dangers in Poland and Italy and France were over, and they themselves felt secure. Using certain popvilar demonstrations, essen- tially insignificant, with all the effect with which he had previously used the Wartburg festival, Metternich succeeded in carrying reaction further than he had been able to even in the Carlsbad Decrees of 1819. Those decrees were aimed chiefly at the universities and the press. New regulations were adopted in 1832 and 1834 by which he secured not only the renewal of these but the enactment of additional repressive measures, restricting the rights of such parliaments as existed in various states and still further muzzling the universities and the press. Constitutional life in the few states where it existed was reduced to a minimum. The 288 REVOLUTIONS BEYOND FRANCE political history of Germany offers but little interest until the great mid- century uprising of 1848 shook this entire system of negation and repression to the ground. REFERENCES Rise OF the Kingdom or Belgium: Ensor, Belgium (Home University Library), pp. 114-141; Fyffe, History of Modem Europe, pp. 619-625; Phillips, Modern Europe, pp. 186-199; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. X, Chap. XVI, pp. 517-544. Polish Insurrection: Phillips, Poland (Home University Library), Chap. VIII, pp. 101-125; Fyffe, pp. 625-630; Skrine, The Expansion of Russia, pp. 110-122; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. X, pp. 445-474. Revolutions in Italy: Fyffe, pp. 631-635; Thayer, Dawn of Italian Indepen- dence, Vol. I, pp. 342-378. Revolutionary Movements in Germany: Sybel, The Founding of the German Empire, Vol. I, pp. 342-378; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. X, pp. 374-376. CHAPTER XV THE REIGN OF LOUIS PHILIPPE Louis Philippe, the new monarch of the French, was already in his fifty-seventh year. He was the son of the notorious Philippe Egalite, who had intrigued during the Revolution for the throne ? . . , The career occupied by his cousin, Louis XVI, had, as a member of of Louis the Convention, voted for the latter's execution, and had pwi^pp^ . . (1773 1850) himself later perished miserably on the scaffold. In 1789 Louis Philippe was only sixteen years of age, too young to take part in politics, although he became a member of the Jacobin Club. Later he joined the army and fought valiantly for the Republic at Valmy and Jemappes. Becoming suspected of treason he fled from France in 1703 and entered upon a life of exile that was to last twenty-one years. He went to Switzerland, where he lived for a while, teaching geography and mathematics in a school in Reichenau. Leaving Switzerland when his incognito was discovered he traveled as far north as the North Cape, and as far west as the United States. He finally settled in England and lived on a pension granted by the British government. Returning to France on the fall of Napoleon he was able to recover a large part of the family property, which, though confiscated during the Revolution, had not been actually sold. During the Restoration he lived in the famous Palais Royal in the very heart of Paris, cultivating relations that might some day prove useful, particularly appealing to the solid, rich bour- geoisie by a display of liberal sentiments and by a good- His humored, unconventional mode of life. He walked the liberalism streets of Paris alone, talked and even drank with workmen with en- gaging informality, and sent his sons to the public schools to associate with the sons of the bourgeoisie — a delicate compliment fully appre- ciated by the latter. But beneath this exterior of republican simplicity there lay a strong ambition for personal power, a nature essentially autocratic. 289 290 THE REIGN OF LOUIS PHILIPPE His legal title to his position was very weak. He was invited to as- cend the throne by only 219 members of the Chamber of Deputies out His legal °^ 43°' ^ ^3.ve majority. Moreover, the Chamber had title to the never been authorized to choose a king. The first part of the reign was troubled. It was very doubtful whether it could long endure. As the people were never asked whether they wished Louis Philippe as their king, his rule always lacked any popu- lar sanction, such as Napo- leon's had always possessed. It had many enemies who denied its right to exist. Le- gitimists, Bonapartists, and Republicans. The Legiti- Opposition mists defended of the Legit- the rights of inus s Charles X and his descendants. They re- garded Louis Philippe as a usurper, a thief who had treacherously and shamelessly stolen the crown of the young Duke of Bordeaux. This party was numerically small, so thoroughly had the reign of • Charles X offended and alienated the nation. It gave Louis Philippe little trouble save through the biting sarcasms with which aristocratic society regaled itself at the expense of his honor and chivalry; also at the expense of his personal appearance. It attempted only one insurrection, which was easily put down. But Louis Philippe's struggle with the Republicans was far more Q .^. severe. The latter had acquiesced in his rule at first on of the the assurance of Lafayette, in whom they reposed great RepubUcans confidence, that that rule would really constitute the best of republics, that the King was essentially democratic, that the popular Louis Philippe Engraving by Pannier after the painting by Win- terhalter. CHARACTER OF THE JULY MONARCHY 291 throne would be surrounded by republican institutions. But both they and Lafayette were shortly undeceived. They had expected that the new government would adopt a broad, liberal, national policy, would consider the interests of all sections of the population, and would favor a democratic evolution of the country. Instead, they saw rapidly set up a narrow class system, which opposed democracy as it opposed aristocracy. The July Monarchy early asserted that its policy would be that of the "golden mean," neither conservative nor radical, but moderate. At the beginning the suffrage was broadened, of the° '*^^ by a reduction of age and property qualifications, so that "golden the electorate was doubled and there were now about ™^^ 200,000 voters, where there had formerly been 100,000. This might have been tolerable as a mere beginning in the right direction. But the government soon made it manifest that it was not only the begin- ning but the end, that there would be no further enlargement of the electorate. As a matter of fact this meant that it was the upper bour- geoisie who were henceforth to rule France, the wealthy or well-to-do bankers, manufacturers, merchants. The great mass of the The reign of people were to have no power. The argument was put **^® wealthy forth that the propertied and educated were the only people fit to rule, that legislation considered wise for them was for the best of all as its benefits were diffused naturally through all classes. It was virtually the argument of the employer that what is good for him is good for the employee. The July Monarchy was liberal, in one way. It was an assurance"^ that there should be no return toward the Old Regime, no attempt to restore, more or less, directly or indirectly, the aristocracy j^^ ^^^ and the clergy to their former position. That much was to the Old definitely settled, once for all. On the other hand it would ^^s"°« have nothing to do with democracy, even as a remote ideal. Democracy meant anarchy, disorder, violence, as the Revolution had „ , TTin , ^° progress Shown. What was wanted was moderation, the golden toward mean. The July Monarchy was the reign of the upper ''^'°*'<=^'^cy middle class, considered now, by itself, the only safe depository of power. No reversion to outworn, aristocratic ideals, no gradual progression toward democracy, but the steady maintenance, without further change, of the system established by the Charter as revised in 1830, such was the policy of the July Monarchy from which it never deviated. 292 THE REIGN OF LOUIS PHILIPPE The Republicans did not share this opinion that all wisdom was limited to the bourgeoisie. They wished to press forward from present liberties to larger liberties, to educate the people more and more to self- government, to legislate with a view to the interests of all the classes and conditions of men that are contained in a great nation. To them it seemed that the July Monarchy was making a grotesque simplifica- tion of what was in reality a very tangled and complex problem in identifying the welfare of France with simply the welfare of a prosper- Repubiican ous and educated class. The Republicans therefore be- insurrections came the enemies of the July Monarchy. They attempted insurrections which were serious, but which were put down. The Gov- ernment adopted vigorous measures for their suppression, breaking up their societies, restricting the right of association, prosecuting their edi- tors, crushing their newspapers under heavy fines, finally forbidding by law any argument for, or defense of, any other form of government than that of the existing monarchy, and forbidding anyone to declare him- self an adherent of any fallen royal house. These laws greatly weakened the moral position of the July Mon- archy as they made individual liberty only an empty word. But they ,pjjg were successful in their immediate aim. They drove September all rival parties, the Republicans included, to cover, and ^^ * France was governed for eighteen years by the propertied classes, by an aristocracy of wealth. The Republicans, duped, seeing that the July Monarchy promised no growth in liberty, were the bitter enemies of the regime, but were effectually silenced for many long years. Their enmity however was a factor in the ultimate overthrow of this system. The parliamentary history of France during the ten years from 1830 to 1840 was marked by instability. There were ten ministries within The Guizot ^^^ years. But from 1840 to 1848 there was only one, Ministry that of Guizot. For several years after his accession to the throne Louis Philippe was careful to guard himself from all appearance of assuming personal power. But now that his enemies were overthrown and crushed he began to reveal his real pur- pose of being monarch in fact as well as in name. He had no intention of following the English theory that, in constitutional as distinguished from absolute monarchies, the king reigns but does not govern. He now found in Guizot a man who sympathized with his views of kingship, THE GUIZOT MINISTRY 293 Guizot's political principles and who did not believe that the monarch should be simply an orna- mental head of the state. Louis Philippe had in his chief minister a man after his own heart. Guizot, eminent as a professor, an historian, and an orator, held certain political principles with the tenacity of a mathematician. He refused to recognize that France needed any alteration in her political institutions. He believed in the Charter of 1 814, as revised in 1830. Any further reform would be un- necessary and dangerous. Guizot's policy was one of stiff, unyielding conser\'atism. He opposed any extension of the suffrage, he opposed any legislation for the laboring classes, he opposed this, he opposed that. All discontent appeared to him frivolous, fictitious, merely the devious device of designing men bent on feathering their own nests. Year after year this nega- tive policy, this policy of mere inertia, was pur- sued, arousing more and more disgust. " What have they done for the past seven years? " exclaimed a deputy in 1847, "Nothing, nothing, nothing." becoming bored," said Lamartine. Yet this stagnant government was living in a world fermenting with ideas, apparently oblivious of the fact. The July Monarchy was a government of the bourgeoisie, of the Vv'ell-to-do, of the capitalists. They alone possessed the suffrage. Con- sequently, the remainder of the population was, in a political sense, of no importance. The legislation enacted during these eighteen years was class legislation, which favored the bourgeoisie and which made no (irizor After a lithograph by Lassalle from the portrait by Delaroche. Guizot's policy of rigid conservatism " France is 294 THE REIGN OF LOUIS PHILIPPE attempt to meet the needs of the masses. Yet the distress of the masses was widespread and deep and should have received the careful and sym- pathetic attention of the government. Their situation provoked discussion and many writers began to preach new doctrines concerning the organization of industry and the Growth of crucial question of the relations of capital and labor, doc- sociaiism trines henceforth called socialistic, and appealing with in- creasing force to the millions of laborers who believed that society weighed with unjustifiable severity upon them, that their labor did not by any means receive' its proportionate reward. St. Simon was the first to announce a socialistic scheme for the reorganization of society in the interest of the most numerous class. He believed that the state should own the means of production and should organize industry on the prin- ciple of "Labor according to capacity and reward according to services." St. Simon was a speculative thinker, not a practical man of affairs. His doctrine gained in direct importance when it was adopted by a man who was a politician, able to recruit and lead a party, and to make a pro- gramme definite enough to appeal to the masses. Such a man was Louis Blanc Louis Blanc, who was destined to play a great part in the (1811-1882) overthrow of the July Monarchy and in the Republic that succeeded. In his writings he tried to convince the laborers of France of the evils of the prevailing economic conditions, a task which was not difficult. He denounced in vehement terms the government of the bour- geoisie as government of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich. It must be swept away and the state must be organized on a thoroughly demo- cratic basis. Louis Blanc proclaimed the .right of every man to employ- ment and the duty of the state to provide it. This it could do if it would organize industry. Let the state establish, with its own capital, national workshops, let the workmen manage these and share the profits. The class of employers would thus disappear and the laborers would get the full result of their labor. Louis Blanc's theories, propounded in a style at once clear and vivid, were largely adopted by workingmen. A social- ist party was thus created. It believed in a republic; but it differed from the other republicans in that, while they desired simply a change in the form of government, it desired a far more sweeping change in society. The amount of discontent with the government of France was great and growing. Yet it could accomplish nothing because the ministry WIDESPREAD DEMAND FOR REFORiMS 295 was steadily supported by the Chamber of Deputies and that Chamber was elected by the two hundred thousand voters. On examination it was seen that Guizot obtained his never-faiUng majority _, ^ . 1 • 1 1 ^^^ Gxuzot by corrupt methods. The electoral assemblies which chose ministry and the deputies were so small, frequently consisting of not parliamentary '■ . , „ corruption more than two hundred members, many of them office holders, that they could be bribed, in one way or another, to elect depu- ties pleasing to the ministry. Then within the Chamber the same meth- ods would be used. About two hundred of the four hundred and thirty deputies were at the same time office holders. The ministry controlled them, as all promotions or increases of salary were dependent upon its favor. It needed to gain only a few more votes to have a majority and this was easy, as it had so many favors to distribute. A reform party thus gradually grew up which did not at all wish to overthrow the monarchy but which did demand a change in the composition of the Chamber of Deputies and in the manner ^ '- Demand for of electing it, parliamentary reform and electoral reform, electoral and Deputies should be forbidden to be at the same time office parliamentary '■ . reform holders, and the number of voters should be so increased that it would be impossible to corrupt them. Against both these propo- sitions, renewed year after year, during his entire ministry, Guizot resolutely set his face. He asserted that the reform movement was only the work of a few, that the people as a whole were entirely indifferent to it. To prove the falsity of this assertion the Opposition instituted, in 1847, a series of " reform banquets" which were attended The "reform by the people and addressed by the reformers. These banquets" banquets were instituted by those loyal to the monarchy, but hostile to its policy. Similar meetings, however, were instituted by the Repub- licans, who were opposed to the very existence of the monarchy. Great enthusiasm was aroused by these meetings all over the country. It was conclusively shown that the people were behind this demand for reform. But the ministry refused to budge and the King denounced the agitation as pernicious. He even denied the legal right of the people to hold such meetings. To test this right before the courts of law the Opposition arranged a great banquet for February 22, 1848, in Paris. Eighty-seven prominent deputies promised to attend. All were to meet in front of the church of the Madeleine and march to the banquet hall. In the night of February 21-22 the Government posted orders forbidding 296 THE REIGN OF LOUIS PHILIPPE this procession and all similar meetings. Rather than force the issue the deputies who had agreed to attend yielded, though under protest. But a vast crowd congregated, of students, workingmen, and others. They had no leader, no definite purpose. The crowd committed slight acts of lawlessness, but nothing serious happened that day. But in the night barricades arose in the workingmen's c^uarters of the city. Some shots were fired. The Government called out the National Guard. It refused to march against the insurgents. Some of its members even began to shout, " Long live Reform !" " Down with Guizot ! " The King, frightened at this alarming development, was willing to grant reform. Resignation Guizot would not consent and consequently withdrew from of Guizot office. This news was greeted wuth enthusiasm by the crowds and, in the evening of February 23, Paris was illuminated and the trouble seemed ended. The contest thus far had been simply be- tween Royalists, those who supported the Guizot ministry, and the re- formers, and the fall of Guizot was the triumph of the latter. But the movement no longer remained thus circumscribed. The Republicans now entered aggressively upon the scene, resolved to arouse the excited people against Louis Philippe himself and against the monarchy. They marched through the boulevards and made a hostile demonstration be- fore Guizot's residence. Some unknown person fired a shot at the guards. The guards instantly replied, fifty persons fell, more than twenty dead. This was the doom ■of the monarchy. The Republicans seized the occasion to inflame the people further. Several of the corpses were put upon a cart which was lighted by a torch. The cart was then drawn through the streets. The ghastly spectacle aroused everywhere the angriest passions; cries of "Vengeance!" followed it along its course. From the towers the tocsin sounded its wild and sinister appeal. Thus began a riot which grew in vehemence hourly, and which swept all before it. The cries of "Long live Reform !" heard the day before, now gave way to the more ominous cries of "Long live The over- 1 , . 1 1 • 1 throw of the Republic ! " Finally, on February 24th, the King ab- h?^l^ dicated in favor of his grandson, the little Count of Paris, Phihppe ii and, under the incognito of Mr. Smith" finally reached England. Guizot followed, as did Metternich somewhat later for reasons of his own. The King's life of exile was ended two years later by his death at Claremont. He had abdicated in favor of his grandson, but the Republicans and THE PROCLAMATION OF THE SECOND REPUBLIC 297 Socialists who had forced the abdication would not consent to the con- tinuance of the monarchy. They were able to procure ^j^^ • , the creation of a Provisional Government, composed of the second the leaders of both parties, with Lamartine at its head ^P"**^*^ and Louis Blanc as one of the members. The Provisional Government immediately proclaimed the Republic, subject to ratification by the people. REFERENCES The Government of Louis Philippe: FyiTe, History of Modern Europe, pp. 699-703; Lebon, Modern France, pp. 171-196; Phillips, Modern Europe, pp. 176-185, 255-261; Seignobos, Political History of Europe Since ISI4, pp. 132-152; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. X, Chap. XV; Vol. XI, Chap. II. Early French Socialism: Ely, French and German Socialism, pp. 66-71, 108- 123; Kirkup, History of Socialism, pp. 22^10. The February Revolution: Seignobos, pp. 155-159; Andrews, C. M., TJic His- torical Development of Modern Europe, Vol. I, pp. 336-345; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XI, pp. 96-105. CHAPTER XVI CENTRAL EUROPE IN REVOLT Central Europe at the opening of 1848 was in a restless, disturbed, expectant state. Everywhere men were wearied with the old order _.. . and demanding change. A revolutionary spirit was at mid-century work, the public mind in Germany, Italy, and Austria uprising ^^^ excited. Into a society so perturbed and so active came the news of the fall of Louis Philippe. It was the spark that set the world in conflagration. The French Revolution of 1848 was the signal for the most wide-reaching disturbance of the century. Revolu- tions broke out from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, from France to the Russian frontier. The whole system of reaction, which had succeeded Waterloo and which had come to be personified in the imperturbable Metternich, crashed in unutterable confusion. The great mid-century uprising of the people had begun, the most widespread con- vulsion Europe w^as destined to know until 19 14. The storm center of Vienna the this convulsion was Vienna, hitherto the proud bulwark of storm center ^^^ established order. Here in the Austrian Empire one of the most confused chapters in European history began. It seemed for a time as if Austria was doomed to complete disruption, as if she was about to disappear as a great state. The immediate impulse came from Hungary where for several years a nationalistic movement had been in progress. With this tendency toward a sharper assertion of the national spirit had been coupled an increasingly aggressive reform movement. The institutions of Hungary were thoroughly mediaeval. The nobility alone possessed political power, at the same time being entirely exempt from taxation. A liberal and democratic party, nourished on the ideas of western Europe, had grown Louis ^P' ^^^ ^y Louis Kossuth, one of Hungary's greatest heroes, Kossuth. and Francis Deak, whose personality is less striking, but (1802-1894) , • <. u- . .V I- J J whose services to his country were to be more solid and en- during. Kossuth had first come into notice as the editor of a paper LOUIS KOSSUTH 299 which described in vivid and liberal style the debates in the Hungarian Diet. When it was forbidden to print these reports he had them litho- graphed. When this was forbidden he had them written out by hand by a corps of amanuenses and distributed by servants. Finally he was arrested and sentenced to prison. During his imprisonment of three years Kossuth applied him- self to serious studies, particu- larly to that of the English language, with such success that he was able later to ad- dress large audiences in Eng- land and the United States with great effect. In 1840 he was released and obtained per- mission to edit a daily paper. Kossuth was the very in- carnation of the great demo- cratic ideas of the age. He wished to erase all distinc- tions between noble and non- noble, to fuse all into one common whole. He demanded democratic reforms in every department of the national life; abolition of the privileges of the nobility and of their exemption from taxation; equal rights and equal burdens for all citizens; trial by jury; reform of the criminal code. Kossuth's impassioned appeals were made directly to the people. He sought to create, and did create, a powerful public opinion clamor- ous for change. This vigorous liberal opposition to the established order, an opposition ably led and full of fire, grew rapidly. In 1847 it published its programme, drawn up by Deak. This de- manded the taxation of the nobles, the control by the demands of Diet of all national expenditures, larger liberty for the ^^^ Hunga- , , . , ^ , ,. . , . rians in 1847 press, and a complete right of public meeting and associa- tion; it demanded also that Hungary should not be subordinate to Austrian policy, and to the Austrian provinces. Such was the situation when the great reform wave of 1848 began to sweep over Europe. Louis Kossuth. 300 CENTRAL EUROPE IN REVOLT The effect of the news of the fall of Louis Philippe was electrifying. The passion of the hour was expressed in a flaming speech by Kossuth, who proved himself a consummate spokesman for a people decisive in- in revolt. Of impressive presence, and endowed with a tervention of wonderful voice, he was revolutionary oratory incarnate. Hungary In a speech in the Diet, March 3, 1848, he voiced the feelings of the time, bitterly denouncing the whole system of Austrian government. The effect of this speech was immediate and profound, not only in Hungary but in Austria proper. Translated into German, and published in Vienna, it inflamed the passions of the people. Ten days later a riot broke out in Vienna itself, organized largely by students and workingmen. The soldiers fired and bloodshed resulted. Barri- cades were erected and the people and soldiers fought hand to hand. The crowd surged about and into the imperial palace, and invaded the The over- ^^^^ ^^ which the Diet was sitting, crying " Down with throw of Metternich ! " Metternich, who for thirty-nine years had e ernic stood at the head of the Austrian states, who was the very source and fount of reaction, imperturbable, pitiless, masterful, was now forced to resign, to flee in disguise from Austria to England, to witness his whole system crash completely beneath the onslaught of the very forces for which he had for a generation shown contempt. The effect produced by the announcement of Metternich's fall was prodigious. It was the most astounding piece of news Europe had re- ceived since Waterloo. His fall was correctly heralded as the fall of a system hitherto impregnable. As Hungary, under the spell of Kossuth's oratory, had exerted an influence upon Vienna, so now the actions of the Viennese reacted upon The March Hungary. The Hungarian Diet, dominated by the reform Laws ^j^(^ national enthusiasm just unchained and constantly fanned by Kossuth, passed on March 15th and the days succeeding the famous March Laws, by which ^theL-piacess— of reforming— and rnodernizing Hungary, which had been going on for some years, was given the finishing touch. These celebrated laws represented the demands of the Hungarian national party led by Kossuth. They swept away the old aristocratic political machinery and substituted a mod- ern democratic constitution. Feudal dues were abolished, and liberty of the press, religious liberty, trial by jury were established. The March Laws also demanded a separate Hungarian ministry, composed exclu- REVOLUTIONS IN AUSTRIA AND PRUSSIA 301 sively of Hungarians. All this was conceded by Austria under the com- pulsion of dire necessity (March 31). The example of Hungary was speedily followed by Bohemia. Here there were two races: the Germans, wealthy, educated, but a minority, and the Czechs, a branch of the great Slavic race, poorer, Revolution but a majority, ambitious to make Bohemia a separate "^ Bohemia [ state, subject only to the Emperor. The Bohemians demanded (March 19) practically the same things that the Hungarians had demanded. , The Emperor conceded them. I The Austrian provinces west of Vienna made somewhat similar demands. These too were granted, of course because of the helplessness of the government. That helplessness was due chiefly 1 • • 1 • • • T 7 T-. IT,- 11 Revolution to the critical situation m Italy. For the Italians had in the seized the propitious moment to attempt the overthrow Austrian provinces, of Austrian influence in Italy. Lombardy and Venetia ' rose against the hated foreigner. Venice, under the inspiring leadership i of Daniel Manin, restored the republic which Napoleon 'had suppressed after his first campaign. Piedmont threw renounces in its lot with these rebels and sent its army forward to Austrain laid in the war of liberation. So did other Italian states, Sunder popular pressure, Tuscany, the Papal States, Naples. At the same time several of these states gained liberal constitutions. Italy had thus practically declared her independence. Meanwhile there were March Days in Germany, too. The King of Prussia promised a constitution, intimidated thereto by an uprising of I the people of Berlin, which was marked by the erection of Revolution barricades, great turbulence, and some bloodshed. He also "^ Germany promised to lead in the attempt-to achieve unity for Germany. Pre- liminary steps were immediately taken to bring this about by a great German National Assembly or Parliament, popularly elected for the purpose. This Assembly met two months later in Frankfort amid the high hopes of the people. Constitutions were granted by their princes to several German states. Thus by the end of March, 1848, revolution, universal in its range, was everywhere successful. The famous March Days had The March demolished the system of government wliich had held sway ^^^"'"tjo'^s in Europe for a generation. Throughout the Austrian triumphant. Empire, in Germany and in Italy the revolution was triumphant. 302 CEXTR-\L EUROPE IX REVOLT Hiingar}- and Bohemia had obtained sweeping concessions; a consti- tution had been promised the Austrian provinces; several Italian states had obtained constitutions; the Lombardo- Venetian kingdom had de- clared itself independent of Austria, and the rest of Italy was mov- ing to support the rebels; a constitution had been promised Prussia, and a convendon was about to meet to give liberty and unity to Germany. But the period of triumph was brief. At the moment of greatest humiliaUon Austria began to show remarkable powers of recovery. In the rivalries of her races, and in her arm}- lay her salvaUon. Austria ._ . '. i-i begins the The Government won its nrst ^-lcto^^', not m Italy, which work of ^^ ^g critical point, but in Bohemia. There, in March, restoration the Germans and the Czechs had worked together for the acquisition of the reforms described above. But shortly serious differ- ences drove the two races apart. These racial animosities, vigoroush- fanned by designing individuals, resulted in a clash between Germans and Czechs in the streets of Prague. Windischgratz, commander of Bohemia the imperial troops in Prague, seized this occasion to bom- conquered bard the city (Jtme, 1S4S). He subdued it and became dictator. The army had won its first ^■ictor^', and that, too, by taking advantage of the bitter racial antagonisms in which the Austrian Empire so aboimded. In Italy also the army was ^•ictorious. The Itahans, after the first flush of enthusiasm, began to be torn by jealousies and dissensions. The Italy rulers of Tuscany. Naples, and the Papal States deserted partially die national cause, leaving Charles Albert of Piedmont, conquere ^^^ ^^^ Lombard rebels, alone- confronting the Austrians under Radetzky, a man who had ser\-ed with credit in every Aus- trian war for sixty years and who now, at the age of eighty-two, was to increase his reputation. Radetzky defeated Charles Albert at Custozza, on July 25, 1S4S. and then agreed to an armistice of several months, ex- pecting to complete his work later. Thus by the middle of the summer of 1848 the Austrian government was again in the saddle in Bohemia, and had partially recovered its power in Italy. It was only waiting for an opportunity to win back the ground it had lost in dissension Hungat}". The opportunity came with the outbreak of ^ ci\-il dissension in that coimtr\'. The racial and national Hungary rivalries rose to the highest pitch. The ^Iag}-ars, though a minorit}' of the whole people, had always been dominant and the vie- ILLIBER-\L ATTITUDE OF THE MAGYARS 303 tory of March had been their victor}'. But the national feeling was strong and growing with Serbs, Croatians, and Roumanians. These, in the summer of 1848, demanded of the Hungarian Diet much the same privileges which the Mag\'ars had won for themselves from the \'ienna government. They 'ft'ished local self-government and the recognition of their own languages and peculiar customs. To this the Mag\-ar3 would not for a moment consent. They intended that there should be but one nationality in Himgar}- — that of the Mag}-ars. Indi\-idual civil equality should be guaranteed to all the inhabitants of the kingdom of whatever race, but no separate or partly separate nations, and no other official language than their own. They, therefore, refused these demands point-blank. As a consequence, the bitterest race hatreds broke out in this Himgarian state, whose power had been so recently estabUshed and was so lightly grounded. The Magyars would not grant to others the fundamental right which they had long so stoutly asserted for themselves, and which after vig- orous struggles they had won, the right of nationahty. They began, indeed, forthi^-ith a policy of oppression, a policy- of Mag}-arization, of compressing aU these various peoples into one common mould, of for- cible assimilation. This has ever since been the open sore in Hungarian politics. The ^lag}'ars insisted that the Mag\-ar language should be taught in all the schools in Croatia and should be used in all official com- munications between that province and the central gov- Austria ei- emment in Budapest. The Croatians resented this pioits the imcompromising and ungenerous policy and their resent- ^ ^°° ment rapidly became rebellion. The Austrian government saw in this dissension the chance to regain its lost control. By indirect and tortuous methods it fanned this racial hatred, hoping to profit from the anger of the Mag\'ars against the Slavs and of the Slavs against the Mag}-ars. Needless to say the tension between Himgan,- and Austria increased daily. Finally in September, 1S4S, matters were precipitated when Jella- chich, a man who hated the Hungarians with a deep and abiding hatred, and who had been appointed by the Austrian Emperor as governor of Croatia, began a civil war by leading an army of Croatians and Serbs against the Mag\-ars. The Mag}-ars. the dominant class in Hvmgar\-, were resolved to maintain their position against the rebelUous Slavs and, if Austria supported them, against Austria herself. 304 CENTRAL EUROPE IN REVOLT Francis Joseph I On its side the reactionary party in Austria, emboldened by the partial successes of the army in Bohemia and Italy, resolved to tighten Accession of ^^^ S''^? ^po^ the state. First it forced the Emperor Fer- dinand to abdicate. He was succeeded December 2, 1848, by his nephew Francis Joseph I, a lad of eighteen, destined to a long and eventful reign. The purpose of this manoeuvre was to permit by a show of legality the abrogation of the March Laws in Hungary. Promises made by Fer- dinand, it was held, were not bind- ing upon his successor, and the promises of March were hence- forth to be repudiated. Matters went rapidly from bad to worse. Austria prepared to subdue Hun- gary as she had subdued Bohemia. Hungary stiffened for the conflict. Thus it came about that the year 1849 saw a great war in Hungary. The Hungarians, in a frenzy of excitement, led by Kos- Hungarian SUth, took the mo- Declaration mentOUS Step of of Independ- ence (AprU declarmg that the 14, 1849) House of Hapsburg, as false and perjured, had ceased to rule ; and that Hungary was an inde- pendent nation. Kossuth was appointed President of the indivisible state of Hungary. While the word republic was not uttered, such would probably be the future form of government if the Hungarians succeeded in achieving their independence. But this was not to be. The ungenerous conduct of the Magyars' toward the other races in Hungary now received is natural reward. War in Not only did the Hungarian armies have to face Austrian Hungary troops but they had to fight the Slavs of Hungary who, eager for revenge, aided the Austrians. The Hungarians achieved some victories despite these odds, but their action in declaring their country independent complicated the situation disastrously. The matter be- Francis Joseph I At the time of his accession. THE WAR IN HUNGARY 305 came international. Foreign intervention brought this turbulent chap- ter abruptly to a close. The young Francis Joseph I made an appeal for aid to the Czar of Russia. Nicholas I showed the greatest alacrity in responding. The reasons that determined him were various. He was both by temperament and conviction predisposed to aid his fellow- sovereigns against revolulionary movements, if asked. He was an autocrat and interested in the preservation of autocracy wherever it existed. Also he had no desire to see a great republic on his very borders. Furthermore, a successful Hungary might make a restless Poland. Many Poles were fighting in the Hungarian armies. Russian troops, variously estimated at from 100,000 to 200,000, now poured into Hungary from the east and north. The Austrians again advanced from the west. The Hungarians fought Hungary I brilliantly and recklessly, urged on by the eloquence of conquered Kossuth. They sought the aid of the Turks but did not receive it. They even appealed to the Slavs, promising them in adversity the rights they had refused in prosperity, but in vain. The overwhelming numbers of their opponents rendered the struggle hopeless. Kossuth resigned in favor of Gorgei, a leading general. The latter was forced to capitu- late at Vilagos, August 13, 1849. The war of Hungarian independence was over. Kossuth and others fled to Turkey, where they were given refuge. Nicholas proudly handed over to Francis Joseph his trouble- some Hungary, which Austria, if left to her own resources, would prob- ably have been unable to conquer. The punishment meted out to the Hungarians had no quality of mercy in it. Many generals and civilians were hanged. The constitutional privileges were entirely abolished. Hungary became a mere province of Austria, and was crushed beneath the iron heel. The catastrophe of 1849 seemed the complete annihila- tion of that country. Meanwhile Italy also had been reconquered by the revived military power of Austria. As we have seen, the Italian campaign of 1848 against Austria had been led by Charles Albert, King of Sardinia. ^^^ conquest He had not been successful and had been forced to sign of Italy an armistice at Custozza in August. But there were many *^°™^ ^ republicans in Italy who believed that Charles Albert had been only half-hearted, that Italy could never be saved by constitutional mon- archists. These republicans now decided to carry out their own views. They effected revolutions in both Florence and Rome and declared both 3o6 CENTRAL EUROPE IN REVOLT of those states republics. The Grand Duke of Tuscany fled to the Kingdom of Naples, as did the Pope. The temporal power of the Pope was abolished. The result of all these changes was that when the armistice was over and Charles Albert took the field in the spring of 1849 against Austria he took it alone. The republicans were neither able nor dis- posed to aid him. The Italians at this critical moment were divided amonw themselves. Had they been united they would have had diffi- culty enough in their struggle for independence. As it was, the case was hopeless. No help came to Charles Albert from the states to the south of Piedmont. At Novara, March 23, 1849, the Sardinian army . was utterly overthrown. The King himself sought death of Charles on the battlefield, but in vain. "Even death has cast me ^^^^ off," he said. Believing that better terms could be made for his country if another sovereign were on the throne, he abdicated in favor of his son, Victor Emmanuel II, whose reign, begun in the darkest adversity, was destined to be glorious. Passing into exile, Charles Albert died a few months later. He had rendered, however, a great service to his house and to Italy, for he had shown that there was one Italian prince who was willing to risk everything for the national cause. He had enlisted the interest and the faith of the Italians in the government of Piedmont, in the House of Savoy. He was looked upon as a martyr to the national cause. In the succeeding months the republics of Florence, Rome, and Venice were, one after the other, overthrown. The radiant hopes of Overthrow ^^'^^ ^^^ withered fast. A cruel reaction soon held sway of the throughout most of the peninsula. The power of Austria repu ics ^^^g restored, greater apparently than ever. Piedmont alone preserved a real independence, but was for the time being crushed beneath the burdens of a disastrous war and a humiliating peace. Meanwhile the victories of the Liberals in Germany were being suc- ceeded by defeats. Their hope had centered in the deliberations of the The Parlia- Parliament of Frankfort, consisting of nearly six hundred ment of representatives, elected by universal suffrage. The as- sembly was composed of many able men, but it possessed only a moral authority. Though its existence had not been pre- vented by the rulers of the various states, because they had not dared to oppose what the people so plainly desired, still those rulers THE PARLIAMENT OF FRANKFORT 307 gave it no positi\e support and played a waiting game, hoping to be able to prevent the execution of any decisions unfavorable to them- selves. The Frankfort Parliament had been summoned in response to a popular demand for a real German nation, in place of the hollow mock- ery of the Confederation established in 181 5 at Vienna. It was expected to draw up a constitution and it was also expected that this constitu- tion would be democratic. Its aim was to achieve not only German unity but German political freedom, popular government in place of government by absolute monarchs or privileged classes. It was hoped that a great free German state would issue from its deliberations, unity resting upon a large measure of democracy. The task was very difficult for various reasons. The union must be federal because there were nearly forty states in Germany, each with its own history, its own traditions, its own dynasty, why the its own fears of the others. Moreover, a federation is Problem of German difficult even between states that are equal in political unity was so development, and the political development of the German ^i^ca't states was unequal. Some states possessed constitutions and parlia- ments and the people had had some experience in self-government. But the leading states, Prussia and Austria, had none of those things and were in their political development backward. Moreover these two states were rivals and neither was willing to sacrifice its identity and power for any such thing as a common German fatherland. There can be no federation without a sacrifice of power by the states entering it. Moreover the governing classes of both of these states hated every- thing that savored of democracy. The Frankfort Parliament failed and the two streams of tendency, so characteristic of the century, the tendency toward unity and the tendency toward democracy were dammed up for a long while in Ger- many. Indeed the tendency toward democracy has remained dammed up to this very day. While unity was achieved a generation later, popu- lar self-government has not yet been achieved. The Parliament failed, to some extent because of the mistakes of its members, but chiefly because of the resolute opposition Hostility of of the princes of Germany, and, in particular, of Prussia *^^ German and Austria. It however succeeded in drafting a consti- unity and tution of many high merits, a constitution nobly planned, democracy which guaranteed civil liberty to every German, equality before the 3oS CENTIL\L EUROPE IX REVOLT law, responsible parliamentary control for the central government and for the government of the separate states. It was decided that the new German nation should have the same boundaries as the old Confederation, a decision wliich displeased Austria as she wished to be included with all her territories, not with simply a part of them. A most important question was what should be the form of the new government and who should be the executive? Should there be an emperor or a president or a board, and if an emperor, should his office be hereditan.-, or for Ufe, or for a term of years? Should he be the monarch of Prussia or Austria, or should first one and then the other rule? The final decision was that Germany should be an hereditarj^ empire, and on March 28, 1849, the King of Prussia was chosen to be its head. Austria annoimced curtly that she "would neither let herself be expelled from the German Confederation, nor let her German pro\-inces be separated from the indivisible monarchy." The center of interest now shifted to Berlin, whither a delegation went to ofier to Frederick William IV the imperial crown of a united Germany. Would he accept it? If he would, the new scheme to which twenty-eight minor states had already assented would go into force, though this might involve a war with Austria, by this time largely re- covered from her various troubles. Frederick William IV had declared in 1847 that he was willing to settle the German question, "with Austria, without Austria, yes, if need be, against Austria." Now, however, he was in a ver\- different mood. He declined the offer of the Frankfort Parhament. The reasons were varied. Austria protested that she would never accept a subordinate position, and this protest alarmed him. And he disliked the idea of receiving a crown from a revolutionary assembly; rather, in his opinion, ought such a gift to come from his equals, the princes of Germany. Thus the two great German powers, Austria and Prussia, rejected the work of the Frankfort Parliament. Rebuffed in such high quarters. Rejection of that body was vmable to impose its constitution upon the work of Germanv, and it finallv ended its existence wretchedly, the Frank- . ' ' ' • , 1 i • -r. fort Pariia- In session for over a year it accomphshed nothmg. But ^^'^^ the responsibihty for the failure of Germans to achieve a real unity in 1S4S and 1849 rests primarily not with it, but with the rulers of Prussia and Austria. The collapse of the Frankfort Parliament was a bitter disappoint- THE PARLIAMENT OF FRANKFORT 309 S S 3IO CEXTR-\L EmOPE EN' REVOLT ment. It drove a number of the more radical Germans to a bold and desperate attempt to establish a republic by force of arms, since these monarchs of Germany spumed the work of the Parliament, An insurrection broke out in southwest Germany, a section devoted to the cause of liberty. The r^ular troops of Baden joined the insur- A republican gents, and the movement spread down the Rhine. ''Some ^^^^s of the noblest and most generous spirits in Germany were to be foimd in this last and most desperate venting to maintain the cause of liberal unity against the sinister opposition of the German crowns. It was all in \-ain. Democratic idealism fell, not for the hrst or last time, before the trained battalions of Prussia." ^ The repubh- cans were shot down or dispersed by Prussian troops in May, 1S40. The repubUcan part}.- in Germany Ijas never recovered from this blow. For men who held democratic and republican ideas and ideals in- tensely there was no hope in Germany. Many, not willing to abandon their con\-ictions, their behef in Hbert}-, not wishing to of™G^Sfln ^^'^ under a regime which denied the most elementary- Liberals to rights to indi\-iduals, moreover not safe in such states and States^ not desired, had only the sad resoiurce of lea\-ing the land of their birth, esteeming liberty" more precious than sub- jection to absolute monarchs. One of these was Carl Schurz, a Prussian, whose part in the revolution of 1S4S was most romantic and honorable. He. like many others, emigrated to the United States, with a hea\-}' heart, because he believed that the cause of hbert}- was lost in Germany and in Europe, and that he had to make the poignant choice between liberty- and his native land. Great was the gain of America. If these men could not have democratic institutions at home they would find them in the New World and could enjoy the opp>ortunities they ensure. The King of Prussia had refused the headship of a imited Ger- many offered him by the Frankfort Parliament and had thus rendered its labors fruitless. But he now attempted to seciu-e the leadership in another way, proposing a union of the purely German states imder his own direction. This meant the exclusion of Austria, so largely non- German in her composition. Most of the smaller states joined this Prussian Union (1849). This action brought Pnissia into sharp conflict with Austria, which had no desire to be edged out of Germany and which naturally resented this attempt of Prussia to snatch the leader- ^ Fisher, The Rfpuhlican Tradition in Europe, p. 265. PRUSSL\'S ELECTOR-\L SYSTEM 311 ship away from her. Austria, therefore, haNTiig finally set her Hun- garian house in order, peremptorily ordered the King of Prussia to abandon his schemes, which he forthwith did. This was the famous "humiliation of Olmiitz."' Austria then demanded that ttip "h nmii - the old German Confederation of 181 5, which had been iation of suspended in 1848, be revived with its Diet at Frank- "^ fort. This was done in 185 1. Austria was stronger than e\-er in the Diet. The short-Uved Prussian Union was dissolved. The permanent results of this mid-centurjMipiising pi central Europe were__veryi.ilight. EverA.-^-here the old governments slipped back into " the old grooves and resiuned the old traditions. Two « . , states, however, emerged with constitutions which they the revolu- kept, Sardinia, whose Constitutional Statute granted ^°°^ ° by Charles Albert on March 4, 1S48, established a real constitu- \ tional and parliamentary- government, the only one in Italy: and Prussia, whose Constitution issued by the King in its final form in 1850 was far less liberal, yet sufficed to range Prussia among the constitu- j tional states of Etnope. By it the old absolutism of the state was / changed, at least in form. There was henceforth a parliament consist- ing of two chambers. In one respect this docimaent was a bitter disapn pointment to all Liberals. In the ^Nlarch Days of 1848 the King had promised universal suffrage, T^ut the Constitution as finally promulgated rendered it illuson,-. It established a system unique in the world. Uni- versal suffrage was not withdrawn, but was mar\-elouslv „ . . ' Prossia's manipulated. The voters were di\-ided in each electoral three -class district throughout Prussia into three classes, according to system of . . election wealth. The amount of taxes paid by the district was ' divided into three equal parts. Those voters who paid the first third were grouped into one class, those, more numerous, who paid the second third into another class, those who paid the remainder into still another class. The result w£ls that a few ver\- rich men were set apart by them- selves, the less rich by themselves, and the poor by themselves. Each of these three groups, voting separately, elected an equal mmaber of delegates to a convention, which convention chose the delegates of that constitueno,- to the lower house of the Prussian Parliament. Thus in every electoral assembly two-thirds of the members belonged to the wealthy class. There was no chance in such a system for the poor, for the masses. This system, established by the Constitution of 1S50, still 312 CENTRAL EUROPE IN REVOLT exists in Prussia. It gives an enormous preponderance of political power to the rich. The first class consists of very few men, in some districts of only one; the second class is sometimes twenty times as numerous; \ the third sometimes a hundred, or even a thousand times. Thus though every man twenty-five years of age has the suffrage, the vote of a single rich man may have as great weight as the votes of a thousand work- ingmen. Thus is universal suffrage manipulated in such a way as to defeat democracy decisively and as to consolidate a privileged class in power, in the only branch of the government that has even the appear- ance of being liberal. Bismarck, no friend of Liberalism, once charac- terized this electoral system as the worst ever created. Its shrieking injustice is shown by the fact that in 1900 the Social Democrats, who actually cast a majority of the votes, secured only seven seats out of a total of nearly four hundred. REFERENCES Revolution in Austria: Fyffe, History of Modern Europe, pp. 707-718, 738-770; Andrews, Historical Development of Modern Europe, Vol. I, pp. 363-373; Seignobos, The Political History of Europe Since 1814, pp. 412-419; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XI, pp. 151-156. Kossuth: Thayer, W. R., Throne-Makers. Revolution of 1848 in Prussia: Henderson, Short History of Germany, Vol. II, pp. 348-352; Marriott and Robertson, The Evolution of Prussia, pj). 305-321; Fyffe, pp. 719-722, 785-789. The Parliament of Frankfort: Henderson, Vol. II, pp. 360-369; Marriott and Robertson, pp. 321-330; Fyffe, pp. 725-728, 781-783, 789-799; Priest, Germany Since 17^0, pp. 91-100. The Revolution of 1848 in Italy: Orsi, Modern Italy, pp. 160-215; Cesa- resco, Liberalion of Italy, pp. 91-164; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XI, pp. 79-95. CHAPTER XVII THE SECOND FRENCH REPUBLIC AND THE FOUNDING OF THE SECOND EMPIRE THE SECOND REPUBLIC The Second Republic lasted nominally nearly five years, from Feb- ruary 24, 1848, to December 2, 1852, when the Second Empire was proclaimed. Practically, however, as we shall see, it came to an end one year earlier, December 2, 1851. During history of the this period the state was administered successively by the Second Provisional Government, chosen on February 24th, and remaining in power for about ten weeks, then for about a year by the National Constituent Assembly, which framed the Constitution of the Republic, and then by the President and Legislative Assembly, created by this constitution. The history of the Republic was to be a very troubled one. The Provisional Government was from the first composed of two elements. The larger number, led by Lamartine, were simply Republi- cans, desirous of a republican form of government in place Xwo clc— of the monarchical. The other element was represented ments in the particularly by Louis Blanc who believed in a republic. Provisional , 1 , 1 1 • , • Government but as a means to an end, and that end a social, economic revolution; who wished primarily to improve the condition of the labor- ing classes, to work out in actual laws and institutions the socialistic theories propounded with such effectiveness during the later years of the reign of Louis Philippe, and particularly the principle represented in the famous phrase, "the right to employment." What he most de- sired was not a mere political change, but a thoroughgoing reconstruc- tion of society in the interest of the largest and weakest class, the poor, the wage-earners. The Provisional Government, divided as it was into Socialists and Anti-Socialists, ran the risk of all coalitions, that of being reduced to 313 314 THE SECOND FRENCH REPUBLIC impotence by internal dissensions. Conflicts between the two great ^jjg currents of opinion began on the very day of the procla- question of the flag mation of the Republic. Armed workmen came in im- mense numbers to the Hotel de Ville and demanded that henceforth the banner of France should be the red flag, emblem of So- cialism. Lamartine repelled this demand in a speech so brilliant and so persuasive that the workmen themselves stamped upon the red flag. But the Government, achieving an oratorical vic- tory, saw itself forced to yield to the socialist party in two important respects. On mo- tion of Louis Blanc, it recog- nized the so-called '' right to employment." It promised work to all citizens, and as a means to this end it estab- lished, against its own real wishes, the famous National Workshops. It also e s t a b - The Labor lished a Labor Commission Commission, with Blanc at its head and with its place of meeting the Luxembourg Palace. This was a mere debating society, a body to investigate economic questions and report to the Govern- ment. It had no power of action, or of putting its opinions into exe- cution. Moreover, by removing Louis Blanc from the Hotel de Ville to another part of Paris, the Government really reduced' his influence and that of his party. Naturally this irritated the Socialists. The National Workshops, too, were a source of ultimate disappoint- The National ment to those who had looked to them to solve the corn- Workshops pj^gx lo^Q^ problems of the modern industrial system. Conceded by the Provisional Government against its will, and to gain Lamartine in 1832 After a lithograph by Chasseriau. THE NATIONAL WORKSHOPS 315 time, that Government did not intend that they should succeed. Their creation was intrusted to the Minister of Commerce, Marie, a personal enemy of Louis Blanc, who, according to his own admission, was willing to make this experiment in order to render the latter unpopular and to show workingmen the fallacy of his theories of production, and the dangers of such theories for themselves. The scheme was represented as Louis Blanc's, though it was denounced by him, was established es- pecially to discredit him, and was a veritable travesty of his ideas. Blanc wished to have every man practice his own trade in real factories, started by state aid. They should be engaged in productive enterprises; moreover, only men of good character should be permitted to join these associations. Instead of this, the Government simply set men of the most varied sorts — cobblers, carpenters, metal workers, masons, to labor upon unproductive tasks, such as making excavations for public works. They were organized in a military fashion, and the wages were uniform, two francs a day. It was properly no system of production that was being tried, but a system of relief for the unemployed, who were very numerous owing to the fact that many factories had had to close because Their rapid of the generally disturbed state of affairs. The number of erowth men flocking to these National Workshops increased alarmingly: 25,000 in the middle of March; 66,000 in the middle of April; over 100,000 in May. As there was not work enough for all, the number of working days was reduced for each man to two a week, and his total wage for the week fixed at eight francs. The result was that large numbers of men were kept idle most of the time, were given wretched wages, and had plenty of time to discuss their grievances. They furnished excellent material for socialist agitators. This experiment wasted the public money, accomplished nothing useful, and led to a street war of the most appalling kind. The Provisional Government was, as the name signified, only a temporary organization whose duty was to administer the state until an assembly should be elected to frame a Constitution. . . ■ The The Provisional Government established universal suf- National frage and thus political power passed suddenly from the Constituent hands of about two hundred thousand privileged wealthy ^ persons to over nine million electors. The elections were held on April 23, and the National Constituent Assembly met on May 4, 1848. The 3i6 THE SECOND FRENCH REPUBLIC assembly consisted of nine hundred men, about eight hundred of them moderate Republicans. The Socialists had almost disappeared. The Assembly showed at once that it was bitterly opposed to the opinions of the Socialists of Paris. The Provisional Government now laid down its powers, and the Assembly chose five of its Assembly members, all Anti-Socialists, with Lamartine as the head, as hostile to i]^Q new executive until the Constitution should be drawn up. All these men had been opposed to Louis Blanc. The Government, believing that the National Workships were breeding-spots of Socialism and dangerous unrest, resolved to root them out. It an- Abolition of nounced their immediate abolition, giving the workmen the the National alternative of enrolling in the army or going into the or s ops country to labor on public works. If they did not leave voluntarily, they would be forced to leave. The laborers, goaded to desperation, prepared to resist and to overthrow this Government which they had helped bring into existence, and which had proved so unsym- pathetic. Organized as a semi-military force, angered at the hostility of the bourgeoisie to all helpful social reform that could make their lives easier, they began a bitter fight. The Assembly saw the terrible nature The June of the conflict impending. General Cavaignac was given ^*y^ dictatorial powers by the Assembly, the Executive Commis- mission of five resigning. During four June days (June 23-26, 1848) the most fearful street fighting Paris had ever known went on behind a baffling network of barricades. The issue was long doubtful, but finally the insurgents were put down. The cost was terrible. Ten thousand were killed or wounded. Eleven thousand prisoners were taken, and their deportation was immediately decreed by the Assembly. The June Days left among the poor an enduring legacy of hatred toward the bourgeoisie. The moderate republicans had definitely triumphed over the social- istic republicans. But so narrow had been their escape, so fearful were A military they for the future that the dictatorship of Cavaignac dictatorship ^^g continued until the end of October. Thus the Second j Republic, proclaimed in February, 1848, after ten troubled weeks under \ a Provisional Government, passed under military leadership for the \ next four months. One-man power was rapidly developing. \ The results of this socialist agitation and of the sanguinary Days of June were lamentable and far-reaching. The republic was immeasurably THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SECOND REPUBLIC 317 weakened by this dreadful fratricidal strife. It was gravely wounded in the house of its friends. After the suppression of the Socialists in June the Assembly pro- ceeded to frame the constitution, for which task it had been chosen. It proclaimed the Republic as the definitive government of ^^^ framing France. It declared universal suffrage. It provided that of the Con- there should be a legislature consisting of a single chamber, composed of 750 members, chosen for three years, to be renewed in full at the end of that period The executive was to be a president elected for four years and ineligible for reelection save after a four years' interval. He was given very considerable powers. It was felt that the jj^^ powers danger in giving him these would be neutralized by the of the shortness of his term and by his inability to be immedi- ately reelected. How he should be chosen was the most important question before the Constituent Assembly, and was long debated. The Assembly, dominated by its fundamental dogma of universal suffrage and popular sovereignty, was disposed to have the president chosen by all the voters. The danger in this procedure ^. . . . Discussion lay in the lack of political experience of the French elec- concerning torate, and the probability that they would be blinded ^^ presi- by some distinguished or famous name in making their choice, not guided by an intelligent analysis of character and of fitness for the high office. It was however decided that the people should choose the president and should be entirely untrammeled in their choice. In thus leaving the choice of the president to universal suffrage, this republican assembly was playing directly into the hands of a pretender to a throne, of a man who believed he had the right to rule France by reason of his birth, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, nephew of the Great Napoleon and legitimate heir to his preten- sions. At the time of the February Revolution this man was prac- tically without influence or significance, but so swiftly did events move and opinion shift in that year 1848 that by the time the mode of choos- ing the president was decided upon, he was already known to be a leading candidate, a fact which stamped that decision as all the more foolhardy. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte had become chief of the house of Bona- parte in 1832 at the age of twenty-four, on the death of Napoleon's son, 3i8 THE SECOND FRENCH REPUBLIC known as the "King of Rome." He was the son of Louis, the former T • King of Holland. He conceived his position with utmost Napoleon seriousness. He. believed that he had a right to rule over Bonaparte France, and that the day would come when he would. He adhered to this belief for sixteen years, though those years brought him no practical encouragement, but only the reverse. Gathering about him a few adventurers, he attempted in 1836, at Strassburg, and in 1840, at Boulogne, to seize power. Both attempts wera^uerile in their con- ception, and were bunglingly executed. Both ended in fiasco. He had gained the name of being ridiculous, a thing exceedingly difficult for Frenchmen to forgive or forget. As a result of the former attempt he had been exiled to the United States, from which country he shortly returned. As a result of the latter he was imprisoned in the fortress of Ham in northern France, from which he escaped in 1846, disguised as an ordinary mason, named Badinguet. He then went to England and in 1848, at the time of the Chartist risings, he was a special constable stationed in Trafalgar Square. This was certainly no record of achieve- ment. But the stars in their courses were fighting for him. The Revolu- tion of 1848 created his opportunity, as that of 1789 had created that of the First Napoleon. Like his great prototype, whom he constantly sought to imitate, he offered his services to the Republic. He was elected a member of the Constituent Assembly, where the impression he created was that of a mediocre man, with few ideas of his own, A member of the who could probably be controlled by others. His name, Constituent however, was a name to conjure with. This was his only capital, but it was sufficient. The word Naploeon was seen to be a marvelous vote-winner with the peasants, who, now that universal suffrage was the law of the land, formed the great majority. "How should I not vote for this gentleman," said a peasant to Monta- lembert, "I whose nose was frozen at Moscow?" Louis Napoleon was A candidate ^^ avowed candidate for the presidency, and, as the most for the colorless, was the strongest. Cavaignac was the candidate of the democratic Republicans, who had governed France since February, but he was now hated by the workingmen for his part in the June Days. Thus when the presidential election was held in December, 1848, Louis Napoleon was overwhelmingly chosen with over five million votes to Cavaignac's million and a half. The new President entered upon his duties December 20, 1848. On that day before the THE COUP D'fiTAT OF 1851 319 Assembly he swore "to remain faithful to the democratic republic," and said: "My duty is clear. I will fulfil it as a man of honor. I shall regard as enemies of the country all those who endeavor to change by illegal means that which France has established." He kept his oath for nearly three years and then he broke it, because he wished to remain in power, having no desire to retire to private life; yet the Constitution forbade the reelection of the president at the end of the four-year term. Louis Napoleon therefore took a leaf out of the biography of Napoleon I, and climbed to power by carrying through a coup d'etat, far more skill- fully than his uncle had engineered that of the 19th of Brumaire. The 2d of December, 185 1, anniversary of the coronation of Napo- leon I and of the battle of Austerlitz, was chosen as the fateful day. During the early morning hours many of the military and The civil leaders of France, republican and monarchist, were ^°"P d'etat arrested in bed and taken to prison. A battalion of infantry was sent to occupy the Legislati\e Chamber. Placards were posted on all the walls of Paris, pretending to explain the President's purposes, which included a remodeling of the constitution in the direction of the system estabHshed by Napoleon I at the time of the Consulate. "This system, created by the First Consul at the beginning of the century, has already given to France repose and prosperity; it will guarantee them to her .again." The people were called upon to approve or disapprove these suggestions. The significance of all this was at first not apparent to those who read the placards. But signs of opposition began to show themselves as their meaning became clearer. Some of the deputies, Events of going to their hall of meeting, found entrance prevented l^ecember 2 by the military. Withdrawing to another place, and proceeding to impeach the President, they were attacked by the troops, who arrested a large number, and took them off to prison. Thus the leaders of France, civil and military, were in custody, and the President saw no organized authority erect before him. This was the work of December 2. Would the people resent the high-handed acts of this usurper? The President had not neglected to make unprecedented prepara- tions for this contingency. His police controlled all the printing estab- Hshments, whence usually in periods of crisis emerged flaming appeals to revolt; also all the bell towers, whence in revolutionary times the tocsin was accustomed to ring out the appeal to insurrection. Never- 320 THE SECOND FRENCH REPUBLIC theless, on the 3d, barricades were raised. On the 4th occurred the famous "massacre of the boulevards." Over 150 were killed and a large number wounded. Paris was cowed. The coup d'etat « massacre was crowned with success. To prevent any possible rising of the ^^ Qf the provinces martial law was proclaimed in thirty- two departments, thousands of arbitrary arrests were made, and the work on which the Prince President entered on the night of December 2d was thoroughly carried out. Probably a hundred thou- sand arrests were made throughout France. All who appeared dangerous to Louis Napoleon were either transported, exiled, or imprisoned. This vigorous policy was aimed particularly at the Republicans, who were for years completely silenced. Having thus abolished all opposing leadership, Louis Napoleon ap- pealed to the people for their opinion as to intrusting him with power The to remodel the Constitution along the lines indicated in plebiscite j^jg proclamation. On December 20, 7,439,216 voted in favor of so doing, and only 640,737 voted in the negative. While the election was in no sense fair, while the issue presented was neither clear nor simple, while force and intimidation were resorted to, yet it was evident that a large majority of Frenchmen were willing to try again the experiment of a Napoleon. The Republic, though officially continuing another year, was now dead. Louis Napoleon, though still nominally President, was in fact an absolute sovereign. It was a mere detail when a year Napoleon III, Em- later (November 21, 1852) the people of France were per- ^^^^I'P^'^' mitted to vote on the question of reestablishing the impe- 2, 1852 rial dignity, and of proclaiming Louis Napoleon Bonaparte emperor, under the name of Napoleon III. 7,824,189 Frenchmen voted yes; 253,145 voted no. On the anniversary of the coup d'etat, Decem- ber 2, a day so fortunate for Bonapartes, Napoleon III was proclaimed Emperor of th e French, and the Second Empire was established. THE SECOND EMPIRE The President who, by the endless witchery of a name, by a profit- able absence of scruples, and by favorable circumstances, had known how to become an Emperor, was destined to be the ruler of France and a leading figure in European politics for eighteen years. He an- nounced at the outset that what France needed, after so turbulent a THE INSTITUTIONS OF THE EMPIRE 321 The political institutions history, was government by an enlightened and benevolent despot. Then when the necessary work of reorganization had been ^. . . . The pro- carried through and the national life was once more in a gramme of healthy state, the autocratic would give way to a liberal ^® °^* form of government which the country would then be in a condition to manage and enjoy. As a matter of fact the history of the Second Empire falls into these two divisions — auto- cracy unlimited from 1852 to i860, and a growing liberal- ism from i860 to 1870, when the Empire collapsed, its pro- gramme woefully unrealized. The political institutions of the Empire were largely leased on those of the Consulate. The machinery °1 *^® •^ Empire was elaborate but was mainly designed to deceive the French people into thinking tliat they en- joyed self-government. The principle of universal suffrage was preserved but was ingen- iously rendered quite harm- less to the autocrat. There was a Legislative Body and there was a Senate, but their powers were very slight. The important fact was not the activity of these various bodies but of the one man. France was no longer a land of freedom. Since 1815 under the various regimes Parliament had been a serious factor in the life of the nation and men had had a training in political affairs. That promising development was now abrujHly stopped. Repression was the order of the day. Par- ticular ruthlessness was shown in the policy of crushing the republi- cans, as Napoleon III had a very clear instinct that they would never forgive him for overthrowing by violence the Republic which had honored him with its highest office and which he had solemnly sworn to protect from all enemies. Napoleon 111 322 THE SECOND FRENCH REPUBLIC i In politics a despot and a reactionary, stamping out every possible spark of independence, Napoleon was, howeyer,^ in many other ways progressive. Particularly did he seek to develop the wealth The Empire ^^ * :,. . ^. : - ._ both repres- 01 the country and his reign was one oi increasing economic sive and prosperity; manufactures, com merce^ b a nking ^ all were progressive ■ r — : . - greatly encouraged. It was a period of great business enter- prises and fortunes were made quickly, and of a size hitherto unknown in France. Paris was modernized and beautified on a most elaborate scale and became the most attractive and comfortable capital in Europe. In 1853 Napoleon III married a young Spanish lady of remarkable beauty and of n,oble birth. Mile. Eugenie de Montijo, "a marriage of love" as the Emperor told the French people. The Tuileries imme- diately became the center of a court life the most brilliant and luxurious of the nineteenth century. In 1856 Napoleon III was at the zenith of his power. The Empire had been recognized by all the other states of Europe. The Emperor jjjg had, with England and Piedmont as allies, waged a suc- Congress of cessful war against Russia in the Crimea.^ He was supposed ' to have the best army in Europe, and he was honored in the face of all the world by having Paris chosen as the seat of the congress which drew up the treaties at the end of that war. And now an heir was born to him, the Prince Imperial, as interesting in his day and as ill-fated as the King of Rome had been in his. Fortune seemed to have emptied her full horn of plenty upon the author of the coup d'etat. But the Empire had already reached its apogee, though this was not evident for some time. Had Napoleon limited his activity to the The foreign improvement and development of conditions at home his policy of reign might have continued successful and advantageous. But he adopted a showy and risky foreign policy, whose consequences he did not foresee and which in the end entangled him in hopeless embarrassments and led directly to the violent and tragic over- throw of his Empire and the endless humiUation and suffering of France. The foreign policy reacted, after i860, upon the home policy in a decided manner. The beginning of Napoleon's serious troubles was his partici- pation in the Italian war of 1859. To understand the course of the Second Empire from i860 to 1870 1 See Chapter XXXIII. THE SECOND FRENXH REPUBLIC Empress Eugenie After the paintins by Winterhalter. 324 THE SECOND FRENCH REPUBLIC one must study the part played by Napoleon III in the making of modern Italy, the consequences of which were to be for him so unexpected, so far-reaching, and in the end so disastrous. And correctly to appraise that policy we must first trace the history of the rise of the Kingdom of Italy. REFERENCES The Second Republic: Fisher, The Republican Tradition in Europe, Chap. VIII, pp. 202-228; Lebon, Modern France, Chap. XI, pp. 261-290; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XI, Chap. V, pp. 96-141. The Napoleonic Legend: Fisher, Bonapartism, Chap. IV, pp. 64-79. Early Life or Louis Napoleon Bonaparte: Forbes, A., Life of Napoleon the Third, pp. 1-58. The Strassburg and Boulogne Incidents: Forbes, pp. 59-107. The Coup d'Etat: Murdock, Reconstruction of Europe, Chap. II, pp. 7-15; Forbes, Chap. VII, pp. 127-148; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XI, pp. 134-141. The Early Ye.^rs of the Empire: Fisher, pp. 80-99. \ CHAPTER XVIII THE MAKING OF THE KINGDOM OF IT.\LY Italy as we have seen was a land of small states, of arbitrary govern- ment, and of Austrian domination. The spirit of nationality, the spirit of freedom were nowhere recognized. Indeed, every effort j^^y lacking was made to stamp them out whenever they appeared, in unity and Thus far these efforts had been successful. They were now about to break down utterly and a noble and stirring movement of reform was to sweep over the peninsula in triumph, completely trans- forming and immensely enriching a land which, greatly endowed by nature, had been sadly treated by man. The deepest aspirations of the Italian people had finally found a voice, clear, bold, and altogether thrilling, in the person of Joseph Maz- zini. Mazzini was the spiritual force of the Italian Risor- jogg-jj gimento or resurrection; as this national movement was Mazzini ' (1805 1872) called, the prophet of a state that was not yet but was to be, destined from youth to feel with extraordinary intensity a holy mission imposed upon him. He was born in 1805 in Genoa, his father being a physician and a professor in the university. Even in his boy- hood he was morbidly impressed with the unhappiness and misery of his country. "In the midst of the noisy, tumultuous life of the students around me I was," he says, in his interesting though fragmentary auto- biography, "somber and absorbed and appeared like one suddenly grown old. I childishly determined to dress always in black, fancying myself in mourning for my country." As Mazzini grew up all his inclinations were toward a literary life. "A thousand visions of historical dramas and romances floated before my mental eye." But this dream he abandoned, "my first great sacri- fice," for political agitation. He joined the Carbonari, not because he approved even then of their methods, but because at least they were a revolutionary organization. As a member of it, he was arrested in 1830. The governor of Genoa told Mazzini's father that his son was "gifted 325 326 MAKING OF THE KINGDOM OF ITALY with some talent," but was "too fond of walking by himself at night His impris- absorbed in thought. What on earth has he at his age to onment think about? We don't like young people thinking without our knowing the subject of their thoughts." Mazzini was imprisoned in the fortress of Savona. Here he could only see the sky and the sea, "the two grandest things in Nature, except the Alps," he said. After sLx months he was released, but was forced to leave his country. For nearly all of forty years he was to lead the bitter life of an exile in France, in Switzerland, but chiefly in England, which became his second home. After his release from prison Mazzini founded in 1831 a society, /"Young Italy," destined to be an important factor in making the new Founder of Italy. The Carbonari had led two revolutions and had "Young failed. Moreover, he disliked that organization as being V- ^ merely destructive in its aim, having no definite plan of \ reconstruction. "Revolutions," he said, "must be made by the people ' and for the people." His own society must be a secret organization; j otherwise it would be stamped out. But it must not be merely a body of conspirators; it must be educative, groselyting, seeking to win Ital- ians by its moral and intellectual ferA-or to an idealistic view of life, a self-sacrificing sense of duty. Only those under forty were to be ad- mitted to membership, because his appeal was particularly to the young. "Place youth at the head of the insurgent multitude," he said; "you know not the secret of the power hidden in these youthful hearts, nor the magic influence exercised on the masses by the voice of youth. You will find among the young a host of apostles of the new religion." With Mazzini the liberation and unification of Italy was indeed a new reli- ^jjg gion, appealing to the loftiest emotions, entailing complete methods of self-sacrifice, complete absorption in the ideal, and the socie y young were to be its apostles. Theirs was to be a mission- ary life. He told them to travel, to bear from land to land, from village to village, the torch of liberty, to expound its advantages to the people, to establish and consecrate the cult. Let them not quail before the hor- rors of torture and imprisonment that might await them in the holy cause. "Ideas grow quickly when watered with the blood of martyrs." Never did a cause have a more dauntless leader, a man of purity of life, a man of imagination, of poetry, of audacity, gifted, moreover, with a mar\'elous command of persuasive language and with burning enthusiasm in his heart. The response was overwhelming. By 1833 the society GIUSEPPE MAZZINI 327 reckoned 60,000 members. Branches were founded everywhere. Gari- baldi, whose name men were later to conjure with, joined it on the shores of the Black Sea. This is the romantic proselyting movement of the nineteenth century, all the more remarkable from the fact that its mem- bers were unknown men, bring- ing to their work no advantage of wealth or social position. But, as their leader w'rote later, "All great national movements begin with the un- known men of the people, without influence except for the faith and will that counts not time or difficulties." The programme of this society was clear and em- phatic. First, The aims Austria must be of the driven out. This ^°"®^ was the condition precedent to all success. War must come — the sooner the better. Let not Italians rely on the aid of foreign governments, upon di- plomacy, but upon their own unaided strength. Austria could not stand against a nation of twenty millions fighting for their rights. "The only thing wanting to twenty millions of Italians, desirous of emancipating themselves, is not power, but faith,'" he said. At a time when the obstacles seemed insuperable, when but few Italians dreamed of unity even as an ultimate ideal, Mazzini declared that it was a practicable ideal, that the seemingly impos- j^^^ a sible was easily possible if only Italians' would dare to show practicable their power; and his great significance in Italian history is that he succeeded in imparting his burning faith to multitudes of others. Mazzini was a republican and he wished his country, when united, to be a republic. That a solution of the Italian problem lay in combining the existing states into a federation he did not for a moment believe. Joseph Mazzini. 328 MAKING OF THE KINGDOM OF ITALY Every argument for federation was a stronger argument for unity. "Never rise in any other name than that of Italy and of all Italy." Mazzini worked at a great disadvantage as he was early expelled from his own country and was compelled to spend nearly all his lifetime as an exile in London, hampered by paltry resources, and cut off from that intimate association with his own people which is so essential to effective leadership. Italy was not made as Mazzini wished it to be, as we shall see; never- theless is he one of the chief of the makers of Italy. He and the society he founded constituted a leavening, quickening force in the realm of ideas. Around them grew up a patriotism for a country that existed as yet only in the imagination. But to many serious students of the Italian problem Mazzini seemed far too radical; seemed a mystic and a rhetorician full of resounding and thrilling phrases, but with little practical sense. Men of conserva- tive temperament could not follow him. There was a considerable variety of opinion. Some believed in independence as fervidly as did A variety ^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ believe in the possibility of Italian unity, of opinions for Italy had been too long divided, the divisions were too p opos deep-seated. Some believed, not in a single state of Italy but in a federation of the various states, with the Pope as president or leader. Others criticised this as a preposterous idea and denounced the Pope's government of his own states in scathing terms. Still others held that Italy was not at all republican in sentiment but was thor- oughly monarchical and that a monarchy would be the natural form of its government. Some argued that, as it was impossible to drive the Austrians out, they should be included in the federation; and some thought that, though the Austrians could not be driven out, they might be bribed to leave by being offered fat pickings in the Balkan peninsula at the expense of the Turks. Austria might thus, for a consideration, make Italy a present of her independence, certainly a fanciful idea. Out of this fermentation of ideas grew a more vigorous spirit of unrest, of dissatisfaction, of aspiration. The events of 1848 and 1849 gave a decided twist to Italian evolu- Reaction in ^^o^- At one moment Italy had appeared to be on the Italy after yery point of achieving her independence and her unity. Then the reverses had come and she relapsed into her for- mer condition. It seemed as if everything was to be as it had been, COUNT CAMILLO DI CAVOUR 329 only worse because of all these blasted hopes and fruitless struggles. But things were not exactly as they had been. In one quarter there was a change, emphatically for the better. One state in the peninsula formed a brilliant exception to this sorry system of reaction — Pied- mont. Though badly defeated on the battlefield at Custozza in 1848, and at Novara in 1840, it had gained an important moral victory. An Italian prince had risked his throne twice for the cause of Italian inde- pendence, conduct which for multitudes marked the House of Savoy as the leader of the future. Moreover, the king who had done this, Charles Albert, had also granted his people a constitution. He had abdicated after the battle of Novara, and his son, Victor Emmanuel II, then twenty- nine years of age, had come to the throne. Austria offered Victor Emmanuel easy terms of peace if he would abrogate this constitution, Austria not liking constitutions anywhere and particularly in a state that was a neighbor, and pros- pects of aggrandizement were dangled before him. He Emmanuel absolutely refused. This was a turning point in his career, \\J}^^^~ in the history of Piedmont, and in that of Italy. It won him the popular title of the Honest King. It made Piedmont the one hope of Italian Liberals. She was national and constitu- piedmont a tional. Henceforth her leadership was assured. For the constitutional next ten years her history is the history of the making of the Kingdom of Italy. Thither Liberals who were driven out of the other states took refuge, and their number was large. Victor Emmanuel was a brave soldier, a man, not of brilliant mind, but of sound and independent judgment, of absolute loyalty to his word, of intense patriotism. And he had from 1850 on, in his leading minister, Count Camillo di Cavour, one of the greatest statesmen and diplomatists of the nineteenth century. Cavour was born in 18 10. His family belonged to the nobility of Piedmont. He received a military education and joined the army as an engineer. But by his liberal opinions, freely expressed, qq^^^ he incurred the hostility of his superiors and was kept for Cavour a time in semi-imprisonment. He resigned his commis- sion in 1 83 1, and for the next fifteen years lived the life of a coun- try gentleman, developing his estates.- During these years, to vary the monotony of Existence, he visited France and England repeatedly, interested particularly in political and economic questions. He was 330 MAKING OF THE KINGDOM OF ITALY anxious to play a part in politics himself, though he saw no chance in a country as yet without representative institutions. "Oh! if I were an Englishman," he said, "by this time I should be something, and my name would not be wholly unknowTi." Meanwhile, he studied abroad the institutions he desired for his own country, particularly in political the English parliamentary system. Night after night he and econom- gg^|- [^ ^^le gallery of the House of Commons, seeking to make himself thoroughly familiar with its modes of pro- cedure. He welcomed with enthusiasm the creation in 1848 of a parlia- ment for Piedmont and of a constitution, which he had, indeed, been one of the boldest to demand. "Italy," he said, "must make herself by means of liberty, or we must give up trying to make her." This belief in parliamentary institutions Cavour held tenaciously all through his life, even when at times they seemed to be a hindrance to his policies. He believed that in the end, sooner or later, the people reach the truth Cavour °^ ^ matter. He was elected to the first Piedmontese Prime Min- Parliament, was taken into the cabinet in 1850, and be- came prime minister in 1852. He held this position for the remainder of his life, with the exception of a few weeks, proving him- self a great statesman and an incomparable diplomat. Cavour's mind was the opposite of Mazzini's, practical, positive, not poetical and speculative. He desired the unity and the independ- ence of Italy. He hated Austria as the oppressor of his country, as an oppressor everywhere. But, unlike Mazzini, he did not underesti- mate her power, nor did he overestimate the power of his own country- men. Cavoiu- beHeved, as did all the patriots, that Austria must be driven out of Italy before any Italian regeneration could be achieved. But he did not believe with Mazzini and others that the Italians could accomplish this feat alone. In his opinion the history of the last forty years had shown that plots and insurrections would not avail. It was essential to win the aid of a great military power comparable in strength and discipline to Austria. Cavour considered that the only possible leader in the work of free- ing and unifying Italy was the House of Savoy and the L/3.V0U.r S66KS to make Piedmontese monarchy, and he felt that the proper gov- Piedmont a ernment of the new state, if it should ever arise, would be model state a constitutional monarchy. He wished to make Piedmont a model state so that, when the time came, the Italians of other states THE PERSONALITY OF CAVOUR 331 would recognize her leadership and join in her exaltation as best for them all. Piedmont had a constitution and the other states had not. He saw to it that she had a free political life and received a genuine training in self-government. Also he bent every energy to the development of the economic resources of his kingdom, by encouraging manufactures, by stimulating commerce, by modernizing agriculture, by building railroads. In a word he sought to make and did make Piedmont a model small state, liberal and progressive, hoping thus to win for her the Italians of the other states and the interest and approval of the countries and rulers of western Europe. The fundamental purpose, the constant preoccupation of this man's life, determining every action, prompting every wish, was to gain a Great Power as an ally. In the pur- suit of this elusive and su- premely difi&cult object, year in, year out, Ca- cavour an VOUr displayed his incomparable measure as a diplomat, and stood forth finally without a ^p°™^ peer. It is a marvelously absorbing story, from which we are precluded here because it cannot be properly presented except at length. The reader must go elsewhere for the details of this fascinating record, in which were combined, in rare harmony, sound judgment, practical sense, powers of clear, subtle, penetrating thought, unfailing attention to prosaic details, with imagination, audacity, courage, and iron nerve. A profound and accurate knowledge of the forces and personalities in the political life of Italy and of Europe, tact and sureness in appreciating the shifting scenes of the international stage, never-failing resourceful- ness in the service of a steady purpose, such were some of the character- istics of this master in statecraft- and diplomacy. Though the minister Cavour From a lithograph by Desmaisons. 332 MAKING OF THE KINGDOM OF ITALY of a petty state of only five million people, his was the most dynamic personality in Europe. Cavour was seeking an ally. He saw that the field was limited. It must be either England or France. The former country had no large Cavour seeks ^.rmy and was disposed to keep itself as free from Euro- a military pean entanglements as possible. France on the other ^ ^ hand was supposed to have the best army in Europe and her ruler, Napoleon III, was an ambitious and adventurous person. ''Whether we like it or not," said Cavour "our destinies de- pend upon France." He sought to ingratiate himself with Napoleon. The Crimean War gave an opportunity. Piedmont made mont parti'c- ^^^ unconditional and very risky alliance in 1855 with ipated in France and England, then at war with Russia, and ren- •^^ "° dered a distinct service to them. They in turn rendered her the service of securing her admittance to the Congress of Paris which terminated that war, of thus securing her recognition as an equal among the powers of Europe. They also gave Cavour a chance to discuss the Italian question in an international gathering in which Austria sat. Two years later Cavour received his great reward. Napoleon III bade him come to Plombieres, a watering place in the Vosges moun- tains, where the Emperor was taking the cure. And view at there in a famous carriage drive which these two took Plombieres through the forests of the Vosges, Napoleon holding the 1858) ' reins, and in subsequent interviews, they plotted to bring about a war which should result in driving Austria out of Italy. Italy was to be freed "from the Alps to the Adriatic." Piedmont should be given Lombardy and Venetia and a part of the Papal States. The Italian states should then be united in a confederation, with the Pope as president. France should receive Savoy, and possibly Nice. Such was the understanding of Plombieres. The motives that in- fluenced Napoleon to take this step which was to be momentous for III ^™s6lf as well as for Italy were numerous. The principle and the of nationality which he held tenaciously, and which largely ^"t""irtv^ determined the foreign policy of his entire reign, prompted him in this direction — the principle, namely, that people of the same race and language had the right to be united politically if they wished to be. Further, Napoleon had long been interested in THE PEACE OF VILLAFIL^NCA 333 Italy. He had himself taken part in the revolutionary movements there in 183 1, and had probably been a member of the Carbonari. ISIore- over, it was one of his ambitions to tear up the treaties of 181 5, treaties that sealed the humiliation of the Napoleonic dynasty. These treaties still formed the basis of the Italian political system in 1858. Again, he was probably lured on by a desire to win glory for his throne, and there was always the chance, too, of gaining territory. Thus in 1859 there came about a war between Austria on the one hand and Piedmont and France on the other. The latter were victorious in two great battles, that of Magenta (June 4) and of The war Solferino (June 24). The latter was one of the greatest °^ ^®®® battles of the nineteenth century. It lasted eleven hours, more than 260,000 men were engaged, nearly 800 cannon. The Allies lost over 17,000 men, the Austrians about 22,000. All Lombardy was conquered', and Milan was occupied. It seemed that Venetia could be easily over- run and the termination of Austrian rule in Italy effected, and Napo- leon's statement that he would free Italy "from the Alps to the Adriatic" accomplished. Suddenly Napoleon halted in the full tide of success, sought an interview with the Emperor of Austria at Villa- ^j^^ pj.g_ franca, and there on July nth, without consulting the liminaries of wishes of his ally, concluded a famous armistice. The terms ' ^ ranca agreed upon by the two Emperors were: that Lombardy should pass to Piedmont, that Austria should retain Venetia, that the Italian states should form a confederation, that the rulers of Tuscany and Modena should be restored to their states, whence they had just been driven by popular uprisings. Why had Napoleon stopped in the middle of a successful campaign, and before he had accomplished the object for which he had come into Italy? The were several reasons. He had been shocked Reasons for by the horrors of the battlefield. He saw that the comple- Napoleon's tion of the conquest of Austria meant a far larger sacrifice of life. Prussia was preparing to intervene. Moreover Napoleon be- came apprehensive about the results of his policy. If it should end in the creation of a strong national kingdom, as seemed likely, would not this be dangerous to France? A somewhat enlarged Piedmont was one thing, but a kingdom of all Italy, neighbor to France, was something very different. The news of the peace came as a cruel disappointment to the Ital- 334 MAKING OF THE KINGDOM OF ITALY ians, dashing their hopes just as they were apparently about to be real- ized! The Government of Victor Emmanuel had not even been consulted. In intense indignation at the faithlessness of Napoleon, overwrought by the excessive strain under which he had long been laboring, Cavour completely lost his self-control, urged desperate measures upon the King and, when they were declined, in a fit of rage, threw up his office. Resignation' The King by overruHng Cavour showed himself wiser than of Cavovir his gifted minister. As disappointed as the latter, he saw more clearly than did Cavour that though Piedmont had not gained all that she had hoped to, yet she had gained much. It was wiser to take what one could get and bide the future th^n to imperil all by some mad course. Here was one of the great moments where the independ- ence and common sense of Victor Emmanuel were of great and enduring service to his country. Napoleon had not done all that he had planned for Italy, yet he had rendered a very important service. He had secured Lombardy for Piedmont. It should also be noted that he himself Squi^eT acknowledged that the failure to carry out the whole Lombardy programme had canceled any claim he had upon the annexation of Savoy and Nice to France. But the future of Italy was not to be determined solely by the Em- peror of France and the Emperor of Austria. The people of Italy had their own ideas and were resolved to make them heard. During the war, so suddenly and unexpectedly closed, the rulers of Modena, Parma, Tuscany had been overthrown by popular uprisings and the Pope's Central Ital authority in Romagna, the northern part of his domin- JtV ^^ ions, had been destroyed. The people who had accom- vuiafranca pushed this had no intention of restoring the princes they had expelled. They defied the two Emperors who had decided at Villa- franca that those rulers should be restored. In this they were supported En land's diplomatically by the English Government. This was Eng- pSicrpation land's great service to the Italians. "The people of the in affairs duchies have as much right to change their sovereigns," said Lord Palmerston, "as the English people, or the French, or the ,. , Belgian, or the Swedish. The annexation of the duchies to Annexation of & ' j t^ i " t^v. the duchies Piedmont will be an unfathomable good to Italy. i ne to Piedmont p^^p^g ^f ^^ese states voted almost unanimously in favor of annexation (March 11-12, i860). Victor Emmanuel accepted the 8 ciOothardPas. ••> longilufte E ast yZCvof wm Squired br Sardinia, hyTreafy-of ^ ZvruA, Mk W'M859. I TT I JnnAm/m loSnrdiiDa'.rotcdhi/ ^^^^ r/fihisrilt's, . Star. II, k I 'J, ISfJO. rfffw^iuu'.rolimi to,')ar(linin.yiMbr ^=^***^ I'IMscites, Mjv.'t, <(■ 4 1860. I rrT '■•I/nii'.ralion lo Snn/iiiin, vokdby LJiJ rit'lmrifcs; Oct. :ilV, IStlO :Ji//H:v/ilirm li>I,'ino'1''in orjlnl}'; l/M/>j-JW>lirdn; Oct. 2i,i-22, mb'. l-r/r I .-t/i/tt'.ir/tion to h'iimdimi of Italy, LJLLJ Vntii/ihi- Pliih)';r)tp f)rt i> M7/J " Voti'd hy rietiisntp, 0(1.2,1870. ' Ceded toFranrf, . Marcli, 1860. Cerkd toD-ame,Mnrrh, MO. ^'•"fi^} Marsaity '^atO, ANNEXATIONS TO PIEDMONT 335 sovereignty thus offered him, and on April 2, i860, the first pariia^ ment of the enlarged kingdom met in Turin. A small state of less than 5,000,000 had grown to one of 11,000,000 within a year. This was the most important change in the political system of Europe since 1815. As far as Italy was concerned it made waste paper of the treaties of 181 5. It constituted the most damaging breach made thus far in the work of the Congress of Vienna. What that congress had decided w^as to be a mere "geographical expression" was now a nation in formation. And this was being accomplished by the triumphant assertion of two prin- ciples utterly odious to the monarchs of 181 5, the right of revolution and the right of peoples to determine their own destinies for themselves, for these annexations were the result of war and of plebiscites. Napoleon III acquiesced in all this, taking for himself Cession of Savoy and Nice in return for services rendered. The ^^"^^ ^^^ ■' . Nice to Peace of Villafranca was never enforced. France THE CONQUEST OF THE KINGDOM OF NAPLES Much had been achieved in the eventful year just described, but much remained to be achieved before the unification of Italy should be complete. Venetia, the larger part of the Papal States, and the King- dom of Naples still stood outside. In the last, however, events now occurred which carried the process a long step forward. Early in i860 the Sicilians rose in revolt against the despotism of their The Sicilian new king, Francis II. This insurrection created an oppor- Insurrection tunity for a man already famous but destined to a wonderful exploit and to a memorable service to his country, Giuseppe Garibaldi, already the most popular military leader in Italy, and invested with a half mythical character of in\'incibility and daring, the result of a very spectacular, romantic career. Garibaldi was born at Nice in 1807. He was therefore two years younger than Mazzini and three years older than Cavour. Destined by his parents for the priesthood he- preferred the sea, and for Giuseppe many years he lived a roving and adventurous sailor's Garibaldi, life. He early joined "Young Italy." His military ex- perience was chiefly in irregular, guerilla fighting. He took part in the unsuccessful insurrection organized by ^lazzini in Savoy in 1834, and as a result was condemned to death. He managed to escape to South America where, for the next fourteen years, he was an exile. He partic- 336 MAKING OF THE KINGDOM OF ITALY ipated in the abundant wars of the South American states with the famous ''Itahan Legion," which he organized and commanded. Learn- ing of the uprising of 1848 he returned to Italy, though still under the The defense, penalty of death, and immediately thousands flocked to of Rome ^^g standard of the "hero of Montevideo" to fight under him against the Austrians. After the failure of that campaign he went, iu 1849, to Rome to assume the military defense of the republic. When the city was about to fall he escaped with four thousand troops, intend- ing to attack the Austrian power in Venetia. French and Austrian armies pursued him. He succeeded in evading them, but his army dwindled away rapidly and the chase became so hot that he was forced to escape to the Adriatic. When he landed later, his enemies were im- mediately in full cry again, hunting him through forests and over moun- tains as if he were some dangerous game. It was a wonderful exploit, rendered tragic by the death in a farmhouse near Ravenna, of his wife Anita, who was his companion in the camp as in the home, and who was as high-spirited, as daring, as courageous as he. Garibaldi finally es- caped to America and began once more the life of an exile. But his story, shot through and through with heroism and chivalry and ro- mance, moved the Italian people to unwonted depths of enthusiasm and admiration. For several years Garibaldi was a wanderer, sailing the seas, com- mander of a Peruvian bark. For some months, indeed, he was a candle maker on Staten Island, but in i8t;4 he returned to Italy Leader of . . "The Hunt- and Settled down as a farmer on the little island of Ca- ers of the prera. But the events of 1859 once more brought him out of his retirement. Again, as a leader of volunteers, he plunged into the war against Austria and immensely increased his repu- tation. He had become the idol of soldiers and adventurous spirits from one end of Italy to the other. Multitudes were ready to follow in blind confidence wherever he might lead. His name was one to conjure with. Determines There now occurred, in i860, the most brilliant episode of to go to his career, the Sicilian expedition and the campaign against ^*^ ^ the Kingdom of Naples. For Garibaldi, the most redoubt- able warrior of Italy, whose very name was worth an army, now de- cided on his own account to go to the aid of the Sicilians who had risen in revolt against their king, Francis II of Naples. On May 5, i860, the expedition of "The Thousand," the "Red GARIBALDI CONQUERS NAPLES 337 "The Thousand ' Shirts," embarked from Genoa in two steamers. These were the volun- teers, nearly i,iso men, whom Garibaldi's fame had caused ^, ^ ' J ' J ' The Expe- to rush into the new adventure, an adventure that seemed dition of at the moment one of utter folly. The King of Naples had 24,000 troops in Sicily and 100,000 more on the main- land. The odds against success seemed overwhelming. But fortune favored the brave. After a campaign of a few weeks, in which he was several times in great danger, and was only saved by the most reck- less fighting, Garibaldi stood master of the island, helped by the Si- cilian insurgents, by vol- unteers who had flocked from the mainland, and by the incompetency of the commanders of the Neapolitan troops. Au- dacity had won the vic- tory. He assumed the position of Dictator in Sicily in the name of Vic- tor Emmanuel II (Au- gust 5, i860). Garibaldi now crossed the straits to the main- land deter- conquest of mined to the Kingdom ,1 of Naples conquer the entire Kingdom of Na- ples (August 19, i860). The King still had an army of 100,000 men, but it had not even the strength of a frail reed. There was practically no bloodshed. The Neapolitan Kingdom was not overthrown; it collapsed. Treachery, de- sertion, corruption did the work. On September 6th, Francis II left ( 1 \i^" - - * II- - Victor Emmanuel II From the engraving by Metzmacher. THE KINGDOM OF IT.\LY PROCLAIMED 339 Victor Emmanuel completed the conquest which Garibaldi had alone carried so far. The people in the .Marches, Umbria, The annexa- and the Kingdom of Naples voted overwhelmingly in ^0° °^ lavor of annexation to the new Kingdom of Italy, which ^hal'^^^'e had been created in this astonishing fashion. Mar'ches On the iSth of February, 1861, a new Parliament, representing all Italy except Venetia and Rome, met in Turin. The Kingdom of -irdinia now gave way to the Kingdom of Italy, pro- ^j^''„. claimed on March 17. Victor Emmanuel II was declared dom ofTtliy ■"by the grace of God and the will of the nation, Kincr Proclaimed of Italy." ' "^ A new kmgdom, comprismg a population of about twenty- two millions, had arisen during a period of eighteen months, and now took Its place among the powers of Europe. But the Kingdom of Italy was still incomplete. Venetia was stHl Austrian and Rome was stiU subject to the Pope. The acquisition of these had to be postponed. Nevertheless, Cavour felt that "without Rome there was no Italy " He was working on a scheme which he hoped might reconcile the Pope and the Catholic world everythere to the recognition of Rome as the capital of the new kingdom, when he suddenlv fell ill. Over\N-ork the extraordinary pressure under which he had for months been laboring brought on msomnia; finally fever developed and he died Death of on the morning of June 6th, 1861, in the verj- prime of Cavour hfe, for he was only fifty-one years of age. ^^ "Cavour," said Lord Palmerston, in the British House of Commons left a name 'to point a moral and adorn a tale.' The moral was that a man of transcendent talent, indomitable industr^', inextinguishable patriotism, could overcome difficulties which seenjed insurmountable and confer the greatest, the most inestimable benefits on his countrv' The tale ^^'lth which his memory- would be associated was the most ex-traordinary, the most romantic, in the annals of the worid. A people which had seemed dead had arisen to new and vigorous life, breakmg the destinT ' '^' ^""^ '^'''''^''^ '^'"^ ""'"'^^^ ""^ ^ "^''' ^^^ 'P^^"^^^ Throughout his life Cavour remained faithful to his fundamental political principle, government by parhament and by constitutional torms Lrged at ^•arlous times to assume a dictatorship he repHed that he had no confidence m dictatorships. "I alwavs feel strongest " he 340 MAKING OF THE KINGDOM OF ITALY said, "when Parliament is sitting." "I cannot betray my origin, deny the principles of all my life," he wrote in a private letter not intended for the public. "I am the son of liberty and to her I owe all that I am. If a veil is to be placed on her statue, it is not for me to do it." REFERENCES Mazzini and Young Italy: Holland, Builders of United Italy, pp. 125-164; Marriott, Makers of Modern Italy; Thayer, Dawn of Italian Independence, Vol. I, pp. 379-403; Bolton King, Joseph Mazzini; Thayer, Italica. Cavour: Holland, pp. 165-222; Marriott, Makers of Modern Italy; Cesaresco, Cavour (best brief biography); Thayer, Cavour (best biography of Cavour in any language, elaborate, authoritative, and very readable). Garibaldi: Holland, pp. 223-282; Marriott, Makers of Modern Italy; Thayer, Thro7ie-Makers. Early Life of Garibaldi: Trevelyan, Garibaldi's Defence of the Roman Republic, pp. 7^1. Garibaldi's Campaign of 1860: Murdock, Reconstruction of Modern Europe, Chap. XIII, pp. 156-177; Cesaresco, Liberation of Italy, Chaps. XIV-XVI, pp. 266- 339; Trevelyan, Garibaldi and the Thousand. CHAPTER XIX THE UNIFICATION OF GERMANY In 1848 and 1849 the liberal elements of Germany had made an earnest effort to achieve national unity but the work of the Parliament of Frankfort had been rejected by the sovereigns of the Reaction in leading states and had been rendered null and void. The Germany old Confederation was restored, resuming its sessions in ^^ ^ '^^ May, 185 1. A period of reaction in Germany began again, even more far-reaching in its scope than that which had followed the Congress of Vienna in 181 5. Austria and Prussia took the lead in the familiar work of oppression. One gain had been made in the turbulent year. The King of Prussia had granted a constitution and created a Parliament. Like the King of Piedmont he refused to abolish the constitution. Un- prugsia like the latter, however, he did not at all intend that the given a creation of a Parliament should mean the introduction of the English parliamentary system, with parliament, representing the people, the dominant authority in the state. The constitutional de- velopment of Piedmont and Prussia, starting at the same time, was to be utterly different. In passing from Italy to Germany we enter another atmosphere. In Piedmont, as we have seen, the constitution was honestly and vigorously applied and yielded its legitimate fruit in the political education of the people. Cavour believed that the free discussion of parliament was a safer and wiser guide than the auto- cratic determination of a monarch. Liberty was his ideal pr^ssia not from which he never swerved, though it would often have a parliamen- been convenient for him if he had. On the other hand ^^^ ^*^*® the King of Prussia did not propose to divide his power with any assembly. The assembly had no control over the ministry. While Prussia preserved her constitution the ministers developed great skill in really nullifying it, though pretending to maintain it. The government of Prussia was, after 1848 as before, a scarcely veiled 341 342 THE UNIFICATION OF GERMANY autocracy. Reaction of the old, classic style was the order of the day. The press was not free. Public meetings might be held only by those favorable to the government. The police were active and unscrupulous. A change came over Prussia, though not in the direction of free institutions and the develop- ment of a free public life, with the beginning of a reign, destined to prove most illus- trious, that of William I. William became King of Prussia in 1861. He was the WiUiam I son of the fa- (1797-1888) mous Queen Louise, was born in 1797, and had served in the campaign against Napoleon in 18 14. He was now sLxty-four years old. His mind was in no sense brilliant but was slow, solid, and sound. His entire lifetime had been spent in the army, which he loved pas- sionately. In military mat- ters his thorough knowledge and competence were recog- nized. He believed that Prussia's destinies were de- pendent upon her army. The army was necessary for his purpose which was to put Prussia at the head of Germany. "Whoever wishes to rule Germany must conquer it," he wrote in 1849, "and that cannot be done by phrases." William believed that the Prussian army needed strengthening, and he brought forward a plan that would nearly double it. He de- manded the necessary appropriations of Parliament, which declined to grant them. A bitter and prolonged contro- versy arose between the Crown and the Chamber of Deputies, each side growing stiffer as the contest proceeded. The King was absolutely resolved not to abate one jot or tittle from his demands. On the other William I From a photograph taken in 1870. BISMARCK 343 hand the Chamber persisted in asserting its control over the purse, as the fundamental power of any ParUament that intends to opposition count for anything in the state. A deadlock ensued. The of the King was urged to aboUsh Parhament altogether. This he would not do because he had sworn to support the constitution which established it. He thought of abdicating. He never thought of abandoning the reform. He had \\Titten out his abdication and signed it, and it was lying upon his desk when he at last consented to call to the ministry as a final experiment a new man, kno\\Ti for 1-1,, 1--J f 1-1 • , Otto von his boldness, his independence, his devotion to the mon- Bismarck- archy, Otto von Bismarck. Bismarck was appointed Schonhausen President of the Ministry' September 27,, 1862; on that very day the Chamber rejected anew the credits asked for by the King for the new regiments. The conflict entered upon its most acute phase and a new era began for Prussia and for the world. In this inter\'iew Bismarck told the King frankly that he was will- ing to carry out his policy whether Parliament agreed to it or not. "I will rather perish with the King," he said, "than forsake your Majesty in the contest -vN-ith parliamentary government." His boldness deter- mined the King to tear up the paper containing his abdication and to continue the struggle with the Chamber of Deputies. The man who now entered upon the stage of European politics was one of the most original and remarkable characters of his century. Born in 1S15, he came of a noble family in Brandenbu^rg Bismarck's and was an aristocrat to his finger tips. Receiving a uni- previous versity education, he entered the civil ser\-ice of Prussia, *^"®®' only to leave it shortly, disgusted by its monotony. He then settled upon his father's estate as a countr\' squire. Unlike Cavour in Italy, Bismarck was enraged when the King granted a constitution to Prussia in 1850. WTiile Cavour saw in England the model of what he wished his own country' to become, Bismarck said, "The refer- Bismarck's ences to England are our misfortune." Bismarck's politi- political cal ideas centered in his ardent belief in the Prussian OP""^'^^ monarchy. It had been the Prussian kings, not the Prussian people, who had made Prussia great. This, the great historic fact, must be preserved. WTiat Prussian kings had done, they still would do. A re- duction of royal power would only be damaging to the state. Bismarck was the uncompromising foe of the attempts made in 1848 to achieve 344 THE UNIFICATION OF GERMANY German unity, because he thought that it should be the princes and not the people who should determine the institutions and destinies of Ger- many. He hated democracy as he hated parliaments and constitutions. His hatred "I look for Prussian honor in Prussia's abstinence before of democracy qII things from every shameful union with democracy," he said. .In 1851 Bismarck was appointed Prussian delegate to the Diet' in Frankfort where for the next eight years he studied and practised the art of diplomacy, in which he was later to win many sweeping vic- tories. He made the acquaintance of all the important statesmen and politicians of Germany and studied their characters and ambitions. He became strongly an ti- Austrian in his sentiments. As early as 1853 he told his government that there was not room in Germany for both Prus- sia and Austria, that one or the other must bend. His utterances and attitudes became more and more irritating to Austria. Consequently King William, wishing to continue on good relations with the latter power, appointed him in 1859 ambassador to St. Petersburg, or, as Bismarck put it, sent him "to cool off on the banks of the Neva." Later he was, for a short time, ambassador to France. Such was the man, who, in 1862 at the age of forty-seven, accepted the position of President of the Prussian Ministry at a time when King and Parliament confronted each other in angry deadlock, and when no other politician would accept the leadership. For four years, from 1862 to 1866, the conflict continued. The Constitution was not abolished, The period Parliament was called repeatedly, the Lower House voted of conflict ygar after year against the budget, supported in this by the voters, the Upper House voted for it, and the King acted as if this made it legal. The period was one of virtual dictatorship and real sus- pension of parliamentary life. The King continued to collect the taxes, the army was thoroughly reorganized and absolutely controlled by the authorities, and the Lower House had no mode of opposition save the verbal one, which was entirely ineffective. Thus the increase in the army was secured. But an army is a mere means to an end. The particular end that Bismarck had in view was Army reform ^^^ creation of Germany unity by means of Prussia and carried for the advantage of Prussia. There must be no ab- ^°^^ sorption of Prussia in Germany, as there had been of Piedmont in Italy, Piedmont as a separate state entirely disappearing. And in Bismarck's opinion this unity could only be achieved by war. BISMARCK'S BLOOD AND IRON POLICY 345 He boldly denied in Parliament the favorite theory of the Liberals, that Prussia was to be made great by a liberal, free, parliamentary gov- ernment, by setting an example of progressiveness, as Piedmont had done, which would rally Ger- mans in other states about her, rather than about their own governments. In what was destined to be the most famous speech of his life he declared in 1863 that what Germans cared about was not the liberalism of Prussia but her power. Prussia must concen- trate her forces and hold her- self ready for the favorable moment. "Not by speeches and majority votes are the great questions of the day de- cided — that was the great blunder of 1848 and 1849 — but by blood and iron," in other words the army, not Par- liament, would determine the future of Prussia. This "blood and iron" policy was bitterly denounced by Liberals, but Bismarck ,, ^i^^^ ^nd ignored their criticisms and shortly found a chance to iron" begin its application. ^° ^'^^ The German Empire is the result of the policy of blood and iron as ^ carried out by Prussia in three wars which were crowded into the brief period of six years, the war with Denmark in 1864, with Prussia's Austria in 1866, and with France in 1870, the last two of *^^® ^^""^ S which were largely the result of Bismarck's will and his diplomatic ingenuity and unscrupulousness, and the first of which he exploited consummately for the advantage of Prussia. The first of these grew out of one of the most complicated ques- tions that have ever perplexed diplomatists and statesmen, the future of Schleswig and Holstein. These were two duchies in the Danish Bismarck From a photograph. 346 THE UNIFICATION OF GERMANY peninsula, which is itself simply an extension of the great plain of northern Germany. Holstein was inhabited by a popula- Schleswig- tion of about 600,000, entirely German; Schleswig by a Holstein population of from 250,000 to 300,000 Germans and 1 50,000 Danes. These two duchies had for centuries been united with Denmark, but they did not form an integral part of the Danish Kingdom. Their relation to Denmark was personal, arising from the fact that a Duke of Schleswig and Holstein had become King of Denmark, just as an Elector of Hanover had become a King of Eng- land. Holstein was a member of the German Confederation, but Schles- wig was not. The Germans in Schleswig wished to bring about its admission to the Confederation but the Danes objected and in 1863 declared Schleswig incorporated in Denmark. There are other elements in the tangle which it is unnecessary to explain as the question of Schleswig and Holstein was not decided at all on its merits, was not decided as either the Danish or the German people wished it to be. Bismarck saw in the situation a chance for a possible aggrandizement of Prussia and a chance for a quarrel with Aus- tria, both things which he desired for the greater glory of his country. He induced Austria to cooperate with Prussia in settling the Schleswig- Holstein question. The two powers delivered an ultimatum to Denmark allowing that country only forty-eight hours in which to corn- Prussia and . J J J o Austria make ply with their demands. The Danes, not complying, Prussia war on ^-^^ Austria immediately declared war. A war between one Denmark small state and two large ones could not be doubtful. Sixty thousand Prussians and Austrians invaded Denmark in February, 1864, and though their campaign was not brilliant, they easily won, and forced Denmark to cede the two duchies to them jointly (October, 1864). They might make whatever disposition of them they chose to. But they could not agree. Austria wished them admitted together as an additional state of the German Confederation and the people of Germany were overwhelmingly in favor of this arrangement, between But Bismarck's ideas were very different. He did not care Prussia and fQj. another German state. There were too many already, and this one would only be another enemy of Prussia and ally of Austria. Moreover, Bismarck wished to annex the duchies wholly or in part to Prussia. He desired aggrandizement in general, but this particular addition would be especially advantageous, as it would THE SEVEN WEEKS' WAR 347 lengthen the coast Kne of Prussia, would bring with it several good har- bors, notably Kiel, and would enable Prussia to expand commercially. Thus the two powers were at variance over the disposition of their spoils. The situation was one that exactly suited Bismarck. Out of it he hoped to bring about the war with Austria which he had desired for the past ten years as being the only means whereby German unity could be achieved by Prussia and for Prussia's advantage. There was not room enough in Germany, he thought, for both powers. That being the case, he wished the room for Prussia. The only way to get it was to take it. As Austria had no inclination gracefully to yield, there would have to be a fight. Both began to arm. Finally war broke out in June, 1866. Bismarck had thus brought about his dream of a conflict between peoples of the same race to deter- mine the question of control. It proved to be one of the ^j^^ ^ustro- shortest wars in history, one of the most decisive, and one Prussian whose consequences were most momentous. It is called " ° the Seven Weeks' War. It began June 16, 1866, was virtually decided on July 3d, was brought to a close before the end of that month by the preliminary Peace of Nikolsburg, July 26, which was followed a month later by the definitive Peace of Prague, August 23. Prussia had no German allies of any importance. Several of the North German states sided with her, but these were small and their armies were unimportant. On the other hand, Austria was supported by the four kingdoms, Bava- ria, Wiirtemberg, Saxony, and Hanover; also by Hesse-Cassel, Hesse- Darmstadt, Nassau, and Baden. But Prussia had one important ally, Italy, without whose aid she might not have won the victory. Italy was to receive Venetia, which she coveted, if Austria were defeated. The Prussian army, however, was better prepared. For years the rulers of Prussia had been preparing for war, perfecting the army down to the minutest detail, and with scientific thoroughness, and when the war began it was absolutely ready. Moreover, it was directed by a very able leader. General von Moltke. ^ Prussia had many enemies. Being absolutely prepared, as her ene- mies were not, she could assume the offensive, and this Prussia was the cause of her first victories. War began June 16. conquers Within three days Prussian troops had occupied Hanover, North Dresden, and Cassel, the capitals of her three North Ger- man enemies. A few days later the Hanoverian army was forced to 348 THE UNIFICATION OF GERMANY The battle of Konig- gratz or Sadowa capitulate. The King of Hanover and the Elector of Hesse were taken prisoners of war. All North Germany was now controlled by Prussia, and within two weeks of the opening of the war she was ready to attempt the great plan of Moltke, an invasion of Bohemia. The rapidity of the campaign struck Europe with amazement. Moltke sent three armies by different routes into Bohemia, and on July 3, 1866, one of the great battles of his- tory, that of Koniggratz, or Sadowa, was fought. Each army numbered over 200,000, the Prussians outnumbering the Austrians, though not at the beginning. Since the bat- tle of Leipsic in 18 13, so many troops had not been engaged in a single conflict. King Wil- liam, Bismarck, and Moltke took up their position on a hill, whence they could view the scene. The battle was long and doubtful. Beginning early in the morning, it con- tinued for hours, fought with terrific fury, the Prussians making no advance against the Austrian artillery. Up to two o'clock it seemed an Austrian victory, but with the arrival of the Prussian Crown Prince with his army the issue was turned, and at half-past three the Austrians were beaten and their retreat began. They had lost over forty thousand men, while the Prussian loss was about ten thousand. The Prussian army during the next three weeks advanced to within sight of the spires of Vienna. On June 24 the Austrians had been victorious over the Italians at Custozza. Yet the Italians had helped Prussia by detaining eighty thousand Austrian troops, which, had they been at Koniggratz, would Moltke From the painting by Lenbach. PRUSSIAN ANNEXATIONS 349 probably have turned the day. The Italian fleet was also defeated by the Austrian at Lissa, July 20. The results of the Seven Weeks' War were momentous. Fearing the intervention of Europe, and particularly that of France, which was threatened, and which mieht rob the victory of its fruits, ,.11 1 , , Results of Bismarck wished to make peace at once, and consequently the Austro- offered lenient terms to Austria. She was to cede Venetia Prussian War to Italy but was to lose no other territory. She was to withdraw from the German Confederation, which, indeed, was to cease to exist. She was to allow Prussia to organize and lead a new confed- eration, composed of those states which were north of the river Main. The South German states were left free to act as they chose. Thus Germany, north of the Main, was to be united. Having accomplished this, Prussia proceeded to make important annexations to her own territory. The Kingdom of Hanover, the Duch- ies of Nassau and Hesse-Cassel, and the free city of Frankfort, as well as the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, were incorporated in the Prussian kingdom. Her population was thereby increased by over four and a half million new subjects, and thus was about twenty- Annexations four million. There was no thought of having the people *° Prussia of these states vote on the question of annexation, as had been done in Italy, and in 'Savoy and Nice. They were annexed forthwith by right of military conquest. Reigning houses ceased to rule on order from ., Berlin. Unwisely for themselves European nations allowed the swift consummation of these changes, which altered the balance of power and the map of Europe — • a mistake which France in particular w^as to repent most bitterly. "I do not like this dethronement of dynasties,"/ said the Czar, but he failed to express his dislike in action. / The North German Confederation, which was now created, included all of Germany north of the river Main, twenty-two states in all. The constitution was the work of Bismarck. There was to be « v, a president of the Confederation, namely the King of Prus- German Con- sia. There was to be a Federal Council (Bundesrath), federation (1867-1871) composed of delegates sent by the sovereigns of the differ- ent states, to be recalled at their pleasure, to vote as they dictated. Prussia was always to have seventeen votes out of the total forty- three. In order to have a majority she would have to gain only a few adherents from the other states, which she could easily do. 350 THE UNIFICATION OF GERMANY There was also to be a Reichstag, elected by the people. This was Bismarck's concession to the Liberals. Of the two bodies the Reichstag was much the less important. The people were given a place in the new system, but a subordinate one. The new constitution went into force July i, 1867. This North Ger- man Confederation remained in existence only four years when it gave way to the present German Empire, one of the results of the Franco- Prussian War of 1870. REFERENCES Bismarck's Early Life: Munroe Smith, Bismarck and German Unity, pp. 1-18; Headlam, Bismarck and the Foundation of the German Empire, pp. 1-33. The Seven Weeks' War: Murdock, Reconstruction of Modern Europe, Chaps. XVI-XVIII, pp. 211-248; Fyffe, History of Modern Europe, pp. 936-958; Henderson, Short History of Germany, Vol. II, pp. 393-410; Headlam, pp. 240-290; Priest, Ger- many Since 1740, pp. 107-113. Establishment of the North German Confederation: Headlam, Chap. XII, j pp. 291-314; Lowell, Governments and Parties in Continental Europe, Vol. I, pp. 237-242; Seignobos, Political History of Europe Since 181 4, pp. 472-481. '•rrttiwirfi. ] Prussia . I 815 ] l8l5Xnil] (irf/iiinrfTnntnry 9 , inptisilicKS iiiilil Mil/ ■ . / . , , — 'i Aijim/um/iniWuim I IScUSSS Jo / r^*- iv /x TnritflrNshiln/i/'/nfllmiiiiiied C ISrnmi] i / shimiiiti ■yiinihfirs/jiif llll'y(llnfar/fllisi/ivl)■ \ ' ° \ ("'"' ( iiihrnrkrts rrihofloss. > \ B-/.c«>,,^\ I D.-fiflm Brixiria «^^j^^Mi,g£CSf '''S' V \ D,-rio»,r,miui BiiihrifUi'ss. ^— ^ w^ <-^ 1 1 \ i n.-frmt bkvtornii^ niUcsst: CHAPTER XX THE SECOND EMPIRE AND THE FRANCO- PRUSSIAN WAR The year 1866 is a turning point in the history of Prussia, of Austria, of France, of modern Europe. It profoundly altered the historic bal- ance of power. By the decisiveness of the campaign, and by the momentous character of its consequences, Prussia, is^s^^" hitherto regarded as the least important of the great powers, turning point had astounded Europe by the evidence of her strength. She histoid "° possessed a remarkable army and a remarkable statesman. That both were the most powerful in Europe was not entirely proved, but the feeling was widespread that such was the case. The center of interest in central Europe shifted from Vienna to Berlin. The reputa- tion of Napoleon III was seriously compromised. He had entirely mis- judged the situation, had played a feeble and mistaken part, when he might have played one highly advantageous to his country. He had rather welcomed the war between Prussia and Austria. In his opinion, it would be long, exhausting both combatants. At the proper time he could intervene, and from the distress of the rivals could extract gain for France, possibly the left bank of the Rhine, which Prussia might be willing to relinquish in return for aid. His calculation was based upon his belief in the vast military superiority of Austria. The war came, and, contrary to expectation, it was short and swift. Prussia was victorious, not Austria. The battle of Koniggratz, or Sadowa, July 3, 1866, was decisive. Even then it was not too late for an inter- vention. Napoleon could have played a commanding part „ '■ ' -^ 11 Napoleon's m determining the terms of peace had he threatened to faUure to use come to the aid of Austria, as Austria desired. Had he ^'^ opportunity refused to recognize the annexations of Prussia unless compensated, he could have secured important additions to France. But his policy was weak and vacillating. Accomplishing nothing for France, he yet irritated Prussia by a half-measure of insisting that the new confederation should not extend south of the river Main. 3SI 352 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR Another serious mistake of Napoleon was culminating at this very time, his Mexican policy, a most unnecessary, reckless, and disastrous enterprise. This ill-starred adventure began in an inter- Mexican vention of France, England, and Spain, whose citizens had Expedition loaned money to Mexico, the interest on which Mexico now refused to pay. A joint expedition was sent out in December, 1861, to compel the discharge of the financial obligations incurred by that country under treaty arrangements. But by April, 1862, it became clear to Spain and England that France had distinctly other purposes in this affair than those stated in the treaty of alliance. Napoleon's real in- tentions, shortly apparent, were the overthrow of the republic and the establishment of a monarchy in Mexico under a European prince. The English and Spaniards would give no sanction to such a scheme, and consequently entirely withdrew in April, 1862. The expedition now became one purely French. The question of financial honesty on the part of Mexico was lost sight of, and a war began, a war of aggression, entirely uncalled for, but a war which in the end punished its author more than it did the Mexicans, one of the most dishonorable, as it was one of the most costly and disastrous, for the Second Empire. Napoleon was a man of ideas, a man of imagination. Unfortunately his ideas were frequently vast yet vague, his imagination frequently Napoleon's unsound, deceptive. He evidently dreamed of building up purposes g^ Latin Empire in the New World, under his protection, a sort of bulwark and outpost of the Latin element, designed to hem in the overflowing Anglo-Saxon element. Thus his favorite theory of na- tionalities would win another victory; also the colonies of Spain and France would be more secure, French commerce would find new out- lets, the materials for French industries would be more easily procured. "And," said Napoleon, "we shall have established our beneficent in- fluence in the center of America." Mexico was a Republic but there was a faction among the Mexicans which wished to overthrow it. This faction, under French inspiration and direction, held an assembly which decreed that Mexico overthrows should henceforth be an Empire and that the imperial the Mexican crown should be offered to Archduke Maximilian of Aus- tria, brother of Francis Joseph, the Emperor of Austria. This assembly represented, perhaps, 350,000 people out of about 7,000-, 000. It offered a fatal gift. This young prince of thirty-one was of at- THE EMPIRE OF MEXICO 353 tractive and popular manners, and of liberal ideas. Young, handsome, versatile, half poet, half scientist, he was living in a superb palace, Miramar, overlooking the Adriatic, amid his collections, his objects of art, and with the sea which was his passion always before him. From out of this enchanting retreat he now emerged to become the central figure of a short and frightful tragedy. Mexico lured him to his doom. Influenced by his own ambition and that of his spirited wife, Carlotta, daughter of Leopold I, King of Belgium, and receiving definite promises of French military support until 1867, he accepted the imperial crown and arrived in Mexico in May, 1864. This entire project, born in the brain of Napoleon III, was to prove hopeless from the start, disastrous to all who participated in it, to the new Emperor and Empress, and to Napoleon. The difl5- , . r . , , . 1,4 Disastrous culties conirontmg the new monarch were msuperable. A outcome of guerilla warfare was carried on successfully by Juarez, **^'^ ^^" . . J J J 1 venture using up the French soldiers and putting them on the defensi^'e. Even the communications of the French army with the sea were seriously threatened. Maximilian at last issued a decree that any enemies taken with arms would be summarily shot — a decree that made him hated by all Mexicans, and that gave to the war a character of extreme atrocity. A greater danger threatened the new empire when General Lee surrendered at Appomattox. The United States had looked from the first with disapprobation upon of the Napoleon's project. Now that the Civil War was over, Ui"ted she threatened intervention. Napoleon was unwilling to risk a conflict with this country, and consequently promised to withdraw his troops speedily from Mexico. Maximilian could not remain long an Emperor without Napoleon's support. His wife, Carlotta, returning to Europe to persuade Napoleon in frantic personal interviews not to desert them, received no promise of support from the man who had planned the whole adventure, and in the fearful agony of her con- templation of the impending doom of her husband became insane, Maximilian was taken by the Mexicans and shot June 19, 1867. The phantom Empire vanished. A most expensive enterprise for the French Emperor. It had eaten into the financial resources of his country, already badly disorganized. It had prevented his playing a part in decisive events occurring in central Europe in 1864-66, in the Danish war, and the Austro-Prussian \ 354 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR war, the outcome of which was to alter so seriously the importance n fit ^^ France in Europe by the exaltation of an ambitious, of Napo- aggressive, and powerful military state, Prussia. It had leon III damaged him morally before Europe by the desertion of his proteges to an appalling fate before the threats of the United States. He had squandered uselessly his military resources and had increased the national debt. It has been asserted that the Mexican war was as dis- astrous for Napoleon III as the Spanish war had been for Napoleon I. Feeling that his popularity was waning Napoleon decided to win over the Liberals, who had hitherto been his enemies, by granting in 1868 certain reforms which they had constantly demanded. Napoleon , . , 1 t • i • /^i 1 r ^ makes con- larger rights to the Legislative Chamber, greater freedom cessions to Qf ^\^q press, the right, under certain conditions, to hold the Liberals j- > & > > . public meetings. The Empire thus entered upon a frankly liberal path. The result was not to strengthen, but greatly to weaken it. Many new journals were founded, in which it was assailed with amaz- ing bitterness. A remarkable freedom of speech characterized the last two years of Napoleon's reign. A movement to erect a monument to a republican deputy, Baudin, who had been shot on the barricades in 1851 at the time of the coup d'etat, seemed to the Government to be too insulting. It prosecuted the men who were conducting the sub- scription. One of these was defended by a brilliant, impassioned young lawyer and orator from the south of France, thirty years of age, who was shortly to be a great figure in politics, a founder of the Third Re- public. Gambetta conducted himself not as a lawyer defending his _ client, but as an avenger of the wrongs of France for the Dramatic ' f .,.,.. emergence past seventeen years, impeachmg bitterly the entire reign of Leon qJ Napoleon III. Particularly did he dwell upon the date of December 2. The coup d'etat, he said, was carried through by a crowd of unknown men "without talent, without honor, and hopelessly involved in debts and crimes." "These men pretend to have saved society. Do you save a country when you lay parricidal hands upon it?" The end of this remarkable discourse remains famous: Listen, you who for seventeen years have been absolute master of France. The thing that characterizes you best, because it is evidence of your own remorse, is the fact that you have never dared to say: ' We will place among the solemn festivals of France, we will celebrate as a national anniversary, the Second of December.' . . . Well ! this anni- FRICTION BETWEEN FRANCE AND PRUSSIA 355 versary we will take for ourselves; we will observe it always, always without fail; every year it shall be the anniversary of our dead, until the day when the country, having become master itself once more, shall impose upon you the great national expiation in the name of liberty, ecjuality, and fraternity." This address had a prodigious effect. Nothing so defiant, so con- temptuous of the Government, had been heard in France since 185 1. Though Gambetta's client lost his case, it was generally gj^^gj. ^^_ felt that the Empire emerged from that court-room soundly tacks upon beaten. It was clear that there was a party in existence ^^° ^°° bent upon revenge, and willing to use all the privileges a now liberal Emperor might grant, not gratefully, but as a means of completely annihilating the very Empire, a Republican party, aggressive, and grow- ing, already master of Paris, and organizing in the departments. Thus clouds were gathering, thicker and ever darker, around the throne of the Third Napoleon. There were domestic troubles, but, in \^ the main, it was the foreign relations that inspired alarm and should \ have inspired caution. Over these years hung the German peril, the unmistakable challenge that lay in the astonishing success and the ag- gressive elation of Prussia. That was the sore point. The instinct of the French people saw in the battle of Koniggratz, or Sadowa, as they called it, a humiliating defeat for France, though it was a battle exclu- sively between Prussia and Austria, France being no party to the war. The instinct was largely right. At least the Peace of Prague involved and indicated the diminution of the authority and importance of France. For a reorganization so sweeping in central Europe, as the overthrow of Austria, her expulsion from Germany, and the consolidation and aggrandizement of Prussia, a powerful military' state, upset the balance of power. A feeling of alarm spread through France. ((Rg^gngg "Revenge for Sadowa," was a cry often heard henceforth, for ^ Its meaning was that if one state like Prussia should be ^ °** increased in area and power, France also, for consenting to it, had a right to a proportionate increase, that the reciprocal relations might remain the same. From 1866 to 1870 the idea that ultimately a war would come between Prussia and France became famUiar to the people and governments of both countries. Many Frenchmen desired "re- venge for Sadowa." Prussians were proud and elated at their two sue- 356 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR cessful wars, and intensely conscious of their new position in Europe. The newspapers of both countries during the next four years were full of crimination and recrimination, of abuse and taunt, the Government in neither case greatly discouraging their unwise conduct, at times even inspiring and directing it. Such an atmosphere was an excellent one for ministers who wanted war to work in, and both France gardT^awar' and Prussia had just such ministers. Bismarck believed with France ^^(.}^ ^ War inevitable, and, in his opinion, it was desirable as inevi ^ ^ ^^ ^^le only way of completing the unification of Germany, since Napoleon would never willingly consent to the extension of the Confederation to include the South German states. All that he desired was that it should come at precisely the right moment, when Prussia was entirely ready, and that it should come by act of France, so that Prussia could pose before Europe as merely defending herself against a wanton aggressor. With responsible statesmen in such a temper it was not difficult to bring about a war. And yet the Franco-Prussian war broke most unex- pectedly, like a thunderstorm, over Europe. Undreamed of July i, 1870, it began July 15. It came in a roundabout way. The Spanish throne was vacant, as a revolution had driven the monarch. Queen Isa- bella, out of that country. On July 2, news reached Paris that Leopold of Hohenzollern, a relative of the King of Prussia, had accepted the' Spanish crown. Bismarck was behind this Hohenzollern candidacy, The Hohen- zealously furthering it, despite the fact that he knew Na- zoUern poleon's feeling of hostihty to it. Great was the indig- candidacy nation of the French papers and Parliament and a most dangerous crisis developed rapidly. Other powers intervened, laboring in the interests of peace. On July 12, it was announced that the Hohenzollern candidacy was withdrawn. The tension was immediately relieved; the war scare was over. Two men, however, were not pleased by this outcome, Bismarck, whose intrigue was now foiled and whose humiliation was so great that he thought he must resign and retire into private life, and Gramont, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, a reckless, blustering politician who was not satisfied with the diplomatic victory he had won but wished to win another which would increase the discomfiture of Prussia. The French ministry now made an additional demand that the King of Prussia should promise that this Hohenzollern candidacy shoiild never FRANCE DECLARES WAR 357 be renewed. The King declined to do so and authorized Bismarck to publish an account of the incident. Here was Bismarck's The Ems opportunity which he used ruthlessly and joyously to pro- despatch voke the French to declare war. His account, as he himself says, was in- tended to be "a red flag for the Gallic bull." The effect of its publication was instantaneous. It aroused the indignation of both countries to fever heat. The Prussians thought that their King, the French that their am- bassador had been insulted. As if this were not sufficient the news- papers of both countries teemed with false, abusive, and inflammatory accounts. The voice of the advocates of peace was drowned in the general clamor. The head of the French ministry declared that he accepted this war "with a light heart." This war declared by France on July 15 grew directly out of mere diplomatic fencing, ^^^ ^^ The French people did not desire it, only the people of Paris. Prussian inflamed by an official press. Indeed, until it was declared, ^^ °* ^^"^^ the French people hardly knew of the matter of dispute. It came upon them unexpectedly. The war was made by the responsible heads of two Governments. It was in its origin in no sense national in either country. Its immediate occasion was trivial. But it was the cause of a remarkable display of patriotism in both countries. The war upon which the French ministry entered with so light a heart was destined to prove the most disastrous in the history of their country. In every respect it was begun under singularly ^^^^ q^^_ inauspicious circumstances. France declared war upon man states Prussia alone, but in a manner that threw the South Ger- ^°"^ Prussia man states, upon whose support she had counted, directly into the camp of Bismarck. They regarded the French demand, that the King of Prussia should pledge himself for all time to forbid the Prince of Hohen- zoUern's candidature, as unnecessary and insulting. At once Bavaria and Baden and Wiirtemberg joined the campaign on the side of Prussia. The French military authorities made the serious mistake of grossly underestimating the difficulty of the task before them. Incredible lack of preparation was revealed at once. The French army was poorly equipped, and was far inferior in numbers and in the ability of its com- manders to the Prussian army. With the exception of a ^j^^ German few ineffectual successes the war was a long series of re- invade verses for the French. The Germans crossed the Rhine ^'"^°*^® into Alsace and Lorraine, and succeeded, after several days of very heavy 358 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR fighting, in shutting up Bazaine, with the principal French army, in Metz, a strong fortress which the Germans then besieged. On September i , another French army, with which was the Emperor, was defeated at Sedan and was obhged on the following day to sur- The battle render to the Germans. Napoleon himself became a pris- of Sedan q^q^ ^f ^g^j._ 'pj^g French lost, on these two days, in killed, wounded, or taken prisoners, nearly one hundred and twenty thousand men. Disasters so appalling resounded throughout the world. France no longer had an army; one had capitulated at Sedan; the other was locked up in Metz. The early defeats of August had been announced in Paris by the Government as victories. The deception could no longer be maintained. On September 3 this despatch was received from the Emperor: "The army has been defeated and is captive; I myself am a prisoner." As a prisoner he was no longer head of the government of France; there was, as Thiers said, a "vacancy of power." On Sunday, September 4, the Legislative Body was convened. But it had no time to deliberate. The mob invaded the hall shouting, "Down with the Empire ! Long live the Republic ! " Gambetta, Jules Favre, and Jules The fall of Ferry, followed by the crowd, proceeded to the Hotel de the Empire YWIq and there proclaimed the Republic. The Empress fled. A Government of National Defense was organized, with General Trochu at its head, which was the actual government of France during the rest of the war. The Franco-German war lasted about six months, from the first of August, 1870, when fighting began, to about the first of February, 1871. It falls naturally into two periods, the imperial and the republican. During the first, which was limited to the month of August, the regular armies were, as we have seen, destroyed or bottled up. Then the Em- pire collapsed and the Emperor was a prisoner in Germany. The sec- ond period lasted five months. France, under the Government of National Defense, made a remarkably courageous and spirited defense under the most discouraging conditions. The Germans, leaving a sufficient army to carry on the siege of Metz, advanced toward Paris. They began the siege of that city on September 19. This siege, one of the most famous in history, lasted four months, and astonished Europe. Immense stores had been collected in the city, the citizens were armed, and the defense was energetic. THE SIEGE OF PARIS 359 The Parisians hoped to hold out long enough to enable new armies to be organized and diplomacy possibly to intervene. To accomplish the former a delegation from the Government of National Defense, headed by Gambetta, escaped from Paris by balloon, and established a branch seat of government first at Tours, then at Bordeaux. Gambetta, by his immense energy, his eloquence, his patriotism, was able to raise new armies, whose resistance aston- ished the Germans, but as they had not time to be thoroughly trained, they were unsuccessful. They could not break the immense circle of iron that surrounded Paris. After the overthrow of the Empire the war was reduced to the siege of Paris, and the attempts of these improvised armies to break that siege. These at- The faU of tempts were rendered ^^^^ all the more hopeless by the fall of Metz (October 27, 1870). Six thousand officers and 173,000 men were forced by impending starva- tion to surrender, with hundreds of cannon and immense war sup- plies, the greatest capitulation "recorded in the history of civilized nations." A month earlier, on September 27, Strassburg had surrendered and 19,000 soldiers had be- come prisoners of war. The capitulation of Metz was particularly disastrous because it made possible the sending of more German armies to reenforce the siege of Paris, and to attack the forces which Gambetta was, by prodi- gies of effort, creating in the rest of France. These armies could not get to the relief of Paris, nor could the troops within Paris break through to them. The siege became simply a question of endurance. The Germans began the bombardment of the city early in January. Certain sections suffered terribly, and were ravaged by fires. Famine stared the Parisians in the face. After November 20 there was no more Leon Gambetta From a- photograph. 360 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR beef or lamb to be had; after December 15 only thirty grams of The siege horse meat a day per person, which, moreover, cost about of Paris i^Q dollars and a half a pound; after January 15 the amount of bread, a wretched stuff, was reduced to three hundred grams. People ate anything they could get, dogs, cats, rats. The market price for rats was two francs apiece. By the 31st of January, there would be nothing left to eat. Additional suffering arose from the fact that the winter was one of the coldest on record. Coal and firewood were exhausted. Trees in the Champs Elysees and the Bois de Boulogne were cut down, and fires built in the public squares for the poor. Wine froze in casks. On January 28, with famine almost upon her, Paris capitulated after an heroic resistance. The terms of peace granted by Bismarck were extraordinarily severe. They were laid down in the Treaty of Frankfort, signed May 10, 1871. The Treaty France was forced to cede Alsace and a large part of Lor- of Frankfort raine, including the important fortress of Metz. She must pay an absolutely unprecedented war indemnity of five thousand mil- lion francs (a billion dollars) within three years. She was to support a German army of occupation, which should be gradually withdrawn as the installments of the indemnity were paid. The Treaty of Frankfort has remained the open sore of Europe since 1871. France could never forget or forgive the deep humiliation of it. The enormous fine could, with the lapse of time, have been overlooked, but never the seizure of the two provinces by mere force and against the unanimous and passionate protest of the people of Alsace and Lorraine. Moreover the eastern frontier of France was seriously weakened. Meanwhile other events had occurred as a result of this war. Italy had completed her unification by seizing the city of Rome, thus termi- Fall of the nating the temporal rule of the Pope. The Pope had been Temporal supported there by a French garrison. This was with- "^^"^ drawn as a result of the battle of Sedan, and the troops of Victor Emmanuel attacked the Pope's own troops, defeated them after Completion ^ slight resistance, and entered Rome on the 20th of Sep- of Italian tember, 1870. The unity of Italy was now consummated and Rome became the capital of the kingdom. A more important consequence of the war was the completion of the unification of Germany, and the creation of the present German THE GERMAN EMPIRE PROCLAIMED 361 Empire. Bismarck had desired a war with France as necessary to com- plete the unity of Germany. Whether necessary or not, at completion least that end was now secured. During the war negotia- of German tions were carried on between Prussia and the South Ger- , man states. Treaties were drawn up and the confederation was widened The Proclamation of William I as Glrman Lmpj:.kor, Versailles, January iS, 1S71 From the painting by Anton von Werner. to include all the German states. On January 18, 1871, in the royal, palace of Versailles, King William I was proclaimed German Emperor. The war of 1866 had resulted in the expulsion of Austria from Ger- many and from Italy. The war of 1870 completed the unification of both countries. Berlin became the capital of a federal Empire, Rome of a unified Kingdom. 362 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR REFERENCES The Mexican Expedition: Forbes, Life of Napoleon the Third, Chap. XI, pp. 214-237; Andrews, Historical Development of Modern Europe, Vol. II, pp. 173-177; Fyfife, History of Modern Europe, pp. 968-971. The Liberal Empire: Fisher, Bonapartism, pp. 100-123; Lebon, Modern Franc^ Chap. XIII, pp. 313-337; Forbes, Chap. XII, pp. 238-260; Cambridge Modern Hi\ tory, Vol. XI, pp. 467-493. Hohenzollern Candidacy and the Ems Despatch: Munroe Smith, Bismarck^ pp. 49-57; Headlam,5/5warc/fe, Chap. XIII, pp. 315-345; Fyffe, pp. 978-984; Rose,' Development of European Nations, Vol. I, pp. 45-57; Anderson, Constitutions and Docu- ments, No. 121, pp. 593-594; Robinson and Beard, Readings in Modern European History, Vol. II, pp. 158-159. The Franco-German War: Murdock, Reconstruction of Europe, Chaps. XXIV- XXX; Rose, Vol. I, Chaps. II and III, pp. 58-108; Fyffe, pp. 984-1019; Henderson, Short History of Germany, Vol. II, pp. 422-450; Wright, C. H. C, A History of tlie Third French Republic, Chaps. I and II, pp. 1-30; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XI, Chap. XXI, pp. 576-612. Proclamation of the German Empire: Rose, Vol. I, pp. 153-163; Robinson and Beard, Vol. II, pp. 163-165. CHAPTER XXI THE GERMAN EMPIRE The Franco-German war completed the unification of Germany. The Empire was proclaimed January i8, 187 1, in the old capital of the French monarchy. The constitution of the new state was 1 1 • T 1 r r 1 Constitution adopted immediately after the close of the war and went of the new into force April 16, 187 1. In most respects it is simply the German constitution of the North German Confederation of 1867. The name of Confederation gives way to that of Empire and the name of Emperor is substituted for that of President. But the Empire is a confederation, consisting of twenty- five states and one Imperial Terri- tory, Alsace-Lorraine. The King of Prussia is ipso facto The German Emperor. The legislative power rests with the Emperor ' Bundesrath, or Federal Council, and the Reichstag. The Emperor de- clares war with the consent of the Bundesrath, he is commander-in- chief of the army and navy, he has charge of foreign affairs and makes treaties, subject to the limitation that certain kinds of treaties must be ratified by Parliament. He is assisted by a Chancellor, whom he ap- points, and whom he removes, who is not responsible to Parliament but to him alone. Under the Chancellor are various secretaries of state, who simply administer departments, but who do not form a cabinet responsible to Parliament. Laws are made by the Bundesrath and the Reichstag. The Bundes- rath is the most powerful body in the Empire. It possesses legislative, executive, and judicial functions and is a sort of diplomatic assembly. It represents the states, that is, the rulers of Bundesrath the twenty-five states of which the Empire consists. It is °^ Federal composed of delegates appointed by the rulers. Unlike the Senate of the United States, the states of Germany are not repre- sented equally in the Bundesrath but most unequally. There are fifty- eight members. Of these Prussia has seventeen, Bavaria six. Saxony 363 364 THE GERMAN EMPIRE "^ and Wiirtemberg four each; others have three or two; and seventeen of the states have only one apiece. The Bundesrath is really the old Diet of Frankfort of 18 15, carried over into the new system, with certain changes rendered necessary by the intervening history. The members are really diplomats, representing the numerous sovereigns of Germany. They do not vote individually but each state votes as a unit and as the ruler instructs. Thus the seventeen votes of Prussia are cast always as a unit, on one side or the other, and as the King of Prussia The Bundes- ,. r^, -^ ■, , • , ,.1 . , , 1 rath not a directs. The Bundesrath is not a deliberative body be- deliberative ^ cause its members vote according to instructions from the \home governments. Its members are not free to vote as they see fit. It is in reality an assembly of the sovereigns of Germany. Its powers are very extensive. It is the most important element of the legislature as most legislation begins in it, its consent is necessary to' all legislation, and every law passed by the Reichstag is after that sub- mitted to it for ratification, or rejection. It is therefore the chief source of legislation. Representing the princes of Germany, it is a thoroughly monarchical institution, a bulwark of the monarchical spirit. As a matter of fact it is generally controlled by Prussia, although there have been a few cases since 187 1 in which the will of Prussia has been overridden. Its proceedings are secret. The Reichstag is the only popular element in the Empire. It con- sists of 397 members, elected for a term of five years by the voters, that The is, by men twenty-five years of age or older. The powers Reichstag q£ |-j^g Reichstag are inferior to those of most of the other popular chambers of Europe. It neither makes nor unmakes ministries. While it, in conjunction with the Bundesrath, votes the appropriations, certain ones, notably those for the army, are voted for a period of years. Its consent is required for new taxes, whereas taxes previously levied con- tinue to be collected without the consent of Parliament being secured again. The matters on which Parliament may legislate are those con- cerning army, navy, commerce, tariffs, railways, postal system, tele- graphs, civil and criminal law. On matters not within the jurisdiction of the Empire each state legislates as it chooses. In reality the Reichs- tag is little more than an advisory body, with the power of veto of new legislation. The mainspring of power is elsewhere — in the Bundesrath and in the Kingdom of Prussia. The German Empire is unique among federal governments in that ^ THE POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS OF GERMANY 365 it is a confederation of monarchical states, which, moreover, are very^ unequal in size and population, ranging from Prussia with , , A com 606 rd" a population of 40,000,000, and covermg two-thirds of the tion of territory, down to Schaumburg-Lippe, with a population monarchical • SXfllcS of 45,000. Three members of the Empire are republics: Liibeck, Bremen, and Hamburg. The rest are monarchies. All have constitutions and legislatures, more or less liberal. This confederation differs from other governments of its class in that the states are of un- equal voting power in both houses, one state largely preponderating, Prussia, a fact explained by its great size, its population, and the impor- tance of its historic role. The chief representative of the Emperor is the Chancellor. The Chan- cellor is not like the Prime Minister of England, simply one of the minis- ters. .He stands distinct from and above all federal officials. The There is no imperial cabinet in the German Empire, and cabi- Chancellor net, or what is correctly called responsible, government does not exist. The Chancellor is appointed by the Emperor, is removed by the Emperor, is responsible to the Emperor, and is not responsible to either Bundesrath or Reichstag. Either or both assemblies might vote down his proposals, might even vote lack of confidence. It would make no difference to him. He would not resign. The only support he needs is that of the Emperor. There are other so-called ministers, such as those of foreign affairs, of the interior, of education. But these are not like the members of the cabinet of the United States or of England. They are subordinates of the Chancellor, carrying out his will, and not for a moment thinking of resigning because of any adverse vote in the popular house, the Reichs- tag. The powers of the Chancellor are great, but as his tenure is abso- lutely dependent upon the favor of the Emperor this really means that the power of the Emperor is great and is irresponsible. The Chancellor may be an imposing figure in the state, as Bismarck was; he may be a mere agent of the Emperor, as Bismarck's successors have all been — for the reason that William II, unlike William I, has intended to rule and has really been the Chancellor himself. This is the most important characteristic of the German Empire. Unlike England, France, Italy, Belgium, Holland, the Scandinavian states, the cabinet system of government does not exist in Germany. The executive is not subject to the legislative power; ministers may 366 THE GERMAN EMPIRE not be turned out of office by adverse majorities. Germany is a con- stitutional state, in the sense that it has a written con- ^ entarv «ys- stitution. It is not a parliamentary state. Parliament tem does not does not have the controlling voice in the state. The exist in monarchs, and particularly the monarch of Prussia, have that. This was Bismarck's great achievement. His vic- tory over the Prussian Parliament had this effect, that it checked the Bismarck's growth of responsible government in Prussia. So far as crowning ensuring self-government, or a large measure of it, to the triumph over o o ' o ; parliamentary people of Germany is concerned, the present constitution, institutions largely the work of Bismarck, is much inferior to the constitution framed by the Parliament of Frankfort in 1848. The Emperor gains his great power from the fact that he is King of Prussia. He is Emperor because he is King. As King he has very ex- tensive functions. His functions as Emperor and King are powers of SO connected that it is not easy to distinguish them. As a the King of matter of fact the King of Prussia is very nearly an abso- lute monarch. The Prussian Parliament is far less likely to oppose his will than is the Imperial Parliament which, itself, has shown only slight independence since 1871. There is no parliamentary government in Prussia any more than there is in the Empire. Since 1871, Germany has had three Emperors, William I (1871-88), Frederick III (March 9-June 15, 1888), and William II, since 1888. The history since 187 1 naturally falls into two periods, which are in many respects well defined, the reign of William I and the reign of William II. During the former the real ruler was Prince Bismarck, Reign of ^^^ Chancellor, whose position was one of immense pres- Emperor tige and authority. Having in nine years made the King, whom he found upon the point of abdicating, the most powerful ruler in Europe, and having given Germans unity, he remained the chief figure in the state twenty years longer until his resignation in 1890. During the latter period, the reign of William II, the Emperor has been the real head of the government. THE KULTURKAMPF No sooner was the new Empire established than it was torn by a fierce religious conflict that lasted many years, the so-called Kultur- kampf, ' war in defense of civiHzation," a contest between the State CONFLICT OF CHURCH AND STATE 367 and the Roman Catholic Church. The wars with Austria and France engendered animosity in the field of reUgion as they were a reUgious victories of a Protestant state over two strongly Catholic conflict powers. The loss of the Pope's temporal power in 1870 embittered many Catholics still further and a party was formed in Germany, the Center, to work for the restoration of the temporal powxr and for the general interests of the Church. In the first elections to the Reichstag this party won sixty-three votes. Bismarck did not like this appearance of a cleri- cal party in the political arena. He was of the opinion that the Church should keep out of politics. Moreover, he decidedly objected to what he understood to be the claims of the Church that in certain matters, which he regarded as belonging exclusively to the State, the Church was superior to the secular authority and had the primary right to the alle- giance of Catholics. The immediate cause of the Kulturkampf was a quarrel among Catholics themselves. The proclamation by the Vatican Council in 1870 of the new dogma of papal infallibility had been op- p posed in the Council by the German bishops. But they and of the the priests of Germany were now required to subscribe to it. ^"^*^'^*™pf The large majority did, but some refused. The latter called themselves Old Catholics, proclaiming their adherence to the Church as hitherto defined, but rejecting this addition to their creed as false. The bishops who accepted it demanded that the Old Catholics should be removed from their positions in the universities and schools. The government of Prussia refused to remove them. A religious war was shortly in progress which grew more bitter each year. First the Imperial Parliament for- bade the religious orders to engage in teaching; then, in 1872, it expelled the Jesuits from Germany. Of all legislation enacted dur- The Falk ing this struggle the Falk or May Laws of the Prussian ^^^^ legislature were the most important (passed in May of three successive years, 1873, 1874, 1875). Bismarck supported them on the ground that the contest was political, not religious, that there must be no state within the state, no power considering itself superior to the established author- ities. He also believed that the whole movement was conducted by those opposed to Germany unity. Anything that imperiled that unity must be crushed. These May Laws gave the state large powers over the education and appointment of the clergy. They forbade the Roman Catholic Church to intervene in any way in civil affairs, or to coerce 368 THE GERMAN EMPIRE citizens or ofl&cials; they required that all clergymen should pass the regular state examination of the gymnasium, and should study theol- ogy for three years at a state university; that all Catholic seminaries should be subject to state inspection. They also established control over the appointment and dismissal of priests. A law was passed mak- ing civil marriage compulsory. This was to reduce the power that priests could exercise by refusing to marry a Catholic and a Protestant, and now even Old Catholics. Religious orders were suppressed. Against these laws the Catholics indignantly protested. The Pope declared them null and void; the clergy refused to obey them, and the Conflict of faithful rallied to the support of the clergy. To enforce Church and them the government resorted to fines, imprisonment, State deprivation of salary, expulsion from the country. The conflict spread everywhere, into little villages, as well as into the cities, into the universities and schools. It dominated politics for several years. The national life was much disturbed, yet the end was not ac- complished. In the elections of 1877 the Center succeeded in returning ninety-two members, and was the largest party in the Reichstag. It was evident that the policy was a failure. Other questions were becom- ing prominent, of an economic and social character, and Bismarck wished to be free to handle them. Particularly requiring attention, in his opin- ion, and that of William I, was a new and most menacing party, the Bismarck's Socialist. Bismarck therefore prepared to retreat. The retreat death of Pius IX in 1878, and the election of Leo XIII, a more conciliatory and diplomatic Pope, facilitated the change of policy. The anti-clerical legislation was gradually repealed, except that con- cerning civil marriage. In return for the measures surrendered Bis- marck gained the support of the Center for laws which he now had more at heart. The only permanent result of this religious conflict was the strengthening of the Center or Catholic party, which has been ever since the strongest party in this Protestant country. BISMARCK AND SOCIALISM It was in 1878 that Bismarck turned his attention to the Socialist party which had for some time been growing, and now seemed menac- The growth ing. That party was founded by Ferdinand Lassalle, a of Socialism Socialist of 1848, much influenced by the French school of that day. The party, originally appearing in 1848, was shortly THE PROGRAMME OF THE SOCIALISTS 369 broken up by persecution and did not reappear until 1863. In 1865 Lassalle founded a journal called the Social Democrat. In opposition to this party a somewhat different Socialist group was led by Karl Marx. These two were rivals until 1875, when a fusion was effected and the party platform was adopted at Gotha. This platform de- nounced the existing organization of the economic system, the ownership of the means of production solely by the capitalist class and in its interest; it demanded that the state should own them and should conduct industries in the interest of society, the largest part of which consists of laborers, and that the products of labor should be justly distributed; it aimed at a free state and a socialistic society. Needless to say Germany was neither at that Demands of time. That Germany might be a free state the Socialists *^® Socialists demanded universal suffrage for all over twenty years of age, women as well as men, secret ballot, freedom of the press, freedom of association, and indeed the greatest extension, of political rights in a democratic direction, free and compulsory education, and certain immediate eco- nomic and social reforms, such as a progressive income tax, a normal working day, and a free Sunday, prohibition of child labor and of all forms of labor by women which were dangerous to health or morality, laws for the protection of the life and health of workingmen and for the inspection of mines and factories. In 187 1 the Socialists elected two members to the Reichstag, three years later their representation in- creased to nine, and in 1877 to twelve. Their popular votes were: in 1871, 124,655; in 1874, 351,952; and in 1877, 493-288. The steady growth of this party aroused the alarm of the ruling classes of Germany, which stood for monarchy, aristocracy, the existing economic system, while its aims were destructive of all y^i^rm of these. Bismarck had long hated the Socialists, as was the ruling natural considering his training and environment, and con- *^ ^^^^^ sidering also the declarations of the Socialists themselves. Their leaders, Liebknecht and Bebel, had opposed the North German Confederation, the war with France, the annexation of Alsace and Lorraine. The Socialists expressed openly and freely their entire opposition to the existing order in Germany. It was only a question of time when they must clash violently with the man who had helped so power- fully to create that order, and whose life work henceforth was to con- solidate it. Again, the Socialist party was radically democratic, and 370 THE GERMAN EMPIRE Bismarck hated democracy. A conflict between men representing the very opposite poles of opinion was inevitable. Bismarck deter- mined to crush the Socialists once for all. He would use two methods; one stern repression of Socialist agitation, the other amelioration of the conditions of the working class, conditions which alone, he believed, caused them to listen to the false and deceptive doctrines of the Socialist leaders. First came repression. In October, 1878, a law of great severity, intended to stamp out completely all Socialist propaganda, was passed by the Imperial Parliament. It forbade all associations, Severe . . . . . . measures meetings, and publications having for their object "the against the subversion of the social order," or in which "socialistic Socialists tendencies" should appear. It gave the police large powers of interference, arrest, and expulsion from the country. Martial law might be proclaimed where desirable, which meant that, as far as Socialists were concerned, the ordinary courts would cease to protect individual liberties. Practically a mere decree of a police of3Eicial would suffice to expel from Germany anyone suspected or accused of being a Socialist. This law was enacted for a period of four years. It was later twice renewed and remained in force until 1890. It was vigor- ously applied. According to statistics furnished by the Socialists themselves, 1400 publications were suppressed, 1500 persons were imprisoned, 900 banished, during these twelve years. One might not read the works of Lassalle, for instance, even in a public library. This law, says a biographer of Bismarck, is very disappointing. *' We find the Government again having recourse to the same means for Their checking and guarding opinion which Metternich had used failure £f^y yg^rs before." ^ It was, moreover, an egregious fail- j ure. For twelve years the Sociahsts carried on their propaganda in secret. It became evident that their power lay in their ideas and in the economic conditions of the working classes, rather than in formal organizations, which might be broken up. A paper was published for them in Switzerland and every week thousands of copies found their way into the hands of workingmen in Germany, despite the utmost vigilance of the police. Persecution in their case, as in that of the Ro- man Catholics, only rendered the party more resolute and active. At first it seemed that the law would realize the aims of its sponsors, for ^ Headlam, Bismarck, 409. STATE INSURANCE 371 in the elections of 1881, the first after its passage, the Socialist vote fell from about 4C);,ooo to about 312,000. But in 1884 it _ . . Continued rose to 549,000; in 18S7 to 763,000; m 1890 to 1,427,000, growth of resulting in the election of thirty-five members to the *^^ Socialist ° "^ party Reichstag. In that year the laws were not renewed. The Socialists came out of their contest with Bismarck with a popular and parliamentary vote increased threefold. Bismarck, true to his funda- mental belief that difiicult opponents are best put down by force, not won by persuasion, had attempted here, as in the Kulturkampf, to settle an annoying question by arbitrary and despotic measures enforced ruthlessly by the police and sacrificing what are regarded in many other countries as the most precious rights of the individual. But he had at no time intended to rest content with merely repres- sive measures. He had also intended to win the working classes away from the Socialist party by enacting certain laws favoring them, by trying to convince them that the State was their real benefactor and was deeply interested in their welfare. The method by which Bismarck proposed to improve the condition of the working class was by an elaborate and comprehensive system of insurance against the misfortunes and vicissitudes of life, • 1 -1 , , 1 • • T Various agamst sickness, accident, old age, and incapacity. It was forms of his desire that any workingman incapacitated in any of insurance proposed these ways should not be exposed to the possibility of be- coming a pauper, but should receive a pension from the state. His policy was called State Socialism. His proposals met with vehement opposition, both in the Reichstag and among influential state classes outside. It was only slowly that he carried them Socialism through, the Sickness Insurance Law in 1883, the Accident Insurance Laws in 1884 a-nd 1885, and the Old Age Insurance Law in 1889. These laws are very complicated and cannot be described here at length. Such was Bismarck's contribution to the solution of the social ques- tion, which grew to such commanding importance as the nineteenth century wore on. In this legislation Bismarck was a pio- Bismarck a neer. His ideas have been studied widely in other countries, pioneer and his example .followed in some. The Socialists did not cooperate with him in the passage of these laws, which they denounced as entirely inadequate to solve the social evils, as only a slight step in the right direction. Nor did Bismarck 372 THE GERMAN EMPIRE wish their support. They were Social Democrats. Democracy he hated. „ _ SociaHsm of the state, controlled by a powerful monarch, ported by was one thing. Socialism carried through by the people the Socialists i^g^gyj^g in a democratic government, opposed to the ex- isting order in government and society, a very different thing. At the very moment that Bismarck secured the passage of the Accident Insur- ance Bill he also demanded the renewal of the law against the Socialists. His prophecy, that if these laws were passed the Socialists would sound their bird call in vain, has not been fulfilled. That party has grown greatly and almost uninterruptedly ever since he began his war upon it. BISMARCK AND THE POLICY OF PROTECTION In 1879, Bismarck brought about a profound change in the financial and industrial policy of Germany by inducing Parliament to abandon the policy of a low tariff, and comparative free trade, and adopts a to adopt a system of high tariff and pronounced protection. policy of jjjg purposes were two-fold. He wished to increase the- protection . , ^ . , .... revenue of the Empire and to encourage native industries. In adopting the principle of protection he was not influenced, he asserted, by the theories of economists, but by his own observation of facts. He observed that, while England was the only nation following a policy of free trade, France and Austria and Russia and the United States were pronounced believers in protection and that it was too much to ask that Germany should permanently remain the dupe of an amiable error. He said that owing to her low tariff Germany had been the dumping ground for the over-production of other countries. Now industries must be protected that they might flourish and that they might have at least the home market. As this policy had proved successful in other coun- tries, notably in the United States, he urged that Germans follow their example. Bismarck won the day, though not without difficulty. Germany entered upon a period of protection, which, growing higher and applied to more and more industries, has continued ever since. Bismarck be- lieved that Germany must become rich in order to be strong; that she The system could only become rich by manufactures; and that she gradually could have manufactures only by giving them protection. ^^^ ^ The system was worked out gradually and piecemeal, as he could not carry his whole plan at once. By means of the tariff Bismarck COLONIAL POLICIES 373 wished to assure Germans the home market. Not only has that been largely accomplished, but by its means the foreign market also has been widened. By offering concessions to foreign nations for concessions from them, Germany has gained for her manufactured products an en- trance into many other countries, which was denied them before. The prodigious expansion of German industry after 1880 is generally regarded in Germany as a vindication of this policy. ■ ACQUISITION OF COLONIES ■ One of the important features of the closing years of Bismarck's political career was the beginning of a German colonial empire. In his earlier years Bismarck did not believe in Germany's at- tempting the acquisition of colonies. In 18 71 he refused ginning of to demand as prize of war any of the French colonial pos- * colonial sessions. He believed that Germany should consolidate, and should not risk incurring the hostility of other nations by entering nipon the path of colonial rivalry. But colonies, nevertheless, were being founded under the spirit of private initiative. Energetic merchants from Hamburg and Bremen established trading stations in Africa, and the islands of the Pacific, for the purpose of selling their goods and ac- quiring tropical products, such as cocoa, coffee, rubber, spices. The aid of the Government was invoked at various times, but Bismarck held aloof. The interest aroused in the exploits of these private companies gave rise towards 1880 to a definite colonial party and the formation of a Colonial Society, which has since become important. The change in the policy of the Government, however, from one of aloofness to one of energetic participation and acquisition of colonies was largely a result of the adoption of the policy of pro- . ^ , . , ^ -^ , ^ A result of tection and active governmental encouragement of manu- the adoption factures and commerce. In the debate on the tariff bill of °^ *^® policy „ „. . . , , . 1-11 °' protection 1879 Bismarck said that it was desirable to protect manu- factures, that thus a greater demand for labor would arise, that more people could live in Germany, and that therefore the emigration which had for years drawn tens of thousands from the country, particularly to the United States, would be decreased. But to develop manufactures to the utmost, Germany must have new markets for her products; and here colonies would be useful. In 1884 he adopted a vigorous colo- nial policy, supporting and expanding the work of the private mer- 374 THE GERMAN EMPIRE chants and travelers. In that year Germany seized a number of points in Africa, in the southwest, the west, and the east. A Energetic ' _ ' ^ _ intervention period of diplomatic activity began, leading in the next in Africa ^^^^ years to treaties with England and other powers, re- sulting in the fixing of the boundaries of the various claimants to African territory. This is the partition of Africa described elsewhere.^ Germany thus acquired a scattered African empire of great size, con- The German sisting of Kamerun, Togoland, German Southwest Africa, colonies German East Africa; also a part of New Guinea. ' Later some of the Samoan Islands came into her possession, and in 1899 she purchased the Caroline and the Ladrone Islands, excepting Guam, from Spain for about four million dollars. THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE While domestic affairs formed the chief concern of Bismarck after the war with France, yet he followed the course of foreign affairs with the same closeness of attention that he had shown before, and manipu- lated them with the same display of subtlety and audacity that had characterized his previous diplomatic career. His great achievement in The Triple diplomacy in these years was the formation of the Triple Alliance Alliance, an achievement directed, like all the actions of his career, toward the consolidation and exaltation of his country. The origin of this alliance is really to be found in the Treaty of Frankfort, which sealed the humiliation of France. The wresting from France of Alsace and Lorraine inevitably rendered that country desirous of a war of revenge, of a war for their recovery. This has remained the open sore of Europe since 1871, occasioning numerous, incontestable, and wide- spread evils. Firmly resolved to keep what he had. won, Bismarck's chief consideration was to render such a war hopeless, therefore, perhaps, impossible. France must be isolated so completely that she would not dare to move. This was accomplished, first by the Isolation of friendly understanding brought about by Bismarck between France ^]^g three rulers of eastern Europe, the Emperors of Ger- many, Russia, and Austria. But this understanding was shattered by events in the Balkan peninsula during the years from 1876 to 1878. In the Balkans, Russia and Austria were rivals, and their rivalry was thrown into high relief at the Congress of Berlin over which Bismarck 1 See Chapter XXVIII. THE TRIPLE ALUANCE 375 presided. Russia, unaided, had carried on a war with Turkey, and had imposed the Treaty of San Stefano upon her conquered enemy, only to find that Europe would not recognize that treaty, but insisted upon its revision at an international congress, and at that congress she found Bismarck, to whom she had rendered inestimable services in the years so critical for Prussia, from 1863 to 1870, now acting as the friend of Austria, a power which had taken no part in the conflict, but was now intent upon drawing chestnuts from the fire with the aid of the Iron Chancellor. The Treaty of Berlin was a humiliation for Russia and a striking success for Austria, her rival, which was now empowered to "occupy" Bosnia and Herzegovina. No wonder that the Russian Chancellor, Gortchakoff, pronounced the Congress of Berlin "the darkest episode in his career," and that Alexander II declared that "Bismarck had forgotten his promises of 1870." By favoring one ofV his allies Bismarck had alienated the other. In this fact lay the germ V of the two great international combinations of the future, the Triple : and Dual Alliances, factors of profound significance in the recent 1 history of Europe. Of these the first in order of creation and in importance was the Triple Alliance. Realizing that Russia was mortally offended at his con- duct, and that the friendly understanding with her was over, Bismarck turned for compensation to a closer union with Austria, and concluded a treaty with her October 7, 187Q. This treaty provided Aiistro— that if either Germany or Austria were attacked by Russia German the two should be bound " to lend each other reciprocal aid Treaty of with the whole of their military power, and, subsequently, to conclude no peace except conjointly and in agreement"; that if either Germany or Austria should be attacked by another power — as, for instance, France — the ally should remain neutral, but that if this • enemy should be aided by Russia, then Germany and Austria should act together with their full military force, and should make peace in common. Thus this Austro-German Treaty of 1879 established a de- fensive alliance aimed particularly against Russia, to a lesser degree against France. The treaty was secret and was not published until 1887. Meanwhile, in 1882, Italy joined the alliance, irri- Entrance of tated at France because of her seizure the year before of Italy into Tunis, a country which Italy herself had coveted, as a seat ® ^"'^^ for colonial expansion but which Bismarck had encouraged France to 376 THE GERMAN EMPIRE take, wishing to make one more enemy for France, and thus to force that enemy, Italy, into tlie alliance, highly unnatural in many ways, with Austria, her old-time enemy, and with Germany. Thus was formed « the Triple Alliance. The text of that alliance has never been published, but its purpose and character may be derived from that of the Austro- German Alliance, which was now merely expanded to include another power. The alliance was made for a period of years, but was con- stantly renewed and remained in force until 191 5. It was a defensive alliance, designed to assure its territory to each of the contracting parties. Thus was created a combination of powers which dominated central Europe, from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, and which rested on a military force of over two million men. At its head stood Germany. Europe entered upon a period of German leadership in international affairs which was later to be challenged by the rise of a new alliance, that of Russia and France, which for various reasons, however, was slow in forming. THE REIGN OF WILLIAM II On the 9th of March, 18S8, Emperor William I died at the age of ninety-one. He was succeeded by his son, Frederick III, in his fifty- Death of seventh year. The new Emperor was a man of modera- William I tion, of liberalism in politics, an admirer of the English constitution. It is supposed that, had he lived, the autocracy of the ruler would have given way to a genuine parliamentary system like that of England, and that an era of greater liberty would have been inaugurated. But he was already a dying man, ill of cancer of the throat. His reign was one of physical agony patiently borne. Unable to use his voice, he could only indicate his wishes by writing or by signs. The reign was soon over, before the era of liberalism had time to dawn. Frederick was King and Emperor only from March 9 to June 15, 1888. He was succeeded by his son, William II, the present Emperor. The new ruler was twenty-nine years of age, a young man of very active Accession of mind, of fertile imagination, versatile, ambitious, self- waiiam II confident, a man of unusual vigor. In his earliest utterances he showed his enthusiasm for the army and for religious orthodoxy. He held the doctrine of the divine origin of his power with mediaeval fervor, expressing it with frequency and in dramatic fashion. It was evident that a man of such a character would wish to govern, and not simply reign. He would not be willing long to efface himself behind the DISMISSAL OF BISMARCK 377 imposing figure of the great Chancellor. Bismarck had prophesied that the Emperor would be his own Chancellor, yet he did not have the wis- dom to resign when the old Emperor died, and to depart with dignity. He clung to power. From the beginning friction developed between the two. They thought differently, felt differently. The fundamental question was, who should rule in Germany? The struggle was for supremacy since there was no way in which two persons so self-willed and autocratic could divide power. As Bismarck stayed on when he saw that his presence was no longer desired, the Emperor, not willing to be overshadowed by so commanding and il- -ru f' The resig- lustrious a minister, nation of finally demanded his ^'^'^^'''^ resignation in 1890. Thus in bit- terness and humiliation ended the political career of a man who, ac- cording to Bismarck himself, had "cut a figure in the history of Ger- many and Prussia." He lived sev- eral years longer, dying in 1898 at the age of eighty- three, leaving as his epitaph, "A faithful servant of Emperor William I." Thus van- ished from view a man who will rank in history as one of the few great founders of states. Since 1890 the personaHty of William II has been the decisive factor in the state. His Chancellors have been, in fact as well as in theory, his servants, carrying out the master's wish. There have been four: Caprivi, 1890-94; Hohenlohe, 1894- 1900; von Bulow, 1900-09; and Bethmann-Hollweg, since July, 1909. The extreme political tension was at first somewhat relieved by the removal of Bismarck from the scene, by this "dropping of the pilot," after thirty-eight years of continuous service. The early measures Dropping the Pilot Cartoon by Sir John Tenniel in Punch, March 29, i8go. 378 THE GERMAN EMPIRE under the new regime showed a Hberal tendency. The Anti-Sociahst laws, expiring in 1890, were not renewed. This had been Socialist one of the causes of friction between the Emperor and the policy Chancellor. Bismarck wished them renewed, and their stringency increased. The Emperor wished to try milder methods, hoping to undermine the Socialists completely by further meas- ures of social and economic amelioration, to kill them with kindness. The repressive laws lapsing, the Socialists reorganized openly, and have conducted an aggressive campaign ever since. The Emperor, soon recognizing the futility of anodynes, became their bitter enemy, and began to denounce them vehemently, but no new legislation has been passed against them, although this has been several times attempted. The reign of William II has been notable for the remarkable expan- sion of industry and commerce, which has rendered Germany the re- doubtable rival of England and the United States. In Remarkable 1., ^ i- • n: • • tt-u expansion of colonial and foreign affairs an aggressive policy has been German followed. German colonies as yet have little importance, have entailed great expense, and have yielded only small returns. But the desire for a great colonial empire has become a settled policy of the Government, and has seized the popular imagination. Connected with the growing interest of Germany in commercial and colonial affairs has gone an increasing interest in the navy. Strong on Germany a land for fifty years, William II desires that Germany shall naval power \yQ strong on the sea, that she may act with decision in any part of the world, that her diplomacy, which is permeated with the idea that nothing great shall be done in world politics anywhere, in Europe, in, Asia, in Africa, without her consent, may be supported by a for- midable navy. To make that fleet powerful has been a constant and a growing preoccupation of the present sovereign. In the political world the rise of the Social Democratic party is the most important phenomenon. It represents not merely a desire for a Continued revolution in the economic sphere, it also represents a growth of protest against the autocratic government of the present Socialism ^^^^^^ ^ demand for democratic institutions. While Ger- many has a Constitution and a Parliament, the monarch is vested with vast power. Parliament does not control the Government, as the min- isters are not responsible to it. There is freedom of speech in Parlia- ment, but practically during most of this reign it has not existed outside. THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY 379 Hundreds of men have, during the past twenty years, been imprisoned for such criticisms of the Government as in other countries are the cur- rent coin of discussion. This is the crime of lese-majeste, which, as long as it exists, prevents a free pohtical Hfe. The growth of the Social Democratic party to some extent represents mere Democratic liberalism, not adherence to the economic theory of the party Socialists. It is the great reform and opposition party of a^™fargest Germany. It has the largest popular vote of any party, 3,250,000. Yet the Conservatives with less than 1,500,000 votes elected in 1907 eighty- three members to the Reichstag to the forty- three of the Socialists. The reason is this. The electoral districts have not been altered since they were originally laid out in 1869-71, though population has vastly shifted from country to city. The cities have grown rapidly since then, and it is in industrial centers that the Socialists are strong- est. BerUn with a population in 187 1 of 600,000, had six members in the Reichstag. It still has only that number, though its population is over two million, and though it would be entitled to twenty members if equal electoral districts were granted. These the Socialists demand, a demand which, if granted, would make them the most powerful party in the Reichstag, as they are in the popular vote. For this very reason the Government has thus far refused the demand. The extreme op- ponents of the Social Democrats even urge that universal suffrage, guaranteed by the Constitution, be abolished, as the only way to crush the party. To this extreme the Government has not yet gone. In recent years several questions have been much discussed; the question of the electoral reform in Prussia; of the redis- ^j^^ demand tribution of seats, both in the Prussian Landtag and the for electoral Imperial Reichstag; and of ministerial responsibility. Prussia is the state that in practice rules the German Empire. This was what was intended by Bismarck when he drew up the Constitution of the Empire, it was precisely the object of his entire policy. The Con- stitution was based on the two chief articles of Bismarck's creed, the ' power of the monarch and the ascendancy of Prussia. This is the ac- 1 cepted idea of the governing classes to-day. Prussia, as was ^^ said in 1914 by Prmce von Biilow, the most important state of sol- Chancellor of the Empire since Bismarck, "Prussia attained "^^ff ,^°^ T 1 rr • 1 1 officials" her greatness as a country of soldiers and ofncials, and as I such she was able to accomplish the work of German union ; to this day 380 THE GERMAN EMPIRE she is still, in all essentials, a state of soldiers and officials." The gov- erning classes are, in Prussia, which in turn governs Germany, the mon- arch, the aristocracy, and a bureaucracy of military and civil officials,! responsible to the King alone. The determining factor in the state is the personality of the King. Neither Empire, nor Kingdom of Prussia, is governed by democratic institutions. The Kingdom lags far behind the Empire, and, so great is its power, impedes the development of liberty in the Empire. The electoral system in use for the Lower House of the Prussian legislature is that of the three classes previously described.^ According to this a man's voting power is determined by the amount of his taxes. Voters. are divided into three groups, according to taxes paid, and each group has an equal representation in the assemblies or colleges that choose the deputies to the Lower House of the Prussian legislature. The first class contains from three to five per cent of the voters, the second from ten to twelve, whereas the third class contains perhaps eighty-five per cent, yet has only one-third of the members of the electoral colleges. The result is, as has been said, representation in the Chamber of Deputies only for the rich and well-to-do. The working classes are almost en- tirely unrepresented. Because of this method of indirect elections, down to 1908 the Socialists were unable to elect a single member to the Prus- sian Chamber. With direct election they would have been entitled to about a hundred seats. Again, the electoral districts for the Prussian Chamber have not been changed since i860. There are therefore great inequalities ^, , , between them. Thus in the province of East Prussia The demand . i 1 • for parlia- the actual number of inhabitants to each deputy is mentary 6^,000, while in Berlin it is 170,000. The demand is reform . . . growing that many districts be partially or wholly dis- franchised or merged with others, and that other districts receive a larger representation. In the Empire a similar problem is yearly becoming more acute. In 187 1 Germany was divided into 397 constituencies for the Reichstag. The number has remained the same ever since, nor has a single district gained or lost in representation. Yet during that time the population of the Empire has increased from about forty-one millions to over sixty- five millions, and there has been a great shifting in population from the ^ See page 311. ■(.(STi^j . V" V^ J ^ fneilhrimm M&H^ 1/-^ I WlUelsbacK *fl ''''"bingen ' ! r 1 a inPd @st^aii iwt/fs/iut ^*7 Fnssb r.iilaieEast from 16 Greenwich, \ ^v^Boioholm B ^ <^ Ri; ifieVOIVlQTV hii/ienj0de ,, ^ -He/a ^"''' BiitoH' V... 1 fcwrixnl^"^ /juw*" ' Mtirierim Orkudeii\ JUeh^^iin «V^ lOoldapP /; Csierhe Phnsh PU>cR '09 /Of' 1^ eLodz JYoppaul "JuslerlU. T \)r 1/ A.-'"t Strt^fii 'Niiw^Ui vbv BeuOim (^v""-'.— 'V,-, 18 L- GER^IAN EMPIRE 1914. Mbreviations: 'BrBriins^vick X.rLippe. RA.-J/t!uss elder line. H. .T. -Seuss younger line. S A rSuxe AUeniurg. S.C.G :&jk Cabunz-Cc/ha. f>M:Saxe.Heim'nffen: S W.-Saie-Heimar. S.h: Sduiumiurg-Iippe. S Rr.fdtwarz/tj/Budelstadt. S.S .Sdtwaniwy-Saute/s/^m W- Waideek. <72-* «J £notuh \MitflS. PRESENT PROBLEMS 381 country to the cities. One of the divisions of Berlin, with a population of 697,000, elects one representative, whereas the petty principality of Waldeck, with a population of 59,000, elects one. The 851,000 voters of Greater Berlin return eight members; the same number of voters in fifty of the smaller constituen- cies return forty-eight. A reform of these gross inequal- ities is widely demanded. Another subject which has recently received great em- phasis is that concerning min- isterial responsi- . The demand Ijlllty. The m- for ministe- discretions of "^ respon- . . sibility Emperor William II have made this one of the burning questions. An inter- \'iew with him, in which he spoke with great freedom of the strained relations between Germany and Great Britain, was published in the London Telegraph on October 28, 1908. At once was seen a phenome- non not witnessed in German^ since the founding of the Em- pire. There was a violent popular protest against the irresponsible actions of the Emperor, actions subject to no control, and yet easily capable of bringing about a war. Newspapers of all shades of party affiliation displayed a freedom of utterance and of censure unparalleled in Germany. All parties in the Reichstag expressed their emphatic dis- approval. The incident, however, was not sufficient to bring about the introduction of the system of the responsibility of the ministers for all the acts of the monarch, and the control of the ministry by the ma- jority of the Parliament — in short, the parliamentary system in its essential feature. Prussia has been the strongest obstacle the democratic movement of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries has encountered. Germany in William II From a photograph taken in 1914. 382 THE GERMAN EMPIRE 1914 was less liberal than in 1848. The most serious blow that the I principle of representative government received during that ' Pnissis. I resolute century was the one she received at the hands of Bismarck. opponent of ^g have expert testimony of the highest and most official sort that the effects of that blow are not outlived. Prince von Billow, writing in 1914, said: "Liberalism in spite of its change of attitude in national questions, has to this day not recovered from the catastrophic defeat which Prince Bismarck inflicted nearly half a century ago on the party of progress which still clung to the ideals and principles of 1848." The present situation is still further defined by the utterance of Pro- fessor Delbriick, successor to Treitschke in the chair of modern history in the University of Berlin, who wrote in a book published in 1914, "Anyone who has any familiarity with all our officers and generals knows that it would take another Sedan, inflicted on us instead of by us, be- Th rm not ^^^^ ^^^^ would acquiesce in the control of the Army by controlled by the German Parliament." Here is a very clear indication Parliament ^£ where real power lies in Germany. One has only to recall the great chapters in English history which tell of the struggle for liberty to know that it has been obtained solely by the recognition of the supremacy of Parliament over royal prerogative, over military power. The German state is the most autocratic in Western Europe; it is also the most militaristic. Fundamental individual liberties, regarded as absolutely vital in England, France, America and many other states, have never been possessed by Germans, nor are they possessed now. Germany is rich, vigorous, powerful, instructed. It is not free. A mili- tary monarchy is the very opposite of a democratic state. Prince von Billow says, in his recent book, "Imperial Germany," "Despite the German abundance of merits and the great qualities with which comments on the German nation is endowed, political talent has been Germany denied it." Any citizen of a free country knows that that talent grows only where an opportunity has been given it to grow. It need occasion no surprise that Mommsen, the historian of Rome, writ- ing in 1903, should say of his own country, "There are no longer free citizens." Instead there are industrious, energetic, educated, ambitious, and submissive subjects. REFERENCES 383 The Government of the German Empire: Ogg, Governments of Europe, pp. 210-228; Lowell, Governments and Parties in Continental Europe, Vol. I, pp. 240-285; Fife, The German Empire between Two Wars, pp. 101-138. The Kulturkampf: Headlam, Bismarck, pp. 394-404; Seignobos, The Political History of Europe Since I8I4, PP- 491-496; Robinson and Beard, Readings in Modern European History, Vol. II, pp. 178-185; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XII, pp. 145- 152. Measures against the Socialists: Dawson, German Socialism and Ferdinand Lassallc, pp. 247-278; Headlam, pp. 407-411; Fife, pp. 177-183. Bismarck and Social Reform: Ogg, Social Progress in Contemporary Europe, pp. 154-263; Dawson, Bismarck and State Socialism, pp. 23-36, 72-127; Robinson and Beard, Vol. II, pp. 185-192. Industrial Development of Germany: Ogg, Social Progress in Contemporary Europe, pp. 117-119, 123-124; Dawson, Evolution of Modern Germany; Fife, Chap. VIII. Bismarck's Foreign and Colonial Policies: Marriott and Robertson, The Evo- lution of Prussia, pp. 399-408, 416^23; Headlam, pp. 405-408, 423-427; Seymour, The Diplomatic Background of the War, pp. 1-37. Dismissal and Death of Bismarck: Headlam, pp. 440-463; Robinson and Beard, Vol. II, pp. 200-203. Reign of William II: Marriott and Robertson, pp. 424-446; Gooch, History of Our Time (Home University Library), pp. 82-97; Priest, Germany Since 1740, pp. 146-184; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XII, pp. 165-173; Seymour, Chaps. IV-V; Fife, passim; Tower, C, Germany of Today (Home Universit}' Library); Schmitt, England and Germany, Chaps. Ill, IV, VIII-XI. CHAPTER XXII FRANCE UNDER THE THIRD REPUBLIC The Third Republic was proclaimed, as we have seen, by the Paris- ians on September 4, 1870, after the news of the disaster of Sedan had reached the capital. A Provisional Government of National lie Vo-^" " Defense was immediately installed. This government gave claimed Sep- way in February, 1871 to a National Assembly of 750 1870^'^ ' members elected by universal suffrage for a single pur- pose, to make peace with Germany. A majority of the members of this National Assembly, which met first at Bordeaux, The National were Monarchists. The reason was that the monarchical Assembly candidates favored the making of a peace, whereas many- republican leaders, with Gambetta at their head, wished to continue the war. The mass of the peasants desiring peace therefore voted for the peace candidates. There is nothing to show that thereby they ex- pressed a wish for monarchy. The Assembly of Bordeaux made the- peace, ceding Alsace and Lorraine, and assuming the enormous war indemnity. But peace did not return to France as a result of the Treaty of Frankfort. The "Terrible Year," as the French call it, of 1S70- The "Terrible 7i, had more horrors in store. Civil war followed the war ^®^''" with the Germans, shorter but exceeding it in ferocity, a war between those in control of the city of Paris and the Govern- ment of France as represented by the Assembly of Bordeaux. That Assembly had chosen Thiers as "Chief of the Executive Power," pending "the nation's decision as to the definitive form of government." Thus the fundamental question was postponed. Thiers was chosen for no definite term; he was the servant of the Assembly to carry out its wishes, and might be dismissed by it at any moment. THE COMMUNE Between the Government and the people of Paris serious disagree- ments immediately arose, which led quickly to the war of the Com- mune. Paris had proclaimed the Republic. But the Republic was not 384 THE COMMUNE OF PARIS 385 Paris and the Assembly mutually suspicious yet sanctioned by France, and existed only de facto. On the other hand the National Assembly was controlled by Monarchists, and it had postponed the determination of the permanent insti- tutions of the country. Did not this simply mean that it would abolish the Republic and proclaim the Monarchy, when it should judge the moment propitious? This fear, only too well justified, that the Assembly was hostile to the Republic, twas the fundamental cause of [the Commune. Paris lived in daily dread of this event. Paris was ardently Republi- can. For ten years under the Empire it had been returning Republicans to the Chamber of Deputies. These men did not propose to let a coup d'etat like that of Louis Napoleon in 185 1 occur again. Various acts of the Assembly were well adapted to deepen and inten- sify the feeling of dread uncer- tainty. The Assembly showed its distrust of Paris by voting in March, 187 1 that it would henceforth sit in Versailles. In other words, a small and sleepy town, and one associated with the history of monarchy, was to be the capital of France instead of the great city which had sus- tained the tremendous siege and by her self-sacrifice and versaiUes suffering had done her best to hold high the honor of the declared . ,1-1 • 1 1 i.1 • i the capital land. Not only was Pans wounded m her pride by this act which showed such unmistakable suspicion of her but she suffered also in her material interests at a time of great financial distress. The Gov- ernment did nothing to relieve this distress but greatly accentuated it by several unwise measures. There was in Paris a considerable population having diverse revo- Thiers After the portrait by L. Bonnat, 1876. 386 FRANCE UNDER THE THIRD REPUBLIC lutionary tendencies, anarchists, Jacobins, Socialists, — whose leaders Revolutionary worked with marked success among the restless, poverty- elements in stricken masses of the great city. Out of this unrest it was ^'^ easy for an insurrection to grow. The insurrectionary spirit spread with great rapidity until it developed into a war between Paris and the Versailles Government. Attempts at solving the difficulties by con- ciliation having failed, the Government undertook to subdue the city. The second ^^^^ necessitated a regular siege- of Paris, the second of siege of that unhappy city within a year. This time, however, the siege was conducted by Frenchmen, Germans, who con- trolled the forts to the north of Paris, looking on. It lasted nearly two months, from April 2 to May 21, when the Versailles troops forced their entrance into the city. Then followed seven days ferocious fighting in the streets, the Communists more and more desperate and frenzied, the Versailles army more and more revengeful and sanguinary. This was The " Bloody the "Bloody Week," during which Paris suffered much more Week " than she had from the bombardment of the Germans — a week of fearful destruction of life and property. The horrors of incendiarism were added to those of slaughter. Finally the awful agony | was brought to a close. The revenge taken by the Government was | heavy. It punished right and left summarily. Many were shot on I the spot without any form of trial. Arrests and trials went on for years. Thousands were sent to tropical penal colonies. Other thou- i sands were sentenced to hard labor. The rage of this monarchical ' assembly was slow in subsiding. THE GOVERNMENT OF THIERS Having put down the insurrection of Paris and signed the hard treaty with Germany, France was at peace. The Republicans thought France at that the Assembly ought now to dissolve, arguing that it peace }^g^^ ]-,ggj^ elected to make peace, and nothing else. The Assembly decided however that it had full powers of legislation on all subjects, including the right to make the Constitution. The Assembly remained in power for nearly five years, refusing to dissolve. But before taking up the difficult work of making a Constitution it cooperated for two years with Thiers in the necessary work of reorgan- ization. The most imperative task was that of getting the Germans out of the country. Under the skillful leadership of Thiers the payment THIERS AND THE MONARCHISTS 387 of the enormous war indemnity, five billion francs, was undertaken with energy and carried out with celerity. In September, -pj^^ ^^^^^_ 1873, the last installment was paid and the last German ation of the soldiers went home. The soil of France was freed nearly ^^"^^°^ six months earUer than was provided by the treaty. For his great ser- vices in this initial work of reconstruction the National Assembly voted that Thiers had "deserved well of the country" and the people spon- taneously acclaimed him as "The Liberator of the Territory." The reconstruction of the army was also urgent and was undertaken in the same spirit of patriotism, entailing heavy personal sacrifices. A law was passed in 1872 instituting compulsory military ser- -r-,. ,...,. , Army reform vice. Five years of service m the active army were hence- forth to be required in most cases. The law really established in France the Prussian military system, so successful in crushing all opponents. We now see the beginning of that oppressive militarism which has be- come the most characteristic feature of contemporary Europe. Other nations considered that they were forced to imitate Prussia in order to assure their own safety in the future. In the case of France the neces- sity was entirely obvious. In this work of reconstruction the Assembly and Thiers were able to work together on the whole harmoniously. Now that this was accom- plished the Monarchists of the Assembly resolved to abol- Thiers and ish the Republic and restore the Monarchy. They soon *^® RepubUc found that they had in Thiers a man who would not abet them in their project. Thiers was originally a believer in constitutional monarchy, but he was not afraid of a republican government, and during the years after 1870 he came to believe that a Republic was, for France, at the close of a turbulent century, the only possible form of government. "There is," he said, "only one throne, and there are three claimants for a seat on it." He discovered a happy formula in favor of the Republic, "It is the form of government which divides us least." And again, "Those parties who want a monarchy, do not want the The Monarch - same monarchy." By which phrases he accurately de- >st parties scribed a curious situation. The Monarchists, while they constituted a majority of the Assembly, were divided into three parties, no one of which was in" the majority. There were Legitimists, Orleanists, and Bonapartists. The Legitimists upheld the right of the grandson of Charles X, the Count of Chambord; the Orleanists, the right of the 388 FRANCE UNDER THE THIRD REPUBLIC grandson of Louis Philippe, the Count of Paris; the Bonapartists, of Napoleon III, or his son. The Monarchist parties could unite to pre- vent a definite legal establishment of the Republic; they could not unite to establish the monarchy, as each wing wished a different monarch. Out of this division arose the only chance the Third Republic had to live. As the months went by, the Monarchists felt that Thiers was becoming constantly more of a Republican, which was true. If a monarchical restoration was to be attempted, therefore, Thiers must Resignation be gotten out of the way. Consequently, in May, 1873, of Thiers . ^]^g Assembly forced him to resign and immediately elected Marshal MacMahon president to prepare the way for the coming monarch. THE FRAMING OF THE CONSTITUTION Earnest attempts were made forthwith to bring about a restoration of the monarchy. This could be done by a fusion of the Legitimists and jjjg the Orleanists. Circumstances were particularly favorable Count of for the accomplishment of such a union. The Count of ^ ° Chambord had no direct descendants. The inheritance would, therefore, upon his death, pass to the House of Orleans, repre- sented by the Count of Paris. The elder branch would in the course of nature be succeeded by the younger. This fusion seemed accomplished when the Count of Paris visited the Count of Chambord, recognizing him as head of the family. A committee of nine members of the Assem- bly, representing the Monarchist parties, the Imperialists holding aloof, negotiated during the summer of 1873 with the "King" concerning the terms of restoration. The negotiations were successful on most points, and it seemed as if by the close of the year the existence of the Repub- lic would be terminated and Henry V would be reigning in France. The Republic was saved by the devotion of the Count of Chambord to a symbol. He stated that he would never renounce the ancient Bourbon banner. "Henry V could never abandon the white flag of Henry IV," he had already declared, and from that resolution he never swerved. The tricolor represented the Revolution. If he was to be King of France it must be with his principles and his flag; King of the Revolution he would never consent to be. The Orleanists, on the, other hand, adhered to the tricolor, knowing its popularity with the people, knowing that no regime that repudiated the glorious symbol could long endure. Against this barrier the attempted fusion of the two branches of the Bourbon ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SEPTENNATE 389 family was shattered. The immediate danger to the Republic was over. But the Monarchists did not renounce their hope of restoring the monarchy. The Count of Chambord might, perhaps, change his mind: if not, as he had no son, the Count of Paris would succeed him after his death as the lawful claimant to the throne; and the Count of Paris, defender of the tricolor, could then be proclaimed. The Monarchists therefore, planned merely to gain time. Marshal MacMahon had been chosen executive, as had Thiers, for no definite term. He was to serve during the pleasure of the Assembly itself. Believing that MacMahon would resign as soon as the King really appeared, they voted that his term should be for seven years, expecting that a period of that length would see a clearing up of the situation, either the change of mind or the death of the Count of Chambord. Thus was estab- Estabiish- lished the Septennate, or seven year term, of the President, ment of the which still exists. The presidency was thus given a fixed ^^ ^'^^^ ® term by the Monarchists, as they supposed, in their own interests. If they could not restore the monarchy in 1S73 they could at least con- trol the presidency for a considerable period, and thus prepare an easy transition to the new system at the opportune moment. But France showed unmistakably that she desired the establish- ment of a definitive system, that she wished to be through with these provisional arrangements, which only kept party feeling feverish and handicapped France in her foreign relations. France had as yet no constitution, and yet this Assembly, chosen to make peace, had asserted that it was also chosen to frame a constitution, and it was by this asser- tion that it justified its continuance in power long after peace was made. Yet month after month, and year after reluctant to year, went by and the constitution was not made, nor ^^f™'? ^ '^°'^' J ' J stitution. even seriously discussed. If the Assembly could not, or would not, make a constitution, it should relinquish its power and let the people elect a body that would. But this it steadily refused to do. This inability of the Monarchists to act owing to their own internal divisions was of advantage to only one party, the Republican. More and more people who had hitherto been Monarchists, now finally con- vinced that a restoration of the monarchy was impracticable, joined the Republican party and thus it came about finally in 1875 that the Assembly decided to make the constitution, It did not, as previous 390 FRANCE UNDER THE THIRD REPUBLIC assemblies had done, draw up a single document, defining the organiza- tion and narrating the rights of the citizens. It passed three separate y, laws which taken together were to serve as a constitution. Constitution By these laws a legislature was established consisting of ° two houses, a Senate, consisting of 300 members, at least forty years of age and chosen for nine years, and a Chamber of Depu- ties, to be elected by universal suffrage for a term of four years. These two houses meeting together as a National Assembly elect the President of the Republic. There is no vice-president, no succession provided by law. In case of a vacancy in the presidency the National Assembly meets immediately, generally within forty-eight hours, and elects a new The President. The President has the right to initiate legis- President lation, as have the members of the two houses, the duty to promulgate all laws and to superintend their execution, the pardon- ing power, the direction of the army and navy, and the appointment to all civil and military positions. He may, with the consent of the Senate, dissolve the Chamber of Deputies before the expiration of its legal term and order a new election. But these powers are merely nominal, for the reason that every act of the President must be countersigned by a min- ister, who thereby becomes responsible for the act, the President being irresponsible, except in the case of high treason. For the fundamental feature of the Third Republic, differentiating it greatly from two preceding republics of France and from the republic of the United States, is its adoption of the parliamentary system, as The worked out in England. The President's position resembles ministry ^}^q^^ q^ q, constitutional monarch. All his acts must be countersigned by his ministers who become thereby responsible for them. The ministers in turn are responsible to the chambers, particularly to the Chamber of Deputies. The Chamber thus controls the executive, makes and unmakes ministries as it chooses. The legislature controls the executive. The legislative and executive branches are thus fused as in England, not sharply separated as in the United States. The essen- tial feature therefore of this republic is that it has adopted the govern- mental machinery first elaborated in a monarchy. The Constitution of France a -^^75 ^^^ ^ Compromise between opposing forces, neither of pariiamen- which could win an unalloyed victory. The monarchical tary repu ic agggj^i^iy ^^^t established the parliamentary republic in 1875 thought that it had introduced sufficient monarchical elements into VICTORY OF THE REPUBLICANS 391 it to curb the aggressiveness of democracy and to facilitate a restora- tion of the monarchy at some convenient season. The Senate, it thought, would be a monarchical stronghold and the President and Senate could probably keep the Chamber of Deputies in check by their power of dis- solving it. It was some years before the Republicans secured unmistakable control of the Republic in all its branches. In the first elections under the new consti- tution, which were held at the beginning of 1876, the Monarchists se- cured a slight majority in the S^.^?,"^ Senate, the Republicans a large majority in the Chamber of Deputies. It was generally supposed that the Presi- dent, MacMahon, was a Monarchist in his sympathies. This was shown to be the case when MacMahon in May, 1877 dis- missed the Simon ministry, which was Re- publican and which had the support of the Chamber, and appointed a new ministry, composed largely of Monarchists under the Duke of Broglie. Thereupon, the Sen- ate, representing the same views, consented to the dissolution of the Chamber of Deputies, and new elections were ordered. The Monarchists carried on a vigorous campaign against the Repub- licans. They were powerfully supported by the clerical party, which, ever since 187 1, had been extremely active. The Repub- ^j^^ Repub- licans resented this intrusion of the Catholic party, and He and the their opinion of it had been vividly expressed some time before by Gambetta in the phrase — "Clericalism, that is our enemy," meaning that the Roman Catholic Church was the most dan- gerous opponent of the Republic. The struggle was embittered. The Broglie ministry used every effort to influence the votes against Gam- betta and the Republicans. The clergy took an active part in the campaign, supporting the Broglie candidates and preaching against the Republicans, conduct which in the end was to cost them dear. The Republicans we're, however, overwhelmingly victorious. In the following year, 1878, they also gained control of the Senate and in 1879 1 4 m. 9m %^^;» ,.. , 4 ^^^^Sk%^^ ^W^^HUI kS^ .Marshal MacMahon From a photograph. 392 FRANCE UNDER THE THIRD REPUBLIC they brought about the resignation of MacMahon. The National Assembly immediately met and elected Jules Grevy president, a man Grew whose devotion to Republican principles had been known chosen to France for thirty years. For the first time since 1871 resi en ^j^^ Republicans controlled the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate, and the Presidency. Since that time the Republic has been entirely in the hands of the Republicans. The Republi'cans, now completely victorious, sought by constructive legislation to consolidate the RepubUc. Two personalities stand out with particular prominence: Gambetta, as president of the Chamber of Deputies, and Jules Ferry, as member of several ministries and as twice prime minister. The legisla- tion enacted during this period aimed to clinch the vic- tory over the Monarchists and Clericals by making the institutions of France thor- oughly republican and secular. The seat of government was transferred from Versailles, where it had been since 187 1, to Paris (1880), and July 14, the day of the storming of the Bastille, symbol of the triumph of the people over the monarchy, was declared the national holiday, and was celebrated for the first time in 1880 amid great enthusiasm. The right of citizens freely to hold public meetings as they might wish, and without any preliminary permission of the Government, was secured, as was also a practically unlimited freedom of the press (1881). Workingmen were permitted, for the first time, freely to form trades unions (1884). The Republicans were particularly solicitous about education. As universal suffrage was the basis of the state, it was considered funda- JuLES Grevy From an engraving by Lalauze, after the painting by L. Bonnat. COLONIAL EXPANSION 393 mental that the voters should be intelligent. Education was regarded as the strongest bulwark of the Republic. Several laws were passed, concerning all grades of education, but the national" ° most important were those concerning primary schools, system of A law of 1 88 1 made primary education gratuitous; one of 1882 made it compulsory between the ages of six and thirteen, and later laws made it entirely secular. No religious instruction is given in these schools. All teachers are appointed from the laity. This system of popular education is one of the great creative achieve- ments of the Republic, and one of the most fruitful. Under the masterful influence of Jules Ferry, prime minister in 1881, and again from 1883 to 1885, the Republic embarked upon an aggressive colonial policy. She established a protectorate over Tunis; sent expeditions to Tonkin, to Madagascar; founded the French Congo. This policy aroused bitter criticism from the beginning, and entailed large expen- ditures, but Ferry, regardless of growing opposition, forced Colonial it through, in the end to his own undoing. His motives P°'"^y in throwing France into these ventures were various. One reason was! economic. France was feeling the rivalry of Germany and Italy, and Ferry beUeved that she must gain new markets as compensation forj those she was gradually losing. Again, France would gain in prestige abroad, and in her own feeling of contentment, if she turned her atten- tion to empire-building and ceased to think morbidly of her losses in the German war. Her outlook would be broader. Moreover, she could not afford to be passive when other nations about her were reaching out for Africa and Asia. The era of imperialism had begun. France must participate in the movement or be left hopelessly behind in the rivalry of nations. Under Ferry's resolute leadership the policy of ex- pansion was carried out, and the colonial possessions of France were 394 FRANCE UNDER THE THIRD REPUBLIC greatly increased, but owing to one or two slight reverses, greatly mag- nified by his enemies, Ferry himself became unpopular and his notable ministry was overthrown (1885). During the next few years the political situation was troubled and uncertain. There was no com- manding personality in politics to give elevation and sweep to men's Death of ideas. Gambetta Gambetta h^^ ^ied in 1 88 2 at the age of forty-four and Ferry, the empire-builder, was most un- justly the victim of unpopularity from which he never recovered. Ministries succeeded each other rapidly. Politics seemed a game of office seeking, pettily personal, not an arena in which men of large ideas could live and act. The educational and anti-clerical and colonial policies all aroused ene- mies. President Grevy even was forced to resign because of a scandal that did not compromise him personally but did smirch Carnot ^^^ son-in-law. Car- chosen not, a moderate Re- presi ent publican, was chosen to succeed him (December 3, 1887). This state of discontent and disillusionment created a real crisis for the Republic, as it encouraged its enemies to renewed activity. These Discontent elements now found a leader or a tool in General Bou- with the langer, a dashing figure on horseback and an attractive ^^^ '*^ speaker, who sought to use the popular discontent for his own advancement. Made Minister of War in 1886, he showed much General activity, seeking the favor of the soldiers by improving the Bouianger conditions of life in the barracks, and by advocating the reduction of the required term of service. He controlled several news- papers, which began to insinuate that under his leadership France could Itake her revenge upon Germany by a successful war upon that country. Sadi-Carnot From a photograph by London Stereoscopic Co. COLLAPSE OF BOULANGISM 395 He posed as the rescuer of the Republic, demanding a total revision of the Constitution. His programme, as announced, was vague, but prob- ably aimed at the diminution of the importance of Parliament, the conferring of great powers upon the President, and his election directly by the people, which he hoped would be favorable to himself. For three years his personality was a storm center. Discontented people of the most varied shades flocked to his support — Monarchists, Imperialists, Clericals, hoping to use him to overturn the Republic. These parties contributed money to the support of his campaign, which was brilliantly managed with the view to focusing popular attention upon him. To show the popular enthusiasm Boulanger now became a candidate for Parliament in many districts where vacancies occurred. In five months (1888) he was elected deputy six times. A seventh election in Paris itself, in January, 1889, resulted in a brilliant triumph. He was elected by over 80,000 majority. Would he dare take the final step and attempt to seize power, as two Bonapartes had done before him? He did not have the requisite audacity to try. In the face of this imminent danger the Republicans ceased their dissensions and stood together. They assumed the offensive. The ministry summoned Boulanger to appear before the Senate, sitting as a High Court of Justice, to meet the charge of conspiring against the safety of the Republic state. His boldness vanished. He fled from the country weathers the crisis to Belgium. He was condemned by the court in his ab- sence. His party fell to pieces, its leader proving so little valorous. Two years later he committed suicide. The Republic had weathered a seri- ous crisis. It came out of it stronger rather than weaker. Its opponents were discredited. In 1891 a very important diplomatic achievement still further strengthened the Republic. An alliance was made with Russia which ended the long period of isolation in which France had been The Dual made to feel her powerlessness during the twenty years Aihance since the Franco-Prussian war. This Dual Alliance henceforth served as a counterweight to the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria, and Italy, and satisfied the French people, as well as increased their sense of safety and their confidence in the future. In 1894 President Carnot was assassinated. Casimir-Perier was chosen to succeed him but resigned after six months. Felix Faure was elected in his place, who however died in office in 1899, having seen the 396 FRANCE UNDER THE THIRD REPUBLIC strengthening of the aUiance with Russia and the beginning of the Drey- fus case, a scandal which ecHpsed that of Boulanger and created a new Casimir Perier From a photograph by Ogerau, Paris. Felix Faure From a photograph by Berthaud, Paris. crisis for the RepubUc. Faure was succeeded in the presidency by Emile Loubet. THE DREYFUS CASE In October, 1S94, Dreyfus, a Jewish officer in the army, was arrested amid circumstances of unusual secrecy, was brought before a court- The Dreyfus martial and was condemned as guilty of treason, of trans- *^^^® mitting important documents to a foreign power, presumably Germany. The trial was secret and the condemnation rested on merely circumstantial evidence, involving the identity of handwriting, declared to be his. He was condemned to expulsion from the army and to imprisonment for life. In January, 1895 he was pub- licly degraded in a most dramatic manner in the court- yard of the Military School, before a large detachment of the army. His stripes were torn from his uniform, his sword was Dreyfus degraded and im- prisoned THE DREYFUS CASE 397 broken. Throughout this agonizing scene he was defiant, asserted his innocence, and shouted "Vive la France!'' He was then deported to a small, barren, and unhealthy island off French Guiana, in South America, appropriately called Devil's Island, and was there kept in soli- tary confinement. A life imprisonment under such conditions would probably not be long, though it would certainly be horrible. The friends of Dreyfus protested that a monstrous wrong had been done but their protests passed unheeded. But in 1896 Colonel Picquart, head of the detective bureau of the General Staff, discovered that the incriminating document was not in the handwriting of Dreyfus but of a certain Major Esterhazy, who was shortly shown to be one of the most abandoned characters in the army. Picquart's superior officers were not grateful for his efforts, fearing apparently that the honor of the army would be smirched if the verdict of the court-martial was shown to be wrong. They therefore removed him from his position and appointed Colonel Henry in his place. In January, 1898 Emile Zola, the well-known novelist, published a letter of great boldness and brilliancy, in which he made most scathing charges against the judges of the court-martial, not only for injustice but for dishonesty. Many men of reputation temps to in literature and scholarship joined in the discussion, on the reopen the side of Dreyfus. Zola hoped to force a reopening of the whole question. Instead he was himself condemned by a court to im- prisonment and fine. Shortly Henry committed suicide, having been charged with forging one of the important documents in the case. His suicide was considered a confession of guilt. So greatly disturbed were the people by these scandalous events that public opinion forced the reopening of the whole case. Dreyfus, prematurely old as a result of fearful physical and mental suffering, was brought from Devil's Island and given a new trial before a court-martial at Rennes in August, 1899. This new trial was conducted in the midst of the most e.xcited state of the public mind in France, and of intense interest abroad. Party passions were inflamed as they had not been in France second trial since the Commune. The supporters of Dreyfus were °^ Dreyfus denounced frantically as slanderers of the honor of the army, the very bulwark of the safety of the country, as traitors to France. At the Rennes tribunal, Dreyfus encountered the violent hostility of the high army officers, who had been his accusers five years before. 398 FRANCE UNDER THE THIRD REPUBLIC These men were desperately resolved that he should again be found guilty. The trial was of an extraordinary character. It was the evi- dent purpose of the judges not to allow the matter to be thoroughly probed. Testimony, which in England or America would have been considered absolutely vital, was barred out. The universal opinion out- side France was, as was stated in the London Times, "that the whole case against Captain Dreyfus, as set forth by the heads of the French army, in plain combination against him, was foul with forgeries, lies, contradictions, and puerilities, and that nothing to justify his condem- nation had been shown." Nevertheless, the court, by a vote of five to two, declared him guilty, "with extenuating circumstances," an amazing verdirt. It is not gen- erally held that treason to one's country can plead extenu- Dreyfus . . ^, , , , • again atmg Circumstances, ihe court condemned him to ten declared years' imprison- guilty "^ ment, from which the years spent at Devil's Island might be deducted. Thus the "honor" of the army had been maintained. President Loubet immediately pardoned Dreyfus, and he was released, broken in health. This solution was satisfactory to Dreyfus neither side. The pardoned anti-D rey f usi tes vented their rage on Loubet. On the other hand, Dreyfus de- manded exoneration, a recog- nition of his innocence, not pardon. But the Government was re- solved that this discussion, which had so frightfully torn French society, should cease. Against the opposition of the Dreyfusites, it passed, in 1900, an am- nesty for all those implicated in the notorious case, which meant that no legal actions could be brought against any of the participants on Emile Loubet SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DREYFUS CASE 399 either side. The friends of Dreyfus, Zola, and Picquart protested vig- orously against the erection of a barrier against their vindication. The bill, nevertheless, passed. Six years later, however, the Dreyfus party attained its vindication. The revision of the whole case was submitted to the Court of Cassation. On July 12, 1906, that body quashed the verdict of the Dreyfus Rennes court-martial. It declared that the charges which vindicated had been brought against Dreyfus had no foundation, and that the Rennes court-martial had been guilty of gross injustice in refusing to hear testimony that would have established the innocence of the accused. The case was not to be submitted to another military tribunal but was closed. The Government now restored Captain Dreyfus to his rank in the army, or rather, gave him the rank of major, allowing him to count to that end the whole time in which he had been unjustly deprived of his standing. On July 21, 1906, he was invested with a decoration of the Legion of Honor in the very courtyard of the Military School where, eleven years before, he had been so dramatically degraded. Colonel Picquart was promoted brigadier- general, and shortly became Min- ister of War. Zola had died in 1903, but in 1908 his body was transferred to the Pantheon, as symbolizing a kind of civic canon- ization. Thus ended the "Affair." The Dreyfus case, originally simply involving the fate of an al- leged traitor, had soon acquired a far greater signifi- significance cance. Party and °f ^he case personal ambitions and interests sought to use it for purposes of their own and thus the question of legal right and wrong was woe- fully distorted and obscured. Those who hated the Jews used it to in- flame people against that race, as Dreyfus was a Jew. The Clericals joined them. Monarchists seized the occasion to declare that the Re- Alfred Dreyfus ^ 400 FRANCE UNDER THE THIRD REPUBLIC public was an egregious failure, breeding treason, and ought to be abolished. On the other hand there rallied to the defense of Dreyfus those who believed in his innocence, those who denounced the hatred of a race as a relic of barbarism, those who believed that the military should be subordinate to the civil authority and should not regard itself as above the law as these army officers were doing, those who believed that the whole episode was merely a hidden and dangerous attack upon the Republic, and all who believed that the clergy should keep out of politics. The chief result of this memorable struggle in the domain of politics was to unite more closely Republicans of every shade in a common pro- gramme, to make them resolve to reduce the political importance of the army and of the Church. The former was easily done, by re- movals of Monarchist officers. The attempt to solve the of a strong Tatter much more subtle and elusive problem led to the republican ^ext great struggle in the recent history of France, coalition , , • 1 , ^1 1 the struggle with the Church. THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE This new controversy assumed prominence under the premiership of Waldeck-Rousseau, a leader of the Parisian bar, a former follower of Question of Gambetta. In October, 1900, he made a speech at Toulouse Church and which resounded throughout France. The real peril con- *^*^ fronting the country, he said, arose from the growing power of religious orders — orders of monks and nuns — and from the char- Growth of acter of the teaching given by them in the religious schools religious they were conducting. He pointed out that here was a 1 °^ ^^^ power within the State which was a rival of the State and *^ fundamentally hostile to the State. These orders, moreover, although not authorized under the laws of France, were growing rapidly in wealth and numbers. Between 1877 and 1900 the number of nuns had increased from 14,000 to 75,000, in orders not authorized. ■ The monks numbered about 190,000. The property of these orders, held in oa ortmai n, esti- mated at about 50,000,000 francs in the middle of the century, had risen to 700,000,000 in 1880, and was more than a billion francs in 1900. Here was a vast amount of wealth, withdrawn from ordinary processes of business, an economic danger of the first importance. But the most serious feature was the activity of these orders in teaching and preaching. THE LAW OF ASSOCIATIONS 401 for that teaching was declared to be hostile to the Republic and to the principles of liberty and equality on which the Republicans of France have insisted ever since the French Revolution. In other words these church schools were doing their best to make their pupils hostile to the Republic and to republican ideals. There was a danger to the State which Parliament must face. To preserve the Republic, defensive measures must be taken. Holding this opinion, the Waldeck-Rousseau ministry secured the passage, July i, 1901, of the Law of The Law of Associations, which provided, among other things, that no Associations religious orders should exist in France without definite authorization in each case from Parliament. It was the belief of the authors of this bill that the Roman Catholic Church was the enemy of the Republic, that it was using its every agency against the Republic, that it had latterly supported the anti-Dreyfus party in its attempt to discredit the institu- tions of France, as it had done formerly under MacMahon. Gambetta had, at that time, declared that the enemy was the clerical party. "Clericalism," said Combes, who succeeded Waldeck-Rousseau in 1902, "is, in fact, to be found at the bottom of every agitation and every intrigue from which Republican France has suffered during the last thirty-five years." Animated with this feeling. Combes enforced the Associations Law with rigor in 1902 and 1903. Many orders refused to ask for authorization from Parliament; many which asked were refused. Tens of thousands of monks and nuns were forced to leave their institutions, which were closed. By a law of 1904 it was provided that all teaching by religious orders, even by those authorized, should cease within ten years. The State was to have a monopoly of the education orders°'for- of the young, in the interest of the ideals of liberalism it bidden to represented. Combes, upon whom fell the execution of this teaching law, suppressed about five hundred teaching, preaching, and commercial orders. This policy was vehemently denounced by Catholics as persecution, as an infringement upon liberty, the liberty to teach, the liberty of parents to have their children educated in de- nominational schools if they preferred. This, as events were to prove, was only preliminary to a far greater religious struggle which ended in the complete separation of Church and State. The relations of the Roman Catholic Church and the State down to 402 FRANCE UNDER THE THIRD REPUBLIC 1905 were determined by the Concordat, concluded between Napoleon The Con- ^ ^"^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^°^ ^^^ promulgated in the following cordat of year. The system then established remained undisturbed ^ throughout the nineteenth century, under the various re- gimes, but after the advent of the Third Republic there was ceaseless and increasing friction between the Church and the State. The op- position of the Republicans was augmented by the activity of the clergy in the Dreyfus affair. .Consequently a law was abrogation finally passed, December 9, 1905, which abrogated the Con- of the Con- cordat. The State was henceforth not to pay the salaries of the clergy; on the other hand, it relinquished all rights over their appointment. It undertook to pay pensions to clergy- Interior of the Chamber of Deputies men who had served many years, and were already well advanced in age ; also to pay certain amounts to those who had been jn the priest- Associations hood for a few years only. In regard to the property, of Worship which since 1789 had been declared to be owned by the nation, the cathedrals, churches, chapels, it was provided that these SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE 403 should still be at the free disposal of the Roman Catholic Church but that they should be held and managed by so-called "Associations of Worship," which were to vary in size according to the population of the community. This law was condemned unreservedly by the Pope, Pius X, who declared that the fundamental principle of separation of Church and State is " an absolutely false thesis, a very pernicious error," Opposition of and who denounced the Associations of Worship as giving Pi^s X the administrative control, not "to the divinely instituted hierarchy, but to an association of laymen." The Pope's decision was final and conclusive for all Catholics as it was based on fundamentals and flatly rejected the law of 1905. Parliament therefore passed a new law, early in 1907, supplementary to the law of 1905. By it most of the privileges guaranteed the Roman Catholic Church by the law of 1905 were abrogated. The Law of jan- critical point in the new law was the method of keeping "^""y 2, 1907 the churches open for religious exercises and so avoiding all the appear- ance of persecution and all the scandal and uproar that would certainly result if the churches of France were closed. It was provided that their use should be gratuitous and should be regulated by contracts be- tween the priests and the prefects or mayors. These contracts would safeguard the civil ownership of the buildings, but worship would go on in them as before. This system is at present in force. The result of this series of events and measures is that Church and State are now definitely separated. The people have apparently ap- proved in recent elections the policy followed by their separation Government. Bishops and priests no longer receive sal- of Church aries from the State. On the other hand they have liberties which they did not enjoy under the Concordat, such as rights of assem- bly and freedom from government participation in appointments. The faithful must henceforth support their priests and bear the expenses of the Church by private contributions. The church buildings, however, have been left to their use by the irrational but practical device just described. ACQUISITION OF COLONIES IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY France, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, had possessed an extensive colonial empire. This she had lost to England as a result 404 FRANCE UNDER THE THIRD REPUBLIC of the wars of the reign of Louis XV, the Revolution, and the Na- The French poleonic period, and in 1815 her possessions had shrunk colonial to a few small points, Guadaloupe and Martinique in the empire West Indies, St. Pierre and Miquelon, off Newfoundland, five towns on the coasts of India, of which Pondicherry was the best known, Bourbon, now called Reunion, an island in the Indian Ocean, Guiana in South America, which had few inhabitants, and Senegal in Africa. These were simply melancholy souvenirs of her once proud past, rags and tatters of a once imposing empire. In the nineteenth century she was destined to begin again, and to create an empire of vast geographical extent, only second in importance to that of Great Britain, though vastly inferior to that. The interest in conquests revived but slowly after 181 5. France had conquered so much in Europe from 1792 to 181 2 only to lose it as she had lost her colonies, that conquest in any form seemed but a futile and costly display of mis- directed enterprise. Nevertheless, in time the process began anew, and each of the various regimes which have succeeded one another since 18 1 5 has contributed to the building of the new empire. The beginning was made in Algeria, on the northern coast of Africa, directly opposite France, and reached now in less than twenty-four hours from Marseilles. Down to the opening of the nine- teenth century Algeria, Tunis, and Tripoli, nominally parts of the Turkish Empire, were in reality independent and consti- tuted the Barbary States, whose main business was piracy. But Europe was no longer disposed to see her wealth seized and her citizens en- slaved until she paid their ransom. In 1816 an English fleet bom- barded Algiers, released no less than 3,000 Christian captives, and destroyed piracy. The French conquest of Algeria grew out of a gross insult admin- istered by the Dey to a French consul in 1830. France replied by sending a fleet to seize the capital, Algiers. She did not at that time intend the conquest of the whole country, but merely the punishment of an insolent Dey, but attacks being made upon her from time to time which she felt she must crush, she was led on, step by step, until she had everywhere established her power. All through the reign of Louis Philippe this process was going on. Its chief feature was an inter- mittent struggle of fourteerj years with a native leader, Abd-el-Kader, who proclaimed and fought a Holy War against the intruder. In the COLONIAL EXPANSION 405 end (1847) he was forced to surrender, and France had secured an important territory. Under Napoleon III, the beginning of conquest in another part of Africa was made. France had possessed, since the time of Louis XIII and Richeheu, one or two miserable ports on the western ^ ,. . other coast, St. Louis the most important. Under Napoleon III, African the annexation of the Senegal valley was largely carried *^^°^"^sts through by the efforts of the governor, Faidherbe, who later distin- guished himself in the Franco-German war. Under Napoleon III also, a beginning was made in another part of the world, in Asia. The perse- cution of Christian natives, and the murder of certain French mission- aries gave Napoleon the pretext to attack the king of Annam, whose kingdom was in the peninsula that juts out from southeastern Asia. After eight years of intermittent fighting France acquired Cochin- from the king the whole of Cochin-China (1858-67), and ^^^* also established a protectorate over the Kingdom of Cambodia, directly north. Thus, by 1870, France had staked out an empire of about 700,000 square kilometers, containing a population of about six million. Under the present Republic the work of expansion and consohdation has been carried much further than under all of the pre- ^ . . . . Expansion ceding regimes. There have been extensive annexations in under the northern Africa, w^estern Africa, the Indian Ocean, and in T,^""*^.. ' RepubLc Indo-China. In northern Africa, Tunis has passed under the control of France. This was one of the Barbary States, and was nominally a part of the Turkish Empire, with a Bey as sovereign. After establishing herself in Algeria, France desired to extend her influence eastward, over this neighboring state. But Italy, now united, began about 1870 to enter- tain a similar ambition. France, therefore, under the ministry of Jules Ferry, an ardent believer in colonial expansion, sent troops into Tunis in 1881, which forced the Bey to accept a French protectorate over his' state. The French have not annexed Tunis formally, but they control it absolutely through a Resident at the court of the Bey, whose advice the latter is practically obliged to follow. In western Africa, France has made extensive annexations in the Senegal, Guinea, Dahomey, the Ivory Coast, and the region of the Niger, and north of the Congo. By occupying the oases in the Sahara 4o6 FRANCE UNDER THE THIRD REPUBLIC she has estabhshed her claims to that vast but hitherto unproductive Western area. This process has covered many years of the present Africa Repubhc. The result is the existence of French authority over most of northwest Africa, from Algeria on the Mediterranean, to the Congo river. This region south of Algeria is called the French Sou- dan, and comprises an area seven or eight times as large as France, with a population of some fourteen millions, mainly blacks. There is some discussion of a Trans-Saharan railroad to bind these African possessions more closely together. In Asia, the Republic has imposed her protectorate over the King- dom' of Annam (1883) and has annexed Tonkin, taken from China after considerable fighting (1885). In the Indian Ocean, she has conquered Madagascar, an island larger than France herself, with a population of two and a half million. A protectorate was imposed upon that country in 1895, after ten years of disturbance, but after quelling a rebellion that broke out the following year, the protectorate was abolished, and the island was made a French colony. Thus at the opening of the twentieth century, the colonial empire of France is eleven times larger than France itself, has an area of six million square kilometers, a population of about fifty millions, and a rapidly growing commerce. Most of this empire is located in the trop- ics and is ill-adapted to the settlement of Europeans. Algeria and Tunis, however, offer conditions favorable for such settlements. They con- stitute the most valuable French possessions. Algeria is not consid- ered a colony but an integral part of France. It is divided into three departments, each one of which sends one senator and two deputies to the chambers of the French Parliament. On March 30, 191 2, France established a protectorate over Morocco. For several years the status of that country had been one of the conten- tious problems of international pohtics. France had de- sired to gain control of it in order to round out her empire / in northwestern Africa. In 1904 she had made an agreement with Eng- J land whereby a far-reaching diplomatic revolution in Europe was in- augurated. This was largely the work of Theophile Delcasse, Minister of Foreign Affairs for seven years, from 1898 to 1905, one of the ablest statesmen the Third Republic has produced. Delcasse believed that France would be able to follow a more independent and self-respecting / Morocco ACQUISITION OF MOROCCO 407 foreign policy, one freer from German domination and intimidation, if her relations with Italy and England, severely strained for many years, largely owing to colonial rivalries and jealousies, could be made cordial and friendly. This he was able to accomplish by arranging a treaty of commerce favorable to Italy and by promising Italy a free hand in Tripoli and receiving from her the assurance that she would do nothing to hamper French policy in Morocco, a country of special significance to France be- cause of her possession of Algeria. More important was the recon- ciliation with England. The re- lations of these two neighbors had long been difficult and, at times, full of danger. Indeed, in 1898 they had stood upon the very brink of war when a French ex- pedition under Marchand had crossed Africa and had seized Fashoda on the Upper Nile in the sphere of influence which Great Britain considered emphatically TheOPHILE DelCASSE 1 rpi T7 u 1 • • J hers. Ihe rashoda incident ended in the withdrawal of the French before the resolute attitude of England. The lesson of this incident was not lost upon either power, and six years later, on April 8, 1904, they signed an agreement which not only removed the sources of friction between them once for all, but which established what came to be known as the Entente . The Entente Cordiale, destined to great significance in the future. By Cordiaie this agreement France recognized England's special interests in Egypt and abandoned her long-standing demand that England should set a date for the cessation of her "occupation" of that country. On the other hand, England recognized the special interests of France in Morocco and promised not to impede their development. One power emphatically objected to this determination of the fate of an independent country by these two powers alone. Germany 4o8 FRANCE UNDER THE THIRD REPUBLIC challenged this agreement and asserted that she must herself be con- sulted in such matters; that her rivals had no right by theniselves to preempt those regions of the world which might still be considered fields for European colonization or control. German interests must be con- sidered quite as much as French or English. Germany's peremptory attitude precipitated an international crisis and led to the international Conference of Algeciras in 1906 which Conference ^^^^' however, on the whole a victory for France, acknowl- of Algeciras, edging the primacy of her interests in Morocco. As France proceeded to strengthen her position there in the succeed- ing years, Germany issued another challenge in 191 1, by sending a gun- boat to Agadir, thus creating another crisis, which for a time threatened a European war. In the end, however, Germany recognized the posi- tion of France, but only after the latter had ceded to her extensive terri- tories in Kamerun and the French Congo. For several years therefore Morocco was a danger spot in international politics, exert- rece^es^a ^"§ ^ disturbing influence upon the relations of European part of the powers to each other, particularly those of France and Congo Germany. Finally, however, the independence of Morocco disappeared and the country was practically incorporated in the colonial empire of France. REFERENCES The Founding of the Third Republic: Wright, The History of the Third French Republic, pp. 31-67; Fisher, The Republican Tradition in Europe, pp. 280-301; Seign- obos, The Political History of Europe Since 181 4, pp. 187-207; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XII, pp. 91-113. The Government of France: Ogg, Governments of Europe, pp. 304-324; Lowell, Governments and Parties in Continoital Europe, Vol. I, pp. 1-68. Boulanger: Wright, pp. 93-103. Dreyfus Case: Wright, pp. 115-145: 162-163. Dual Alliance: Seymour, The Diplomatic Background of the War, pp. 38-60. Colonial Policy of the Third Republic: Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XII, pp. 128-133; Wright, pp. 77-92, 155-160, 168-175. Church and State in France: Wright, pp. 141-156, 163-165; Gooch, History of Our Time (Home University Library), pp. 34-56; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XII, pp. 114-122; Bodley, The Church in France, pp. 13-114; Galton, Church and State in France, pp. 201-268; Robinson and Beard, Readings in Modern European History, Vol. II, pp. 223-232. Political E\olution of France in the Nineteenth Century: Seignobos, pp. 221-227. CHAPTER XXIII THE KINGDOM OF ITALY SINCE 1870 The Kingdom of Italy, as we have seen, was estabUshed in 1859 and' 1S60. Venetia was acquired in 1S66, and Rome in 1870. In these cases as in the preceding, the people were allowed to express their The King- wishes by a vote, which, in both instances, was practically ^°™ °^ i^^iy unanimous in favor of the annexation. The Constitution of the new kingdom was the old Constitution of Piedmont, slightly altered. It provided for a parliament of two cham- bers, a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies. The full par- The liamentary system was introduced, ministers representing Constitution the will of the Lower Chamber. The first capital was Turin, then Flor- ence in 1865, and finally Rome since 1871. The most perplexing question confronting the new kingdom con- cerned its relations to the Papacy. The Italian Kingdom had seized, by ^•iolence, the city of Rome, over which the Popes had ruled ^j^^ in uncontested right for a thousand years. Rome had this question of peculiarity over all other cities, that it was the capital of ^ ^^^"^^ Catholics the world over. Any attempt to expel the Pope from the city or to subject him to the House of Savoy would everywhere arouse the faithful, already clamorous, and might cause an intervention in behalf of the restoration of the temporal power. There were henceforth to be two sovereigns, one temporal, one spiritual, within the same city. The situation was absolutely unique and extremely dehcate. It was consid- ered necessary to determine their relations before the government was transferred to Rome. It was impossible to reach any agreement with the Pope as he refused to recognize the Kingdom of Italy, but spoke of Victor Emmanuel simply as the King of Sardinia, and would make no concessions in regard to his own rights in Rome. Par- jj^^ ^aw of liament, therefore, assumed to settle the matter alone and Papal Guar- passed May 13, 1871, the Law of Papal Guarantees, a / remarkable act defining the relations of Church and State in Italy. / 409 '^ 4IO THE KINGDOM OF ITALY SINCE 1870 The object of this law was to carry out Cavour's principle of a ''free Church in a free State," to reassure Catholics that the new kingdom had no intention of controlling in any way the spiritual activities of the Pope, though taking from him his temporal powers. Any attacks upon \ him are, by this law, to be punished exactly as are similar attacks upon the King. He has his own diplomatic corps, and receives diplomatic representatives from other countries. Certain places are set apart as The Curia entirely under his sovereignty: the Vatican, the Lateran, Romana Castel Gandolfo, and their gardens. Here no Italian offi- cial may enter, in his official capacity, for Italian law and administra- tion stop outside these limits. In return for the income lost with the temporal power, the Pope is granted 3,225,000 francs a year by the Ital- ian Kingdom. This law has been faithfully observed by the Italian government but it has never been accepted by the Pope nor has the Kingdom of Italy been recognized by him. He considers himself the "prisoner of the Vatican," and since 1870 has not left it " prisoner to go into the streets of Rome, as he would thereby be of the tacitly recognizing the existence of another ruler there, the Vatican" u „ 1 usurper. Another difficult problem for the Kingdom was its financial status. The debts of the different states were assumed by it and were large. Financial The nation was also obliged to make large expenditures on difficulties j-}^g army and the navy, on fortifications, and on public works, particularly on the building of railways, which were essential to the economic prosperity of the country as well as conducive to the strengthening of the sense of common nationality. There were, for sev- eral years, large annual deficits, necessitating new loans, which, of course, augmented the public debt. Heroically did successive ministers seek to make both ends meet, not shrinking from new and unpopular taxes, or from the seizure and sale of monastic lands. Success was finally achieved, and in 1879 the receipts exceeded the expenditures. In 1878 Victor Emmanuel II died and was buried in the Pantheon, one of the few ancient buildings of Rome. Over his tomb is the inscrip- Death of ^^^^' "^° ^^^ Father of his Country." He was succeeded Victor Em- by his son Humbert I, then thirty-four years of age. A manue month later Pius IX died, and was succeeded by Leo XIII, at the time of his election sixty-eight years of age. But nothing was changed by this change of personalities. Each maintained the system THE EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM 411 of his predecessor. Leo XIII, Pope from 1878 to 1903, following the precedent set by Pius IX, never recognized the Kingdom of Italy, nor did he ever leave the Vatican. He, too, considered himself a prisoner of the "robber king." Another urgent problem confronting the new kingdom was that of the education of its citizens. This was most imperative if the masses of the people were to be fitted for the freer and more re- t,. ^ The educa- sponsible life opened by the political revolution. The tional preceding governments had grossly neglected this duty. In P''°^^®™ 1 86 1 over seventy-five per cent of the population of the kingdom were illiterate. In Naples and Sicily, the most backward in development of all the sections of Italy, the number of illiterates exceeded ninety per cent of the population; and in Piedmont and Lombardy, the most ad- vanced sections, one-third of the men and more than half of the women could neither read nor write. In 1S77 a compulsory education law was finally passed but it has not, owing to the expense, been practically enforced. Though Italy has done much during the last thirty years, much remains to be done. Illiteracy, though diminishing, is still widely prevalent. Recent statistics show that forty per cent of the recruits in the army are illiterate. In 1882 the suffrage was greatly extended. Hitherto limited to those who were twenty-five years of age or over and paid about eight dollars a year in direct taxes, it was now thrown open to all over Extension twenty-one years of age and the tax qualification was re- of the duced by half; also all men of twenty-one who had had ^^ ^^^^ a primary education were given the vote. The result was that the number of voters was tripled at once, rising from about 600,000 to more than 2,000,000. In 191 2 Italy took a long step toward democracy by making the suffrage almost universal for men, only denying the franchise to those younger than thirty who have neither performed their Further military service nor learned to read and write. Thus all extension of men over twenty-one, even if illiterate, have the vote if they have served in the army. The number of voters was thus in- creased from somewhat over three million to more than eight and a half million. In foreign affairs Italy made an important decision which has in- fluenced her course ever since. In 1882 she entered into alliance with i 412 THE KINGDOM OF ITALY SINCE 1870 Germany, and with Austria, her former enemy and in many respects still The Triple her rival. This made the famous Triple Alliance which AiUance h^s dominated Europe most of the time since it was cre- ated. The reasons why Italy entered this combination, highly unnat- ural for her, considering her ancient hatred of Austria, were various: pique at France, for the seizure of Tunis, which Italy herself coveted, j dread of French intervention in behalf of the Pope, and a desire to I appear as one of the great powers of Europe. The result was that she \was forced to spend larger sums upon her army, remodeled along ■•Prussian lines, and her navy, thus disturbing her finances once more. Italy now embarked upon another expensive and hazardous enter- prise, the acquisition of colonies, influenced in this direction by the prevalent fashion, and by a desire to rank among the world powers. Shut out of Tunis, her natural field, by France, she, in 1885, seized posi- tions on the Red Sea, particularly the port of Massawa. Two years Francesco later she consequently found herself at war with Abyssinia. Crispi The minister who had inaugurated this movement, Depre- tis, died in 1887. He was succeeded by Crispi, who'threw himself heartily into the colonial scheme, extended the claims of Italy in East Africa, and tried to play off one native leader against another. To the new colony he gave the name of Eritrea. At the same time an Italian pro- tectorate was established over a region in eastern Africa called Somali- land. But all this involved long and expensive campaigns against the natives. Ita^L-waj^ trying_tQ_4jlay...the role_of 3_great mUitary and power when^ herjresources_d^ The conse- coionial quence of this aggressive and ambitious military, naval, and colonial policy was the creation anew of a deficit in the state's finances which increased alarmingly. The deficits of four years amounted to the enormous sum of over seventy-five million dollars, which occasioned heavy new taxes and widespread discontent which was put ^ down ruthlessly by despotic methods. This policy of aggrandizement I led to a war with Abyssinia and to a disaster in 1896 in the battle of "( Adowa, so crushing as to end the political life of Crispi and to force \ Italy into more moderate courses. Popular discontent continued. Its \ cause was the wretchedness of the people, which in turn was largely occasioned by the heavy taxation resulting from these unwise attempts to play an international role hopelessly out of proportion to the coun- ' try's resources. In the south and center the movement took the form VICTOR EMMANUEL III 41 of "bread riots," but in the north it was distinctly revolutionary. "Down with the dynasty," was a cry heard there. All these move- ments were suppressed by the Government, but only after much blood- shed. They indicated widespread distress and dissatisfaction with existing conditions. In July, 1900, King Humbert was assassinated by an Italian an- archist who went to Italy for that purpose from Paterson . New Jersey. Humbert was succeeded by his son Victor tion of Emmanuel HI, then in his thirty-first year.' Humbert I The new King had been carefully educated and soon showed that he was a man of intelligence, of energy, and of firmness of will. He won the favor of his subjects by the simplicity of his mode victor Em- of life, by his evident sense of duty, and by his sincere Manuel m interest in the welfare of the people, shown in many spontaneous and unconventional ways. He became forthwith a more decisive factor in the government than his father had been. He was a democratic mon- arch, indifferent to display, laborious, vigorous. The opening decade of the twentieth century was characterized by a new spirit which, in a way, reflected the buoyancy, and hopefulness, and courage of the young King. But the causes for the new optimism were deeper than the mere change of rulers and lay in the growing prosperity of the nation, a pros- perity which, despite appearances, had been for some years preparing and which was now witnessed on all sides. The worst was evidently over. Italy is becoming an industrial nation. Silk and cotton and chemical and iron manufactures have" advanced rapidly in recent years. The merchant marine has greatly increased. This transformation into a great industrial state is not only possible but is necessary, increase owing to her rapidly increasing population, which has of the grown, since 1870, from about 25,000,000 to nearly 35,- p°P"^'°° 000,000. The birth rate is higher than that of any other country of Europe. But during the same period the emigration from Italy has been large and has steadily increased. Official statistics show that, between 1876 and 1905, over eight million persons emigrated, of whom over four miUion went to various South American countries, especially Argentina, and to the United States. Perhaps half of the total number have returned to their native land, for much of the emigration is of a temporary character. Emigration has increased greatly under the pres- 414 THE KINGDOM OF ITALY SINCE 1870 ent reign, while the economic conditions of the country have begun to show improvement. This is explained by the fact that the industrial revival described above has not yet affected southern Italy and Sicily, whence the large proportion of the emigrants come. From those parts which have experienced that revival the emigration is not large. Only by an extensive growth of industries can this emigration be stopped or Problem of at least rendered normal. Italy finds herself in the position emigration [^ which Germany was for many years, losing hundreds of thousands of her citizens each year. With the expansion of German industries the outgoing stream grew less until, in 1908, it practically ceased, owing to the fact that her mines and factories had so far devel- oped as to give employment to all. This increasing population and this constant loss by emigration have served in recent years to concentrate Italian thought more and more upon the necessity of new and more advantageous colonies, that her surplus population may not be drained away to other countries. The desire for expansion has increased and with it the determination to use whatever opportunities are offered by the politics of Europe for that purpose. The result was the acquisition in 1912 of cuires^ Tripoli ^^^ extensive territory of Tripoli and of a dozen JLgean and twelve islands, spoils of a war with Turkey which will be more islands ^^^^^ treated later. With this desire for expansion has also gone a tendency to scrutinize more carefully the nature of her relations with her allies, Germany and Austria. The advantages of the Triple Alliance became, in the minds of many, more and more doubtful. One obvious and positive disadvantage in an alli- ance with Austria was the necessary abandonment of a policy of annexa- tion of those territories north and northeast of Italy which are inhabited by Italians but which were not included within the boundaries of the kingdom at the time of its creation. These are the so-called Trentino, Unredeemed the region around the town of Trent; Trieste, and Istria. ^*^y These territories are subject to Austria and as long as Italy was allied with Austria she was kept from any attempt to gain this Italia irredenta or Unredeemed Italy, and thus so round out her boundaries as to include within them people who are Italian in race, in language, and, probably, in sympathy. On May 4, 191 5, Italy denounced her treaty of alliance with Austria. The famous Triple Alliance which had been the dominant factor in END OF THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE 415 European diplomacy since 1882 thus came to an end. On May 23, Italy declared war against Austria-Hungary and entered the European conflict on the side of the Entente Allies in the hope of realizing her " national aspirations." REFERENCES Italy Since 1870: Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XII, pp. 213-242; Gooch, History of Our Time, pp. 57-65; Seignobos, Political History of Europe Since 18 14, pp. 359-372. GovEiiNMENT OF Italy: LoweU, Governments and Parlies in Continental Europe, Vol. I, pp. 146-188; Ogg, Govcrnmenls of Europe, pp. 362-390. History of Political Parties, Lowell: Vol. I, pp. 189-231; Ogg, pp. 391^03. Present Conditions: King and Okey, Italy Today; Underwood, United Italy. CHAPTER XXIV AUSTRIA-HUNGARY SINCE 1848 AUSTRIA TO THE COMPROMISE OF 1867 Austria, perilously near dissolution in 1848, torn by revolutions in Bohemia, Hungary, the Lombardo- Venetian kingdom, with her influence in Germany temporarily paralyzed, had emerged trium- Austrian , . , i i n • • • ^ • oppression of phant from the storm and by 1850 was ni a position to im- her subjects pose her will once more upon her motley group of states. She learned no lesson from the fearful crisis through which she had passed but at once entered upon a course of reaction of the old familiar kind. Absolutism was everywhere restored. Italy was ruled with an iron hand, Prussia was humiliated in a most emphatic manner, Hungary felt the full weight of Austrian displeasure. Hungary, indeed, was considered to have forfeited by her rebellion the old historic rights she had possessed for centuries. Her Diet was abolished, the kingdom was cut up into five sections, and each was ruled largely by Germans. Indeed the policy was to crush out all traces of separate nationality. Francis Joseph, however, found it in the end impossible to break the spirit of the Magyars, who bent beneath the autocrat but did not abate their claims. For ten years this arbitrary and despotic system continued. Then came the disaster in Italy in 1859, the defeats of Magenta and Solferino Failure of ^^^ ^^^ ^°^^ °^ Lombardy. One reason for the defeat was the war in the attitude of the Hungarians, many of whom joined the * ^ ^° Italian armies against Austria. Moreover, it seemed as if rebellion might break out at any moment in Hungary itself. This time the Austrian government profited by experience. In order to gain the support of his various peoples Francis Joseph re- Joseph resolved to break with the previous policy of his verses his reign, to sweep away abuses, redress grievances, and intro- duce liberal reforms. But the problem was exceedingly complicated, and was only slowly worked out after several experiments 416 RESISTANCE OF HUNGARY 417 had been tried which had resulted in failure. The chief difficulty lay in the adjustment of the claims of the different races over which he ruled. In 1 86 1 the Emperor decided that there should be a Parliament for the whole Empire, divided into two chambers, meeting annually. The members of the House of Representatives comes a con- were to be chosen by stitutional the local diets, on a basis of population. The local leg- islatures were to continue for local affairs, but with reduced powers. By this constitution, granted by the Emperor, Austria became a constitutional monarchy. Abso- lutism as a form of government ^^as abandoned. But this constitution was a failure, and chiefly because of the attitude of the Hungarians. To the first Parliament jjunpary Hungary declined to refuses to 1 , ,• cooperate send representatives, an attitude she maintained steadily for several years until a new arrangement was made satisfactory to her. Why did she refuse to recognize a constitution that represented a great advance in liberalism over anything the Empire had known before? Why did she refuse to send representatives to a Parliament in which she would have weight in proportion to the number of her inhabitants? Why did she steadily refuse to accept an arrangement that seemed both liberal and fair? It must be constantly remembered that Hungary consists of several races, and that of these races the Magyars have always been the domi- nant one, though in a numerical minority. This dominant race was divided into two parties, one of irreconcilables, men who bitterly hated Austria, who would listen to no compromise with her, whose ideal was absolute independence. These men, however, were not now in control. They were discredited by the failures of 1849- The leaders of Hungary were now the moderate liberals, at whose head stood Francis Deak, Francis Deak. 4i8 AUSTRIA -HUNGARY SINCE 1848 the wisest and most influential Hungarian statesman of the nineteenth century. These men were willing to compromise with Austria on the question of giving the requisite strength to the government of the whole Empire to enable it to play its role as a great European power, but they were absolutely firm in their opposition to the constitution just granted by Francis Joseph, and immovable in their determination to secure the Reasons for legal rights of Hungary. Their reasons for opposing the her refusal ^lew constitution, which promised so vast an improvement upon the old unprogressive absolutism that had reigned for centuries, for thwarting the Emperor, who was frankly disposed to enter the path of liberalism, are most important. They asserted that Hungary had always been a separate nation, united with Austria simply in the person of the monarch, who was king in Hungary as he was emperor in his own hereditary states; H*^ i s ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ Hungary only after he had taken an assert their oath to support the fundamental laws of Hungary, and had "historic \)een crowned in Hungary with the iron crown of St. Ste- phen; that these fundamental laws and institutions were centuries old; tha,t they were still the law of the land; that the new con- stitution was one "granted" by Francis Joseph, and, if granted, might be withdrawn; that, whatever its abstract merits were, it was unaccept- able by reason of its origin; that, moreover, its effect was to make Hungary a mere province of Austria; that what was wanted was not a constitution, but the constitution of Hungary, which had, Hunga^ since 1848, been illegally suspended. Francis Joseph must restoration formally recognize the historic rights of Hungary. After °^ ^M X- that the Hungarians were willing to consider means of constitution ^ ^ & giving him powers sufficient to enable him to play the role of a great monarch in European affairs. But first and foremost Hungary was determined to preserve her historic personality and not to fuse herself at all with the other peoples subject to the House of Hapsburg who were in her opinion merely "foreigners." The Hungarians had their way. The new experiment of a single imperial Parliament finally broke down beneath the impact of their persistent refusal to accept it. For four years, from 1861 A dcfldlock X -^ to 1865, there was a deadlock, neither side yielding. Then came the Austrian defeats of 1866, Austria's expulsion from Ger- many and from Italy. It was necessary for the monarchy to in- THE DUAL MONARCHY 4ig crease its strength at home, now that its influence was so reduced elsewhere. Accordingly there was concluded in 1867 between Austria and Hun- gary a Compromise, or Ausgleich, as the Germans call it, which is the basis of the Empire to-day. This created a curious kind ^. ^ of state, defymg classification, and absolutely unique. The promise of Empire was henceforth to be called Austria-Hungary, and ^^^^ was to be a dual monarchy. Austria-Hungary consists of two distinct, independent states, which stand in law upon a plane of The Dual complete equality. Each has its own capital, the one Monarchy Vienna, the other Budapest. Both have the same ruler, who in Austria bears the title of Emperor, in Hungary that of King. Each has its own Parliament, its own ministry, its own administration. Each governs itself in all internal affairs absolutely without interference from the other. But the two are united not simply in the person of the monarch. They are united for certain affairs regarded as common to both. There is a joint ministry composed of three departments: Foreign The Dele- Aifairs, War, and Finance. Each state has its own Parlia- g^t'ons ment, but there is no Parliament in common. In order then to have a body that shall supervise the work of the three joint ministries there was established the system of "delegations." Each Parliament chooses a delegation of sixty of its members. These delegations meet alternately in Vienna and Budapest. They are really committees of the two Par- liaments. They sit and debate separately, each using its own language, and they communicate with each other in writing. If after three com- munications no decision has been reached a joint session is held in which the question is settled without debate by a mere majority vote. Other affairs, which in most countries are considered common to all parts, such as tariff and currency systems, do not fall within the competence of the joint ministry or the delegations. They are to be regulated by agreements concluded between the two Parliaments for periods of ten years, exactly as between any two independent states, an awkward arrangement creating an intense strain every decade, for the securing of these agreements is most difficult. Each state has its own constitution, each has its own Parliament, consisting of two chambers. In neither was there in 1867 universal suffrage. A demand for this has been repeatedly made in both countries with results that will appear later. 420 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY SINCE 1848 Neither of the two states had a homogeneous population. In each there was a dominant race, the Germans in Austria, the Magyars in ^j^g Hungary. The Compromise of 1867 was satisfactory to dominant these alone. In each country there were subordinate and ^^^^^ rival races, jealous of the supremacy of these two, anxious for recognition and for power, and rendered more insistent by the sight of the remarkable success of the Magyars in asserting their individuality. In Hungary there were Croatia, Slavonia, and Transylvania; in Austria there were seventeen provinces, each with its own Diet, representing almost always a variety of races. Some of these, notably Bohemia, had in former centuries had a separate statehood, which they wished to re- cover; others were gaining an increasing self-consciousness, and desired a future controlled by themselves and in their own interests. The struggles of these races were destined to form the most im- portant feature of Austrian history during the next fifty years. It should be noted that the principle of nationality, so effec- tive in bringing about the unification of Italy and Ger- many, has tended in Austria in precisely the opposite direction, the splitting up of a single state into many. Dualism was established in 1867, but these subordinate races refuse to acquiesce in that as a final form, as dualism favors only two races, the Germans and the Magyars. They wish to change the dual into a federal state, which shall give free play to the several nation- alities. The fundamental struggle all these years has been between these these two principles — dualism and federalism. These racial and nationalistic struggles have been most confusing. In the interest of clearness, only a few of the more important can be treated here. The Empire of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary, having had different histories since 1867, may best be treated separately. Divisive effect of the principle of nationality in Austria- Hungary THE EMPIRE OF AUSTRIA SINCE 1867 No sooner had Austria made the Compromise with Hungary than she was confronted with the demand that she proceed further in the Austria path thus entered upon. Various nationalities, or would- since 1867 \^q nationalities, demanded that they should now receive as liberal treatment as Hungary had received in the Compromise of 1867. The leaders in this movement were the Czechs of Bohemia, who, in 1868, definitely stated their position, which was precisely that of RACIAL CONFLICTS 421 the Hungarians before 1867. They claimed that Bohemia was an his- toric and independent nation, united with the other states Demands under the House of Hapsburg only in the person of the °^ ^^^ Czechs monarch. They demanded that the kingdom of Bohemia should be restored, that Francis Joseph should be crowned in Prague with the crown of Wenceslaus. The agitation grew to such an extent that the Emperor decided to yield to the Bohemians. On Septem- ber 14, 1 87 1, he formally recognized the historic rights of prepares to the Kingdom of Bohemia, and agreed to be crowned king concede in Prague, as he had been crowned king in Budapest. *™ Arrangements were to be made whereby Bohemia should gain the same rights as Hungary, independence in domestic affairs and union with Austria and Hungary for certain general purposes. The dual monarchy was about to become a triple monarchy. But these promises were not destined to be carried out. The Emperor's plans were bitterly opposed by the Germans of Austria, who, as the dominant class and as also a minority of q . . the whole population, feared the loss of their supremacy, of Germans feared the rise of the Slavs, whom they hated. They ^""^ Magyars were bitterly opposed, also, by the Magyars of Hungary, who declared that this was undoing the Compromise of 1867, and who feared par- ticularly that the rise of the Slavic state of Bohemia would rouse the Slavic peoples of Hungary to demand the same rights, and the Mag- yars were determined not to share with them their privileged position. The opposition to the Emperor's plans was consequently most em- phatic and formidable. It was also pointed out that the management of foreign affairs would be much more difficult with three nations directing rather than two. The Emperor yielded to the opposition. The decree that was to place Bohemia on an equality with Austria and Hungary never came. Dualism had triumphed over fed- Triumph of eralism, to the immense indignation of those who saw the duaUsm prize snatched from them. The Compromise of 1867 remained un- changed. The House of Hapsburg to this day rules over a dual, not over a federal state. The racial problem however could not be conjured away so easily. It still persisted. For several years after this triumph the German ele- ment controlled the Austrian Parliament. But, breaking up finally into three groups and incurring the animosity of the Emperor by constantly 42 2 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY SINCE 1848 blocking some of the measures he desired, the Emperor threw his in- fluence against them. There ensued a ministry which lasted longer The Taaffe than any other ministry has lasted and whose policies were ministry in some respects of much significance. This was the Taaffe ^ ministry which was in office fourteen years from 1879 to 1893. Its policies favored the development of the Czechs and the Poles, two branches of the Slavic race. The two races of Bohemia are the Germans and the Czechs. The latter were favored in various ways by the Taaffe ministry which was angry with the Germans. They secured an electoral law which assured them a majority in the Bo- Concessions hemian Diet and in the Bohemian delegation to the Reichs- to Bohemia YSith. or Austrian Parliament; they obtained a university, by the division into two institutions of that of Prague, the oldest Ger- man University, founded in 1356. Thus there is a German Univer- sity of Prague and a Czechish (1882). By various ordinances German was dethroned from its position as sole official language. After 1886 office-holders were required to answer the demands of the public in the language in which they were presented, either German or Czechish. This rule operated unfavorably for German officials, who were usually unable to speak Czechish, whereas the Czechs, as a rule, spoke both languages. In Galicia the Poles, though a minority, obtained control of the Diet, supported by the Taaffe ministry, and proceeded to oppress the The Slavs Ruthenians; in Carniola the Slovenes proceeded to Slavi- favored ^.^^e the province. Thus the Slavs were favored during the long ministry of Taaffe, and the evolution of the Slavic nationalities and peoples progressed at the expense of the Germans. This is the most striking difference between the recent development of Austria and the recent development of Hungary. In Austria the German domination of the Slavs largely broke down and has not been persisted in. The Slavic peoples have had some chances to develop. Racial tyranny on the other hand has been, as we shall see, the settled policy of the dominant race of Hungary. The result is that racial tension, though by no means absent from Austria, has been considerably relieved, whereas in Hun- gary it has steadily increased until it has quite reached the snapping point. A movement toward democracy also went on under the Taaffe min- istry and has continued since its fall. The agitation for universal suf- THE KINGDOM OF HUNGARY 423 frage was finally successful. By the law of January 26, 1907, all men in Austria over twenty-four years of age were given the XJnivcrsfll right to vote. The most noteworthy result of the first suffrage in elections on this popular basis (May, 1Q07) was the return ^"®*"* of 87 Socialists, who polled over a million votes, nearly a third of those cast. This party had previously had only about a dozen representa- tives. It was noticed at the same elections that the racial parties lost heavily. Whether this meant that the period of extreme racial rivalry was over and the struggle of social classes was to succeed it, remained to be seen. THE KINGDOM OF HUNGARY SINCE 1867 Hungary, a country larger than Austria, larger than Great Britain, found her historic individuality definitely recognized and guaranteed by the Compromise of 1867. She had successfully resisted all attempts to merge her with the other countries subject to the House Hungary a of Hapsburg. She is an independent kingdom under the separate crown of St. Stephen. The sole official language is Mag- ^ °™ yar, which is neither Slavic nor Teutonic, but Turanian in origin. The political history of Hungary since the Compromise has been much more simple than that of Austria. Race and language questions have been fundamental, but they have been decided in a summary man- ner. The ruling race in 1867 was the Magyar, and it has remained the ruHng race. Though numerically in the minority in 1867, comprising only about six millions out of fifteen millions, it was a strong race, ac- customed to rule and determined to rule. This minority has since 1867 been attempting the impossible — the assimilation of the majority. There are four leading races in Hungary — the Magyar, The races the Slav, the Roumanian, the German. The Roumanians ^^ Hungary are the oldest, claiming descent from Roman colonists of ancient times. They live particularly in the eastern part of the kingdom, which is called Transylvania. They do not constitute a solid block of peoples, for there are among them many German or Saxon settlements, and be- tween them and the independent Kingdom of Roumania, inhabited by people of the same race, are many Magyars. The Slavs of Hungary fall into separate groups. In the northern part of Hungary are the Slovaks. In the southern and particularly the southwestern The part are Serbs and Croatians. Of these the Croatians were Croatians the only ones who had a separate and distinct personality. They had 424 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY SINCE 1848 never been entirely absorbed in Hungary, they had had their own history, and their own institutions. In 1868 the Magyars made a compromise with Croatia, similar to the compromise tliey liad themselves concluded with Austria in the year preceding. In regard to all the other races, Th lie of however, the Magyars resolved to Magyarize them early Magyariza- and thoroughly. This policy they have steadily persisted ^^°°^ in. They have insisted upon the use of the Magyar lan- guage in public offices, courts, schools, and in the railway service — wher- ever, in fact, it has been possible. It is stated that there is not a single inscription in any post-office or railway station in all Hungary except in the Magyar language. The Magyars have in fact refused to make any concessions to the various peoples who live with them within the boun- daries of Hungary. They have, indeed, tried in every way to stamp out all peculiarities. For nearly fifty years this policy has been carried out and it has not succeeded. Hungary has not been Magyarized because Resistance the power of resistance of Slovaks, Croatians, Slavonians, of the Slavs Roumanians has proved too strong. But in the attempt, which has grown sharper and shriller than ever in the last decade, the Magyar minority has stopped at nothing. It has committed innumer- able tricks, acts of arbitrary power, breaches of the law, in order to crush out all opposition. Political institutions have been distorted into engines of ruthless oppression, political life has steadily deterio- 1 rated in character and purpose, und,er the influence of this overmaster- ing purpose which has recognized no bounds. Hungary, which boasts itself a land of freedom, has ensured freedom only to the dominant race, the Magyars. But for the other races Hungary has been a land of unbridled despotism. Every imaginable instrument has been used to H' h-handed crush the Slavs or convert them into Magyars — corrup- measures of tion and gross illegalities in the administrative service, in t e agyars ^^^q control of elections, persecution of all independent newspapers, suppression of schools, the firm determination to prevent these subject peoples, for that they virtually are though theoretically fellow-citizens, from developing their own languages, literatures, arts, economic life, ideals. The situation has been galling to the Slavs and A regime of other peoples. Magyar misrule has steadily increased in ruthless intensity, has in our time vitiated and corrupted the na- oppression tional life and has made Hungary a tinder box where dis- affection may blaze up at any moment. It is an odious history of op- THE POLICY OF THE MAGYARS 425 pression and a danger spot for Europe. Not until the Magyars recog- nize that the other races Uving within Hungary have the same rights as they, not until they adopt a policy of fair play and justice, instead of amalgamation by force, will Hungary be in a healthy condition. Hun- gary has not been Magyarized. But racial animosities have been raised to the highest pitch and constitute a most alarming menace. Any detailed study of the relations of the dominant Magyars with the Croa- tians, the Serbs, the Slovaks, the Roumanians, would amply prove these statements. The reply to these assertions, given by the apologists of the Mag- yars, is that Hungarian law expressly and carefully recognizes the abso- lute equality of all the various elements and they point to the Law of 1868 which guarantees the "Equal Rights of Nationalities." Tjjg ^ f This law is admirable and enlightened and was composed 1868 a dead in the finely liberal spirit of Francis Deak, who indeed was ^ ^^ its cliief author. But this law is a dead letter, and it has been a dead letter almost from the time of its passage. It has not been repealed, as the advantage of having so liberal an enactment to point to for the purpose of silencing critics and throwing dust in foreign eyes' has been apparent to the Magyar tyrants. But the spirit of Francis Deak long ago passed out of the governing circles of Hungary. That many Roumanians in Transylvania desire separation from Hungary and incorporation in the Kingdom of Roumania, that many of the Serbs or Slavs of southern Hungary desire annexation to the Kingdom of Servia, need occasion no surprise. Unless the Slavs of Hungary receive justice, which they never have received, they will be an element of danger to the kingdom. There is no evidence to show that the Magyars have learned this lesson. Moreover, in recent years a party has arisen among the Magyars themselves, under the leadership of Francis Kossuth, son of Louis Kos- suth of 1848, which is opposed to the Compromise of 1867, and wishes to have Hungary more independent than she is. This party demands that Hungary shall have her own diplomatic corps, shall control her relations with foreign countries independently of Austria, and shall possess the right to have her own tariff. Particularly does it demand the use of Magyar in the Hungarian part of the army of the dual mon- archy — a demand pressed passionately, but always resisted with un- shaken firmness by the Emperor, Francis Joseph, who considered that 426 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY SINCE 1848 the safety of the state is dependent upon having one language in use in the army, that there may not be confusion and disas- over the ter on the battlefield. Scenes of great violence arose question of Qygj- ^j^jg question, both in Parliament and outside of it, but the Emperor would not yield. Government was brought to a deadlock, and, indeed, for several years the Ausgleich could not be renewed, save by the arbitrary act of the Emperor, for a year at a time. Francis Joseph finally threatened, if forced to con- cede the recognition of the Hungarian language, to couple with it the introduction of universal suffrage into Hungary, for which there is a growing popular demand. This the Magyars do not wish, fearing that it will rob them of their dominant position by giving a powerful weapon to the politically inferior but more numerous races, and that they will, therefore, ultimately be submerged by the Slavs about them. Less than twenty-five per cent of the adult male population of Hungary at present possess the vote. The normal operation of political institutions has been seriously interrupted by the violent character of the discussions arising out of these extreme demands for racial monopoly and national independence. Parliamentary freedom has practically disappeared and Hungary has, in recent years, been ruled quite despotically. The House of Hapsburg has lost since 1815 the rich Lombardo- Venetian kingdom (1859-66). It has gained, however, Bosnia and Territorial Herzegovina. As a result of the Russo-Turkish war of gains and 1877 these Turkish provinces were handed over by the losses. Congress of Berlin of 1878 to Austria- Hungary to "occupy" and "administer." The Magyars at the time opposed the assumption of these provinces, wishing no more Slavs within the monarchy, but despite their opposition they were taken over, so strongly was the Em- peror in favor of it. This acquisition of these Balkan countries rendered Austria-Hungary a more important and aggressive factor in all Balkan politics, and in the discussions of the so-called Eastern Question, the future of European Turkey. In October, 1908, Austria-Hungary de- clared these provinces formally annexed. The great significance of this act will be discussed later in connection with the very recent his- tory of southeastern Europe and the causes of the War of I914. On November 21, 191 6, Francis Joseph died after a reign of nearly sixty-eight years. He was succeeded by his grand-nephew who assumed the title of Charles I. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY SINCE 1848 427 REFERENCES Governments of Austria-Hungary: Lowell, Governments and Parties in Conti- nental Europe, Vol. II, pp. 70-94, 137-152, 162-179; Ogg, Governments of Europe, pp. 453-516. Political and Constitutional Development: Lowell, Vol. II, pp. 95-136, 153-161; Seignobos, Political History of Europe Since 1814, pp. 518-553; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XII, pp. 174-212. CHAPTER XXV ENGLAND FROM 1815 TO 1868 The French Revolution had set in motion a wave of salutary reform which swept away numberless abuses, and demolished or trans- Widespread formed outworn and harmful institutions, not only in and bene- France but in other European states. To the credit of the ence of the Revolution is therefore due a decided improvement in the French conditions of life in many countries, notably in France, Germany, and Italy. But upon one. country its effect was wholly unfortunate. England had long needed a thoroughgoing reor- ganization of her institutions and policies, if they were to conform to even an elementary conception of justice. The ablest writers and thinkers had long ago indicated in unambiguous language Its unfortu- . o & & nate infiu- the changes that were required and that were feasible, and ence upon g^ statesman like William Pitt had recognized the force of England .... their criticisms and was disposed to undertake the work of quickening the national life by breathing a new spirit into it. Then came the Revolution, enthusiastically hailed at first by the more liberal- minded as the dawn of a new and happier era. But conservative Englishmen were outraged by the attacks of the French upon prop- erty rights and social discriminations and, when the excesses of the Revolution came, the vast majority of them were frightened by the The stiff very idea of change. Would not any reform lead to the conservatism same excesses in England? This was the chord all English ^^^^ conservatives, led by the rhetorical Edmund Burke, con- tinually harped upon. The result was that reform had no chance in England from 1793 to 181 5, that changes which would have been an unqualified blessing were delayed for a whole generation. Even after the long war with France was over and the battle of Waterloo was won, the same unreasonable dread of any change contin- ued and the same attitude of stiff, implacable opposition to all reform. This unbending, undeviating hostility to all change on the part of the 428 OPPOSITION TO REFORM 429 British Parliament, controlled during all this period by the Tory party, is easily understood when we come to examine the structure of English institutions and English pubHc and private life. The Re\'olution pro- claimed the doctrine of equality and proceeded to abolish privilege. But England was conspicuously a land of privilege, of glaring discriminations between social classes, a land em- S^Mhe phatically of the Old Regime. Inequality, of a pronounced ^^^ Regime character, reigned in church and state and school. The Old Parliament Biildings. Burned in 1834 After an aquatint by R. Havell. Power rested with the aristocracy, composed of the nobility and the gentry. The "local self-government" of England, so much praised and idealized abroad, as if it were government of the people, commanding by the people, did not exist. In the county governments position of the local nobility filled most of the important offices; in ^ no ny the borough governments their influence was generally decisive. In the national government, that is, in Parliament, the aristocracy was solidly entrenched. The House of Lords was composed almost exclusively of large landed proprietors. This was the very bulwark of the dominant social class. But the House of Commons was another stronghold hardly less secure. This body, generally supposed to represent the commoners of England, conspicuously failed to do so. Its composition was truly extraordinary. 430 ENGLAND FROM 1815 TO 1868 The House of Commons in 1815 consisted of 658 members: 489 of these were returned by England, 100 by Ireland, 45 by Scotland, 24 by The House Wales. There were three kinds of constituencies, the of Commons counties, the boroughs, and the universities. In England each county had two members, and nearly all of the boroughs had two each, though a few had but one. Representation had no rela- tion to the size of the population in either case. A large county and The system ^ small county, a large borough and a small borough, had of represen- the same number of members. In times past the king had * '""^ possessed the right to summon this town and that to send up two burgesses to London. Once given that right it usually retained it. If a new town should grow up, the monarch might give it the right, but he was not obliged to. Since 1625 only two new boroughs had been created. Thus the constitution of the House of Commons had become stereotyped at a time when population was increasing and was also shifting greatly from old centers to new. A growing inequality in the representation was a feature of the political system. Thus the county and borough representation of the ten southern counties of England was 237, and of the thirty others only 252; yet the latter had a population nearly three times as large as the former. All Scotland returned only 45 members, while the single English county of Cornwall (including its boroughs, of course) returned 44. Yet the population of Scotland was eight times as large as that of Cornwall. The suffrage in the counties was uniform, and was enjoyed by those who owned land yielding them an income of forty shillings a year. But as this worked out it gave a very restricted suffrage. The county The county voters were chiefly the men who had large country estates, suffrage ^^^ their dependents. Counties in which there were so few voters could be easily controlled by the wealthy landowners. In all Scotland there were not three thousand county voters; yet the popu- lation of Scotland was nearly two millions. Fife had 240 voters, Crom- arty 9. The climax was reached in Bute, where there were 21 voters out of a population of 14,000, only one of whoni lived in the county. On a certain occasion only one voter attended the election meeting of that county. He constituted himself chairman, nominated himself, called the list of voters, and declared himself elected to Parliament. Such was the situation in the counties of Great Britain, which re- turned 186 members to the House of Commons. But more important ROTTEN BOROUGHS 431 were the boroughs, which returned 467 members.' In the boroughs, too, the influence of the landowning and wealthy class The suffrage' was even greater and more decisive than in the counties. "^ boroughs The boroughs were of several kinds or types — nomination boroughs, rotten or close boroughs, boroughs in which there was a considerable body of voters, boroughs in which the suffrage was almost demo- cratic. It was the existence of the first two classes that ^t • • ., , , , , Nomination contributed the most to the popular demand for the reform or pocket of the House. In the nomination boroughs, the right to *'°''°"Sh8 choose the two burgesses was completely in the hands of the patron. Such places might have lost all their inhabitants, yet, representation' being an attribute of geographical areas rather than of population, these places were still entitled to their two members. Thus Corfe Castle was a ruin. Old Sarum a green mound, Gatton was part of a park, while Dunwich had long been submerged beneath the sea, yet these places, entirely without inhabitants, still had two members each in the House of Commons, because it had been so decided centuries before, when they did have a population, and because the English Parliament took no account of changes. Thus the owner of the ruined wall, or the green mound, or this particular portion of the bottom of the sea, had the right of nomination. In the rotten or close boroughs the members were elected by the cor- poration, that is, by the mayor and aldermen, or the suffrage was in the hands of voters, who, however, were so few, from a dozen to Rotten fifty in many cases,^ and generally so poor that the patron boroughs could easily influence them by bribery or intimidation to choose his candidates. Elections in such cases were a mere matter of form. It has been stated that in 1793, 245 members were notoriously returned by the influence of 128 peers. Thus peers, themselves sitting in the House of Lords, had representatives sitting in the other House. Lord Lonsdale thus returned nine members, and was known as "premier's cat-o'-nine-tails." Others returned six, five, four apiece. Some would sell their appointments to the highest bidder. Some of the most honor- able arid useful members bought their seats as the only way of getting into Parliament on an independent basis, though they utterly detested the system. Thus at that time a considerable majority of the members 1 The universities returned 5 members. 2 Ninety members represented places of less than 50 voters each. ^ 432 ENGLAND FROM 1815 TO 1868 ( of the House of Commons was returned through the influence of a small body of men who at the same time controlled the other House. There were some boroughs with a fairly large or even democratic electorate. Here bribery was resorted to by the rich, which was easily possible and greatly encouraged by the fact that the polls were kept open for fifteen days. On the other hand there were large cities like Unrepre- Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, which had no sented cities representation at all in the House of Commons, although they had a population of seventy-five or a hundred thousand or more. Well might the younger Pitt exclaim: "This House is not the represen- tation of the people of Great Britain; it is the representation of nominal boroughs, of ruined and exterminated towns, of noble families, of wealthy individuals, of foreign potentates." The government of England was not representative, but was oligarchical. Closely identified with the State, and, like the State, thoroughly permeated with the principle of special privileges, was another body, ^jjg the Church of England. -Though there was absolute reli- Established. gious liberty in Great Britain, though men might worship Church g^g ^i^gy gg^^ ^^^ ^l^g position of the Anglican Church was one greatly favored. Only members of that church possessed any real political power. No Catholic could be a member of Parliament, or hold any office in the state or municipality. In theory Protestants who dis- sented from the Anglican Church were likewise excluded from holding oflSce. In practice, however, they were enabled to, by the device of the so-called Act of Indemnity, an act passed each year by Parliament, pardoning them for having held the positions illegally during the year just past. The position of the Dissenter was both burdensome and humiliating. He had to pay taxes for the support of the Dissenters Church of England, though he did not belong to it. He had to register his place of worship with authorities of the Church of England. He could only be married by a clergyman of that church, unless he were a Quaker or a Jew. There was no such thing as civil marriage, or marriage by dissenting clergymen. A Roman Catholic or a Dissenter could not graduate from Cambridge, could not even enter Oxford, owing to the religious tests exacted, which only Anglicans could meet. The natural result of the supremacy of this church was that those entered it who were influenced by self-interest, who were ambi- tious for political preferment, for social advancement, or for an Oxford LACK OF EMPLOYMENT 433 or Cambridge education for their sons. It was " ungentlemanlike " to be a Dissenter. The great institutions of England, therefore, were controlled by the rich, and in the interests of the rich. Legislation favored the powerful, the landed nobility, and the rich class of manufacturers that was grow- ing up, whose interests were similar. The immense mass of the people received scant consideration. Their education was woe- The people fully neglected. Probably three-fourths of the children of neglected England did not receive the slightest instruction. Laborers were for- bidden to combine to improve their conditions, which the state itself never dreamed of improving. Even their food was made artificially dear by tariffs on breadstuffs passed in the interests of the landlords. The reverse side of the picture of English greatness and power and pros- perity was gloomy in the extreme. England was in need of sweeping and numerous reforms to meet the demands of modern liberalism, whether in politics or economics or in social institutions. The demand for reform, checked by the Revolution and by the long struggle with France, was resumed after the final victory over Napoleon at Waterloo. It drew its main strength from Widespread the deep and widespread wretchedness of the people. For, distress contrary to all expectations, peace did not bring happiness ^^^ and prosperity but rather intense suffering and hatred of class against class. Manufacturers were obliged to discharge thousands of workmen, because the demand for British goods fell off after the peace owing to the resumption of manufacturing in the conti- Lack of nental countries. At the time when the number of labor- employment ers was greater than the demand 200,000 or more men were added to the labor market by the reduction of the army and navy. Furthermore, the next few years saw a series of bad harvests. By these and by the Corn Law of 1815, bread was made dearer. Add also the fact that the modern industrial or factory system was painfully- supplanting the old system of household industries and temporarily throwing multitudes out of employment, or employing them under hard, even inhuman condi- tions, and it is not difficult to understand the widespread, desperate discontent of the mass of the population. Parliament, an organ of the rich minority, refused to help them; it even forbade them to help them- selves, for it was a misdemeanor for workmen to combine. If they did, they would be sent to jail. Labor was unorganized. 434 ENGLAND FROM 1815 TO 1868 The demand for reforms came primarily from the poor and disheart- ened masses, who possessed a remarkable leader in the person of William William Cobbett, the son of • an agricultural laborer. For some Cobbett years Cobbett had published a liberal periodical called " The Weekly Political Register,'" in which he had opposed the Govern- ment. In 1 8 16 he reduced the price of his paper from a shilling to two- pence, made his appeal directly to the laboring class, and became their guide and spokesman. The effect was instantaneous. For the first time the lower class had an organ, cheap, moreover brilliantly written, for Cobbett's literary ability was such that a London paper, the Stand- ard, declared that for clearness, force, and power of copious illustration he was unrivaled since the time of Swift. Cobbett was the first great popular editor, who for nearly thirty years, with but little interruption, expressed in his weekly paper the wishes and the emotions of the labor- j ing classes. He was a great democratic leader, a powerful popular edi- tor, a pugnacious and venomous opponent of the existing regime, a champion of the cause of parliamentary reform. For Cobbett persuaded the working people that they must first get the right to vote before they could get social and economic reforms. Parliamen- Parliamentary reform must have precedence. Let the tary reform people get political power, let them change Parliament from the organ of a narrow class into a truly national assembly, and then they could abolish the evils from which they suffered, and put useful statutes into force. He demanded, therefore, universal suffrage. Other leaders appeared, also, and a considerable fermentation of ideas among the unp roper tied and working classes characterized these years. But against these demands of the disinherited the Tory party hard- ened its heart. Scenting in every popular movement a new French Revolution it made no attempt to study or remove grievances but was resolved to go to any length to stamp out the troublesome spirit of unrest g . by force. This period of sorry reaction culminated in the of Habeas suspension of the Habeas Corpus act, a grave measure °''P"^ which only the direst necessity could justify; also in the passage of so-called Gag Laws which stringently restricted the freedom of speech, of the press, and of public meeting and discussion which had long been the boast of England. This period of harsh government, of repressive legislation, which encroached gravely upon the traditional liberties of the British people, lasted for about five years. BEGINNING OF REFORM 435 In 1820 George III died at the age of eighty-one. He had for many years been insane and the regency had been exercised by Death of his son, who now became George IV and who reigned from George lu 1820 to 1830. After 1820 a change gradually came over the political life of England. The Tory party still maintained its great majority in Parliament but several of the more reactionary members of the ministrv ^,- . ... -111., ^^^ *i*wn of died or resigned, and their places were taken by men of a an era of younger and more liberal generation, particularly by Can- ^®^°"" ning. Peel, and Huskisson, who were able to make the Tory party an engine of partial reform. Canning, as Foreign Secretary, freed England's foreign policy from all connection with the Holy Alliance. He boldly asserted the doctrine that each nation is free to determine jj^g , its own form of government, which doctrine was the direct the Holy opposite of that of Metternich. Huskisson's reforms were *^*^® economic and aimed at the liberation of commerce, by removing some of the restrictions which had been thrown around the carrying trade, by reducing tariff duties on many articles of import, and by greatly simpH- fying the administration of the tariff system. Sir Robert Peel undertook at this time the reform of the Penal Code. That code was a disgrace to England and placed her far behind France and other countries. The punishment of death ^j^^ Penel could be legally inflicted for about two hundred offenses — Code re- for picking pockets, for stealing five shillings from a store, or forty shillings from a dwelHng house, for stealing a fish, for injuring Westminster Bridge, for sending threatening letters. In 1823 the death penalty was abolished in about a hundred cases. Another reform of these years lay in the direction of greater religious liberty. The disabilities from which Protestant dissenters suffered were removed in 1828 by the abrogation of the requirement that Abolition of all office-holders should take the sacrament according to the religious rites of the Church of England and should make a declara- tion against the doctrine of transubstantiation. In the following year, after a long and bitter controversy which went to the very verge of civil war. Parliament redressed the grievances of the Catholics by the passage of the Catholic Emancipation Act which permitted CathoUc Catholics henceforth to sit in either house of Parliament emancipation and to hold, with a few exceptions, any municipal or national office. 436 ENGLAND FROM 1815 TO 1868 This act established real pohtical equality between Catholics and Protestants. The reforms that have just been described were carried through by the Tory party. There was one reform, however, more fundamental and important, which it was clear that that party would Tory oppo- r- ; t- j sition to the never concede, the reform of Parliament itself. The sig- reform of nificant features of the parliamentary system have already been described. That they required profound alteration had been held by many of the Whigs for more than fifty years. But the Whigs had been powerless to effect anything, having long been in the minority. A combination of circumstances, however, now brought about the downfall of the party so long dominant, and rendered pos- sible the great reform. George IV died on June 26, 1830, and was suc- ceeded by his brother William IV ( 1830-183 7). The death of the mon- arch necessitated a new election of Parliament. The election resulted in a Tory loss of fifty members in the House of Commons. The Duke of Wellington was shortly forced to resign and the Whigs came in. Thus was broken the control the Tory party had exercised, with one slight interruption, for forty-six years. Earl Grey, who for forty years had demanded parliamentary reform, now became prime minister. A ministry was formed with ease, and The first included many able men, Durham, Russell, Brougham, Reform Bill Palmerston, Stanley, Melbourne, and on March i, 1831, a Reform Bill was introduced in the House of Commons by Lord John Russell. It aimed to effect a redistribution of seats on a more equi- table plan, and the establishment of a uniform franchise for boroughs in place of -^.the great and absurd variety of franchises then existing. /The redistribution of seats was based on two i)iinciples, the with- °\ drawal of the right of representation from small, decayed boroughs and I its bestowal upon large and wealthy towns hitherto without it. The bill amazed the House by its comprehensive character and encouraged the reformers. Neither side had expected so sweeping a change. The introduction of the bill precipitated a remarkable par- liamentary discussion, which continued with some intervals for over fifteen months, from March i, 1831, to June 5, 1832. Lord John Russell in his introduction of the measure, after stating that the theory of the British Constitution was no taxation without rep- resentation, and after showing that in former times Parliament had THE FIRST REFORM BILL 437 been truly representative, said that it was no longer so. "A stranger who was told that this country is unparalleled in wealth and in- dustry, and more civiUzed and more enlightened than any Ru^sseU°s country was before it — that it is a country that prides itself ^^^^^^ on its freedom, and that once in every seven years it elects representatives from its population to act as the guardians and preservers of that free- dom — would be anxious and curious to see how that representation is formed, and how the people choose their representatives, to whose faith and guardianship they entrust their free and liberal institutions. Such a person would be very much astonished if he were taken to a ruined mound and told that the mound sent two representatives to Parliament; if he were taken to a stone wall and told that three niches in it sent two repre- sentatives to Parliament; if he were taken to a park where no houses were to be seen, and told that that park sent two representatives to Par- liament. But if he were told all this, and were astonished at hearing it, he would be still more astonished if he were to see large and opiilent towns, full of enterprise and industry and intelligence, containing vast magazines of every species of manufactures, and were then told that these towns sent no representatives to Parliament." This speech inaugurated a resounding and a bitter debate. Oppo- nents of the measure flatly denied that the population of a town had ever had anything to do with its representation or that rep- Arguments resentation and taxation were in any way connected in the for and against British Constitution. They said that some of the greatest ^ ® men in parliamentary annals had entered the House of Commons as the representatives of these nomination and rotten boroughs now so vigor- ously denounced, — which was true, as the cases of the younger Pitt, Burke, Canning, Fox and others showed. To which Macaulay retorted that "we must judge of the form of government by its general tendency, not by happy accidents," and that if "there were a law that the hundred tallest men in England should be members of Parliament, there would probably be some able men among those who would come into the House by virtue of this law." Thus the debate went on, an unusual number of members partici- pating. But the bill did not have long to live. The Op- Ministry de- position was persistent, and on April 19 the ministry was feated, Pariia- defeated on an amendment. It resolved to appeal to the people. Parliament was dissplved and a new election ordered. This I 438 ENGLAND FROM 1815 TO 1868 election took place in the summer of 1831 amid the greatest excitement and was one of the most momentous of the century. From one end of the land to the other the cry was, "The bill, the whole bill, and nothing but the bill." There was some violence and intimidation of voters, and bribery on a large scale was practised on both sides. The question put the candidates was, "Will you support the bill or will you oppose it?" The result of the election was an overwhelming victory for the reformers. On June 24, 1 831, Lord John Russell introduced the second Reform Bill, which was practically the same as the first. The Opposition did Second not yield, but fought it inch by inch. They tried to wear Reform Bill q^^ ^\^q ministry by making dilatory motions and innu- merable speeches which necessarily consisted of mere repetition. In the course of two weeks Sir Robert Peel spoke forty-eight times, Croker fifty-seven times, Wetherell fifty-eight times. However, the Defeated by ^^^^ ^^^ finally passed, September 22, by a majority of the House of 106. It was then sent up to the House of Lords where °' ^ it was quickly killed (October 8, 183 1). It was the Lords who chiefly profited by the existing system of nomi- nation and rotten boroughs, and they were enraged at the proposal to end it. They were determined not to lose the power it gave them. The defeat of the bill by the Upper House caused great indignation throughout the country. Apparently the Lords were simply greedy of their privileges. Again riots broke out in London and other towns, expressive of the popular feeling. Newspapers appeared in mourning. Bells were tolled. Threats of personal violence to the Lords were made, and in certain instances carried out. Troops were called out in some places. England, it was widely felt, was on the brink of a civil war. Parliament was now prorogued. It reassembled December 6th, and on the 12th Lord John Russell rose again and introduced his third Re- Third form Bill. Again the same tiresome tactics of the Opposi- Reform Bill ^[q^^ g^^ ^l^g ^jj^ finally passed the House of Commons, March 23, 1832, by a majority of 116. Again the bill was before the Lords, who showed the same disposi- tion to defeat it as before. The situation seemed hopeless. Twice the Commons had passed the bill with the manifest and express -approval of the people. Were they to be foiled by a chamber based on hereditary privilege? Riots, monster demonstrations, acrimonious and bitter de- THIRD REFORM BILL 439 nunciation, showed once more the temper of the people. There was one way only in which the measure could be carried. The King might create enough new peers to give its supporters a majority in the House of Lords. This, however, William IV at first refused to do. The Grey ministry consequently resigned. The King appealed to the Duke of Wellington to form a ministry. The Duke tried but failed. The King then gave way, recalled Earl Grey to power and signed a paper stating, "The King grants permission to Earl Grey and to his Chancellor, Lord Brougham, to create such a number of peers as will be sufficient to insure the passing of the Reform Bill." The peers were never created. The The Bill threat sufficed. The bill passed the Lords, June 4, 1S32, passed about 100 of its opponents absenting themselves from the House. It was signed and became a law. The bill had undergone some changes during its passage. In its final form it provided that fifty-six nomination or close boroughs with a popu- lation of less than 2,000 should lose their representation entirely; that thirty- two others with a population of less than 4,000 should lose one member each. The seats thus obtained were redistributed as follows:/ twenty- two large towns were given two members each; Redistribu- / twenty others were given one each, and the larger counties tion of were given additional members, sixty-five in all. There was ^^^ * no attempt to make equal electoral districts, but only to remove more flagrant abuses. Constituencies still differed greatly in population. The Reform Bill also altered and widened the suffrage. Previously the county franchise had depended entirely upon the ownership of land; that is, was limited to those who owned outright land of The county an annual value of forty shillings, the forty-shilling free- franchise holders. The county suffrage was now extended to include, under certain conditions, those who leased land. Thus in the counties the suffrage was -dependent still upon the tenure of land, but not upon out- right ownership. In the boroughs a far greater change was made. The right to vote was given to all ten-pound householders, which meant all who owned or rented a house or shop or other building of an annual ^^^ rental value, with the land, of ten pounds. Thus the suf- borough frage was practically given in boroughs to the wealthier middle class. There was henceforth a uniform suffrage in boroughs, and a diversified suffrage in counties. 440 ENGLAND FROM 1815 TO 1868 Passing of the Reform Bill in the House of Lords From an engraving after the painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds. The Reform Bill of 1832 was not a democratic measure, but it made ! the House of Commons a truly representative body. It admitted to v' the suffrage the wealthier middle class. The number of voters, partic- \ ularly in the boroughs, was considerably increased; but the laborers of \ England had no votes, nor had the poorer middle class. The average A PERIOD OF REFORMS 441 ratio of voters to the whole population of Great Britain was about one to thirty. The measure, therefore, though regarded as final j^ by the Whig ministry, was not so regarded by the vast democratic majority, who were still disfranchised. No further alteration ^^^°^^ was made until 1867, but during the whole period there was a demand for extension. In 183 1 and 1832 the people, by their monster meetings, riots, acts of violence, had helped greatly to pass the bill only to find when the struggle was over that others and not themselves had profited by their efforts. The reforming activity of the Whigs, which had achieved the notable triumph of the great change in the House of Commons, continued un- abated for several years. Several measures of great im- . i d f portance were passed by the reformed Parliament during Whig gov- the next few years. ^'''°'^°* One of the first of these was the abolition of slavery in 1833. It had been long held by the British courts that slavery could not exist in the British Isles', that the instant a slave touched the soil of England he be- came free. But slavery itself existed in the West Indies, in Mauritius, and in South Africa. There were about 750,000 slaves in slavery in these colonies. To free them was a difficult matter for it ^^^ colonies was considered an interference with the rights of property, and it might ruin the .prosperity of the colonies. But there was a growing sensitive- ness to the moral iniciuity of the institution and it was this that ulti- mately ensured the success of the anti-slavery agitation ably led by Wilberforce and Zachary Macaulay, father of the historian. A bill was passed in August, 1833 decreeing that slavery should cease August i, 1834, and appropriating a hundred million dollars as compensation to the slave owners for the loss of their property. The slave owners were not satisfied, considering the sum insufficient, but were obliged to acquiesce. Conscience was aroused at the same time by a cruel evil right at home, the employment, under barbarous conditions, of children in fac- tories. The employment of child labor in British industries child was one of the results of the rise of the modern factory ^^^°^ system. It was early seen that much of the work done by machinery , could be carried on by children, and as their labor was cheaper than that of adults they were swept into the factories in larger and larger numbers, and a monstrous evil grew up. They were, of course, the children of the poorest people. Many began this life of misery at the age of five or sLx, 442 ENGLAND FROM 1815 TO 1868 more at the age of eight or nine. Incredible as it may seem, they werei often compelled to work twelve or fourteen hours a day. Half hourj intervals were allowed for meals, but by a refinement of cruelty they] were expected to clean the machinery at such times. Falling asleep atj their work they were beaten by overseers or injured by falling against ' the machinery. In this inhuman regime there was no time or strength left for education or recreation or healthy development of any kind. The moral atmosphere in which the children worked was harmful in the extreme. Physically, intellectually, morally, the result could only be stunted human beings. This monstrous system was defended by political economists, manu- facturers, and statesmen in the name of individual liberty, in whose The system name, moreover, crimes have often been committed, the defended liberty of the manufacturer to conduct his business without interference from outside, the liberty of the laborer to sell his labor under whatever conditions he may be disposed or, as might more prop- erly be said, compelled to accept. A Parliament, however, which had been so sensitive to the wrongs of negro slaves in Jamaica, could not be indifferent to the fate of English children. Thus the long efforts of many English humanitarians, Robert Owen, Thomas Sadler, Fielden, The Factory Lord Ashley, resulted in the passage of the Factory Act Act, 1833 Qf 1833, which prohibited the employment in spinning and weaving factories of children under nine, made a maximum eight hour day for those from nine to thirteen, and of twelve for those from thirteen to eighteen. This was a very modest beginning, yet it repre- sented a great advance on the preceding policy of England. It was the first of a series of acts regulating the conditions of laborers in the interests of society as a whole, acts which have become more numerous, more minute, and more drastic from 1833 to the present day. The idea that an employer may conduct his business entirely as he likes has no standing in modern English law. The reform spirit, which rendered the decade from 1830 to 1840 so ^, , notable, achieved another vast improvement in the radi- The decay ' . . '^ of local cal transformation of municipal government. The local self-govern- self-government of England enjoyed great fame abroad but was actually in a very sorry condition at home. Not only was the Parliament of 1830 the organ of an oligarchy, but so was the system of local government. ACCESSION OF QUEEN VICTORIA 443 Municipal government was in the hands of very small groups. Thus in Cambridge, with a population of 20,000 there were only 118 voters, in Portsmouth, with 46,000, only 102. In very numerous ^^ aIic n6c6s~ cases the situation was even worse and local government sity for was in the hands of the corporation, that is, the mayor and ^^^°^^ the common council. The mayor was chosen by the council and the councillors held office for life and had the right to fill all vacancies in their body. These governments were notoriously corrupt and noto- riously inefficient. Generally speaking, those Englishmen who lived in boroughs were not only not self-governed but were wretchedly misgoverned. In 1835 a law was passed which provided for the election of town councillors by all the ^he reform inhabitants who had of municipal paid ta.xes durmg the g°^«'"°^^"t preceding three years. The coun- cil was to elect the mayor. It is estimated that about two million people thus secured the municipal vote. This was not democracy, but it was a long step toward it, and away from oligarchy. The suffrage has been widened since 1835- In the midst of this period of reform occurred a change in the occu- pancy of the throne. King William IV died June 20, 1837, and was succeeded by his niece, Victoria. The young Queen was Accession of the daughter of the Duke of Kent, fourth son of George Queen III. She was, at the time of her accession, eighteen years of age. She had been carefully educated, but owing to the fact that William IV disliked her mother, she had seen very little of court life, and was very little known. Carlyle, oppressed with all the weary weight QiJEEN Victoria, at the age of 20 After the painting by Sir Edwin Landseer at Windsor Castle. 444 ENGLAND FROM 1815 TO 1868 of this unintelligible world, pitied her, quite unnecessarily. " Poor little Queen! " said he, "she is at an age at which a girl can hardly be trusted to choose a bonnet for herself; yet a task is laid upon her from which an archangel might shrink." Not such was the mood of the Queen. She was buoyant and joyous, and entered with zest upon a reign which was to prove the longest in the annals of England. She impressed all jT who saw her with her dignity and poise. Her political political education was conducted under the guidance, first of Leo- e uca ion pold. King of Belgium, her uncle, and after her accession, of Lord Melbourne, both of whom instilled in her mind the principles of constitutional monarchy. The question of her marriage was important and was decided by herself. Summoning her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg, into her presence, she offered him her hand — "a, nervous thing to do," as she afterward said, yet the only thing as "he would never have presumed to take such a liberty" himself as to ask for the hand of the Queen of England. It was a marriage of affection. "She is as full of love as Juliet," said Sir Robert Peel. Her married life was exceptionally happy, and when the Prince Consort died twenty-one years later, she was inconsolable. During these years he was her con- stant adviser, and so complete was the harmony of their views that he was practically quite as much the ruler of the country as was she. As the Reform Bill of 1832 had given the suffrage only to the upper part of the middle classes, as it excluded the working classes whether in town or country from all political power, it was only further par- natural that the latter should refuse to consider it a finality liamentary ^^^^ should agitate for the extension of the suffrage to reform . themselves, particularly as they had helped decidedly to pass the great measure. Therefore the workingmen conducted a vehe- ment agitation for several years to secure the rights to which they felt they were as entitled as were those who were fortunate enough to be richer than they. In a pamphlet entitled The Rotten House of Commons (December, 1836), Lovett, one of their leaders, proved from official returns that, out of 6,023,752 adult males living in the United Kingdom, only 839,519 were voters. He also showed that despite the reform of 1832 there were great inequalities among the constituencies, that twenty The People's members were chosen by 2,411 votes, twenty more by 86,072. Charter 'pj^g immediate demands of the Radicals were expressed in "The People's Charter," or programme, a petition to Parliament drawn THE CHARTIST AGITATION 445 up in 1838. They demanded that the right to vote be given to every adult man, declaring, "We perform the duties of freemen, we must have the privileges of freemen"; that voting be secret, by ballot rather than orally as was then the custom, so that every voter could be free from intimidation, and less exposed to bribery; that property quali- fications for membership in the House be abolished; and that the members receive salaries so that poor men, laborers themselves and understanding the needs of laborers, might be elected to Parliament if the voters wished. They also demanded that the House of Commons should be elected, not for seven years, as was then the law, but simply for one year. The object of this was to prevent their representatives from misrepresenting them by proving faithless to their pledges or in- different or hostile to the wishes of the voters. Annual elections would give the voters the chance to punish such representatives speedily by electing others in their place. "The connection between the repre- sentatives and the people, to be beneficial, must be intimate," said the petition. Such were the five points of the famous Charter designed to make Parliament representative of the people, not of a class. Once adopted, it was felt that the masses would secure control of the legisla- ture and could then improve their conditions. The Chartists had almost no influence in Parliament, and their agi- tation had consequently to be carried on outside in workingmen's asso- ciations, in the cheap press, in popular songs and poems, in monster meetings addressed by impassioned orators, in numerous character of and unprecedentedly large petitions. One of these was the Chartist presented in 1839. It was in the form of a large cylinder ^^' ^ '°° of parchment about four feet in diameter, and was said to have been signed by 1,286,000 persons. The petition was summarily rejected. Notwithstanding this failure another was presented in. 1842, signed, it was asserted by over three mihion persons. Borne through the streets of London in a great procession it was found too large to be carried through the door of the House of Commons. It was therefore cut up into several parts and deposited on the floor. This, too, was rejected. In 1848 another attempt was made. Encouraged by the French Revo- lution of that year the Chartists held a great national convention or people's parliament in London, and planned a vast demonstration on behalf of the Charter. Half a million men were to accompany a new petition to Parliament, which it was expected would be overawed and 446 ENGLAND FROM 1815 TO 1868 would then yield to so imposing a demand of an insistent people. The Government was so alarmed that it entrusted the safety of London to the Duke of Wellington, then seventy-nine years of age. His arrange-} ments were made with his accustomed thoroughness. One hundred and} seventy thousand special constables were enrolled, one of whom was Louis Napoleon, who before the year was out was to be President of the French Republic. The result was that the street demonstration was a I failure, and the petition, examined by a committee of the House, was found to contain, not 5,706,000 signatures, as asserted, but less than two million. It was summarily rejected. The movement died out owing to 'ridicule, internal quarrels, but particularly because of the growing pros- perity of the country, which resulted from the abolition of the Corn Laws and the adoption of Free Trade. It is difficult to appraise the value and significance of this movement. Judged superficially and by immediate results the Chartists failed com- The signifi- pletely. Yet most of the changes they advocated have cance of the since been brought about. There are now no property qualifications for members of the House of Commons, and the secret ballot has been secured; the suffrage is enjoyed by the immense majority of men, though not by all; members now receive salaries, and Parliaments are now elected for five years. It seems that some of the tremendous impetus of England toward democracy, which grew so marked toward the close of the nineteenth century, was derived from this movement of the Chartists. ' Simultaneously with the Chartist movement another was going on which had a happier issue. The adoption of the principle of free trade must always remain a great event in English history, and was the cul- mination of a remarkable movement that extended over forty years, though its most decisive phase was concentrated into a few years of intense activity. The change was complete from a policy which England j in common with the rest of the world had followed for centuries and which other countries still follow. England had long believed in protection. Hundreds of articles were subject to duties as they entered the country, manufactured articles, England's ^^^ materials. The most important single interest among policy of all those protected was agriculture. Corn is a word used in England to describe wheat and bread stuffs generally. The laws imposing duties on corn were the keystone of the whole I THE CORN LAWS 447 i system of protection. The advocates of free trade necessarily therefore deUvered their fiercest assaults upon the Corn Laws. If xhe Corn these could be overthrown it was believed that the whole ^^^^ I system would fall. But for a long while the landlord class was so en- trenched in poUtical power that the law remained impregnable. The manufacturers and the mer- chants, however, were in favor of free trade, as the only way of en- larging the foreign market of Eng- land and thus keeping English factories running and English workingmen employed. But for- eigners would buy English goods only if they might pay for them in their own commodities, their grain, their lumber. Again, as the population was increasing, England needed cheaper food. In I S3 9 there was founded in Man- chester, a great manufacturing center' the Anti-Corn Law League whose leader was Richard Cobden, a successful and traveled young business man. He was soon joined by John Bright, like j^^ ^^^_ himself a manufacturer, unlike him one of the great popu- Corn-Law lar orators of the nineteenth century. The methods of the ^^sue League were businesslike and thorough. Its campaign was one of per- suasion. It distributed a vast number of pamphlets, sent out a corps of speakers to deliver lectures, setting forth the leading arguments in fa\-or of free trade. Year after year this process of argumentation went 01-;. It was an earnest and sober attempt to convince Englishmen that they should completely reverse their commercial policy in the interest of their own prosperity. But it does not seem that this agitation would have succeeded in securing the repeal of the Corn Laws had it not been for a great natural calamity, the Irish famine of 1845. jj^^ jj-igh The food of the vast majority of the Irish people was the famine of potato. More than half of the eight million inhabitants of Ireland depended upon it alone for sustenance and with a large part of Richard Cobden 448 ENGLAND FROM 1815 TO 1868 Remaining protective duties grad ually re- moved the rest it was the chief article of diet. Now this crop completely failed, owing to a disease that had set in. Famine came and tens of thousands Repeal of perished from starvation. The only way to rescue the the Corn Laws population was to repeal the Corn Laws and thus let in the food supplies of the Continent, to take the place of the blighted potato. In 1846, under this tremendous pressure, Sir Rob- ert Peel carried against bitter opposition the repeal of the Corn Laws. There still re- mained after this many duties in the English tariff but the key- stone of the whole system of protec- tion was re- moved. One after another during the next twenty years the remaining duties were re- moved. England still has a tariff but it is for revenue only, not for the protection of Eng- lish industries. Nearly all of the revenue from the present tariff comes from the duties on tobacco, tea, spirits, wine, and .1 I-,- , John Bright. sugar, mostly commodities not produced in England. England is absolutely dependent upon other countries for her food supplies. The twenty years succeeding the repeal of the Corn Laws were years of quiescence and transition. Comparatively few changes of impor- Labor tance were made in legislation. Those of greatest signifi- legislation cance concerned the regulation of employment in factories and mines. Such legislation, merciful in its immediate effects and mo- mentous in the reach of the principles on which it rested, was enacted particularly during the decade from 1840 to 1850. The initial step in such legislation had been taken in the Factory Act of 1833, already de- scribed, a law that regulated somewhat the conditions under which chil- FACTORY LAWS 449 Idren and women could be -employed in the textile industries. But labor was unprotected in many other industries, in which gross abuses pre- vailed. One of the most famous parliamentary reports of the nine- teenth century was that of a commission appointed to investigate the conditions in mines. Published in 1842, its amazine reve- ^ . . , . 1 1 1 T • • , Regulation lations revolted public opmion and led to quick action. It of labor showed that children of five, six, seven years of age were ^^ ™^"®^ employed underground in coal mines, girls as well as boys; that women as well as men labored under con- ditions fatal to health and morals; that the hours were long, twelve or fourteen a day, and the dangers great. They were veritable beasts of burden, dragging and pushing carts on hands and knees along narrow and low passageways, in which it was impossible to stand erect. Girls of eight or ten carried heavy buckets of coal on their backs up steep ladders many times a day. The revelations were so astounding and sickening that a law was passed in 1842 which for- bade the employment of women and girls in mines, and which per- mitted the employment of boys of ten for only three days a week. Once embarked on this policy of protecting the economically depend- ent classes, Parliament was forced to go further and further in the gov- ernmental regulation of private industry. It has enacted Factory a long series of statutes which it is here impossible to ^*^^ describe, so extensive and minute are their provisions. The series is being constantly lengthened. In these various acts of legislation just described and in other ways England showed during these middle years of the century that she was outgrowing old forms of thought and organization and was evidently tending more and more toward democracy. Yet this general trend was not mirrored in her political life and institutions. Parliament remained Sir Robert Peel After painting by John Linnell. 4SO ENGLAND FROM 1815 TO 1868 REFORM BILL OF ISO? 451 what the Reform Bill of 1832 had made it. From 1832 to 1867 there was no alteration either in the franchise or in the distribution of seats in the House of Commons. This was the era of middle class rule, as its pred- ecessor had been one of aristocratic rule. But during this period the demand was frequently made that the suffrage be extended. Not more than one man in six then had the right to vote — only "the ten-pound householders." In 1866 ^, 1 • 1 1 ^1 , ' ^"^ demand to meet the growmg demand Gladstone, leader of the for a wider House of Commons under the Earl Russell ministry, pro- ^"^''^se posed a moderate extension of the suffrage. The very moderation sealed its doom, as it aroused no enthusiasm among the people. There was no sign that the people wanted this measure and therefore the j^ , Conservatives, joined by many Liberals, joyously killed it. feated in The ministry thereupon resigned and Lord Derby became prime minister, with Disraeli the leading member of. the cabinet. The Conservatives were once more in power, and the opponents of reform thought that they had effectually stemmed the advance toward democ- racy. Never were politicians more completely deceived. The rejection of even this modest measure aroused the people to indignation. Glad- stone lost all his timidity and became a fiery apostle of an extensive re- form. "You cannot fight against the future; time is on our side" was a Gladstonian phrase that now became a battle cry. John Bright, with ill-concealed menace, incited the people to renew the scenes of 1832. Great popular demonstrations of the familiar kind occurred in favor of the bill. The people were manifestly in earnest. Seeing this, and feeling that reform was inevitable, and that, such being the case, the Conservative party might as well reap the advan- tages of granting it as to allow those advantages to accrue to others, Disraeli in the following year, 1867, introduced a carried by Reform Bill. This was remodeled almost entirely by the ^'|''*^^' '° Liberals, who, led by Gladstone, defeated the proposals of the ministry time after time, and succeeded in having their own prin- ciples incorporated in the measure. The bill as finally passed was largely the work of Gladstone, practically everything he asked being in the end conceded, but it was the audacity and subtlety and resourcefulness of Disraeli that succeeded in getting a very radical bill adopted by the very same legislators who the year before had rejected a moderate one. The bill, as finally passed in August, 1867, closed the rule of the 452 ENGLAND FROM 1815 TO 1868 middle class in England, and made England a democracy. The fran- Provisions chise in boroughs was given to all householders. Thus, of the bill instead of ten-pound householders, all householders, what ever the value of their houses, were admitted; also, all lodgers who had j occupied for a year lodgings of the value, unfurnished, of ten pounds, \ or about a dollar a week. In the counties the suffrage was given to all those who owned property yielding £ve pounds clear income a year, rather than ten pounds, as previously; and to all "occupiers" who paid at least twelve pounds, rather than fifty pounds, as hitherto. Thus tlu- better class of laborers in the boroughs, and practically all tenant farm- ers in the counties, received the vote. By this bill the number of voters was nearly doubled. So sweeping was the measure that the prime minister himself, Lord Derby, called it a "leap in the dark." Carlyle, forecasting a dismal future, called it "shooting Niagara." Robert Lowe, whose memorable attacks had been largely instrumental in defeating the meager measure of the year before, now said, "we must educate our masters." It should be noted that during the debates on this bill, John Stuart Mill made a strongly reasoned speech in favor of granting the suffrage to women. The House considered the proposition highly humorous. Nevertheless this movement, then in its very beginning, was destined to persist and grow. REFERENCES The Old Parliamentary System: Ilbert, Parliament (Home University Library), pp. 33-47; May, Constitutional History of England, Vol. I, Chap. VI; Beard, Intro- duction to the English Historians, pp. 538-548; Seignobos, Political History of Europe Since 1814, pp. 10-18. Reform Bill of 1832: McCarthy, Epoch of Reform, pp. 12-83; Beard, pp. 549- 565; Rose, Rise of Democracy, pp. 9-52; Cheyney, Readings in English History, pp. 679-690; Robinson and Beard, Readings in Modern European History, Vol. II, pp. 239-245. Chartism: Rose, pp. 84-146; McCarthy, History of Our Own Times, Vol. I, Chaps. V and XVIII. Free Trade Movement: McCarthy, History of Our Own Times, Vol. I, Chaps. XIV-XVI; McCarthy, Life of Peel, Chaps. XII and XIII; Cheyney, pp. 708-715. Queen Victoria's Early Life: Lee, Life of Queen Victoria, pp. 1-98. The Youth of Disraeli: McCarthy, History of Our Own Times, Vol. I, Chap. XVI. Reform Bill of 1867: McCarthy, History of Our Own Times, Vol. II, Chaps. L-LII. k CHAPTER XXVI ENGLAND SINCE 1868 There is little doubt that the Conservatives expected to be rewarded for passing the Reform Bill of 1867, as the Liberals had been for passing that of 1832, thought, that is, that the newly enfranchised would, out of gratitude, continue them in office. If so, they were destined to a great disappointment, for the elections of 1868 resulted in giving the Liberals a majority of a hundred and twenty in the House of Com- mons. Gladstone became the head of what was to prove a very notable ministry. Gladstone possessed a more commanding majority than any prime minister had had since 1832. As the enlargement of the franchise in 1832 had been succeeded by a period of bold and sweeping The Great reforms, so was that of 1867 to be. Gladstone was a per- Ministry feet representative of the prevailing national mood. The recent cam- paign had shown that the people were ready for a period of reform, of important constructive legislation. Supported by such a majority, and by a public opinion so vigorous and enthusiastic, Gladstone stood forth master of the situation. No statesman could hope to have more favor- able conditions attend his entrance into power. He was the head of a strong, united, and resolute party and several men of great ability were members of his cabinet. The man who thus became prime minister at the age of fifty-nine was one of the notable figures of modern English history. His parents were Scotch. His father had hewed out his own career, and from small beginnings had, by energy and talent, made himself one of the wealth- iest and most influential men in Liverpool, and had been elected a member of Parliament. Young William Ewart Gladstone ^^^.^^ received "the best education then going" at Eton College Ewart and Oxford University, in both of which institutions he fgQg^JgJg stood out among his fellows. At Eton his most intimate friend was Arthur Hallam, the man whose splendid eulogy is Tennyson's 453 454 ENGLAND SINCE 1868 In Memoriam. His career at Oxford was crowned by brilliant scholarly successes, and here he also distinguished himself as a speaker in the Union, the university debating club. Before leaving the university his thought and inclination were to take orders in the church, but his father was opposed to this and the son yielded. In 1833 he took his seat in „ the House of Commons as representative for one of the into rotten boroughs which the Reform Bill of the previous year Parliament j^^^ ^^^ abolished. He was to be a member of that body for over sixty years, and for more than half that time its leading mem- ber. Before attaining the premiership, therefore, in 1868, he had had a long political career and a varied training, had held many offices, cul- minating in the Chancellorship of the Exchequer and the leadership of the House of Commons. Beginning as a Conservative (Macaulay called him in 1838 the "rising hope of the stern and unbending Tories"), he came under the influence of Sir Robert Peel, a man who, conservative by instinct, was gifted with unusual prescience and^ adaptability, and who possessed the courage required to be inconsistent, the wisdom to change as the world changed. Gladstone had, after a long period of transition, landed in the opposite camp, and was now the leader of the L der of Liberal Party. By reason of his business ability, shown in the Liberal the management of the nation's finances, his knowledge of ^^^^ parliamentary history and procedure, his moral fervor, his elevation of tone, his intrepidity and courage, his reforming spirit, and his remarkable eloquence, he was eminently qualified for leadership. When almost sixty he became prime minister, a position he was destined to fill four times, displaying marvelous intellectual and First physical energy. His administration, lasting from 1868 to Ministry, jg^^^ ig called the Great Ministry. The key to his policy is found in his remark to a friend when the summons came from the Queen for him to form a ministry: "My mission is to pacify Ireland." The Irish question, in fact, was to be the most Dominance absorbing interest of Mr. Gladstone's later political career, of Irish dominating all four of his ministries. It has been a very questions Hvely and at times a decisive factor in EngHsh pohtics for the last fifty years. To understand this question, a brief survey of Irish history in the nineteenth century is necessary. Ireland was all through the century the most discontented and wretched part of the British Empire. Wliile THE COMPLEX PROBLEM OF IRELAND 455 England constantly grew in numbers and wealth, Ireland decreased in population, and her misery increased. Ireland was inhabited by two peoples, the native Irish, who were Catholics, and settlers from England and Scotland, who were for the most part Anglicans or Presbyterians. The latter were a small but powerful minority. The fundamental cause of the Irish question lay in the fact that Ireland was a conquered country, that the Irish were a subject race. As early as the twelfth century the English began to in- j . vade the island. Attempts made by the Irish at various conquered times during six hundred years to repel and drive out the '^""'^^''^ invaders only resulted in rendering their subjection more complete and more galling. Irish insurrections have been pitilessly punished, and race hatred has been the consuming emotion in Ireland for centuries. The contest has been unequal, owing to the far greater resources of England during all this time. The result of this turbulent history was that the Irish were a subject people in their own land, as they had been for cen- turies, and that there were several evidences of this so conspicuous and so burdensome that most Irishmen coufd not pass a day without feeling the bitterness of their situation. It was a hate-laden atmosphere which they breathed. The marks of subjection were various. The Irish did not own the land of Ireland, which had once belonged to their ancestors. The vari- ous conquests by English rulers had been followed by ex- The agrarian tensive confiscations of the land. Particularly extensive question was that of Cromwell. These lands were given in large estates to Englishmen. The Irish were mere tenants, and most of them tenants- at-will, on lands that now belonged to others. The Irish have always regarded themselves as the rightful owners of the soil of Ireland, have regarded the EngHsh landlords as usurpers, and have desired to re- cover possession for themselves. Hence there has arisen the agrarian question, a part of the general Irish problem. Again, the Irish had long been the victims of religious intolerance. At the time of the Reformation they remained Catholic, while the Eng- Hsh separated from Rome. Attempts to force the Anglican Church upon them only stiffened their opposition. Nevertheless, at ^j^^ the opening of the nineteenth century they were paying religious . ^ , T 1 1 ii question tithes to the Anglican Church m Ireland, though they were themselves ardent Catholics, never entered a Protestant church, and 456 ENGLAND SINCE 1868 were supporting their own churches by voluntary gifts. Thus they con- tributed to two churches, one aUen, which they hated, and one to which they were devoted. Thus a part of the Irish problem was the religious question. Again, the Irish did not make the laws which governed them. In 1800 their separate Parliament in Dublin was abolished, and from 1801 there was only one Parliament in Great Britain, that in London. While ^jjg Ireland henceforth had its quota of representatives in the political House of Commons, it was always a hopeless minority, ques ion Moreover, the Irish members did not really represent the large majority of the Irish, as no Catholic could sit in the House of Com- mons. There was this strange anomaly that, while the majority of the Irish could vote for members of Parliament, they must vote for Protestants — a bitter mockery. The Irish demanded the right to govern themselves. Thus another aspect of the problem was purely political. The abuse just mentioned was removed in 1829, when Catholic Emancipation was carried, which henceforth permitted Catholics Catholic ^° ^^^ ^^ ^^® House of Commons. The English states- Emancipa- men granted this concession only when forced to do so ^°^ by the imminent danger of civil war. The Irish conse- quently felt no gratitude. Shortly after Catholic Emancipation had been achieved, the Irish, under the matchless leadership of O'Connell, endeavored by much the , same methods to obtain the repeal of the Union between England and The repeal Ireland, effected in 1 801, and to win back a separate legis- movement lature and a large measure of independence. This move- ment, for some time very formidable, failed completely, owing to the iron determination of the English that the union should not be broken, and to the fact that the leader, O'Connell, was not willing in last | resort to risk civil war to accomplish the result, recognizing the hope- i lessness of such a contest. This movement came to an end in 1843. However, a number of the younger followers of O'Connell, chagrined 1 at his peaceful methods, formed a society called "Young Ireland," ' the aim of which was Irish independence and a republic. They rose in revolt in the troubled year, 1848. The revolt, however, was easily j, put down. ' As if Ireland did not suffer enough from political and social evils. THE IRISH CHURCH 457 an appalling catastrophe of nature was added. The Irish famine of 1845-47, to which reference has already been made, was a The Irish tragic calamity, far-reaching in its effects. The repeal of famine the Corn Laws did not check it. The distress continued for several years, though gradually growing less. The potato crop of 1846 was inferior to that of 1845, and the harvests of 1848 and 1849 were far from normal. Charity sought to aid, but was insufficient. The government gave money, and later gave rations. In March, 1847 over 700,000 people were receiving government support. In March and April of that year the deaths in the workhouses alone were more than ten thousand a month. Peasants ate roots and lichens, or flocked to the cities in the agony of despair, hoping for relief. Multitudes fled to England or crowded the emigrant ships to America, dying by the thousand of fever j^^^^^^ ^f or exhaustion. It was a long drawn out horror, and when the popula- it was over it was found that the population had decreased ^°^ from about 8,300,000 in 1845 to less than 6,600,000, in 1851. Since then the decrease occasioned by emigration has continued. By 1881 the population had fallen to 5,100,000, by 1891 to 4,700,000, by igoi to about 4,450,000. Since 185 1 perhaps 4,000,000 Irish have emigrated. Ireland, indeed, is probably the only country whose population decreased in the nineteenth century. Year after year the emigration to the United States continued. When Gladstone came into power in 1868 he was resolved to pacify the Irish by removing some of their more pronounced grievances. The question of the Irish Church, that is, of the Anglican Church in Ireland, the church of not more than one-eighth of the population, yet to which all Irishmen, Catholic or Protestant, paid tithes, ^jj^ j^^j^ was the first grievance attacked. In 1869 Gladstone pro- Church dis- cured the passage of a law disestablishing and partly dis- endowing this church. The Church henceforth ceased to be connected with the State. Its bishops lost their seats in the House of Lords. It became a voluntary organization and was permitted to retain a large part of its property as an endowment. It was to have all the church buildings which it had formerly possessed. It was still very rich but the connection with the Church of England was to cease January i, 1871. Gladstone now approached a far more serious and perplexing prob- lem, the system of land tenure. Ireland was almost exclusively an agri- 458 ENGLAND SINCE 1868 cultural country, yet the land was chiefly owned not by those who lived on it and tilled it, but by a comparatively small number of landlords who held large estates. Many of these were Englishmen, absentees, System of who rarely or land tenure never came to Ireland, and who regarded their estates simply as so many sources of revenue. The business relations with their tenants were carried on by agents or bailiffs, whose treatment of the ten- ants was frequently harsh and exasperating. If the peasant failed to pay his rent he could be evicted forthwith. As he was obliged to have land on which to raise his potatoes, almost his sole sustenance, he frequently agreed to pay a larger rent than the value of the land justified. Then in time he would be evicted and faced starvation. Moreover when a landlord Tvr-^ ^^^«<.„ evicted his No compen- sation for tenant he was improvements William E. Gladstone From engraving by T. O. Barlow, after the painting by J. E. Millais. not obliged to pay for any buildings or improvements erected or carried out by the ten- ant. He simply appropriated so much property created by the tenant. Naturally there was no inducement to the peasant to develop his farm, for to do so meant a higher rent, or eviction and confiscation of his im- provements. It would be hard to conceive a more unwise or unjust system. It encouraged indolence and slothfulness. Chronic and shocking misery was the lot of the Irish peasantry. "The Irish peasant," says an official English document of the time, "is the most poorly nourished, most poorly housed, most poorly clothed of THE LAND ACT OF 1870 459 any in Europe; he has no reserve, no capital. He lives from day to day." His house was generally a rude stone hut, with a The dirt floor. The census of 1841 established the fact that in peasantry the case of forty-sLx per cent of the population, the entire family lived in a house, or, more properly, hut of a single room. Frequently the room served also as a barn for the live stock. Stung by the misery of their position, and by the injustice of the laws which protected the landlord and gave them only two hard al- ternatives, surrender to the landlord or starvation, believ- Deeds of ing that when evicted they were also robbed, and goaded violence by the hopeless outlook for the future, the Irish, in wild rage, com- mitted many atrocious agrarian crimes, murders, arson, the killing or maiming of cattle. This in turn brought a new coercion law from the English Parliament which only aggravated the evil. In the. Land Act now passed to remedy the evils of this system (1S70) it was provided that, if evicted for any other reason than the non- payment of rent, the tenant could claim compensation. He The Land was also to receive compensation for any permanent im- ^^^ °^ ^^™ provements he had made on the land whenever he should give up his holding for any reason whatever. There were certain other clauses in the bill designed to enable the peasants to buy the land outright, thus ceasing to be tenants of other people and becoming landowners themselves. This could be done only by purchasing the estates of the landlords, and this obviously the peasants were unable to do. It was provided therefore that the state should help the peasant up to a certain amount, he in turn repaying the state by easy installments for the money loaned. This Land Act of 1870 did not achieve what was hoped from it, did not bring peace to Ireland. Landlords found ways of evading it and evictions became more numerous than ever. Nor did the land purchase clauses prove effective. Only seven sales were made up to 1877. But the bill was important because of the prin- ciples it involved, and was to exercise a profound influence upon later legislation. For the time being nothing further was done for Ireland. Another measure of this active ministry was the Forster Education Act of 1870, designed to provide England with a national system of elementary education. England possessed no such sys- Educational tem, it being the accepted opinion that education was ■"«^°'"™ no part of the duty of the state. The result was that the educa- I 46o ENGLAND SINCE 1868 tional facilities were deplorably inadequate and inferior to those of many other countries. The work that the state neglected was discharged Church in a measure by schools which were maintained by the schools various religious denominations, particularly the Anglican, also the Catholic and the Methodist. But in 1869 it was estimated that of 4,300,000 children in need of education, 2,000,000 were not in school at all, 1,000,000 were in very inferior schools, and only 1,300,000 in schools that were fairly efficient. The Gladstone ministry carried, in 1870, a bill designed to provide England for the first time in her history with a really national system of F elementary education. The system then established re- Education mained without essential change until 1902. It marked a Act of 1870 gj-ga^i^ progress in the educational facilities of England. The bill did not establish an entirely new educational machinery, to be paid for by the state and managed by the state. It adopted the church schools on condition that they submit to state inspection to see if they were maintaining a certain standard. In that case they would receive finan- cial aid from the state. But where there were not enough such schools, local school boards were to be elected in each such district with power to establish new schools, and to levy local taxes for the purpose. Under this system, which provided an adequate number of schools of respect- able quality, popular education made great advances. In twenty years the number of schools more than doubled, and were capable of accom- modating all those of school age. The law of 1870 did not establish either free or compulsory or secular education, but, in 1880, attendance was made compulsory and in 1891 education was made free. A number of other far-reaching reforms, democratic in their tendency, were carried through by this ministry. The army was reformed some- Army what along Prussian lines, though the principle of com- reform pulsory military service was not adopted. Ofiicers' positions, which had previously been acquired by purchase and which were there- fore monopolized by the rich, by the aristocracy, were now thrown Civil ser- open to merit. The Civil Service was put on the basis vice reform ^f standing in open competitive examinations. The uni- versities of Oxford and Cambridge were rendered thoroughly national University by the abolition of the religious tests which had previously reform made them a monopoly of the Church of England. Hence- forth men of any religious faith or no religious faith could enter them. DISRAELI AND IMPERIALISM 461 could graduate from them. The universities henceforth belonged to all Englishmen. The Australian ballot was introduced, thus giving to each voter his independence. Previously intimidation or bribery had been very easy as voting had been oral and public; now the voting was secret voting secret. Another feature of Gladstone's ministry, which introduced cost him much of his popularity at home, but was an act of high states- manship and an indisputable contribution to the cause of peace among nations, was its adoption of the principle of arbitration in the contro- versy with the United States over the Alabama affair. The grievances of the United States against England because of her conduct during our Civil War were a dangerous source of friction between the two countries for many years. Gladstone agreed to submit them to j^ arbitration, but as the decision of the Geneva Commission Alabama was against England (1872), his ministry suffered in popu- ^^^^ larity. Nevertheless, Gladstone had established a valuable prece- dent. This was the greatest victory yet attained for the principle of settling international difficulties by arbitration rather than by war. In this sphere also this ministry advanced the interests of humanity, though it drew only disadvantage for itself from its service. Gladstone fell from power in 1874 and the Conservatives came in, with Disraeli as prime minister. Disraeli's administration lasted from 1874 to 1880. It differed as strikingly from Gladstone's ^j^^ as his character differed from that of his predecessor. As Disraeli Gladstone had busied himself with Irish and domestic ™"^'^ ^^ problems, Disraeh displayed his greatest interest in colonial and foreign affairs. He found the situation favorable and the moment opportune for impressing upon England the political ideal, long germinating in his mind, succinctly called imperialism, that is, the transcendant im- portance of breadth of view and vigor of assertion of Eng- jj^j jgUg^ land's position as a world power, as an empire, not as an insular state. In 1872 he had said: "In my judgment no minister in this country will do his duty who neglects any opportunity of recon- structing as much as possible our colonial empire, and of jj^pg^tj^npe responding to those distant sympathies which may become of the the source of incalculable strength and happiness to this g^pj^g^j^e^ land." This principle DisraeU emphasized in act and speech during his sLx years of power. It was imperfectly realized under him; 462 ENGLAND SINCE 1868 Canal shares it was partially reconsidered and revised by Gladstone upon his return to power in 1880. But it had definitely received lodgment in the mind ■of England before he left power. It gave a new note to Enghsh politics. This is Disraeli's historic significance in the annals of British politics. He greatly stimulated interest in the British colonies. He invoked "the sublime instinct of an an- cient people." His first conspicuous achieve- ment in foreign affairs was the purchase of the Suez Canal shares. The Suez Canal had been built by ^ , , the French against ill- Purchase of . the Suez Concealed English op- position. Disraeli had himself declared that the undertaking would inevi- tably be a failure. Now that the canal was built its success was speedily apparent. It radically changed the conditions of com- merce with the East. It shortened greatly the distance to the Orient by water. Hitherto a considerable part of the commerce with India, China, and Australia had been carried on by the long voyage around the Cape of Good Hope. Some went by the Red Sea route, but that involved transhipment at Alexandria. Now it could all pass through the canal. About three-fourths of the tonnage passing through the ■canal was English. It was the direct road to India. There were some 400,000 shares in the Canal Company. The Khedive of Egypt held a large block of these, and the Khedive was nearly bankrupt. Disraeli bought, in 1875, his 177,000 shares by telegraph for four million pounds, and the fact was announced to a people who had never dreamed of it, but who applauded what seemed a brilliant stroke, somehow check- mating the French. It was said that the highroad to India was now secure. The political significance of this act was that it determined at least in principle the future of the relations of England to Egypt, and that it seemed to strike the note of imperial self-assertion which was Benjamin Disraeli, Lord Beaconsfield From a photograph. THE IMPERIAL TITLE 463 Disraeli's chief ambition and which was the most notable characteristic of his administration. At the same time Disraeli resolved to emphasize the importance of India, England's leading colony, in another way. He proposed a new and sounding title for the British sovereign. She was to be Empress of India. The Opposition denounced this as ''cheap" and "tawdry," a vulgar piece of pretension. Was not the title pro^ciSmed of King or Queen borne by the sovereigns of England for Empress of a thousand years glorious enough? But Disraeli urged it as showing "the unanimous determination of the people of the country to retain our connection with the Indian Empire. And it will be an answer to those mere economists and those diplomatists who announce that India is to us only a burden or a danger. By passing this bill then, the House will show, in a manner that is unmistakable, that they look upon India as one of the most precious possessions of the Crown, and their pride that it is a part of her empire and governed by her imperial throne." The reasoning was weak, but the proposal gave great satisfaction to the Queen, and it was enacted into law. On January i, 1877, the Queen's assumption of the new title was officially announced in India before an assembly of the ruling princes. In Europe Disraeli insisted upon carrying out a spirited foreign policy. His opportunity came with the reopening of the Eastern Ques- tion, or the question of the integrity of Turkey, in 1876* For two years this problem absorbed the interest and atten- of the tion of rulers and diplomatists, and England had much to Q^ggYion do with the outcome. This subject may, however, be better studied in connection with the general history of the Eastern problem in the nineteenth century.^ Disraeh, who in 1876 became Lord Beaconsiield, continued in power until 1880. The emphasis he put upon imperial and colonial problems was to exert a considerable influence upon the rising generation, and upon the later history of England. Imperial and colonial have vied with Irish questions in dominating the political discussions of England during the last thirty years. In 1880 the Liberals were restored to power and Gladstone became prime minister for the second time. 1 See Chapter XXXIII. 464 ENGLAND SINCE 1868 Gladstone's greatest ability lay in internal reform, as his previous ministry had shown. This was the field of his inclination, and, as he thought, of the national welfare. Peace, retrenchment, and The Second r \ , , r , • / Gladstone reform, the watchwords of his party, now represented the }^^^}^J' programme he wished to follow. But this was not to be. 1880 1885 , ? . While certain great measures of internal improvement were passed during the next five years, those years on the whole were characterized by the dominance of imperial and colonial questions, with \ attendant wars. Gladstone was forced to busy himself with foreign \ policy far more than in his previous administration. Serious questions I confronted him in Asia and Africa. These may best be studied, how- 'ever, in the chapter on the British Empire.^ Two pieces of domestic legislation of great importance enacted dur- ing this ministry merit description, the Irish Land Act of 1881, and the Reform Bills of 1884-85. The legislation of Gladstone's preceding ministry had not pacified Ireland. Indeed, the Land Act of 1870 had proved no final settlement, Failure of ^^^ ^ great disappointment. It had established the prin- Land Act of ciple that the tenant was to be compensated if deprived of his farm except for non-payment of rent, and was to be compensated, in any case, for all the permanent improvements which he had made upon the land. But this was not sufficient to give the tenant any security in his holding. It did not prevent the landlord from raising the rent. Then if the peasant would not pay this increased rent he must give up his holding. He therefore had no stable tenure. In the new Land Act of 1881 Gladstone sought to give the peasant, in addi- ^i^^ ^o t^^ compensation for improvement previously se- Act of 1881 . cured, a fair rent, a fixed rent, one that is not constantly subject to change at the will of the landlord, and freedom of sale, that is, the liberty of the peasant to sell his holding to some other peasant. These were the "three F's," which had once represented the demands of advanced Irishmen, though they no longer did. Henceforth, the rent was to be determined by a court, established for the purpose. Rents, Rents to be o^c^ judicially determined, were to be unchangeable for judicially fifteen years, during which time the tenant might not be evicted except for breaches of covenant, such as non- payment of rent. There was also attached to the bill a provision simi- 1 Chapter XXVII. THE REFORM BILL OF 1884 465 lar to the one in the preceding measure of 1870, looking toward the creation of a peasant proprietorship. The Government was to loan money to the peasants under certain conditions, and on easy terms, to enable them to buy out the landlords, thus becoming complete owners themselves. The bill passed though it was opposed with unusual bitterness. Landowners, believing that it meant a reduction of rents, determined not by themselves but by a court, called it confiscation of property. It was attacked because it established the prin- as confisca- ciple that rents were not to be determined, like the price *^°° °^ of other things, by the law of supply and demand; were not to be what the landlord might demand and the peasant agree to pay, but were to be reasonable and their reasonableness was to be decided by outsiders, judges, having no direct interest at all, that is, in last resort, by the state. The bill was criticised as altering ruthlessly the nature of property in land, as establishing dual ownership. Gladstone carried through at this time the third of those great re- form acts of the nineteenth century by which England has been trans- formed from an oligarchy into a democracy. The Reform xhe Reform Bill of 1832 had given the suffrage to the wealthier mem- ^'^^ °^ ^^^^ bers of the middle class. The Reform Bill of 1867 had taken a long step in the direction of democracy by practically giving the vote to the lower middle class and the bulk of the laboring class in the boroughs but it did not greatly benefit those living in the countr}^ districts. The fran- chise in the boroughs was wider than in the counties. The result was that laborers in boroughs had the vote, but agricultural laborers did not. There was apparently no reason for maintaining this difference. Gladstone's bill of 1884 aimed at the abolition of this inequality between the two classes of constituencies, by extending the borough ^j^g county franchise to the counties so that the mass of workingmen franchise widened would have the right to vote whether they lived m town or country. The county franchise, previously higher, was to be exactly assimilated to the borough franchise. The bill as passed doubled the number of county voters, and increased the total number of the electo- rate from over three to over five millions. Gladstone's chief argument was that this measure would lay the foundations of the government broad and deep in the people's will, and " array the people in one solid compacted mass around the ancient throne which it has loved so well, I 466 ENGLAND SINCE 1868 and around a constitution now to be more than ever powerful, and more than ever free." Since 1884 there has been no extension of the suffrage. There are many men who have no vote because they are unable to meet any one „ . of the various property qualifications that give the vote; qualifications for it must be remembered that there is no such thing as or vo ing universal manhood suffrage in England. Only those vole who have some one of the kinds of property indicated in the various laws of 1832, 1867, and 18S4. The present condition of the franchise is historical, not rational. Many men have several votes; others ha\'e none at all. There is a demand for the enfranchisement of all adult males; there is a vigorous agitation for woman's suffrage; and the Lib- eral party is pledged to the abolition of the practice of plural voting. There has been no redistribution of parliamentary seats since 1885. There is no periodical adjustment according to population, as in the United States after each census. To-day some electoral districts are ten, or even fifteen times as large as others. Constituencies range from about 13,000 to over 217,000. Gladstone's second ministry fell in 1S85. There followed a few The First months of Conservative control under Lord Salisbury. Salisbury But in 1 886 new elections were held and Gladstone came "US ry back into power again, prime minister for the third time. He was confronted by the Irish problem in a more acute form than ever before. For the Irish were now demanding a far-reaching change The Home ^^ government. They were demanding Home Rule, that Rule is, an Irish Parliament for the management of the internal ovemen affairs of Ireland. They had constantly smarted under the injury which they felt had been done them by the abolition of their former Parliament, which sat in Dublin, and which was abolished by the Act of Union of 1800. The feeling for nationality, one of the dominant forces of the nineteenth century everywhere, acted upon them with un- usual force. They disliked, for historical and sentimental reasons, the rule of an English Parliament, and the sense as well as reality of subjec- tion to an alien people. They did not wish the separation of Ireland from England but they did wish a separate parliament for Irish affairs on the ground that the Parliament at Westminster had neither the time nor the understanding necessary for the proper consideration of meas- THE HOME RULE PARTY 467 ures affecting the Irish. The Home Rule party had been slowly grow- ing for several years when, in 1879, it came under the leadership of Charles Stuart Parnell who, unlike the other great leaders of Irish his- tory, such as Grattan and O'Connell, was no orator and was of a cold, haughty, distant nature, but of an inflexible will. Under his able ^__^ leadership the party increased in numbers, in cohesion, in grim de- termination. Parnell's object was to make it so large that it could hold the balance of power in the House of Commons. T ^1 Ti 1 • The Home In the Parliament Rulers hold which met in 1886 *^« balance 4-u TT T^ 1 °* power the Home Rulers were in this position. If they united with the Conserv^atives the two combined would have e.xactly the same number of votes as the Liberals. As the Conserv^atives would not help them they sided with the Liberals. Gladstone entered upon his third administration February i, 1886. It was his Gladstone's shortest ministry, Third Charles Stewart Parnell After the painting by Sydney P. Hall. lasting less than six Ministry months. It was wholly devoted to the question of Ireland. The Irish had plainly indicated their wishes in the recent elections in returning a solid body of 85 Home Rulers out of the 103 members to which Ireland was entitled. Gladstone was enormously impressed by this fact, the outcome of the first election held on practically a democratic franchise. He had tried in previous legislation to rule the 'Irish according to Irish rather than English ideas, where he considered those ideas just. He believed the great blot upon the annals of England to be the Irish chapter, written, as it had been, by English arrogance, hatred, and unintelligence. Reconciliation had been his Home Rule keynote hitherto. Moreover, to him there seemed but or Coercion? two alternatives — either further reform along the lines desired by the 468 ENGLAND SINCE 1868 Irish, or the old, sad story of hard yet unsuccessful coercion. Gladstone would have nothing more to do with the latter method. He, there- Introduction ^°^^' ''^solved to endeavor to give to Ireland the Home of the Home Rule she plainly desired. On the 8th of April, i886, he in- ® , troduced the Irish Government Bill, announcing that it would be followed by a Land Bill, the two parts of a single scheme which could not be separated. The bill, thus introduced, provided for an Irish Parliament to sit in Dublin, controlling a ministry of its own, and legislating on Irish, as distinguished from imperial affairs. A difficulty arose right here. If the Irish were to have a legislature of their own for their Shall the „ . , , •,,••, t^ ,. Irish sit own affairs, ought they still to sit in the Parliament in in West- London, with power there to mix in English and Scotch minster? . . affairs? On the other hand, if they ceased to have members in London, they would have no share in legislating for the Empire as a whole. "This," says Morley, "was from the first, and has ever since remained, the Gordian knot." The bill provided that they should be excluded from the Parliament at Westminster. On certain topics it was further provided that the Irish Parliament should never legislate: ques- tions affecting the Crown, the army and navy, foreign and colonial affairs; nor could it establish or endow any religion. Gladstone did not believe that the Irish difficulty would be solved simply by new political machinery. There was a serious social question Land Pur- not reached by this, the land question, not yet solved to chase Bill ^]-^g satisfaction of the Irish. He introduced immediately' a Land Bill, which was to effect a vast transfer of land to the peas- ants by purchase from the landlords, and which might perhaps involve an expenditure to the state of about 120,000,000 pounds. The introduction of these bills, whose passage would mean a radical transformation of Ireland, precipitated one of the fiercest struggles Opposition in English parliamentary annals. They were urged as nec- to the Bills essary to settle the question once for all on a solid basis, as adapted to bring peace and contentment to Ireland, and thus strengthen the Union. Otherwise, said those who supported them, England had no alternative but coercion, a dreary and dismal failure. On the other hand, the strongest opposition arose, out of the belief that these bills imperiled the very existence of the Union. The exclusion of the Irish members from Parliament seemed to many to be the snapping of the DEFEAT OF THE HOME RULE BILL 469 cords that held the countries together. Did not this bill really dismem- ber the British Empire? Needless to say, no British statesman could urge any measure of that character. Gladstone thought that his bills meant the reconciliation of two peoples estranged for centuries, and that reconciliation meant the strengthening rather than the weakening of the Empire, that the historic policy of England towards Ireland had only resulted in alienation, hatred, the destruction of the spiritual har- mony which is essential to real unity. But, said his opponents, to give the Irish a parliament of their own, and to exclude them from the Par- liament in London, to give them control of their own legislature, their own executive, their own judiciary, their own police, must The Union lead inevitably to separation. You exclude them from all "^ danger ! participation in imperial affairs, thus rendering their patriotism the more intensely local. You provide, it is true, that they shall bear a part of the burdens of the Empire. Is this proviso worth the paper it is written on? Will they not next regard this as a grievance, this taxa- tion without representation, and wdll not the old animosity break out anew? You abandon the Protestants of Ireland to the revenge of the Catholic majority of the new Parliament. To be sure, you provide for toleration in Ireland, but again is this toleration worth the paper it is written on? Probably the strongest force in opposition to the bill was the opin- ion widely held in England of Irishmen, that they were thoroughly disloyal to the Empire, that they would delight to use English their new autonomy to pay ofT old scores by aiding the dislike of enemies of England, that they were traitors in disguise, or undisguised, that they had no regard for property or contract, that an era of religious oppression and of confiscation of property would be inaugurated by this new agency of a parliament of their own. The introduction of the Home Rule Bill aroused an amount of bit- terness unknown in recent English history. The Conservative party op- posed it to a man, and it badly disrupted the Liberal party. Disruption Nearly a hundred Liberals withdrew and joined the Con- of the Lib- servatives. These men called themselves Liberal-Union- ists, Liberals, but not men who were prepared to jeopardize the Union as they held that this measure would do. The result was that the bill was beaten by 343 votes to 313. 470 ENGLAND SINCE 1868 Gladstone dissolved Parliament and appealed to the people. The question was vehemently discussed before the voters. servatives The result was disastrous to the Gladstonian Home Rulers. returned to ^ majority of over a hundred was rolled up against Glad- power / ;. stone s policy. The consequences of this introduction of the Home Rule proposi- tion into British politics were momentous. One was the impotence, for most of the next twenty years, of the Liberal party. A considerable fraction of it, on the whole the least democratic, went over to the Con- servatives and the result was the creation of the Unionist Coalition which for the next twenty years, with a single interruption, was to rule England. The Unionists had a new policy, that of Imperialism. They had pre- served the Union, they thought, by defeating Home Rule. They now went further and became the champions of imperial expansion. On the other hand the Liberal party, now that its more aristocratic elements had left it, became more pronouncedly democratic. The line of division between the two parties became sharper. But for the present the Lib- eral party was in the hopeless minority. On the fall of Gladstone, Lord Salisbury came into power, head of a Conservative or Unionist Government.' The Irish question con- fronted it as it had confronted Gladstone's ministry. As The Second . , , . • i Salisbury it would not for a moment consider any measure grant- Mimstry ^j-^g self-government to the Irish, it was compelled to govern them in the old way, by coercion, by force, by relentless suppression of liberties freely enjoyed in England. But the policy of this ministry was not simply negative. Holding that the The policy only serious Irish grievance was the land problem and that, of coercion jf j-]^jg -^ej-e once completely solved, then this new-fangled demand for a political reform would drop away, the Conservatives adopted boldly the policy of purchase that had been timidly applied in Gladstone's Land Acts of 1870 and 188 1. The idea was that if only the Irish could get full ownership of their land, could get the absentee and oppressive landlords out of the way, then they would be happy and prosperous and would no longer care for such political nostrums as Home Rule. The land purchase clauses of Gladstone's acts had had no great ef- fect as the state had offered to advance only two-thirds of the purchase price. The Conservatives now provided that the state should advance THE SECOND SALISBURY MINISTRY 471 the whole of it, the peasants repaying the state by installments covering a long number of years. The Government buys the land, sells 'it to the peasant, who that instant becomes its legal owner, and who pays for it gradually. He actually pays less in this way each year Land than he formerly paid for rent, and in the end he has his Purchase holding unencumbered. This bill was passed in 1891, and in ^'^* five years some 35,000 tenants were thus enabled to purchase their hold- ings under its provisions. The system was extended much further in later years, particularly by the Land Act of 1903, which set aside a practically unlimited amount of money for the purpose. From 1903 to 1 90S there were about 160,000 purchasers. Under this act, which simply increased the inducements to the landlords to sell, Ireland is becoming a country of small freeholders. The earher principle of dual ownership recognized in Gladstone's land legislation of 1881 has given way com- pletely to this new principle of individual ownership, but no longer in- dividual ownership by the great landowners but now by the peasants, the inhabitants of Ireland. The economic prosperity of Ireland has steadily increased in recent years. This ministry passed other bills of a distinctly liberal character; among them an act absolutely prohibiting the employment of children under ten, an act designed to reduce the oppression of the sweat-shop by hmiting the labor of women to twelve hours a day, with social an hour and a half for meals, an act making education legislation free, and a small allotment act intended to create a class of peasant pro- prietors in England. These measures were supported by all parties. They were important as indicating that social legislation was likely to be in the coming years more important than political legislation, which has proved to be the case. They also show that the Conservative party was changing in character, and was willing to assume a leading part in social reform. In respect to another item of internal policy, the Salisbury ministry took a stand which has been decisive ever since. In 1889 it secured an immense increase of the navy. Seventy ships were to be increase of. added at an expense of 21,500,000 pounds during the next *® °*^ \ seven years. Lord Salisbury laid it down as a principle that the BritishV. navy ought to be equal to any other two navies of the world combined. Ih~Tofeign affairs IheTnosfunpoftant Work of this ministry lay in its I share in the partition of Africa, which will be described elsewhere. j 472 ENGLAND SINCE 1868 The general elections of 1892 resulted in the return to power of the Liberals, supported by the Irish Home Rulers, and Gladstone, at the age of eighty-two, became for the fourth time prime min- Gladstone ister, a record unparalleled in English history. As he him- Ministry, gg^f ssdd, the One single tie that still bound him to public (1892-1894) .... life was his interest in securing Home Rule for Ireland be- fore his end. It followed necessarily from the nature of the case that public attention was immediately concentrated anew on that question. The Second Early in 1893 Gladstone introduced his second Home Home Rule Rule Bill. The opposition to it was exceedingly bitter and prolonged. Very few new arguments were brought for- ward on either side. Party spirit ran riot. Gladstone expressed with all his eloquence his faith in the Irish people, his belief that the only alternative to his policy was coercion, and that coercion would be for- ever unsuccessful, his conviction that it was the duty of England to atone for six centuries of misrule. After eighty-two days of discussion, marked by scenes of great dis- order, members on one occasion coming to blows to the great damage of Passed by decorous parliamentary traditions, the bill was carried by the Com- g^ majority of 34 (301 to 267), A week later it was de- defeated by feated in the House of Lords by 419 to 41, or a majority the Lords qj more than ten to one. The bill was dead. Gladstone's fourth ministry was balked successfully at every turn by the House of Lords, which, under the able leadership of Lord Salis- bury, recovered an actual power it had not possessed since 1832. In Resignation 1 894 Gladstone resigned his office, thus bringing to a close of Gladstone Qj^g qJ |-jjg most remarkable political careers known to Eng- lish history. His last speech in Parliament was a vigorous attack upon the House of Lords. In his opinion, that House had become the great obstacle to progress. "The issue which is raised between a delibera- tive assembly, elected by the votes of more than 6,000,000 people," and an hereditary body, "is a controversy which, when once raised, must go forward to an issue." This speech was his last in an assembly where his first had been delivered sixty-one years before. Gladstone died four years later, and was buried in Westminster Abbey (1898). In the elections of 1895 the Unionists secured a majority of a hun- dred and fifty. They Were to remain uninterruptedly in power until December, 1905. THE GROWTH OF IMPERIALISM 473 Lord Salisbury became prime minister for the third time. He re- mained such until 1902, when he withdrew from public life, being suc- ceeded by his nephew, Arthur James Balfour. There was, ' however, no change of party. Lord SaHsbury had an im- SaLbuS^ mense majority in the House of Commons. His ministry *^"^*stry contained several very able men. He himself assumed the Foreign Office, Joseph Chamberlain the Colonial Office, Balfour the leadership of the House of Commons. The withdrawal of Gladstone and the divisions in the Liberal party reduced that party to a position of ineffective opposition.. The Irish question sank into the background as the Union- ists, resolutely opposed to the policy of an independent parliament in Ireland, declined absolutely to consider Home Rule. They did on the other hand pass certain acts beneficial to Ireland, land purchase acts on a vast scale and measures extending somewhat the strictly local self- government in Ireland. Much social and labor legislation was also enacted. The commanding question of this period was to be that of imperial- ism, and the central figure was Joseph Chamberlain, a man remarkable for vigor and audacity, and the most popular member of the cabinet. Chamberlain, who had made his reputation as an advanced Liberal, an advocate of radical social and economic reforms, now stood forth as the spokesman of imperialism. His office, that of Colonial Secretary, gave him excellent opportunities to emphasize the importance of the colonies to the mother country, the desirability of drawing them closer together, of promoting imperial federation. The sixtieth anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession occurring in 1897 was the occasion of a remarkable demonstration of the loyalty of the colonies to the Empire, as well as of the universal respect and affection in which the sovereign was held. This dia- victoria's mond jubilee was an imposing demonstration of the strength fiainond of the sentiment of union that bound the various sections of the Empire together, of the advantages accruing to each from the connection with the others, of the pride of power. Advantage was taken, too, of the presence of the prime ministers of the various colonies in London to discuss methods of drawing the various parts of the Empire more closely together. All these circumstances gave expression to that "imperialism" which was becoming an increasing factor in British politics. 474 ENGLAND SINCE 1868 A period of great activity in foreign and colonial affairs began almost immediately after the inauguration of the new Unionist ministry. It War in ^^^ shown in the recovery of the Soudan by Lord Kitch- South ener, but the most important chapter in this activity con- ^"•^^ cerned the conditions in South Africa which led, in 1899, to the Boer War, and which had important consequences. This will better be de- scribed elsewhere.'^ This war, lasting from 1899 to 1902, much longer than had been anticipated, ab- sorbed the attention of England until its success- ful termination. Internal legislation was of slight importance. During the Death of ^-ar Queen Queen Victoria died, V^^*°"^ January 22, 1 90 1, after a reign of over sixty-three years, the longest in British history, and then exceeded else- where only by the seventy- one years' reign of Louis XIV of France. She had proved during her entire reign, which began in 1837, a model constitutional monarch, subordinating her will to that of the people, as expressed by the ministry and Parliament. " She passed away," said Balfour in the House of Commons, "without an enemy in Reign of ^^^ World, for even those who loved not England loved Edward VII her." The reign of Edward VII (1901-1910), then in his (1901-1910) sixty-second year, began. When the South African war was over Parliament turned its atten- tion to domestic affairs. In 1902 it passed an Education Act which ' See pp. 497-502. Queen Victoria, at the Age of Seventy-Eight From the painting by Baron von Angeli, at Windsor Castle. TARIFF REFORM 475 superseded that of Gladstone's first ministry, the Forster Act of 1870 already described. It abolished the school boards estab- Education lished by that law. It admitted the principle of the support ^^^ °^ 1902 of denominational schools out of taxes. In such schools the head teacher must belong to the denomination concerned and a majority of the mana- gers of those schools would also be members of the denomination. The bill gave great offense to Dissenters and believers in secular education. It authorized taxation for the advantage of a denomination of which multitudes of taxpayers were not members. It was held to be a measure for increasing the power of the Church of England, consid- ered one of the bulwarks of Conservatism. The opposition to this law was intense. Thousands refused to pay their taxes, and their property was, therefore, sold by pubhc authority to meet the taxes. Many were imprisoned. There were over 70,000 summonses to court. The agitation thus aroused was one of the great causes for the crushing defeat of the Conservative party in 1905. Yet the law of 1902 was put into force and is at this moment the law of Eng- land, the Liberals having failed in 1906 in an attempt to pass an educa- tion bill of their own to supersede it. The educational system remains one of the contentious problems of English politics. The popularity of the Unionist ministry began to wane after th6' ~\ close of the South African war. Much of its legislation was denounced as class legislation designed to bolster up the Conservative tariff re- party, not to serve the interest of all England. Moreover form pro- a new issue was now injected into British politics which ^°^^ * divided the Unionists, as Home Rule had divided the Liberals. Cham- berlain came forward with a proposition for tariff reform as a means of binding the Empire more closely together. He urged that England impose certain tariff duties against the outside world, at the same time exempting her colonies from their operation. He called this policy "colonial preference." It would be that but it would also be the aban- donment of the free trade policy of Great Britain and the adoption of the protective system. As the discussion of this proposal developed it became apparent that Englishmen had not yet lost their faith in free trade as still greatly to their advantage, if not absolutely essential to their welfare. The new controversy disrupted the Unionist party and reunited the Liberals. The result of this increasing disaffection was shown in the crushing 476 ENGLAND SINCE 1868 defeat of the Unionists and the inauguration of a very different poHcy Th Liberal under the Liberals. Since December, 1905 the Liberal party in party has been in power, first under the premiership of power g-j. jjgj^jy Campbell-Bannerman, and since his death early in 1908, under that of Herbert Asquith. This party won in the Gen- eral Elections of 1906 the largest majority ever obtained since 1832. An important achievement of this administration was the passage in 1908 of the Old Age Pensions Act, which marks a long step forward in Old A e ^^^ extension of state activity. It grants, under certain Pensions slight restrictions, pensions to all persons of a certain age "" and of a small income. Denounced as paternalistic, as socialistic, as sure to undermine the thrift and the sense of responsibil- ity of the laborers of Great Britain, it was urged as a reasonable and proper recognition of the value of the services to the country of the work- ing classes, services as truly to be rewarded as those of army and navy and administration. The act provides that persons seventy years of age whose income does not exceed twenty-five guineas a year shall receive a weekly pension of five shillings, that those with larger incomes shall receive proportionately smaller amounts, down to the minimum of one shilling a week. Those whose income exceeds thirty guineas and ten shillings a year receive no pensions. It was estimated by the prime minis- ter that the initial burden to the state would be about seven and a half million pounds, an amount that would necessarily increase in later years. The"post office is used as the distributing agent. This law went into force on January i, 1909. On that day over half a million men and women went to the nearest post ofiice and drew their first pensions of from one to five shillings, and on every Friday henceforth as long as they live they may do the same. It was noticed that these men and women accepted their pen- sions not as a form of charity or poor relief, but as an honorable reward. The statistics of those claiming under this law are instructive and sob- ering. In the county of London one person in every one hundred and seventeen was a claimant; in England and Wales one in eighty-six; in Scotland one in sixty-seven; in Ireland one in twenty-one. The Unionist party had been in control from 1895 to 1905. Its The Unionist ^^^^^ emphasis had been put upon problems of imperialism, party from Social legislation had slipped into the background. But 1895 to 1905 ^j^g conduct and course of the Boer War, the great advent- ure in imperialism, had not increased the reputation for statesmanship THE POWER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS 477 or the popularity of the Conservatives, and their domestic legislation aiming, as was held, at the strengthening of the Established Church and the liquor trade, two stout and constant defenders of the party, exposed them to severe attack as aristocratic, as believers in privileged and vested interests, as hostile to the development of the democratic forces in the national life. Now that the Liberals were in power they turned energetically to undo the class legislation of the previous ministry, to remove the ob- stacles to the development of truly popular government. Democratic The new Liberal party was more radical than the old Lib- Pp^'^y of the eral party of the time of the first Home Rule Bill as the party since more conservative Liberals had left it then and had gone ^^^^ over to the opposition. Moreover there now appeared in Parliament a party more radical still, the Labor party, with some fifty members. Radical social and labor legislation was now attempted. That the existing social system weighed with unjust severity upon the masses was recognized by the ministry. ''Property" said Asquith, "must be associated in the mind of the masses of the people, with the ideas of reason and justice." But when the Liberals attempted to carry out their fresh and pro- gressive programme they immediately confronted a most formidable obstacle. They passed through the House of Commons The Liber- an Education bill, to remedy the evils of the Education ^^ blocked ' "^ by the Act of 1902, enacted in the interests chiefly of the Estab- House of lished Church; also a Licensing bill designed to penalize the ^°^^^ liquor trade which Conservative legislation had greatly favored; a bill abolishing plural voting, which gave such undue weight to the prop- ertied classes, enabling rich men to cast several votes at a time when many poor men did not have even a single vote. The obstacle en- countered at every step was the House of Lords, which threw out these bills and stood right athwart the path of the Liberal party, firmly re- solved not to let any ultra-democratic measures pass, firmly resolved also to maintain all the ground the Conservatives had won in the pre- vious administrations. A serious political and constitutional problem thus arose which had to be settled before the Liberals ^ constitu- could use their immense popular majority, as shown in tionai r T M 1 1 problem the House of Commons, for the enactment of Liberal pol- icies. The House of Lords, which was always ruled by the Conserva- 478 ENGLAND SINCE 1868 tives, and which was not, being an hereditary body, subject to direct popular control, now asserted its power frequently and, in the opinion of the Liberals, flagrantly, by rejecting peremptorily the more dis- tinctive Liberal measures. The Lords, encouraged by their easy suc- cesses in blocking the Commons, blithely took another step forward, a step which, as events were to prove, was to precede a resounding fall. The Lords in 1909 rejected the budget, a far more serious act of defiance of the popular chamber than any of these others had been, and a most conspicuous revelation of the spirit of confidence which the Lords had in their power, now being so variously and systemati- cally asserted. In 1909 Lloyd George, Chan- cellor of the Exchequer, intro- The budget duced the budget. He of 1909 announced correctl}' that two new lines of heavy expenditure, the payment of old age pensions and the rapid enlargement of the navy, necessitated new and additional taxation. The new taxes which he proposed would bear mainly on the wealthy classes. The income tax was to be increased. In addition there was to be a special or super-tax on incomes of over £5,000. A distinction was to be made between earned and unearned incomes — the former being the result of the labor of the individual, the latter being the income from investments, representing no direct personal activity on the part of the individual receiving them. Unearned in- comes were to be taxed higher than earned. Inheritance taxes were to be graded more sharply and to vary decidedly according to the amount involved. New taxes on the land of various kinds were also to be levied. This budget aroused the most vehement opposition of the class of landowners, capitalists, bankers, persons of large property interests, persons who lived on the money they had inherited, on their investments. David Lloyd (iiioi^iu: REJECTION OF THE BUDGET 479 They denounced the bill as socialistic, as revolutionary, as in short odious class legislation directed against the rich, as con- opposition to fiscatory, as destructive of all just property rights. the budget The budget passed the House of Commons by a large majority. It then went to the House of Lords. For a long time it had not been sup- posed that the Lords ^j^^ j^^^.^ had any right to re- reject the ject money bills, as ^""^^^^ they were an hereditary and not a representative body. They, however, now asserted that they had that right, although they had not exercised it within the memory of men. After a few days of de- bate they rejected the budget by a vote of 350 to 75 (Nov. 30, 1909). At once was precipitated an exciting and momentous political and constitutional The act struggle. The Lib- declared un- constitutional erals, blocked again by the by the hereditary Commons chamber, consisting solely of the aristocracy of the land, and blocked this time in a field which had long been considered very particularly to be reserved for the House of Commons, indignantly picked up the gauntlet which the Lords had thrown down. The House of Commons voted overwhelmingly, 349 to 134, that the action of the Lords was "a. breach of the Constitution and a usurpation of the rights of the House of Commons." Asquith Asquith. declared in a crowded House that "the House defines the would be unworthy of its past and of those traditions of which it is the custodian and the trustee," if it allowed any time to pass without showing that it would not brook this usurpation. He de- clared that the "power of the purse" belonged to the Commons alone. The very principle of representative government was at stake. For if the Lords possessed the right they had assumed the situation was ex- Herbert Asquith 48o ENGLAND SINCE 1868 actly this: that when the voters elected a majority of Conservatives to the Commons then the Conservatives would control the legislation; that, when they elected a majority of Liberals, the Conservatives would still control by being able to block all legislation they disliked by the veto of the House of Lords, always and permanently a body adhering to the Conservative party. An hereditary body, not subject to the people, could veto the people's wishes as expressed by the body that was repre- sentative, the House of Commons. In other words the aristocratic ele- ment in the state was really more powerful than the democratic, the house representing a class was more powerful than the house represent- ing the people. The question of the budget and the question of the proper position and the future of the Upper Chamber were thus linked together. As these questions were of exceptional gravity the ministry resolved to seek the opinion of the voters. Parliament was dissolved and a new election was ordered. The campaign was one of extreme bitterness. General . . ,, . , i r • i rr^i , Election, expressmg itself m numerous deeds of violence. The elec- January, tion, held in January, 1910, resulted in giving the Unionists a hundred more votes than they had had in the previous Parliament. Yet despite this gain the Liberals would have a majority of over a hundred in the new House of Commons if the Labor party and the Irish Home Rulers supported them, which they did. In the new Parliament the budget which had been thrown out the previous year was introduced again, without serious change. Again it The budget passed the House of Commons and went to the Lords. passed That House yielded this time and passed the budget with all its so-called revolutionary and socialistic provisions. The Liberals now turned their attention to this question of the "Lords' Veto," or of the position proper for an hereditary, aristocratic The ques- chamber in a nation that pretended to be democratic, as tion of the did England. The issue stated nearly twenty years before by Gladstone in his last speech in Parliament had now arrived at the crucial stage. What should be the relations between a deliberative assembly elected by the votes of more than six million voters and an hereditary body? The question was vehemently discussed inside Parliament and outside. Various suggestions for reform of the House of Lords were made by the members of that House itself, justly apprehensive for their future. The death of the popular King Edward THE PARLIAMENT BILL 481 VII (May 6, 1910), and the accession of George V, occurring in the midst of this passionate campaign, somewhat sobered the combatants, though only temporarily. Attempts were made to see if some compro- mise regarding the future of the House of Lords might not be worked out by the two parties. But the attempts were futile, the issue being too deep and too far-reaching. Interior of the House of Commons The ministry, wishing the opinion of the people on this new question, dissolved the House of Commons again and ordered new elections, the second within a single year (December, 1910). The ^j^^ elections result was that the parties came back each with practi- of December, cally the same number of members as before. The Gov- ernment's majority was undiminished. The Asquith ministry now passed through the House of Commons a Parliament Bill restricting the power of the House of Lords The House in several important particulars and providing that the °^ggg"J5J°°^ House of Commons should in last resort have its way in any Parliament controversy with the other chamber. This bill passed the ^^ House of Commons by a large majority. How could it be got through 1 482 ENGLAND SINCE 1868 the House of Lords? Would the Lords be hkely to vote in favor of the recognition of their inferiority to the other House, would they con- sent to this withdrawal from them of powers they had hitherto exercised, would they acquiesce in this altered and reduced situation at the hands of a chamber whose measures they had been freely blocking for several years? Of course they would not if they could help it. But there is one way in which the opposition of the House of Lords can be overcome, no matter however overwhelming. The King can create new peers — as many as he likes — enough to overcome the majority against the meas- The Parlia- ure in question. This supreme weapon the King, which of ment Bill course in fact meant the Asquith ministry, was now pre- D3.SS6(1 bv the House pared to use. Asquith announced that he had the consent of Lords Qf George V to create enough peers to secure the passage of the bill in case it were necessary. The threat was sufficient. The Lords on August 18, 191 1, passed the Parliament Act which so profoundly altered their own status, power, and prestige. This measure establishes Provisions new processes of law-making. If the Lords withhold their of the Bill assent from a money bill, that is, any bill raising taxes or making appropriations, for more than one month after it has passed the House of Commons, the bill may be presented for the King's signature and on receiving it becomes law without the consent of the Lords. If a bill other than a money bill is passed by the Commons in three success- ive sessions, whether of the same Parliament or not, and is rejected by the Lords, it may on a third rejection by them be presented for the King's assent and on receiving that assent will become a law, notwith- standing the fact that the House of Lords has not consented to the bill — provided that two years have elapsed between the second reading of the bill in the first of those sessions and the date on which it passes the Commons for the third time. This Parliament or Veto Bill contained another important provi- sion, substituting five years for seven as the maximum duration of a Parliament; that is, members of the Commons are henceforth chosen for five, not seven years. Their term was thus reduced. Thus the veto power of the House of Lords is gone entirely for all The Lords' financial legislation, and for all other legislation its veto is Veto de- merely suspensive. The Commons can have their way in ^ °^® the end. They may be delayed two years.' The way was now cleared for the enactment of certain legislation THE HOME RULE BILL 483 desired by the Liberal party which could not secure the approval of the House of Lords. It was possible finally to pass a Home ^. „ . 1 • • 1 r , Ine Home Rule Bill, to the principle of which the Liberal party had Rule ques- been committed for a quarter of a century. On April 11, **°° ^^^^ 191 2, Asquith introduced the third Home Rule Bill, granting Ire- Interior of the House of Lords land a Parliament of her own, consisting of a Senate of forty mem- bers and a House of Commons of 164. If the two houses ^^^ ^^^^^ should disagree, then they were to sit and vote together. Home Rule On certain subjects the Irish Parliament should not have ^^^^^^^^°' the right to legislate; on peace or war, naval or military affairs, treaties, currency, foreign commerce. It could not establish or endow any religion or impose any religious disabilities. The Irish were to be represented in the Parliament in London by forty-two members instead of the previous number, 103. This measure was passionately opposed by the Conservative party and particularly by the Ulster party, Ulster being that province of Ire- 484 ENGLAND SINCE 1868 The Cabinet Room At No. lo Downing Street. land in which the Protestants are strong. They went so far in their Opposition Opposition as to threaten civil war, in case Ulster were not of Ulster exempted from the operation of this law. During the next two years the battle raged about this point, in conferences between THE ULSTER PARTY 485 political leaders, in discussions in Parliament and the press. Attempts at compromise failed as the Home Rule party would not consent to the exemption of a quarter of Ireland from the jurisdiction of the proposed Irish Parliament. The bill was, however, passed and was immediately vetoed by the House of Lords. At the next session it was passed again and again vetoed by the Lords. Finally on May 25, 1914, it was ; passed a third time by the House of Commons by a vote of passed by 351 to 274, a majority of 77. The bill was later rejected *^® House of by the Lords. It might now become a law without their consent, in conformity with the Parliament Act of 191 1. Only the formal assent of the King was necessary. But the ministry was so impressed with the vehemence and the de- termination of the '"Ulster party," which went so far as to organize an army and establish a sort of provisional government, that it decided ( to continue discussions in order to see whether some compromise might not be arranged. These discussions were interrupted by the outbreak of the European War. Meanwhile a bill disestablishing the Anglican Church in Wales had gone through the same process; had thrice been passed by the Commons and rejected by the Lords. Like lishment of the Home Rule bill, it only awaited the signature of the ^^ Welsh sovereign. Finally that signature was given to both bills on September 18, 19 14, ■ but Parliament passed on that same day a bill suspending Both laws I these laws from operation until the close of the war. suspended England now had far more serious things to consider and she wisely swept the deck clean of contentious domestic matters until a more con- i venient season. Whether the Home Rule Act when finally put into force will be accompanied with amendments which will pacify the Pro- testants of Ulster, remains, of course, to be seen. REFERENCES Gladstone's Personality: McCarthy, History of Our Own Times, Vol. I, Chap. XXIV; Morley, Gladstone, Book II, Chap. VI; Bryce, Studies in Contemporary Biog- raphy, pp. 400-480. Gladstone's First Ministry: McCarthy, Vol. II, Chaps. LVII-LXII. Disraeli's Ministry: McCarthy, Vol. II, Chaps. LXIII-LXVI; Bryce, pp. 1-68. I 486 ENGLAND SINCE 1868 The Irish Land Question: McCarthy, Vol. Ill, pp. 57-82; Johnston and Spencer, Ireland's Story, pp. 324-338. The Home Rule Movement: McCarthy, Vol. Ill, Chap. X, pp. 171-198; Cam- bridge Modern History, Vol. XII, pp. 65-90. Cabinet System or Government: Bagehot, English Constitution, Chap. II; Lowell, The Government of England, Chaps. I, II, III, XXII and XXIII; Moran, The Theory and Prnctice of the English Government; Robinson and Beard, Readings in Modern European History, Vol. II, pp. 258-266. England in the Twentieth Century: Larson, Short History of England, pp. 617-639; Cross, History of England, Chap. LVII; Hayes, British Social Politics; Ogg, Social Progress in Contemporary Europe, pp. 265-279; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XII, pp. 52-64. British Foreign Policy Since 1880: Seymour, The Diplomatic Background of the War, Chaps. VI and VII. Schmitt, Germany and England, Chaps. I, VI, VII, IX. CHAPTER XXVII THE BRITISH EMPIRE We have thus far concerned ourselves with the history of the Euro- pean continent. But one of the most remarkable features of the nine- teenth century was the reaching out of Europe for the ^j^^ ^^ conquest of the world. It was not only a century of nation sion of building but also of empire building on a colossal scale, ^"''^p® a century of European emigration and colonization, a century during which the white race seized whatever regions of the earth ^^ ^. remained still unappropriated or were too weak to pre- of colonial serve themselves inviolate. Thus magnificent imperial ^^^""^^ claims were staked out by various powers either for immediate or for ultimate use. Many were the causes of this new Wandering of the Peoples. One was the extraordinary increase during the century of the population of Europe — perhaps a hundred and seventy-five millions in Causes of 1815, more than four hundred and fifty millions a century *^^ growth later. This is unquestionably one of the most important facts in modern history, the fundamental cause of the colossal emigration. An- other cause was the transformation of the economic system, the marvel- ous increase in the power of production, which impelled the producers to ransack the world for new markets and new sources of raw material. And another and potent cause was the spectacle of the British Empire which touched the imagination or aroused the envy of other peoples, who therefore fell to imitating, within the range of the possible. An examination of the history and characteristics of that Empire is essen- tial to an understanding of modern Europe. At the close of the eighteenth century England possessed in the New World, the region of the St. Lawrence, New Brunswick, The British Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, and a ^j^/^''^^ ^^^e^^ large, vague region known as the Hudson Bay territory; eighteenth Jamaica, and other West Indian islands; in Australia, a century strip of the eastern coast; in India, the Bengal or lower Ganges region, 487 488 THE BRITISH EMPIRE Bombay, and strips along the eastern and western coasts. The most important feature of her colonial policy had been her elimination of France as a rival, from whom she had taken in the Seven Years' War almost all of her North American and East Indian possessions. This Empire she increased during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, largely at the expense of France and Holland, the ally of France. Thus she acquired the Cape of Good Hope, Guiana in South America, Tobago, Trinidad, and St. Lucia, Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, and the large island of Ceylon. In the Mediterranean she acquired Malta. She also obtained Helgoland, and the protectorate of the Ionian Islands. Since 1815 her Empire has been vastly augumented by a long series Vast of wars, and by the natural advance of her colonists over growth of countries contiguous to the early settlements, as in Can- the British , , . ^,. ^^ ^ . ,. . ' Empire ada and Austraha. Her Empire lies m every quarter of since 1815 ^^e globe. INDIA The acquisition of India, a world in itself, for the British Crown was the work of a private commercial organization, the East India Company, which was founded in the sixteenth century and given a monopoly of the trade with India. This company established trading stations in various parts of that peninsula. Coming into conflict with the French, and mixing in the quarrels of the native princes, it succeeded in win- ning direct control of large sections, and indirect control of others by assuming protectorates over certain of the princes, who allied them- selves with the English and were left on their thrones. This commercial company became invested with the government of these acquisitions, under the provisions of laws passed by the English Parliament at vari- ous times. In the nineteenth century the area of British control stead- ily widened, until it became complete. Its progress was Overthrow .^ , r ^ ■, ■, ^ , r, of the immensely furthered by the overthrow, after a long and Mahratta intermittent war, of the Mahratta confederacy, a loose confederacy . .^,.. ,.. union of Indian princes dominating central and western India. This confederacy was finally conquered in a war which lasted from 1816 to 1818, when a large part of its territories were added directly to the English possessions, and other parts were left under their native rulers who, however, were brought effectively under English control by being obliged to conform to English policy, to accept English Residents at their courts, whose advice they were practically compelled to follow, THE INDIAN MUTINY 489 and by putting their native armies under British direction. Such is the condition of many of them at the present day. The EngUsh also advanced to the north and northwest, from Ben- gal. One of their most important annexations was that of the Punjab, an immense territory on the Indus, taken as a result of . t-rr ^ / ^ x Annexation two difficult wars (1845 to 1849), and the Oudh province, of the one of the richest sections of India, lying between the ^"°J^^ Pimjab and Bengal, annexed in 1856. The steady march of English conquest aroused a bitter feeling of hostility to the English, which came to a head in the famous Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, which for a time threatened the complete overthrow of the British in northern India. There were various causes of this in- surrection: the bitter discontent of the deposed princes and their ad- herents, who sent out emissaries to stir up hatred against the intruders; the fear of other princes that their turn might come; the introduction of railways and telegraphs, represented by the priests as an attack upon their religion; rumors that the English intended to force Christianity upon the people and destroy their religion and civilization; the attempts to stamp out the custom of female infanticide; a prophecy of the sooth- sayers that English domination was destined to end on the hundredth anniversary of its beginning at the battle of Plassey (1757). English domination rested on military force, and in the main upon the native Indian soldiers. There were in India in 1857 about 45,000 English troops, and over 250,000 native soldiers, the Sepoys. In that year a mutiny broke out among the Sepoys of the Ganges The Indian provinces in northern India. The immediate occasion was Mutiny (1857) the introduction of a new rifle, or rather of the paper-co^^ered cartridges for it, which were lubricated, it was alleged, with the fat of cows and pigs. One end of the cartridges had to be bitten by the teeth before being put into the barrel. This outraged the religious feelings of the Hindus, who regarded the cow as a sacred animal, and of the Moham- medans, who regarded the pig as unclean, the lard as contaminating. The English tried to dispel the rumor by publishing a formula of the grease used, and by ordering officers to assure the soldiers that these in- gredients were not employed, but their efforts were unavailing. A cav- alry regiment refused to receive the new munitions, some of its members were sentenced to ten years' imprisonment, their comrades began an insurrection to save them, and the insurrection spread swiftly. The 490 THE BRITISH EMPIRE native soldiery seized Delhi, the ancient capital of the Moguls, Luck- now, Cawnpore, and other places, massacring with barbarous cruelty large numbers of men, women, and children. Shortly all northern India seemed lost. The English took a fearful and decisive revenge. Many of the Sepoys remained loyal, European troops were rushed to the scene of the dis- turbance, and the insurrection was crushed. Beside themselves with rage and terrified by the narrowness of the escape, the English meted out fe- rocious punishment. Hundreds were shot in cold blood, without trial, and thousands were hanged after trials that were a travesty of justice. Many were fastened to the mouths of cannon and blown to pieces. Since this mutiny of 1857 no attempts have been made to over- throw English control. One important consequence was that in 1858 the government of India was transferred to the Crown from Change in . 1 • 1 1 1 i 1 • r the govern- the private company which had conducted it for a cen- ment of tury. It passed under the direct authority of England. In 1876, as we have seen, India was declared an empire, and Queen Victoria assumed the title Empress of India, January i, 1877. This fact was ofificially announced in India by Lord Lytton, the Viceroy, to an imposing assembly of the ruling princes. An Empire it surely is, with its three hundred million inhabitants. A Viceroy stands at the head of the government. There is a Secretary The vast ^^^ India in the British Ministry. The government is population largely carried on by the highly organized Civil Service of India, and is in the hands of about eleven hundred Eng- lishmen. About 220 millions of people are under the direct control of Great Britain; about 67 millions live in native states under native rul- ers, the "Protected Princes of India," of whom there were, a few years ago, nearly seven hundred. For all practical purposes, however, these princes must follow the advice of English officials, or Residents, stationed in their capitals. Not only did England complete her control of India in the nine- teenth century, but she added countries round about India, Annexation of Burma Burma toward the east, and, toward the west, Baluchistan, ^^^ . a part of which was annexed outright, and the remainder Baluchistan , , , , . brought under a protectorate. She also imposed a kind of protectorate upon Afghanistan, as a result of two Afghan wars (1839-42 and 1878-80). I THE DURHAM MISSION 491 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA In 1815, as already stated, Great Britain possessed, in North America, six colonies: Upper Canada, Lower Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland; and the Hudson Bay Company's territories stretched to the north and northwest with undefined boundaries. The total population of these colonies was about 460,000. The colonies were entirely separate from each other. Each had its own government, and its relations were not with the others, but with England. The oldest apd most populous was Lower Canada, which included Montreal and Quebec and the St. Lawrence valley. This was the French colony conquered by England in 1763. Its population was French-speaking, and Roman Catholic in religion. The two most important of these colonies were Lower Canada, largely French, and Upper Canada, entirely English. Each had re- ceived a constitution in 1791, but in neither colony did the ^ ^^ ^^^ constitution work well and the fundamental reason was Lower that neither the people nor their legislatures had any con- *^*"*^^ trol over the executiA'C. The Governor, who could practically veto all legislation, considered himself responsible primarily to the English Government, not to the people of the province. England had not yet learned the secret of successful management of colonies despite the fact that the lesson of the American Revolution and the loss of the thirteen colonies a half a century earlier was sufficiently plain. It took a second revolt to point the moral and adorn the tale. In 1837 disaffection had reached such a stage that revolutionary movements broke out in both Upper and Lower Canada. These were easily suppressed The rebel- by the Canadian authorities without help from England, ^°°^ °' ^^^"'J but the grievances of the colonists still remained. The English Government, thoroughly alarmed at the danger of the loss of another empire, adopted the part of discretion and sent out to Canada a commissioner to study the grievances of the The Durham colonists. The man chosen was Lord Durham, whose Mission part in the reform of 1832 had been brilliant. Durham was in Canada five months. The report in which he analyzed the causes of the rebel- lion and suggested changes in policy entitles him to the rank of the greatest colonial statesman in British history. In a word he adopted the dictum of Fox who had said "the only method of retaining distant 492 THE BRITISH EMPIRE colonies with advantage, is to enable them to govern themselves." He proposed the introduction of the cabinet system of government as worked out in England. This gives the popular house of the legislature control over the executive. Durham's recommendations were not immediately followed, as to many Englishmen they seemed to render the colonies independent. Ten years later, however, this principle of ministerial re- responsibility sponsibility was adopted by Lord Elgin (1847), the Gover- introduced j^qj- Qf Canada and the son-in-law of Durham. His example was followed by his successors and gradually became es- tablished usage. The custom spread rapidly to the other colonies of Great Britain which were of English stock and were therefore con- sidered capable of self-government. This is the cement that holds the British Empire together. For self-government has brought with it contentment. Lord Durham had also suggested a federation of all the North Ameri- can colonies. This was brought about in 1867 when the British North The founding America Act, which had been drawn up in Canada and of the which expressed Canadian sentiment, was passed without Canada, change by the English Parliament. By this act Upper and 1867 Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick were joined into a confederation called the Dominion of Canada. There was to be a central or federal parliament sitting in Ottawa. There were also to be local or provincial legislatures in each province to legislate for local affairs. Questions affecting the whole Dominion were reserved for the Dominion Parliament. The central or Dominion Parliament was to consist of a Senate and a House of Commons. The Senate was to be composed of seventy mem- „. bers nominated for life by the Governor-General, himself Dominion appointed by the monarch, and representing the Crown. Parhament rj.^^ House of Commons was to be elected by the people. In some respects the example of the English Government was followed in the constitution, in others that of the United States. Though the Dominion began with only four provinces provision G wth f ^^^ made for the possible admission of others. Mani- the Domin- toba was admitted in 1870, British Columbia in 1871, ^°^ Prince Edward Island in 1873. In 1846, by the settlement of the Oregon dispute, the line dividing AUSTRALIA 4^3 the English possessions from the United States was extended to the Paci- fic Ocean, and in 1869 the Dominion acquired by purchase (£300,000) the vast territories belonging to the Hudson Bay Company, out of which the great provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan have been carved and admitted into the union (1905). The Dominion now includes all of British North America except the island of Newfoundland, which has steadily refused to join. It thus extends from ocean to ocean. Except for the fact that she receives a Governor-General from England and that she possesses no treaty powers, Canada is practically independent. She manages her own affairs, and even imposes tariffs which are disadvan- tageous to the mother country. That she has imperial as well as local patriotism, however, was shown strikingly in her support of England in the South African war. She sent Canadian regiments thither at her own expense to cooperate in an enterprise not closely connected with her own fortunes. The same spirit, the same willingness to make costly sacrifices, were to be shown, on a larger scale, in the war of 1914. The founding of the Canadian union in 1867 rendered possible the construction of a great transcontinental railway, the Canadian Pacific, built between 1881 and 188 <. This has in turn reacted ^^ . . The upon the Dominion, binding the different provinces together Canadian and contributing to the remarkable development of the Pacific west. Another transcontinental railway has recently been built farther to the north. Canada is connected by steamship lines with Europe and with Japan and Australia. Her population has increased from less than five hundred thousand in 18 15 to more than seven million. Her prosperity has grown immensely, and her economic life is becoming more varied. Largely an agricultural and timber producing country, her manufactures are now developing under the stimulus of protective tariffs, and her vast mineral resources are in process of rapid development. AUSTRALIA In the Southern Hemisphere, too, a new empire was created by Great Britain during the nineeenth century, an empire nearly as extensive territorially as the United States or Canada, about three-fourths as large as Europe, and inhabited almost entirely by a population of English descent. No systematic exploration of this southern continent. Terra Aus- tralis, was undertaken until toward the close of the eighteenth centurj-, 494 THE BRITISH EMPIRE but certain parts had been sighted or traced much earUer by Spanish, Early Portuguese, and particularly by Dutch navigators. Among explorations ^]^g [g^g^^ Tasman is to be mentioned, who in 1642 explored the southeastern portion, though he did not discover that the land which was later to bear his name was an island, a fact not known, indeed, for a century and a half. He discovered the islands to the east of Aus- tralia, and gave to them a Dutch name. New Zealand. The Dutch called the Terra Australls New Holland, claiming it by right of discov- ery. But they made no attempt to occupy it. The attention of the The vovaees English was first directed thither by the famous Captain of Captain Cook, who made three voyages to this region between 1768 °° and 1779. Cook sailed around New Zealand, and then along the eastern coast of this New Holland. He put into a certain har- bor, which was forthwith named Botany Bay, so varied was the vege- tation on the shores. Sailing up the eastern coast, he claimed it all for George HI, and called it New South Wales because it reminded him of the Welsh coast. Seventeen years, however, went by before any settlement was made. At first Australia was considered by English statesmen a good place to which to send criminals, and it was as a convict colony that the new A convict empire began. The first expedition for the colonization of colony |^]^g country sailed from England in May, 1787 with 750 convicts on board, and reached Botany Bay in January, 1788. Here the first settlement was made, and to it was given the name of the colonial secretary of the day, Sydney. For many years fresh cargoes of convicts were sent out, who, on the expiration of their sentences, received lands. Free settlers came too, led to emigrate by various periods of economic depression at home, by promises of land and food, and by an increasing knowledge of the adaptability of the new continent to agriculture, and particularly to sheep raising. By 1820 the population was not far from 40,000. During the first thirty years the government was military in character. The free settlers were strongly opposed to having Australia regarded as a prison for English convicts, and after 1840 the system was gradually The discov- abolished. Australia was at first mainly a pastoral country, ery of gold producing wool and hides. But, in 1851 and 1852, rich deposits of gold were found, rivaled only by those discovered a little earlier in California. A tremendous immigration ensued. The popula- THE AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH 495 tion of the colony of Victoria (cut off from New South Wales) increased from 70,000 to more than 300,000 in five years. Australia has ever since remained one of the great gold producing countries of the world. Thus there gradually grew up six colonies, New South Wales, Queens- land, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, and the neighbor- ing island of Tasmania. These were gradually invested ^j^^ gj^ with self-government, parliaments, and responsible minis- Australian tries in the fashion worked out in Canada. The population ^"^^'"^s increased steadily, and by the end of the century numbered about four millions. The great political event in the history of these colonies was their union into a confederation at the close of the century. Up to that time the colonies had been legally unconnected with each other, and their only form of union was the loose one under the British t> Keasons for Crown. For a long time there was discussion as to the their advisability of binding them more closely together. Vari- ^^^^^^^^°^ ous reasons contributed to convince the Australians of the advantages of federation; the desirability of uniform legislation concerning commer- cial and industrial matters, railway regulation, navigation, irrigation, and tariffs. Moreover the desire for nationality, which has accom- plished such remarkable changes in Europe in the nine- 1 1 ,.,»»,. Creation of teenth century, was also active here. An Australian the Austral- patriotism had grown up. Australians desired to make '^'^ ^°™" . mon wealth their country the dominant authority in the Southern Hemisphere. They longed for a larger outlook than that given by the life of the separate colonies, and thus both reason and sentiment combined toward the same end, a close union, the creation of another "colonial nation." Union was finally achieved after ten years of earnest discussion (1890-1900). The various experiments in federation were carefully studied, particularly the constitutions of the United States and Canada. The draft of the constitution was worked over by several conventions, by the ministers and the governments of the various colonies, and was finally submitted to the people for ratification. Ratification being se- cured, the constitution was then passed through the British Parliament under the title of "The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act" (1900). The constitution was the work of the Australians. The part taken by England was simply one of acceptance. Though Parliament 496 THE BRITISH EMPIRE THE DOMINION OF NEW ZEALAND 497 made certain suggestions of detail, it did not insist upon them in the case of Australian opposition. The constitution established a federation consisting of the sk col- onies which were henceforth to be called states, not provinces as in the case of Canada. It created a federal Parliament of two The Federal houses, a Senate consisting of sk senators from each state Parliament and a House of Representatives apportioned among the several states according to population. The powers given to the Federal Government were carefully defined. The new system was inaugurated January i, 1901. NEW ZEALAND Not included in the new commonwealth is an important group of islands of Australasia called New Zealand, situated 1,200 miles east of Austraha. England began to have some connection with these islands shortly after 1815, but it was not until 1839 that they were formally annexed tO the British Empire. In 1854 New Zealand was given responsible government, and in 1865 was entirely separated from New South Wales and made a separate colony. Emigration was method- ically encouraged. New Zealand was never a convict colony. Popula- tion increased and it gradually became the most democratic colony of the Empire. In 1907 the designation of the colony was changed to the Dominion of Nev/ Zealand. New Zealand consists of two main islands with many smaller ones. It is about a fourth larger than Great Britain and has a population of about 1 ,000,000, of whom about 50,000 are aborigines, the New Maoris. Its capital is Wellington, with a population of Zealand about 70,000. Auckland is another important city. New Zealand is an agricultural and grazing country, and also possesses rich mineral deposits, including gold. New Zealand is of great interest to the world of to-day because of its experiments in advanced social reform, legislation concerning labor and capital, landowning and commerce. State control has been ex- tended over more branches of industry than has been the case in any other country. The Government owns and operates the railways. The roads are run, not for profit, but for service to the people. As rap- Advanced idly as profits exceed three per cent passenger and freight social , . , r 1 i^ 4. legislation rates are reduced. Comprehensive and successful attempts 498 THE BRITISH EMPIRE are made by very low rates to induce the people in congested districts to live in the country. Workmen going in and out travel about three miles for a cent. Children in the primary grades in schools are carried free, and those in higher grades at very low fares. The Government also owns and operates the telegraphs and tele- phones and conducts postal savings banks. Life insurance is largely in its hands. It has a fire and accident insurance department. In 1903 it began the operation of some state coal mines. Its land legislation is remarkable. Its main purpose is- to prevent the land from being monop- olized by a few, and to enable the people to become landholders. In 1892 progressive taxation on the large estates was adopted, and in 1896 the sale of such estates to the government was made compulsory, and thus extensive areas have come under government ownership. The state transfers them under various forms of tenure to the landless and System of working classes. The system of taxation, based on the taxation principle of graduation, higher rates for larger incomes, properties, and inheritances, is designed to break up or prevent monop- oly and to favor the small proprietor or producer. In industrial and labor legislation New Zealand has also made radi- cal experiments. Arbitra'tion in labor disputes is compulsory if either side invokes it, and the decision is binding. Factory laws are stringent, aiming particularly at the protection of women, the elimination of "sweating." In stores the Saturday half-holiday is universal. The Government has a Labor Department whose head is a member of the Old Age cabinet. Its first duty is to find work for the unemployed, Pensions ^^d its great effort is to get the people out of the cities into the country. There is an Old Age Pension Law, enacted in 1898 and amended in 1905, providing pensions of about a hundred and twenty- five dollars for all men and women after the age of sixty-five whose in- come is less than five dollars a week. All this governmental activity rests on a democratic basis. There are no property qualifications for voting, and women have the suffrage as well as men. The referendum has been adopted. The Australian colony of Victoria has enacted much legislation re- sembUng that described in the case of New Zealand. THE BEGINNINGS OF AN AFRICAN EMPIRE 499 BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA As an incident in the wars against France and her ally and depen- dent, Holland, England seized the Dutch possession in South Africa, Cape Colony. This colony she retained in 18 14, together with certain Dutch possessions in South America, paying acquires six million pounds as compensation. This was the begin- ^^p® ning of English expansion into Africa, which was to attain ° °°^ remarkable proportions before the close of the century. The population at the time England took possession consisted of about 27,000 people of European descent, mostly Dutch, and of about 30,000 African and Malay slaves ow^ned by the Dutch, and about 17,000 Hottentots. Im- migration of Englishmen began forthwith. Friction between the Dutch (called Boers, i.e., peasants), and the English was not slow in developing. The forms of local government to which the Boers were accustomed were abolished and new priction ones established. English was made the sole language used with the in the courts. The Boers, irritated by these measures, were rendered indignant by the abolition of slavery in 1834. They did not consider slavery wrong. Moreover, they felt defrauded of their property as the compensation given was inadequate — about three million pounds ^— little more than a third of what they con- sidered their slaves were worth. The Boers resolved to leave the colony and to settle in the interior where they could live unmolested by the intruders. This migration or Great Trek began in 1836, and continued for several years. The Great About 10,000 Boers thus withdrew from Cape Colony. '^^^^ Rude carts drawn by several pairs of oxen transported their families and their possessions into the wilderness. The result was the founding of two independent Boer republics to the north of Cape Colony, namely the Orange Free State and the Transvaal or South African Republic. A most checquered career has been theirs. The Orange Free State was declared annexed to the British Empire in 1848 but it rebelled and its independence was recognized by Great Britain in 1854. From that time until 1899 it pursued a peaceful career, its independence not infringed upon. The independence of the Transvaal was also recognized, in 1852. But twenty-five years later, in 1877, under the strongly imperialistic 500 THE BRITISH EMPIRE ministry of Lord Beaconsfield, it was abruptly declared annexed to The the British Empire, on the ground that its independence Transvaal -^^^g ^ menace to the peace of England's other South annexed to . the British African possessions. I he Boers hatred oi the English Empire naturally expressed itself and they took up arms in the defense of their independence. ^>cui Majuba Hill In iSSo Lord Beaconsfield was overthrown and Gladstone came in- to power. Gladstone had denounced the annexation, and was con- vinced that a mistake had been made which must be rectified. He was negotiating with the Boer leaders, hoping to reach, by peaceful means, a solution that would be satisfactory to both sides, when his problem was made immensely more difiicult by the Boers themselves, who, in December, 1880, rose in revolt and defeated a small detach- Majuba ment of British troops at Majuba Hill, February 27, 1881. Hill In a military sense this so-called battle of Majuba Hill was an insignificant affair, but its effects upon Englishmen and Boers were tremendous and far-reaching. Gladstone, who had already been negotiating with a view to restoring the independence of the Trans- vaal, which he considered had been unjustly overthrown, did not think; THE ENGLISH AND THE TRANSVAAL 501 it right to reverse his policy because of a mere skirmish, however humiU- ating. His ministry therefore went its way, not beheving that it should be deflected from an act of justice and conciliation merely because of a military misfortune of no importance in itself. Gladstone*^* The independence of the Transvaal was formally recog- administra- nized with the restriction that it could not make treaties **°° with foreign countries without the approval of Great Britain and with the proviso, which was destined to gain tremendous importance later, that "white men were to have full hberty to reside in any part of the republic, to trade in it, and to be liable to the same taxes only as those exacted from citizens of the republic." Gladstone's action was severely criticised by Englishmen who did not believe in retiring, leaving a defeat imavenged. They denounced the policy of the ministry as hostile to the welfare of the South African colonies and damaging to the prestige of the Empire. The Boers on the other hand considered that they had won their independence by arms, by the humiliation of the traditional enemy, and were accordingly elated. In holding this opinion they were injuring themselves by self-deception and by the idea that what they had once done they could do again, and they were angering the British by keeping alive the memory of Majuba Hill. The phrase just quoted, concerning immigration, contained the germ of future trouble, which in the end was to result in the violent overthrow of the republic, for a momentous change in the character of the population was impending. The South African Republic was entirely inhabited by Boers, a people exclusively interested in agriculture and grazing, solid, sturdy, religious, freedom-loving, but, in the modern sense, unprogressive, ill- j. 3 j. educated, suspicious of foreigners, and particularly of Eng- lishmen. The peace and contentment of this rural people were disturbed by the discovery, in 1884, that gold in immense quantities lay hidden in their mountains, the Rand. Immediately a great influx of miners and speculators began. These were chiefly Englishmen. In the heart of the mining district the city of Johannesburg grew rapidly. The numbering in a few years over 100,000 inhabitants, a city of foreigners. Troubles quickly arose between the native Boers and the aggressive, energetic Uitlanders or foreigners. The Uitlanders gave wide publicity to their grievances. Great ob- stacles were put in the way of their naturalization; they were given no 5o^ THE BRITISH EMPIRE share in the government, not even the right to vote. Yet in parts of the Transvaal they were more numerous than the natives, and bore the larger share of taxation. In addition they were forced to render mih- tary service, which, in their opinion, implied citizenship. They looked to the British Government to push their demand for reforms. The Boer Government was undoubtedly an oligarchy, but the Boers felt that it was only by refusing the suffrage to the unwelcome intruders that they ^^ could keep control of their own state, which at the cost of Jameson much hardship they had created in the wilderness. In ^^^ 1895 occurred an event which deeply embittered them, the Jameson Raid — an invasion of the Transvaal by a few hundred troopers under Dr. Jameson, the administrator of Rhodesia, with the apparent purpose of ovev- throwing the Boer Government. The raiders were easily captured by the Boers, who, with great magnanimity, handed them over to England. This indefensible attack and the fact that the guilty were only lightly punished in Eng- land, and that the man whom all Boers held responsible as the arch- conspirator, Cecil Rhodes, was shielded by the British Govern- ment, entered like iron into the souls of the Boers and only hard- ened their resistance to the de- mands of the Uitlanders. These demands were refused and the grievances of the Uitlanders, who now outnumbered the natives perhaps two to one, continued. Friction steadily increased. The British charged that the Boers were aiming at nothing less than the ultimate expulsion of the English from South Africa, the Boers charged that the British were aiming at the extinction of the two Boer republics. There was no spirit of conciliation in either government. Joseph Chamberlain, British Colonial Secretary, was arrogant and insolent. Paul Kruger, President of the Transvaal, was obstinate and Joseph Chamberlain THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR 503 ill-informed. Ultimately in October, 1899 the Boers declared war upon Great Britain. The Orange Free State, no party to the The South quarrel, threw in its lot with its sister Boer republic. African War This war was lightly entered upon by both sides. Each grossly underestimated both the resources and the spirit of the other. The English Government had mads no preparation at all adequate, appar- Paul Kruger Lord Roberts ently not believing that in the end this petty state would dare oppose the mighty British Empire. The Boers, on the other hand, had been long preparing for a conflict, and knew that the number of British troops in South Africa was small, totally insufBcient to put down their resist- ance. Moreover, for years they had deceived themselves with a gross exaggeration of the significance of Majuba Hill as a victory over the British. Each side believed that the war would be short, and would result in its favor. The war, which they supposed would be over in a few months, lasted for nearly three years. England suffered at the outset many humiliating 504 THE BRITISH EMPIRE reverses. The war was not characterized by great battles, but by man\- sieges at first, and then by guerilla fighting and elaborate, systematic, and difficult conquest of the country. It was fought with great bravery on both sides. For the English, Lord Roberts and Lord Kitchener were the leaders, and of the Boers several greatly distinguished themselves, ob- taining world-wide reputations. Christian de Wet, Louis Botha, Delarey. The English won in the end by sheer force of numbers and peace Victory of was finally concluded on June i, 1902. The Transvaal the English q^j^^ ^^^q Orange Free State lost their independence, and became colonies of the British Empire. Otherwise the terms offered Annexation by the conquerors were liberal. Generous money grants of the Trans- g^j^^j loans Were to be made by England to enable the vaal and the . . . Orange Boers to begin again in their sadly devastated land. Free State Their language was to be respected wherever possible. The work of reconciliation has proceeded with remarkable rapidity since the close of the war. Responsible government, that is, self-govern- ment, was grafted to the Transvaal Colony in 1906 and to the Orange j River Colony in 1907. This liberal conduct of the EngHsh Government had the most happy consequences, as was shown very convincingly by the spontaneity and the strength of the movement for closer union, which culminated in 1909 in the creation of a new "colonial nation" within the British Empire. In 1908 a convention was held in which the four colonies were represented. The outcome of its deliberations, which lasted several months, was the draft of a constitution for the South African Union. This was then submitted to the colonies for approval and, by June, 1909, had been ratified by them all. The con- stitution was in the form of a statute to be enacted by the British Parliament. It became law September 20, 1909. The South African Union was the work of the South Africans themselves, the former enemies, Boers and British, harmoniously co5p- s th crating. The central government consists of a Governor- African General appointed by the Crown; an Executive Council; ^^°^ a Senate and a House of Assembly. Both Dutch and Eng- lish are official languages and enjoy equal privileges. Difficulty was experienced in selecting the capital, so intense was the rivalry of dif- ferent cities. The result was a compromise. Pretoria was chosen as the seat of the executive branch of the government, Cape Town as the seat of the legislative branch. IMPERIAL FEDERATION 505 The creation of the South African Union is the most recent triumph of the spirit of nationality which has so greatly transformed the world since 1S15. The new commonwealth has a population of about 1,150,000 whites and more than 6,000,000 people of non-European descent. Pro- vision has been made for the ultimate admission of Rhodesia into the Union. I IMPERIAL FEDERATION At the opening of the twentieth century Great Britain possesses an empire far more extensive and far more populous than any the world has ever seen, covering about thirteen millions of square ^j^^ ^ miles, if Egypt and the Soudan be included, with a total flung British population of over four hundred and twenty millions. ^™P"'® This Empire is scattered everywhere, in Asia, Africa, Australasia, the two Americas, and the islands of the seven seas. The population includes a motley host of peoples. Only fifty-four million are English- speaking, and of these about forty-two million live in Great Britain. Most of the colonies are self-supporting. They present every form of government, military, autocratic, representative, democratic. The sea alone binds the Empire. England's throne is on the mountain wave in a literal as well as in a metaphorical sense. Dominance of the oceans is essential that she may keep open her communications with her far-flung colonies. It is no accident that England is the greatest sea-power of the world, and intends to remain such. She regards this as the very vital principle of her imperial existence. A noteworthy feature of the British Empire, as already sufficiently indicated, is the practically unlimited self-government enjoyed by several of the colonies, those in which the English stock predominates, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand. This policy is in con- trast to that pursued by the French and German governments, which rule their colonies directly from Paris and Berlin. But this system does not apply to the greatest of them all, India, nor to a multitude of smaller possessions. A question much and earnestly discussed during the last twenty- five years is that of Imperial Federation. May not some machinery be developed, some method be found, whereby the vast em- ^j^g problem pire may be more closely consolidated, and for certain pur- jf^^^^P^YJ^ poses act as a single state? If so, its power will be greatly augmented, and the world will witness the most stupendous achie\-ement 5o6 THE BRITISH EMPIRE in the art of government recorded in its history. The creation of such a Greater Britain has seized, in recent years, the imagination of many thoughtful statesmen. That the War of 1914 will contribute to the solu- tion of this problem seems a reasonable expectation. For that war has shown the existence of an intense imperial patriotism among Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, South Africans, and apparently even Indians, all rushing instinctively to support the mother country in her hour of need, all evidently willing to give the last full measure of devo- tion to a cause which they regard as common to them all. So powerful a spirit may well find a way of embodying and crystallizing itself in permanent political institutions. The sense of unity, indisputably re- vealed, may well be the harbinger of a coming organization adapted to preserve and foster that sense and to develop it more richly still. REFERENCES A Century of Empire: Pollard, History of England (Home University Library), pp. 199-225; Cheyney, Short History of England, pp. 649-653, 666-678. The Indian Mutiny: McCarthy, History 'of Our Own Times, Vol. II, Chaps. XXXII-XXXV; Beard, Introduction to the English Historians, pp. 638-644. British Expansion in India: Woodward, The Expansion of the British Empire, pp. 312-330; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XII, Chap. XVI, pp. 457-499. Canada: McCarthy, Vol. I, Chap. Ill; Woodward, pp. 249-261; Bourinot, Canada under British Rule. Australia: Woodward, pp. 262-274; Beard, pp. 645-662; Bryce, Studies in History and Jurisprudence (Constitution of Australia); Jenks, History of the Australa- sian Colonies. South Africa: Woodward, pp. 269-285; Bright, History of England, Vol. V, pp. 234-266; Bryce, Impressions of South Africa, pp. 99-182. CHAPTER XXVIII THE PARTITION OF AFRICA Lying almost within sight of Europe and forming the southern boun- dary of her great inland sea is the immense continent, three times the size of Europe, whose real nature was revealed only in the . , . last quarter of the nineteenth century. In some respects the times the size seat of very ancient history, in most its history is just begin- °^ ^"I'ope ning. In Egypt a rich and advanced civilization appeared in very early times along the lower valley of the Nile. Yet only after thousands of years and only in our own day have the sources and the upper course of that famous river been discovered. Along the northern coasts arose the civilization and state of Carthage, rich, mysterious, and redoubtable, for a while the powerful rival of Rome, succumbing to the latter only after severe and memorable struggles. The ancient world The period knew therefore the northern shores of Africa. The rest °^ discovery was practically unknown. In the fifteenth century came the great series of geographical discoveries, which immensely widened the known boundaries of the world. Among other things they revealed the hitherto unknown outline and magnitude of the continent. But its great inner mass remained as before, unexplored, and so it remained until well into the nineteenth century. In 1815 the situation was as follows: the Turkish Em_pire extended along the whole northern coast to Morocco, that is, the Sultan was nomi- nally sovereign of Egypt, Tripoli, Tunis, and Algeria, situation Morocco was independent under its own sultan. Along "^ ^^^^ the western coasts were scattered settlements, or rather stations, of England, France, Denmark, Holland, Spain, and Portugal. Portugal had certain claims on the eastern coast, opposite Madagascar. England had just acquired the Dutch Cape Colony whence, as we have seen, her expansion into a great South African power has proceeded. The inte- rior of the continent was unknown, and was of interest only to geographers. For sixty years after 1815, progress in the appropriation of Africa by 507 5o8 THE PARTITION OF AFRICA Europe was slow. The most important annexation was that of Al- The French S^ria by France between 1830 and 1847. In the south, conquest of England was spreading out, and the Boers were founding ^^^^^ their two republics. European annexation waited upon exploration. Africa was the "Dark Continent," and until the darkness was lifted it was not coveted. About the middle of the century the darkness began to disappear. Ex- plorers penetrated farther and farther into the interior, traversing the continent in various directions, opening a chapter of geographical dis- covery of absorbing interest. It is impossible within our limits to do more than allude to the wonderful work participated in by many in- trepid explorers, Englishmen, Frenchmen, Portuguese, Dutch, Germans, and Belgians. A few incidents only can be mentioned. It was natural that Europeans should be curious about the sources of the Nile, a river famous since the dawn of history, but whose source The sources remained enveloped in obscurity. In 1858 one source was of the Nile found by Speke, an English explorer, to consist of a great lake south of the equator, to which the name Victoria Nyanza was given. Six years later another Englishman, Sir Samuel Baker, discovered another lake, also a source, and named it Albert Nyanza. Two names particularly stand out in this record of African explora- tion, Livingstone and Stanley. David Livingstone, a Scotch mission- David ary and traveler, began his African career in 1840, and Livingstone continued it until his death in 1873. He traced the course of the Zambesi River, of the upper Congo, and the region round about Lakes Tanganyika and Nyassa. He crossed Africa from sea to sea. He opened up a new country to the world. His explorations caught the attention of Europe, and when, on one of his journeys, Europe thought that he was lost or dead, and an expedition was sent out to find him, that expedition riveted the attention of Europe as no other in African history had done. It was under the direction of Henry M. Stanley, sent out by the New York Herald. Stanley's story of how Stanley , ^ , /. . , • 1 1 • he found Livingstone was read with the greatest mterest m Europe, and heightened the desire, already widespread, for more knowl- edge about the great continent. Livingstone, whose name is the most important in the history of African exploration, died in 1873. His body was borne with all honor to England and given the burial of a national hero in Westminster Abbey. STANLEY'S EXPLORATIONS 509 By this time not only was the scientific curiosity of Europe thoroughly aroused, but missionary zeal saw a new field for activity. Thus Stan- ley's journey across Africa, from 1874 to 1878, was followed in Europe with an attention unparalleled in the history of expb?ations modern explorations. Stanley explored the equatorial lake °^ '^e region, making important additions to knowledge. His ^*'"^° great work was, however, his exploration of the Congo River system. Little had been known of this river save its lower course as it approached the sea. Stanley proved that it was one of the largest rivers in the world, that its length was more than three thousand miles, that it was fed by an enormous number of tributaries, that it drained an area of over 1,300,000 square miles, that in the volume of its waters it was only exceeded by the Amazon. Thus, by 1880, the scientific enthusiasm and curiosity, the missionary and philanthropic zeal of Europeans, the hatred of slave hunters who plied their trade in the interior, had solved the great mystery of Africa. The map showed rivers and lakes where previously all had been blank. Upon discovery quickly followed appropriation. France entered upon > her protectorate of Tunis in 1881, England upon her "occupation" of \ Egypt in 1882. This was a signal for a general scramble. A feverish / period of partition succeeded the long, slow one of discov- ^f^jca ery. European powers swept down upon this continent appropriated lying at their very door, hitherto neglected and despised, ^ Europe and carved it up among themselves. This they did without recourse to war by a series of treaties among themselves, defining the boundaries of their claims. Africa became an annex of Europe. Out of this rush for territories the great powers, England, France, and Germany, naturally emerged with the largest acquisitions, but Portugal and Italy each secured a share. The situation and relative extent of these may best be appreciated by an examination of the map. Most of the treaties by which this division was afi'ected were made between 1884 and 1890. One feature of this appropriation of Africa by Europe was the foun- dation of the Congo Free State. This was the work of the second King of Belgium, Leopold II, a man who was greatly interested The Congo in the exploration of that continent. After the discoveries ^""^^ ^*^*® of Livingstone, and the early ones of Stanley, he called a conference of the powers in 1876. As a result of its deliberations an International African Association was established, which was to have its seat in Brus- 5IO THE PARTITION OF AFRICA sels, and whose aim was to be the exploration and civilization of central Africa. Each nation wishing to cooperate was to collect funds for the common object. In 1879 Stanley was sent out to carry on the work he had already begun. Hitherto an explorer he now became, in addition, an organizer and state builder. During the next four or five years, 1879-84, he made hundreds of treaties with native chiefs and founded many stations in the Congo basin. Nominally an emissary of an international association, his expenses were largely borne by King Leopold II. Portugal now put forth extensive claims to much of this Congo region on the ground of previous discovery. To adjust these claims and The Berlin Other matters a general conference was held in Berlin, in Conference 1884-5, attended by all the states of Europe, with the ex- ception of Switzerland, and also by the United States. The conference recognized the existence as an independent power of the Congo Free State, with an extensive area, most of the Congo basin. It was evi- dently its understanding that this was to be a neutral and inter- national state. Trade in it was to be open to all nations on . equal terms, the rivers were to be free to all, and only such dues were to be levied as should be required to provide for the necessities of commerce. No trade monopolies were to be granted. The conference, however, i provided no machinery for the enforcement of its decrees. Those de- crees have remained unfulfilled. The state quickly ceased to be inter- national, monopolies have been granted, trade in the Congo has not been free to all. The new state became practically Belgian because the King of Bel- gium was the only one to show much practical interest in the project. In 1885, Leopold II assumed the position of sovereign, declaring that the connection of the Congo Free State and Belgium should be merely personal, he being the ruler of both. This and later changes in the The Congo Status of the Congo have either been formally recognized Free State q,- acquiesced in by the powers. This international state declared 3. •/ L Belgian finally in 1908 was coverted outright into a Belgian col- coiony Qny subject, not to the personal rule of the King, but to Parliament. ENGLISH INTERVENTION IN EGYPT 511 EGYPT Egypt, a seat of ancient civilization, was conquered by the Turks and became a part of the Turkish Empire in 151 7. It remained nomi- nally such down to 19 15 when Great Britain declared it annexed to the British Empire as a protected state. Dur- ^^^^ ing all that time its supreme ruler was the Sultan who resided in Con- stantinople. But a series of remarkable events in the nineteenth cen- tury resulted in giving it a most singular and complicated position. To put down certain opponents of the Sultan an Albanian warrior, Mehemet Ali, was sent out early in the nineteenth century. Appointed Mehemet Ali by the Sultan Governor of Egypt in 1806, he had, by 181 1, founds a made himself absolute master of the country. He had sue- semi-royal ceeded only too well. Originally merely the representative of the Sultan, he had become the real ruler of the land. His ambi- tions grew with his successes, and he was able to gain the important con- cession that the right to rule as viceroy in Egypt should be hereditary in his family. The title was later changed to that of Khedive. Thus was founded an Egyptian dynasty, subject to the dynasty of Constantinople. The fifth ruler of this family was Ismail (1863-79). It was under him that the Suez Canal was completed, a great undertaking carried through by a French engineer, Ferdinand de Lesseps, the , ., . money coming largely from European investors. This the rapid Khedive plunged into the most reckless extravagance. As |^°^ °'J\^^ 1^ ° . Egyptian debt a result the Egyptian debt rose with extraordinary rapid- ity from three million pounds in 1863 to eighty-nine million in 1876. The Khedive, needing money, sold, in 1875, his shares in the Suez Canal Company to Great Britain for about four million pounds, to the great irritation of the French. This was a mere temporary relief to the Khedive's finances, but was an important advantage to England, as the canal was destined inevitably to be the favorite route to India. This extraordinary increase of the Egyptian debt is the key to the whole later history of that country. The money had been borrowed abroad, mainly in England and France. Fearing the bank- intervention ruptcy of Egypt the governments of the two countries in- of England f -^ oj t^ b J 1 • and Fiance ter\xned in the interest of their investors, and succeeded in imposing their control over a large part of the financial administration. This was the famous Dual Control, which lasted from 1879 to 1883. 512 THE PARTITION OF AFRICA The Khedive, Ismail, resented this tutelage, was consequently forced to abdicate, and was succeeded by his son Tewfik, who ruled from 1879 to 1892. The new Khedive did not struggle against the Dual Control, but certain elements of the population did. The bitter hatred inspired by R It of ^^^^ intervention of the foreigners flared up in a native Arabi movement which had as its war cry, "Egypt for the Egyp- ^^^^* tians," and as its leader, Arabi Pasha, an officer in the army. Before this movement of his subjects the Khedive was powerless. It was evident that the foreign control, established in the interests of foreign bond-holders, could only be perpetuated by the suppression of Arabi and his fellow-malcontents, and that the suppression expedition could be accomplished only by the foreigners themselves. crushes the Thus financial intervention led directly to military inter- insxirrection ._,,,,, . . . vention. England sought the cooperation of France, but France declined. She thAi proceeded alone, defeated Arabi in Septem- ber, 1882, and crushed the rebellion. The English had intervened nominally in the interest of the Khe- dive's authority against his rebel, Arabi, though they had not been asked so to intervene either by the Khedive himself or by the Sultan of Turkey, legal sovereign of Egypt, or by the powers of Europe. Having suppressed the insurrection, what would they do? Would they withdraw their army? The question was a difficult one. To withdraw was to leave Egypt a prey to anarchy; to remain was certainly to offend the European powers, which would look upon this as a piece of British aggression. Particularly would such action be resented by France. Consequently England did not annex Egypt. She recognized the Khedive as still the ruler, Egypt as still technically a part of Turkey. But she assumes the insisted on holding the position of " adviser " to the Khedive position of ^nd also insisted that her "advice" in the government of Egypt be followed. From 1883 to 191 5 such was the sit- uation. A British force remained in Egypt, the "occupation," as it was called, continued, advice was compulsory. England was ruler in fact, not in law. The Dual Control ended in 1883, and England began in earnest a work of reconstruction and reform which was carried forward under the guidance of Lord Cromer, who was British Consul- General in Egypt until 1907. In intervening in Egypt in 1882, England became immediately in- volved in a further enterprise which brought disaster and humiliation. GORDON AND THE SOUDAN 513 Egypt possessed a dependency to the south, the Soudan, a vast region comprising chiefly the basin of the Upper Nile, a poorly organized terri- tory with a varied, semi-civilized, nomadic population, and a capital at Khartoum. This province, long oppressed by Egypt, was in full process of revolt. It found a chief in a man called the Mahdi, or leader, who succeeded in arousing the fierce religious fanaticism of the Sou- danese by claiming to be a kind of Prophet or Messiah. Win- ning successes over Loss of the Egyptian troops, ^^^ Soudan he proclaimed a religious war, the people of the whole Soudan rallied about him, and the result was that the troops were driven into their fortresses and there besieged. Would England rec- ognize any obligation to pre- serve the Soudan for Egypt? Gladstone, then prime minister, determined to abandon the Sou- dan. But even this was a matter of difficulty. It involved at least the rescue of the imprisoned garrisons. The ministry was unwilling to send a military expedition. It finally decided to send out General Gor- don, a man who had shown a remarkable power in influencing half- civilized races. It was understood that there was to be no expedition. It was apparently supposed that somehow Gordon, without military aid could accomplish the safe withdrawal of the garrisons. He reached Khartoum, but found the danger far more serious than had been sup- posed, the rebellion far more menacing. He found himself shortly shut up in Khartoum, surrounded by frenzied and confident Mahdists. At once there arose in England a cry for the relief of Gordon, a man whose personality, marked by heroic, eccentric, magnetic qualities ba - flingly contradictory, had seized in a remarkable degree the interest, enthusiasm, and imagination of the English people. But the Govern- ment was dilatory. Weeks, and even months, .-ent by. Fma ly an expedition was sent out in September, 1884. Pushing forward rapidly, (iKNt.KAl, i 514 THE PARTITION OF AFRICA against great difficulties, it reached Khartoum January 28, 1885, only Death of to find the flag of the Mahdi floating over it. Only two Gordon dsLys before the place had been stormed and Gordon and eleven thousand of his men mas- sacred. For a decade after this the Soudan was left in the hands of the dervishes, completely aban- Recovery of doned. But finally the Soudan England resolved to recover this territory, which she did by the battle of Omdurman in which General Kitchener com- pletely annihilated the power of the dervishes, September 2, 1898. Egypt and the Soudan were formally declared annexed to the Egypt and British Empire in the Soudan jgj- g^g q^^ incident annexed to the British of the European Empire ^^r. The Khedive was deposed and a new Khedive was put in his place, and Great Britain prepared to rule Egypt as she rules many of the states of India, preserving the formality of a native prince as sovereign. Egypt was declared a "Protected State." Lord Kitchener REFERENCES Explorations in Africa: Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XII, pp. 805-813; Hughes, David Livingstone; Stanle3', Autobiography, Chap. XV; Harris, N. D., In- tervention and Colonization in Africa. The Partition of Africa: Rose, The Development of the European Nations, Vol. II, pp. 228-268; Gooch, History of Our Time (Home University Library), pp. 178- 204; Gibbons, The New Map of Africa. Egypt and the Soudan: Rose, Vol. II, pp. 143-227; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XII, Chap. XV, pp. 429-456; Cromer, Modern Egypt; Gibbons, Chaps. I, XX, XXI. The Congo Free State: Johnston, Colonization of Africa, Chap. XI; Rose, Vol. II, pp. 269-298; Stanley, Chap. XVI; Gibbons, Chap. VIII. j CHAPTER XXIX SPAIN AND PORTUGAL I SPAIN SINCE 1823 We have traced the history of Spain from the downfall of Napoleon to the year 1823, and have seen the restored King Ferdinand VII reign in a manner so cruel, so unintelligent, and tyrannical that the people rose in insurrection and insisted upon being accorded a liberal constitution.^ And we have seen that as a result the powers, commonly called the Holy Alliance, intervened in 1823 to put down this reform movement, sent a French army into the peninsula, and restored to Ferdinand his former absolute authority. This recover^r of his former position through foreign aid was followed by . too J Revenge of a period of disgraceful and ruthless revenge on the part of Ferdinand Ferdinand upon all who were considered Liberals. Hun- YJ;?,^^*®'' , 1823 dreds were executed at the order of courts-martial for the most trivial acts. Various classes were carefully watched as "sus- pects," military men, lawyers, doctors, professors, and even veterinary surgeons. Universities and clubs, political and social, were closed as dangerous. Ferdmand VII ruled for ten years after his second restoration, and in the spirit of unprogressive, unenlightened absolutism. His reign was not signalized by any attempt to improve the conditions of L^gg of the a country that sorely needed reform. It was notable mainly American for the loss of the immense Spanish empire in the new world, land the rise of the independent states of Central and South America. Practically nothing remained under the scepter of the King save Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippines. Upon the death of Ferdinand in 1833 his daughter Isabella, three years of age, was proclaimed Queen under her mother igabeUa Christina as Regent. Don Carlos, brother of the late proclaimed ° . . Queen King, claimed that he was the lawful sovereign, asserting that the Salic law, excluding women from the throne, was the law of 1 See page 263. SIS 5i6 SPAIN AND PORTUGAL the land. A war of seven years followed to determine whether he or his niece should rule. The supporters of the Queen were victorious but during the war in order to gain strength the Regent was forced to grant The Carlist a seemingly liberal constitution. This was more an ap- ^^^ parent than a real concession; yet, at least nominally, the monarchy was henceforth constitutional and not absolute. Spain's political education was at least begun. As a matter of fact, however, the real rulers of the country for many years were the military leaders who overthrew and succeeded each other as ministers. The reign of Isabella lasted from 1833 to 1868. She was declared of age in "1843. Her reign was, on the whole, one of reaction. Adhering Character of tenaciously to the principle of monarchical authority, the Isabella's Queen was influenced throughout by her favorites, and did ^^'^ not observe the spirit, and frequently not the letter, of the constitution. Her reign was marked by absolutism nearly as unquali- fied as that of her predecessors. Constitutional forms were used to cover arbitrary actions. It was a period of short and weak ministries, court intrigues, petty politics, a period little instructive. Whatever dis- turbances occurred were vigorously repressed. Dissatisfaction with this regime, marked, as it was, by arbitrariness, by religious and intellectual intolerance, by abuses and corruption, and by the scandalous immorality of the Queen, increased as the reign pro- gressed. Finally in 1868 a revolt broke out which resulted in the flight The over- °^ ^^^ Queen to France, and in the establishment of a pro- throw of visional government, in which Marshal Serrano and Gen- ^^ ^ * eral Prim were the leading figures. The reign of the Span ish Bourbons was declared at an end, and universal suffrage, religious! liberty, and freedom of the press were proclaimed as the fundamental] principles of the future constitution. The Cortes were elected a little later by universal suffrage andj the future government of Spain was left to their determination. The} The Hohen- pronounced in favor of a monarchy and against a repub^ zoUem lie. They then ransacked Europe for a king and finall} condidacy chose Prince Leopold of HohenzoUern. His candidac} is important in history as having been the immediate occasion of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. In the end Leopold declined the invitation. In November, 1870, the crown was offered by a vote of 191 out of] SPAIN DECLARED A REPUBLIC 517 311, to Amadeo, second son of Victor Emmanuel 11/ King of Italy. The smallness of the majority was ominous. The new ,^ , king's reign was destined to be short and troubled. Land- Savoy ing in Spain at the close of 1870, he was coldly received. '^^^^^^ ^°s Opposition to him came from several sources — from the Republicans, who were opposed to any monarch ; from the Carlists, who claimed that the heir of Don Carlos, brother of Ferdinand VII, was the lawful king; from the supporters of Alfonso, son of Isabella, who held that he was the legitimate ruler. Amadeo was disliked also for the simple reason that he was a foreigner. The clergy attacked him for his adherence to con- stitutional principles of government. No strong body of politicians supported him. Ministries rose and fell with great rapidity, eight in two years, one of them lasting only seventeen days. Each change left the government more disorganized and more unpopular. Abdication Believing that the problem of giving peace to Spain was °^ Amadeo insoluble, and wearying of an uneasy crown, Amadeo, in February, 1873, abdicated. Immediately the Cortes or Parliament declared Spain a Republic, by a vote of 258 to 32. But the advent of the Republic did not bring peace. Indeed, its history was short and agitated. Euro- gp^j^ ^^_ pean powers, with the exception of Switzerland, withdrew dared a their diplomatic representatives. The United States alone "^^^^ recognized the new government. The Republic lasted from February, 1873 to the end of December, 1874. It established a wide sufifrage, proclaimed religious liberty, proposed the complete separation of the church and state, and voted unanimously for the immediate emanci- pation of slaves in Porto Rico. The causes of its fall were numerous. The fundamental one was that the Spaniards had had no long political training, essential for efficient self-government, no true experience in party management. The causes The leaders did not work together harmoniously. More- °^ '^^ ^^" over, the Republicans, once in power, immediately broke up into various groups, which fell to wrangling with each other. The enemies of the Republic were numerous, the Monarchists, the clergy, offended by the proclamation of religious liberty, all those who profited by the old regime and who resented the reforms which were threatened. Also, the prob- lems that faced the new government increased the confusion. Three 1 Si.xty-three voted for a republic; the other votes were scattering or blank. 5i8 SPAIN AND PORTUGAL wars were in progress during the brief life of the RepubHc — a war in Cuba, a Carlist war, and a war with the Federalists in southern Spain. Presidents succeeded each other rapidly. Figueras was in office four months. Pi y Margall sLx weeks, Salmeron and Castelar for short periods. Finally, Serrano became practically dictator. The fate of the Republic was determined by the generals of the army, the most powerful body in Alfonso XII ^^^ country, who declared in December, 1874 in favor of recognized Alfonso, son of Isabella II. The Republic fell without a ^^ ^^^ struggle. Alfonso, landing in Spain early in 1875, and being received in Madrid with great enthusiasm, assumed the government, promising a constitutional monarchy. Thus, six years after the dethrone- ment of Isabella, her son was welcomed back as king. The new King was now seventeen years of age. His reign lasted ten years, until his The Consti- death in November, 1885. Ini876a new Constitution was tution of voted, the last in the long line of ephemeral documents ^ '^ issuing during the century from either monarch or Cortes or revolutionary junta. Still in force, the Constitution of 1876 creates a responsible ministry, and a Parliament of two chambers. Spain possesses the machinery of parliamentary government, ministries rising and fall- ing according to the votes of Parliament. Practically, however, the political warfare is largely mimic, determined by the desire for office, not by devotion to principles or pohcies. Alfonso XII died in 1885. His wife, an Austrian princess, Maria Christina, was proclaimed regent for a child born a few months later, Death of the present King, Alfonso XIII. Maria Christina, during Alfonso XII ^]^g sixteen years of her regency, confronted many difficul- ties. Of these the most serious was the condition of Cuba, Spain's chief colony. An insurrection had broken out in that island in 1868, occasioned by gross misgovernment by the mother country. This Cuban war dragged on for ten years, cost Spain nearly 100,000 men and $200,000,000, and was only ended in 1878 by means of lavish bribes and liberal promises of reform in the direction of self-government. As these promises were not fulfilled, and as the condition of the Cubans became more unendurable, another rebellion broke The Spanish- out in 1895. This new war, prosecuted with great and American savage severity by Weyler, ultimately aroused the United States to intervene in the interests of humanity and civi- lization. A war resulted between the United . States and Spain in THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR 519 1898, which proved most disastrous to the latter. Her naval power was annihilated in the battles of Santiago and Cavite; her army in Santiago was forced to surrender, and she was compelled Loss of to sign the Treaty of Paris of 1898, by which she renounced ^^^^> Porto Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippine Islands. The the PhiUp- Spanish Empire, which at the opening of the nineteenth P"^^^ century bulked large on the map of the world, comprising immense possessions in America and the islands of both hemispheres, has dis- appeared. Revolts in Central and South America, beginning when Joseph Napoleon became king in 1808, and ending wdth Cuban inde- pendence ninety years later, have left Spain with the mere shreds of her former possessions, Rio de Oro, Rio Muni in western Africa, some land about her ancient presidios in Morocco, and a few small islands off the African coast. The disappearance of the Spanish colonial empire is one of the most significant features of the nineteenth century. Once one of the great world powers, Spain is to-day a state of inferior rank. In 1902 the present King, Alfonso XIII, formally assumed the reins of government. He married in May, 1906 a member of the royal family of England, Princess Ena of Battenberg. Profound ^fo^go xiu and numerous reforms are necessary to range the country assumes in the Hne of progress. Though universal suffrage was es- ^°^^ tablished in 1890, political conditions and methods have not changed. Illiteracy is widespread. Out of a population of 18,000,000 perhaps 12,000,000 are illiterate. In recent years attempts have been made to improve this situation; also to reduce the influence of the Roman Catholic Church in the state. Nothing important has yet been accom- plished in this direction. Liberty of public worship has only recently been secured for the members of other churches. PORTUGAL, 1815-1914 Portugal, like other countries, felt the full shock of Napoleonic ag- gression. French armies were sent into the peninsula in 1807 for the purpose of forcing that country into the Continental Sys- ^^^^^ ^^ tem, of closing all Europe to English commerce. The royal royal family family fled from Lisbon just as the French were approach- ^^^q^'^^'^' ing, and went to the capital of Portugal's leading colony, Brazil. The actual authority in Portugal for several years was the Eng- lish army and Lord Beresford. After the fall of Napoleon the Portu- guese hoped for the return of the royal family, but this did not occur. 520 SPAIN AND PORTUGAL The King, John VI, was contented in Rio de Janeiro; moreover, he felt that his departure from Brazil would be the signal for a rebellion in that colony which would end in its independence. The situation gave great dissatisfaction to the Portuguese, whose pride was hurt by the fact that they no longer had a court in Lisbon, and that the mother country seemed to be in the position of a colony, inferior in importance to Brazil. The King finally returned from Brazil, leaving his eldest son, Dom Pedro, as regent of that country. In 1822 Brazil declared itself an indepen- Portugal dent empire under Dom, Pedro I. Three years later its loses Brazil independence was recognized by Portugal. Thus Portugal lost its leading colony. The death of John VI in 1826 created a new crisis which distracted the country for many years. His eldest son, Dom Pedro, was Emperor ^ . of Brazil. His younger son was Dom Miguel. Dom Pedro Introduction ... . i i • of parlia- was lawfully King of Portugal. He opened his reign as mentary Pedro IV by granting a liberal constitutional charter in- government . r i t-. i- i troducing parliamentary government of the Lnglish type. Then, not wishing to return from Brazil, he abdicated in favor of his daughter. Donna Maria da Gloria. Hoping to disarm his brother Dom Donna Miguel, who himself wished to be king, he betrothed his Maria da daughter, aged seven, to Dom Miguel, decreeing that the ''"^ marriage should be celebrated when Donna Maria became of age. He then appointed Dom Miguel regent for the little princess. But Miguel, landing in Portugal in 1828, was proclaimed king by the absolutists. He accepted the crown. His reign was odious in the ex- treme, characterized by cruelty and arbitrariness, by a complete defiance of the law, of all personal liberty, by imprisonments and deportations and executions. Dom Pedro abdicated his position as Emperor of Brazil, and returned to Europe to take charge of the cause of his daughter. This civil war between Maria da Gloria and Dom Miguel resulted in the favor of the former. Dom Miguel formally renounced all claims to the throne and left Portugal never to return (1834). Maria reigned until her death in 1853, a reign rendered turbulent and unstable by the violence of political struggles and by frequent Death of insurrections. In 1852 the Charter of 1826, restored by Maria Maria's government, was liberalized by important altera- tions, with the result that various parties were satisfied, and political life under her successor, Pedro V, was mild and orderly. His reign was PORTUGAL A REPUBLIC 521 uneventful. He was followed in 1S61 by Louis I, and he in 1S89 by Carlos I. Meanwhile radical parties, Republican, Socialist, grew up. Dis- content expressed itself by deeds of violence. The Government replied by becoming more and more arbitrary. The King, Carlos Rg^ent I, even assumed to alter the Charter of 1826, still the events in basis of Portuguese political life, by mere decree. The ^"""^"sal controversy between Liberals, Radicals, and Conser\^atives developed astounding bitterness. Parliamentary institutions ceased to work normally, necessary legislation could not be secured. On February i, 1908, the King and the Crown Prince were assassinated in the streets of Lisbon. The King's second son, Manuel, succeeded. Manuel's reign was brief, for, in October, 1910, a revolution broke out in Lis- bon. After several days of severe street fighting the mon- ^ -^ ,00 Portugal archy was overthrown and a Republic was proclaimed, proclaimed a The King escaped to England. Dr. Theophile Braga, a 5q?)J*'^'^' native of the Azores, and for over forty years a very dis- tinguished man of letters, was chosen President. The constitution was remodeled and liberalized. The Church was separated from the State in 191 1, and State payments for the maintenance and expenses of worship ceased. Since 1910 Portugal, therefore, has been a Republic. The problems confronting her are numerous and serious. She is. burdened with ah immense debt, disproportionate to her resources, and entailing oppres- sive taxation. Although primary education has been compulsory since 191 1, over seventy per cent of the population over six years of age still remain illiterate. Her population is about six millions. She has small colonial possessions in Asia and extensive ones in Africa, which have thus far proved of little value. The Azores and Madeira are not colonies but are integral parts of the republic. REFERENCES | Spain: Hume, Modern England, pp. 248-263; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XI, pp. 550-572; Vol. XII, pp. 257-269; Encyclopedia Brilannica, Vol. XXV, pp. 556- 569; Strobel, The Spanish Revolution, 1868-1875; H. R. Whitehouse, The Sacrifice of a Throne; J. L. M. Curry, Constitutional Government in Spain. Portugal: Stephens, Portugal, pp. 409-432; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XI, pp. 572-575; Vol. XII, pp. 269-272. The Republic of Portugal: International Year Book, 1910, pp. 599-600; 1911, pp. 582-584. CHAPTER XXX HOLLAND AND BELGIUM SINCE 1830 HOLLAND We have described the dismemberment of the Kingdom of the Neth- erlands in 1830 and the years succeeding. That kingdom, which in- _.. . eluded what we know as Holland and Belgium, was the Kingdom "^ ' of the work of the Congress of Vienna, created as a bulwark Netherlands g^gg^inst France. The Belgians had revolted and, supported in the end by some of the great powers, had won their independence. Since then there have been two kingdoms. The old Dutch provinces preserved the name henceforth of the King- dom of the Netherlands. This kingdom, more frequently called Hol- land in English-speaking countries, has had a history of comparatively quiet internal development, and has played no important role in inter- national politics. It has passed through several reigns, that of William I, from 1 8 14 to 1840; of William II, from 1840 to 1849; of William HI, from 1849 to 1890, and of Queen Wilhelmina since 1890. The ques- tions of greatest prominence in its separate history have been those concerning constitutional liberties, educational policy, and colonial administration. The political system rested upon the Fundamental Law granted by William I in 18 15. By this the kingdom became a constitutional Th Funda- monarchy, but a' monarchy in which the king was more mental Law powerful than the Parliament, or States-General. The of 1815 legislative power of the States-General was restricted to the acceptance and rejection of bills submitted by the Government. They had no powers of origination or of amendment. The budget was voted for a period of years; the civil service was beyond their control. The ministry was not responsible to them, but to the king alone. Such a system was an advance upon absolutism, but it left the king extensive powers, not easily or adequately controlled, and ren- dered possible the personal government of William I, which ended ir 522 THE DUTCH COLONIES 523 the revolt of the Belgians in 1830. The Liberals of Holland demanded that this system should be radically changed, and that thenceforth the emphasis should be laid upon Parliament, and that Parliament should be brought into closer connection with the people. After ^^^ . . t- f Xhe consti- an agitation of several years they succeeded in securing a tution of revision of the constitution. By the revised Constitution ^^^® of 1848 the power of the king was diminished, that of Parliament greatly increased. The Upper House was no longer to be appointed by the monarch, but elected by the provincial estates. The Lower House was to be chosen directly by the voters, that is, those who paid a certain property tax, varying according to locality. The ministers were made responsible to the States-General, which also acquired the right to ini- tiate legislation, to amend projects submitted, and to vote the budget annually. Their sessions became public. Since 1848 the constitution has been subjected to slight amendments, one of the more Extension important being the enlargement in 18S7 of the electorate of the and the extension of the suffrage practically to householders and lodgers, as in England. This increased the number of voters from about 140,000 to about 300,000. By a later reform, voted in 1896, in- creasing the variety of property qualifications, the number was augmented to about 700,000, or one for every seven inhabitants. Universal suffrage, demanded by SociaHsts and Liberals, has not been granted. The Kingdom of the Netherlands possesses extensive colonies in the| East Indies and the West Indies. Of these the most important is Java. Sumatra, Borneo, Celebes in Asia, Curagao and Surinam The Dutch or Dutch Guiana in America, are valuable possessions. Colonies The Dutch colonial empire has a population of about 38,000,000, com- pared v/ith a population of about 6,000,000 in the Netherlands them- selves. The colonies are of great importance commercially, furnishing tropical commodities in large quantities, sugar, coffee, pepper, tea, tobacco, and indigo. BELGIUM The constitution adopted by the Belgians in 1831, at the time of their separation from Holland, is still the basis of the state. It established an hereditary monarchy, a Parliament of two chambers, and a ministry responsible to it. The King, Leopold I, scrupulously observed the methods of parliamentary government from the outset, choosing his ministers from the party having the majority in the 524 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM SINCE 1830 / chambers. Leopold's reign lasted from 1831 to his death in 1865. It was one of peaceful development. Institutions essential to the welfare of the people were founded. Though the neutrality of Belgium was The reign of guaranteed by the powers, it was nevertheless essential Leopold I j^i^g^j- gjjg should herself have force enough to assert her neutrality. The army was consequently organized and put upon a war basis of 100,000 men. State universities were founded, and primary and secondary schools were opened in large numbers. Legislation favorable to in- dustry and commerce was adopted. Railroads were built. Liberty of religion, of the press, of association, of education, was guaranteed by the constitution. Foreign relations were prudently con- ducted by Leopold I, whose influence with other rulers of Europe was great, owing to his extensive acquaintance with European statesmen, his knowledge of politics, his sureness of judgment. Under Leopold I Belgium's material and intellectual development was rapid. ^ He was succeeded in 1865 by his son, Leopold II, who ruled for forty-four years. The two most important political questions^ during The most of this period concerned the suffrage and the schools, suffrage qj^he suffrage was limited by a comparatively high prop- erty qualification, with the result that in 1890 there were only about 135,000 voters out of a population of six millions. As the cities had grown rapidly, and as the working classes were practically disfran- chised, the demand for universal suffrage became increasingly clam- orous until it could no longer be ignored. In 1893 the constitution was revised, and the suffrage greatly enlarged. Every man of twenty- KiNG Albert I From a photograph by Collings, London. BELGIUM CONQUERED BY GERMANY 525 five years of age, not disqualified for some special reason, received the franchise. But supplementary votes were given to those who, in addition to the age qualification, could meet certain property qualifica- tions. This is the principle of plural voting, and was designed to give the propertied classes more weight than they would have from numbers alone. It was provided that no voter should have more than three votes. This form of suffrage is strongly opposed by the SociaHsts, a growing party which has attempted to secure the recognition of the principle of "one man, one vote," but has not thus far been successful. By a law of 1899 Belgium estabUshed a system of Proportional Representation, being the first country in Europe to do this. An experience of fifteen years has shown that this electoral device is distinctly conservative in tendency. OOrticA VTl Facsimile of Article VII of the Treaty of 1839, which Guaranteed the Ixde- PENDENCE AND PERPETUAL NEUTRALITY OF BELGIUM The political parties of most importance have been the Liberal and the Catholic. The Catholics have struggled to gain sectarian religious instruction in the schools, and have in great measure sue- g^j^^^^jj^ ceeded. Their opponents desire unsectarian schools. Belgium is the most densely populated country in Europe. Its popu- lation of more than seven millions is overwhelmingly Roman Catholic. It possesses one colony, the former Congo Free State, transformed into a colony in 1908. Leopold II died December 17, 1909, and was succeeded by his nephew Albert I. In August, 19 14 the neutrality of Belgium was broken by Germany, despite her explicit and solemn recognition by treaty of Belgian m- violability. Germany overran, devastated, and conquered that country. Its future will depend upon the outcome of the European War. 526 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM SINCE 1830 REFERENCES Holland: Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XI, pp. 661-668; Vol. XII, pp. 243- 250; Seignobos, Political History of Europe Since 1814, pp. 238-244. Belgium: Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XI, pp. 669-674; Vol. XII, pj). 250-256; Seignobos, pp. 244-255; Ensor, Belgium (Home University Library), pp. 142-250; Ogg, The Governments of Europe, Chap. XXIX. i CHAPTER XXXI SWITZERLAND Switzerland in 1815 was a loose confederation of twenty-two states or cantons."^ These varied greatly in their forms of govern- ment. A few were pure democracies, the people meeting en masse at stated periods, generally in some meadow or open place, to enact laws and to elect officials to execute them. But these were the smaller and poorer cantons. In others, the government was not democratic, but was representative. In some of these political power was practically monopolized by a group of important families, the patricians; in others by the propertied class. Most of the cantons, therefore, were not demo- cratic, but were governed by privileged classes. The central govern- ment consisted of a Diet, which really was a congress of jj^g consti- ambassadors, who voted according to the instructions given tution of them by the cantons that sent them. The constitution was the Pact of 181 5. Switzerland did not have a capital. The Diet sat alternately in three leading cities, Bern, Zurich, and Lucerne. In Swiss institutions, therefore, the emphasis was put upon the can- tons, not upon the confederation. This had been the case during the five hundred years of Swiss history, save during a short ^jjg impor-. period of French domination under the Directory and tance of the „, • 1 11 .1 - cantons under Napoleon. The cantons retamed all powers that were not expressly granted to the Diet. They had their own postal systems, their own coinage. A person was a citizen of a canton, not of Switzerland. Leaving his canton, he was a man without a country. Cantons might make commercial treaties with foreign powers. The Pact of 181 5 said nothing about the usual liberties of the press, of public meeting, of religion. These matters were, therefore, left in the hands of 1 Three of these were divided into " half-cantons," thus making in all twenty-five cantonal governments. A "half-canton" has the same powers m local government as has a whole canton. In federal affairs, however, it has only half the weight. 527 528 SWITZERLAND the cantons, which legislated as they chose, in some cases very illiber- ally. Several possessed established churches, and did not allow any others. Valais did not permit Protestant worship, Vaud did not permit Catholic. Education was entirely a cantonal affair. Most of the can- tons were neither democratic nor liberal, and it remained for the future to accomplish the unification of these petty states. For about fifteen years after 1815 most of the cantons followed gen- erally reactionary policies. Then began the period which the Swiss call The " Era ^^^ ^^^ °^ regeneration, in which the constitutions of many of Regen- of the cantons were liberalized by the recognition of the eration classes hitherto excluded from power, and now becoming clamorous. The cantonal governments were wise enough to make the concessions demanded, such as universal suffrage, freedom of the press, equality before the law, before discontent appealed to force. Between 1830 and 1847 there were nearly thirty revisions of cantonal constitutions. The same party which demanded liberal cantonal constitutions demanded a stronger central government. This, however, was not effected so easily, but only after a short civil war, the war of the Sonderhund. As each canton possessed control of religion and education, it had come about that in the seven Catholic cantons the Jesuits had gained great influence, which they were striving to increase. The Radical party stood for liberty of religion, secular education, a lay state. It wished to increase the power of the central government, so that it might impose its views upon the whole confederation. For this reason the Catholic cantons were opposed to any increase of the federal power, and wished to maintain the authority of the cantons untouched, for only thus could they maintain their views. Religious and political passions finally rose so high that in 1847 the seven Catholic cantons The Sender- formed a special league (Sonderbund), for the purpose of ^""^ protecting the interests which they considered threatened. They regarded their action as merely defensive against possible attack. The Radicals were, however, able to get a vote through the Diet order- ing the disbandment of this league. As the members of the league re- fused to disband, a war resulted (1847). It was of brief duration and was over in three weeks. The victory, which did not cost many lives, was easily won by the forces of the federal government, which were much EVOLUTION OF SWISS DEMOCRACY 529 more numerous and better equipped than those of the league. The Son- derbund was dissolved, the Jesuits were expelled, and the triumphant Radicals proceeded to carry out their cherished plan of strengthenin'^ the federal government. This they accomplished by the Constitution of 1848, which superseded the Pact of 181 5. This constitu- ^j^^ qq^^^:^ tion, with some changes, is still in force. It transformed tution of Switzerland into a true federal union, resembling, in many ^^*^ respects, the United States. The Diet of ambassadors gave way to a representative body with extensive powers of legislation. The federal legislature was henceforth to consist of two houses: the National Council, elected directly by the people, one member for every 20,000 inhabitants; and the Council of States, com- xhe Federal posed of two members for each canton. In the former, Government population counts; in the latter, the equality of the cantons is preserved. The two bodies sitting together choose the Federal Tribu- nal, and also a committee of seven, the Federal Council, to serve as the executive. From this committee of seven they elect each year one who acts as its chairman and whose title is "President of the Swiss Confed- eration," but whose power is no greater than that of any of the other members. It was recognized that there should be a single capital, and Bern was chosen as such, on account of its position near the border of the German- and French-speaking districts. Larger powers were now given to the confederation: the control of foreign affairs, the army, tariffs, the postal system, and the p^^^^.^ ^^ coinage. The cantons retained great powers, such as the the Federal right to legislate concerning civil and criminal matters, ^^^J^°^^ religion, and education. The new constitution was put immediately into force. It converted an ancient league of states into a strong federal union. It created for the first time m history a real Swiss nation. This was one of the tri- umphs of the nationalistic spirit, of which Europe saw so many during the nineteenth century. It was also a triumph of another of the motive forces of the century, the democratic spirit. Since 1848 Switzerland has pursued a course of peaceful develop- ment, but one of extraordmary interest to the outside ^^^ ^^^^^ world. This interest consists not in great events, nor in significance foreign policy, for Switzerland has constantly preserved a °^^'^'*^^''" strict neutrality, but in the steady and thoroughgoing evo- 530 SWITZERLAND lution of certain political forms which may be of great value to all self-governing countries. There have been developed in Switzerland certain processes of law-making the most democratic in character known to the world. The achievement has been so remarkable, the process so uninterrupted, that it merits description. In all countries calling themselves democratic, the political machin- ery is representative, not direct, i.e., the voters do not make the laws themselves, but merely at certain periods choose people, their represen- tatives, who make them. These laws are not ratified or rejected by the voters; they never come before the voters directly. But contributions the Swiss have sought, and with great success, to render the to democratic voters law-makers themselves, and not the mere choosers ^°^ of law-makers, to apply the power of the democracy to the national life at every point, and constantly. They have done this in various ways. Their methods have been first worked out in the cantons, and later in the confederation. Some of the smaller cantons have from time immemorial been pure democracies. The voters have met together at stated times, usually Th L ndes- ^^ ^^^ °P^^ ^^^' hsive elected their officials, and by a show gemeinde of hands have voted the laws. There are six such cantons cantons to-day. Such direct government is possible, because these cantons are small both in area and population. They are so small that no voter has more than fifteen miles to go to the voting place, and most have a much shorter distance. But in the other cantons this method does not prevail. In them the people elect representative assemblies, as in England and the United States, but they exercise a control over them not exercised in these coun- tries, a control which renders self-government almost as complete as in \ the six cantons described above. They do this by the so-called referen- I dum and initiative. In the cantons where these processes are in vogue \ the people do not, as in the Landes gemeinde cantons, come together in mass meeting and enact their own laws. They elect, as in other coun- tries, their own legislature, which enacts the laws. The government is representative, not democratic. But the action of the legislature is not final, only to be altered, if altered at all, by a succeeding legislature. The Laws passed by the cantonal legislature may or must be referendum referred to the people (referendum), who then have the right to reject or accept them, who, in other words, become the law- THE INITIATIVE 531 makers, their legislature being simply a kind of committee to help them by suggesting measures and by drafting them. The initiative, on the other hand, enables a certain number of voters to propose a law or a principle of legislation and to require that the leg- islature submit the proposal to the people, even though it The is itself opposed to it. If ratified the proposal becomes law. initiative The initiative thus reverses the order of the process. The impulse to the making of a new law comes from the people, not from the legislature. The referendum is negative and preventive. It is the veto power given to the people. The initiative is positive, originative, constructive. By these two processes a democracy makes whatever laws it pleases. The one is the complement of the other. They do not abolish legisla- tures, but they give the people control whenever a sufficient number wish to exercise it. The constitution of the canton of Zurich expresses the relation as follows: "The people exercise the law-making power with the assistance of the state legislature." The legislature is not the final law-making body. The voters are the supreme legislators. These two devices, the referendum and the intiative, are intended to establish, and do establish, government of the people, and by the people. They are of immense interest to all who wish to make the practice of democracy correspond to the theory. By them Switzerland has more nearly ap- proached democracy than has any other country. Switzerland has made great progress in education and in industry. The population has increased over a million since 1850 and now num- bers about three and a half millions. The population is jj^^ popyja. not homogeneous in race or language. About 71 per cent tion of speak German, 21 per cent French, 5 per cent Italian, and a small fraction speak a peculiar Romance language called Roumansch. But language is not a divisive force, as it is elsewhere, as it is, for example, in Austria-Hungary and in the Balkan peninsula, probably because no political advantages or disadvantages are ^he neutral- connected with it. if^!'°" f _, , . , ,1 ,1 Switzerland The neutrality of Switzerland is guaranteed by the powers. REFERENCES History of Switzerland: Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XI, Chap. VIII, pp. 234-261; Hug and Stead, Switzerland, pp. 382-121; Baker, A History of the Rise and Progress of the Swiss People, pp. 462-538; LoweU, Governments and Parties in 532 SWITZERLAND Continental Europe, Vol. II, pp. 301-336; Seignobos, Political History of Europe Since 1814, pp. 257-284. Political Institutions: Lowell, Vol. II, Chaps. XI and XII; Ogg, Governments of Europe, pp. 405-439; Vincent, Government in Switzerland, pp. 180-300; Hobson, A Sovereign People: A Study of Swiss De^nocracy; Ogg, Social Progress in Contemporary Europe, Chap. XIV, pp. 200-212. CHAPTER XXXII THE SCANDINAVIAN STATES DENMARK During the later wars of Napoleon Denmark had been his ally, remaining loyal to the end, while other allies had taken favorable occa- sion to desert him. For this conduct the conquerors of Napoleon pun- ished her severely by forcing her, by the Treaty of Kiel, Denmark January, 1814, to cede Norway to Sweden, which had sided loses with the conquerors. The condition of the Danish king- "^^""^^ dom was therefore deplorable, indeed. By the loss of Norway her popu- lation was reduced one-third. Her trade was ruined, and her finances were in the greatest disorder. The government was an absolute monarchy and it remained so down to the memorable mid-century upheaval of Europe in 1S48. In 1849 the King, Frederick VII, issued a constitution. In Constitution 1854 he promulgated another and in 1855 still another, granted The difficulty was that the question of a constitution was bound up with that vastly complicated problem of the relation of the duchies, Schleswig and Holstein, to Denmark. That problem was settled, as we have seen, in 1864, by the attack of two great powers, Prussia and Austria, upon Denmark, and their appropri- loses ation of the duchies for themselves. The question of the g^/g^^^]^'^' duchies was thus settled, as far as Denmark was con- cerned. For the second time in the nineteenth century Denmark suf- fered a dismemberment at the hands of the great military powers. This reduced her territorial extent by a third, her population by about a million. Since that war Denmark has pursued a policy of internal develop- ment, undisturbed by foreign politics. A constitution was issued in 1866, a revision of that of 1849, establishing a Parliament Revision of of two houses. This Parliament, long conservative, has the . ' .° Constitution become in recent years mcreasmgly liberal. In 1091, an old age pension system was established. All over sixty years, of good 533 534 THE SCANDINAVIAN STATES character, are entitled to a pension, half of which is paid by the Growth of state, half by the local authority. There is no require- radicalism ment of previous payments on the part of the recipients as there is in Germany. By amendments to the constitution adopted in 19 1 5 the suffrage was made practically universal, being extended to nearly all women as well as men. Voters must be at least twenty- five years of age. Education is compulsory between the ages of seven and fourteen. The population of Denmark is about two million and three quarters. The area is about that of Switzerland. 1' Denmark has extensive possessions — Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe j Islands, and the three small West Indian islands of St. Croix, St. Thomas, Denmark's and St. John. Of these the most important is Iceland, colonies 5qq jjiiles west of Norway, with an area of over 40,000 square miles and a population of about 85,000. Iceland was granted home rule in 1874, and has its own Parliament of thirty-six members. In 1874 Iceland celebrated the thousandth anniversary of its settlement. The Faroes are not colonies, but parts of the kingdom. The present king is Frederick VIII, who has been on the throne since 1906. SWEDEN AND NORWAY Both Sweden and Norway were affected by the course of the Napo- leonic wars. After the Treaty of Tilsit of 1807, by which Russia and France became alhes, Russia proceeded to gratify a long cherished ambi- / tion by seizing Finland from Sweden, thus gaining a large territory and a \ long coast line on the Baltic Sea. Later, Sweden, uniting with the Allies I against Napoleon, was rewarded in 18 14 by the acquisition of Norway, \ torn from Denmark, which had adhered to Napoleon to the end, and \ which was accordingly considered a proper subject for punishment. The Norwegians had not been consulted in this transaction. They were regarded as a negligible quantity, a passive pawn in the interna- tional game, a conception that proved erroneous, for no sooner did they hear that they were being handed by outsiders from Denmark to Sweden than they protested, and proceeded to organize resistance. Th C nsti- Claiming that the Danish King's renunciation of the crown tution of of Norway restored that crown to themselves, they pro- Eidsvold ceeded to elect a king of their own, May 17, 1814, and they adopted a liberal constitution, the Constitution of Eidsvold, establish- ing a Parliament, or Storthing. RELATIONS OF SWEDEN AND NORWAY 535 But the King of Sweden, to whom this country had been assigned by the consent of the powers, did not propose to be deprived of it by act of the Norwegians themselves. He sent the Crown Prince, Berna- dotte, into Norway to take possession. A war resulted between the Swedes and the Norwegians, the latter being victorious. Then the great powers intervened so peremptorily that the newly elected Norwegian king, Christian, resigned his crown into the hands of the Storthing. The Storthing then acquiesced in the union with Sweden, but only after having formally elected the King of Sweden as the King of Norway, thus asserting its sovereignty, and also after the King had promised to recognize the Constitution of 1814, which the Norwegians had given therhselves. Thus there was no fusion of Norway and Sweden. There were two kingdoms and one king. The same person was King of Sweden and King of Norway, but he governed each according to its Sweden and own laws, and by means of separate ministries. No Swede Norway sep- could hold office in Norway, no Norwegian in Sweden, under the Each country had its separate constitution, its separate ^^^^ ^°g parliament. In Sweden the parliament, or Diet, consisted of four houses, representing respectively the nobility, the clergy, the cities, and the peasantry. In Norway the parliament, or Storthing, consisted of two chambers. Sweden had a strong aristocracy, Norway only a small and feeble one. Swedish government and society were aristocratic and feudal, Norwegian very democratic. Norway, indeed, was a land of peasants, who owned their farms, and fisherfolk, sturdy, simple, inde-, pendent. Each country had its own language, each its own capital, that of Sweden at Stockholm, that of Norway at Christiania. The two kingdoms, therefore, were very dissimilar, with their dif- ferent languages, different institutions, and different conditions. They had in common a king, and ministers of war and foreign affairs. The connection between the two countries, limited as it was, led during the century to frequent and bitter disagreements, ending a few years ago in their final separation. The institutions of Sweden were aristocratic and antiquated. They remained such until 1866 when the first breach was made ^j^^ cnsti- in this stiff and illiberal regime. In that year the Diet was tution of transformed into a modern parliament, consisting of two chambers. But the Upper Chamber was to be controlled by the noble 536 THE SCANDINAVIAN STATES Friction between Sweden and Norway crises. and rich classes; the Lower also represented propertied classes, as such high property qualifications were to be required of- voters that as a matter of fact only about eight per cent of the people possessed the suffrage under this constitution. This system went into force in 1866, and remained in force until 1909. Under Oscar II, who ruled from 1872 to 1907, the relations between Sweden and Norway became acute, ending finally in complete rupture. Friction between them had existed ever since 1814, and had provoked frequent The fundamental cause had lain in the different conceptions prevalent among the two peoples as to the real nature of the union effected in that year. The Swedes maintained that Norway was un- qualifiedly ceded to them by the Treaty of Kiel in 18 14; that they later were willing to rec- ognize that the Nor- wegians should have a certain amount of independence; that they, nevertheless, possessed cer- tain rights in Norway and pre- ponderance in the Union. The Norwegians, on the other hand, maintained that the Union rested, not upon the Treaty of Kiel, a treaty between Denmark and Sweden, but upon their own act; that they had been independent, and had drawn up a constitution for themselves, the Constitution of Eidsvold; that they had voluntarily united themselves with Sweden by freely elect- ing the King of Sweden as King of Norway; that there was no fusion of the two states; that Sweden had no power in Norway; that Sweden had no preponderance in the Union, but that the two states were on a plane of entire equality. With two such dissimilar views friction could not fail to develop, and it began immediately after 1814 on a question of trivial importance. The Norwegians were resolved to Dissimilar views in regard to the Union Oscar II SEPARATION OF SWEDEN AND NORWAY 537 manage their own internal affairs as they saw fit, without any intermix- ture of Swedish influence. But their King was also King of Sweden, and, as a matter of fact, lived in Sweden most of the time, and was rarely seen in Norway. Moreover, Sweden was in population much the larger partner in this uncomfortable union. By the Constitution of Eidsvold the King had only a suspensive veto over the laws of the Storthing, the Norwegian parliament. Any law could be enacted over that veto if passed by three successive Stor- things, with intervals of three years between the votes. The process was slow, but sufficient to insure victory in any cause in which the Nor- wegians were in earnest. It was thus that, despite the King's veto, they carried through the abolition of the Norwegian nobility. Contests between the Storthing and the King of Norway, occurring AboUtion of from time to time, over the question of the national flag, Norwegian of annual sessions, and other matters, kept alive the an- ^^''^'^^ tipathy of the Norwegians to the Union. Meanwhile, their prosperity increased. Particularly did they develop an important commerce. One- fourth of the merchant marine of the continent of Europe passed grad- ually into their hands. This gave rise to a question more serious than any that had hitherto arisen — that of the consular service. About 1892 began a fateful discussion over the question of the con- sular service. The Norwegian Parliament demanded a separate con- sular service for Norway, to be conducted by itself, to care for Norway's commercial interests, so much more important than those of Sweden. This the King would not grant, on the ground that it would break up the Union, that Sweden and Norway could not have two foreign poli- cies. The conflict thus begun dragged on for years, embittering the rela- tions of the Norwegians and the Swedes and inflaming passions until in 1905 (June 7) the Norwegian Parliament declared unanimously "that the Union with Sweden under one king has ceased." The war feeling in Sweden was strong, but the Government finally decided, Dissolution in order to avoid the evils of a conflict, to recognize the dis- of the solution of the Union, on condition that the question of separation should be submitted to the people of Norway. Sweden held that there was no proof that the Norwegian people desired this, but was evidently of the opinion that the whole crisis was simply the work of the Storthing. That such an opinion was erroneous was established by the vote on August 13, 1905, which showed over 368,000 in favor of 538 THE SCANDINAVIAN STATES separation and only 184 votes in opposition. A conference was then Treaty of held at Carlstad to draw up a treaty or agreement of Carlstad dissolution. This agreement provided that any disputes arising in the future between the two countries, which could not be settled by direct diplomatic negotiations should be referred to the Hague International Arbitration Tribunal. It further provided for the establishment of a neutral zone along the frontiers of the two countries, on which no military fortifications should ever be erected. Later in the year the Norwegians chose Prince Charles of Denmark, grandson of the then King of Denmark, as King of Norway. There was a strong feeling in favor of a republic, but it seemed clear that the elec- tion of a king would be more acceptable to the monarchies of Europe, and would avoid all possibilities of foreign intervention. The new king assumed the name of Haakon VII, thus indicating the historical con- tinuity of the independent kingdom of Norway, which had grown up in the Middle Ages. He took up his residence in Christiania. Death of On December 8, 1907, Oscar II, since 1905 King of Oscar II Sweden only, died, and was succeeded by his son as Gustavus V. In 1909 Sweden took a long step toward democracy. A franchise reform bill, which had long been before parliarnent, was finally passed. Manhood suffrage was estabhshed for the Lower House, and the quali- fications for election to the Upper House were greatly reduced. In Norway, men who have reached the age of twenty-five, and who have been residents of the country for five years, have the right to vote. Suffrage in By a constitutional amendment adopted in 1907 the right to Norway yQ|-g fg^ members of the Storthing was granted to women who meet the same quahfications, and who, in addition, pay, or whose husbands pay, a tax upon an income ranging from about seventy-five dollars in the country to about one hundred dollars in cities. About 300,000 of the 550,000 Norwegian women of the age of twenty-five or older, thus secured the suffrage. They had previously enjoyed the suffrage in local elections. Sweden has a population of about five and a half millions; Norway of less than two and a half millions. REFERENCES Denmark: Bain, A Political History of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, from 1513 to 1000, Chap. XVI; Camhridge Modern History, Vol. XI, Chap. XXIV, pp. 691-697, REFERENCES 539 Vol. XII, Chap. XI, pp. 290-293; Seignobos, Political History of Europe Since 1S14, pp. 566-577. Sweden: Bain, Chap. XVII; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XT, pp. 677-690; Vol. XII, pp. 273-280; Seignobos, pp. 554-559. Norway: Bain, Chap. XVII; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XI, pp. 677-690; Vol. XII, pp. 280-290; Boyesen, History of Norway, pp. 516-538; Seignobos, pp. 559-566. CHAPTER XXXIII THE DISRUPTION OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE AND THE RISE OF THE BALKAN STATES All through the period covered by this book there went on the process of the dismemberment of an empire which had once terrified the west- Decay of the ^^^ world, threatening all Europe with subjection beneath Ottoman her peculiarly galling and debasing yoke. During the past ™^"^® two centuries that empire has been on the defensive and has steadily lost ground. In the eighteenth century Russia and Austria, her neighbors, despoiled her of some of her valuable lands. In the nine- teenth it was, in the main, her own subjects who rose against her, who tore the empire apart, and founded a number of independent states on soil that was formerly Turkish. The map of modern Europe shows no greater change as compared with the map a hundred years ago than in the Balkan peninsula. That change is the product of a most ■ eventful history, the solution thus far given to one of the most intricate The Eastern and contentious problems European statesmen have ever Question y^^Ld to consider, the Eastern Question, the question, that is, of what should be done with Turkey. The Turks, an Asiatic, Mohammedan people, had conquered south- eastern Euj"ope in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and had subdued many different races; the Greeks, claiming descent from the Greeks of antiquity; the Roumanians, claiming descent from Roman colonists of the Empire; the Albanians, and various branches of the great Slavic Treatment race, the Servians, Bulgarians, Bosnians, and Montene- of subject grins. Full of contempt for those whom they had conquered, peop es ^-^^ Turks made no attempt to assimilate them or to fuse them into one body politic. They were satisfied with reducing them to subjection, and with exploiting them. These Christian peoples were effaced for several centuries beneath Mohammedan oppression, their property likely to be confiscated, their lives taken, whenever it suited their rulers. They bore their ills with resignation as long as they thought it impossible to resist oppression, yet they never acquiesced in their 540 THE RISE OF SERVIA 541 position. Hating their oppressors with a deathless hatred they only waited for their hour of liberation. That hour seemed to come at the opening of the nineteenth century with the vast changes then being effected as a result of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars. But the wars of liberation of the Balkan peoples from the Turks, begun in the first decade of the nineteenth century, are not yet over, in the second decade of the twentieth century. It is a long, bloody, turbulent, confused, heroic history. SERVIA The Servians were the first to rise, — in 1804 under Kara George, a swineherd. The Turks were driven from Servia for a time, but they •regained it in 1813. The Servians again arose, and in 1820, ^j^^ ^.^^^j^ Milosch Obrenovitch, w^ho had instigated the murder of of the Kara George in 181 7, and who thus became leader himself, S^''^^^^^ secured from the Sultan the title of "Prince of the Servians of the Pasha- lik of Belgrade." His policy henceforth was directed to the acquisition of complete autonomy for Servia. This, after long negotiations and strongly supported by Russia, he achieved in 1830, when a decree of the Sultan bestowed upon him the title of "Hereditary Prince of the Ser- vians." Thus, after many years of war and negotiations, Servia ceased to be a mere Turkish province, and became a principality tributary to the Sultan, but self-governing, and with a princely house ruling by right of heredity — the house of Obrenovitch which had succeeded in crushing the earlier house of Kara George. This was the first state to arise in the nineteenth century out of the dismemberment of European •Turkey. Its capital was Belgrade. THE GREEK WAR OF INDEPENDENCE The next of these subject peoples to rise against the hated oppressor was the Greeks. The Greeks had been submerged by the Turkish flood but not destroyed. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries they had experienced a great reinvigoration of their racial and national consciousness. Their condition in 1820 was better than it had been for centuries, their spirit was higher and less disposed to bend ^j,g ^.^ndi- before Turkish arrogance, their prosperity was greater, tion of the There had occurred in the eighteenth century a remarkable intellectual revival, connected with the restoration and purification of the Greek language. 542 DISRUPTION OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE In 182 1 the Greeks rose in revolt and began a war which did not end until they had achieved their independence in 1829. During the The Greek ^""^^ ^^-"^ years they fought alone against the Turks. This war of inde- period was followed by a period of foreign intervention, pen ence rj.^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^j utter atrocity on both sides, a war of extermination, a war not limited to the armies. Each side, when victorious, murdered large numbers of non-combatants, men, women, and children. The war was ineffectually prosecuted by Turkey. The period was made still more wretched by the inability of the Greeks to work together harmoniously. Torn by violent factional quarrels, they quarrels were unable to gain any pronounced advantage. On the among the other hand, Turkey, unable to conquer by her own force, called upon the Pasha of Egypt, Mehemet Ali, for aid. This ruler had built up a strong, disciplined army, well-equipped and trained in European methods, a force far superior to any which the Sul- tan or the Greeks possessed. Under Ibrahim, the Pasha's son, an Egyp- tian army of 11,000 landed in the Morea early in 1825, and began a war of extermination. The Morea was rapidly conquered. The fall of Mis- solonghi after a remarkable siege lasting about a year (April, 1825-April, 1826), with the loss of almost all the inhabitants, and the capture the following year of Athens and the Acropolis, seemed to have completed the subjugation of Greece. Few places remained to be seized. From the extremity of their misfortune the Greeks were rescued by the decision of foreign powers finally to intervene. The sympathy of cultivated people had, from the first, been aroused for the country which Foreign had given intellectual freedom and distinction to the world, intervention ^j^jg Mother of the Arts, which was now making an heroic and romantic struggle for an independent and worthy life of her own. Everywhere Philhellenic societies were formed under this inspiration of the memories of Ancient Greece. These societies, founded in France, Germany, Switzerland, England, and the United States, sought to aid the insurgents by sending money, arms, and volunteers, and by bringing pressure to bear upon the governments to intervene. Many men from western Europe joined the Greek armies. The most illustrious of these was Lord Byron, who gave his life for the idea of a free Greece, dying of fever at Missolonghi in 1824. Finally the governments resolved to in- tervene. England, Russia, and France by the Treaty of London of 1827, THE KINGDOM OF GREECE 543 agreed to demand that Greece be made a self-governing state under Turkish sovereignty, be therefore placed in practically the The batUe same situation as Servia. The demand was refused by the °^ Navarino Turkish government. A naval battle at Navarino, October 20, 1827, re- sulted in the destruction of the Turkish fleet. The following year Russia declared war upon Turkey. This Russo-Turkish war lasted ^^^ ^ over a year. In the first campaign the Russians were un- Russia and successful, but, redoubling their efforts, and under better ^"''•^^y leadership, they crossed the Balkans, and marched rapidly toward Con- stantinople. The French meanwhile had sent an army into the Morea, and had forced the Egyptian troops to leave the country and sail for Egypt. The Sultan was obliged to yield and the Treaty of Adrianople was signed with Russia September 14, 1829. As the outcome of this series of events Greece became a kingdom, entirely independent of Turkey, its independence guaranteed by the three powers, Russia, England, and France. The Danu- bian principalities, Moldavia and Wallachia, were made of the practically, though not nominally, independent. The Sul- Kingdom of Greece tan s power m Europe was therefore considerably reduced. In 1833 Otto, a lad of seventeen, second son of King Louis I of Bavaria, became the first King of Greece. A new Christian state had been created in southeastern Europe. THE CRIMEAN WAR Russia emerged from the Turkish War with increased prestige and power. It had been her campaign of 1829 that had brought the Sultan to terms. Greece had become independent, and was more grateful to her than to the other powers. Moldavia and Wallachia, still nomi- nally a part of Turkey, were practically free of Turkish The Prin- control, and Russian influence in them was henceforth cipahties paramount. Several years later Russia was emboldened to attempt to extend her influence still further, and this attempt precipitated a reopen- ing of the Eastern Question, and the first great European war since the fall of Napoleon I. Russia demanded the right of protection over all Greek Christians living in the Turkish Empire, of whom there were several Russian millions. The demand was loosely expressed and might demands possibly, if granted, grow into a constant right of intervention by Russia 544 ■ DISRUPTION OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE in the internal affairs of Turkey, ultimately making that country a War between ^^^'^ °^ vassal of the former. This, at any rate, was the Russia and assertion of Turkey. War therefore broke out between the • ""^ ^^ two powers, Russia and Turkey, in 1853. Russia expected that the war would be limited to these two. In this she was shortly undeceived, for England and France and later Piedmont, came to the Coalition support of the Turks. Russia found herself opposed by against four powers instead of by one. England went to war be- "^^'^ cause she feared an aggressive and expanding Russia, feared for the route to India; France because Napoleon III wished to pay back old grudges against Russia, wished revenge for the Moscow campaign of Napoleon I, wished also to tear up the treaties of 18 15, which sealed the humiUation of France. Piedmont went to war merely to win the interest of England and France for Cavour's plans for the making of Italy. The war was chiefly fought in the Crimea, a peninsula in southern Russia, jutting out into the Black Sea and important because there The allies Russia had constructed, at Sebastopol, a great naval arse- invade the nal, and because the Russian navy was there. To seize nmea Sebastopol, to sink the fleet, would destroy Russia's naval power for many years, and thus remove the weapon with which she could seriously menace Turkey. The siege of Sebastopol was the chief feature of the Crimean War. That siege lasted eleven months. Sebastopol was defended in a masterly The siege of fashion by Todleben, the Russian engineer, and the only Sebastopol military hero of the first order that the war developed. Parts of this campaign, subsidiary to the siege, were the battles of the Alma, of Balaklava, rendered forever memorable by the splendid charges of the heavy and light brigades, and of Inkermann, full of stirring and heroic incident. The Allies suffered fearfully from the weather, the bitter cold, the breakdown of the commissary department, and the shocking inefficiency of the medical and hospital service. These deficiencies were remedied in time, but only after a terrible loss of life. Early in 1855 (March 2), Nicholas I died, bitterly disappointed at the failure of his plans. Throughout the summer of 1855 the state of Sebastopol grew steadily worse and it finally fell, on September 8, 1855, after a siege of 336 days, and an enormous expenditure in human lives. The war dragged on for some weeks longer, but as most of the pow- RESULTS OF THE CRIMEAN WAR 545 ers were anxious for peace, they agreed to enter the Congress of Paris, which met February 25, 1856, and which, after a month's Treaty of • deliberation, signed the Treaty of Paris, March 30, 1856. ^^'is The treaty provided that the Black Sea should henceforth be neutral- ized, that it should not be open to vessels of war, even of those coun- tries bordering on it, Russia and Turkey, and that no arsenals should be established! or maintained on its shores. Its waters were to be open to the merchant ships of every nation. The navigation of the Danube was declared free. The Russian protectorate over Moldavia and Walla- chia was abolished and they were declared independent under the suze- rainty of the Porte. The most important clause was that by which the powers admitted Turkey to the European family of states, from which she had been previously excluded as a barbarous nation, and by which they also agreed no more to interfere with her internal af- fairs. This action was taken, it was said, because the Sultan had, " in his constant solicitude for the welfare of his subjects, issued a firman recording his generous intentions towards the Christian population of his Empire." Thus Turkey was bolstered up by the Christian powers of western Europe because they did not wish to see Russia instaUed in Constanti- nople. As a solution of the Eastern Question the war was a flat failure. The promise of the Sultan that the lot of his Christian subjects should be improved was never kept. Their condition became worse. REVOLTS IN THE BALKANS By the middle of the nineteenth century the only part of the Turkish Empire that had become independent was Greece; Servia and Mol- davia- Wallachia were semi-independent and aspired to become completely so. The two latter provinces shortly declared themselves united under the single name of Roumania and, in 1866, they chose as Rise of their prince, a member of the Roman Catholic branch of Roumama the HohenzoUern family, Charles I. This German prince, who was the ruler of Roumania until his death in 1914, was at that time twenty-seven years of age. He at once set to work to study the condi- Charles i of tions of his newly adopted country, ably seconded in this by his wife, a German princess, whose literary gift was to win her a great reputation, and was to be used in the interest of Roumania. As "Car- men Sylva" she wrote poems and stories, published a collection of 546 DISRUPTION OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE Roumanian folklore, and encouraged the national idea by showing her preference for the native Roumanian dress and for old Roumanian customs. Charles I was primarily a soldier, and the great work of the early years of his reign was to build up the army, as he believed it essential if Roumania was to be really independent in her attitude toward Russia and Turkey. He increased the size of the army, equipped it with Prus- sian guns, and had it drilled by Prussian officers. The wisdom of this was apparent when the Eastern Question was again reopened. In 1875 the Eastern Question entered once more upon an acute phase. Movements began which were to have a profound effect upon the vari- ous sections of the peninsula. An insurrection broke out Reopening . of the m the summer of that year m Herzegovma, a provmce Eastern west of Servia. For years the peasantry had suffered Question , from gross misrule. The oppression of the Turks became so grinding and was accompanied by acts so barbarous and inhuman that the peasants finally rebelled. These peasants were Slavs, and The insur- ^^ ^^^'^ were aided by Slavs from neighboring regions, rection of Bosnia, Servia, and Bulgaria. They were made all the erzegovina j^qj.^ bitter because they saw Slavs in Servia comparatively contented, as these were largely self-governed. Why should not they themselves enjoy as good conditions as others? Religious and racial hatred of Christian and Slav against the infidel Turk flamed up through- out the peninsula. Christians could not rest easy witnessing the out- rages committed upon their co-religionists. And just at this time those outrages attained a ferocity that shocked all Europe. Early in 1876 the Christians in Bulgaria, a large province of Euro- pean Turkey, rose against the Turkish officials, killing some of them. The Bui- '^^^ revenge taken by the Turks was of incredible atrocity, garian Pouring regular troops and the ferocious irregulars called atrocities Bashi-Bazouks into the province, they butchered thou- sands with every refinement or coarseness of brutality. In . the valley of the Maritza all but fifteen of eighty villages were destroyed. In Batak, a town of 7000 inhabitants, five thousand men, women, and children were savagely slaughtered with indescribable treachery and cruelty. These Bulgarian atrocities thrilled all Europe with horror. Glad- stone, emerging from retirement, denounced "the unspeakable Turk," THE RUSSO-TURKISH WAR 547 in a flaming pamphlet. He demanded that England cease to support a government which was an affront to the laws of God ^, . 1 1 1 1 rr-v 1 1 ' tjladstone s and urged that the Turks be expelled from Europe '^bag denunciation and baggage." The public opinion of Europe was aroused. °^ *^^ ^"'"''^ In Jul}^, 1876 Servia and Montenegro declared war against Turkey, and the insurrection of the Bulgarians became general. The Russian people became intensely excited in their sympathy with g^^. j their co-religionists and their fellow-Slavs. Finally the Montenegro Russian government declared war upon Turkey, April 24, ^^^^^^^ *^'' 1877. The war lasted until the close of January, 1878. The chief fea- ture of the campaign was the famous siege of Plevna which the Turks defended for five months but which Anally surrendered. Russia de- This broke the back of Turkish resistance and the Russians ^^^''^s ^a"" marched rapidly toward Constantinople. The Sultan sought peace, and on March 3, 1878, the Treaty of San Stefano was concluded between Russia and Turkey. By this treaty the Porte recog- Treaty of nized the complete independence of Servia, Montenegro, ^*° stefano and Roumania, and made certain cessions of territory to the two former states. The main feature of the treaty concerned Bulgaria, which was made a self-governing state, tributary to the Sultan. Its frontiers were very liberally drawn. Its territory was to include nearly all of European Turkey, between Roumania and Servia to the north, and Greece to the south. Only a broken strip across the peninsula, from Constantinople west to the Adriatic, was to be left to Turkey. The new state therefore was to include not only Bulgaria proper, but Roumelia to the south and most of Macedonia. Gladstone's desire for the ex- pulsion of the Turks from Europe "bag and baggage" was nearly realized. But this treaty was not destined to be carried out. The other powers objected to having the Eastern Question solved without their consent. England particularly, fearing Russian expansion southward England toward the Mediterranean, and believing that Bulgaria and demands its . r T^ • 1 1 I revision the Other states would be merely tools of Russia, declared that the arrangements concerning the peninsula must be determined by the great European powers, that the Treaty of San Stefano must be submitted to a general congress on the ground that, according to the international law of Europe, the Eastern Question could not be settled by one nation but only by the concert of powers, as it affected them all. 548 DISRUPTION OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE Austria joined the protest, wishing a part of the spoils of Turkey for herself. Russia naturally objected to allowing those who had not fought to determine the outcome of her victory. But as the powers were insis- tent, particularly England, then under the Beaconsfield administration, and as she was -in no position for futher hostilities, she yielded. The _, p _ Congress of Berlin was held under the presidency of Bis- gress of marck, Beaconsfield himself representing England. It drew ^^'^^^^ up the Treaty of Berlin, which was signed July 13, 1878. By this treaty Montenegro, Servia, and Roumania were rendered com- pletely independent of Turkey. But Bulgaria was divided into three parts, one of which, called Macedonia, was handed back to Turkey, and another, called Eastern Roumelia, was to be still subject to the Sultan but to have a Christian governor appointed by him. The third part, Bulgaria, was still to be nominally a part of Turkey but was to elect its own prince and was to be self-governing. The powers in making these arrangements were thinking neither of Turkey, nor of the happiness of the people who had long been oppressed by Turkey. The Congress of Berlin, like the Congress of Vienna of 181 5, was indifferent or hostile to the legitimate national aspirations of oppressed peoples, and there- fore its work has had the same fate, it has been undone in one particular and another and the process is continuing at the present moment, not yet quite completed. As far as humanitarian considerations were con- cerned the disposition of Macedonia was a colossal blunder. Its people would have been far happier had they formed a part of Bulgaria. Owing to the rival ambitions of the great powers Macedonia's Christians were destined long to suffer an odious oppression from which more fortunate Balkan Christians were free. The same powers found the occasion convenient for taking various Turkish possessions for themselves. Austria was invited to "occupy" and administer Bosnia and Herzegovina. England was to "occupy" Cyprus. All these territories were nominally still a part of the Turkish i Empire. Their position was anomalous, unclear, and destined to create > trouble in the future. \ On the other hand, the benefits assured by the Treaty of Berlin were Advantages considerable and they were due solely to Russia's interven- of the Treaty tion, though Russia herself drew little direct profit from her ° ^^^^ war. Three Balkan states, long in process of formation, Montenegro, Servia, and Roumania, were declared entirely independent, THE CONGRESS OF BERLIN 549 550 DISRUPTION OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE and a new state, Bulgaria, had been called into existence, though still slightly subject to the Porte. As a result of the treaty, European Turkey was greatly reduced, its population having shrunk from seventeen mil- lions to six millions. In other words eleven million people or more had been emancipated from Turkish control. BULGARIA AFTER 1878 The Treaty of Berlin, while it brought substantial advantages, did not bring peace to the Balkan peninsula. Though diminishing the pos- Unsatisfied sessions of the Sultan, it did not satisfy the ambitions of ambitions ^\^q various peoples, it did not expel the Turk from Europe and thus cut out the root of the evil. Abundant sources of trouble remained, as the next forty years were to show. The history of the various states since 1878, both in internal affairs and in their foreign relations, has been agitated, yet, despite disturbances, considerable progress has been made. Bulgaria, of which Europe knew hardly anything in 1876, was, in 1878, made an autonomous state, but it did not attain complete inde- pendence, as it was nominally a part of the Turkish Empire, to which it was to pay tribute. The new principality owed its existence to Russia, Alexander of and for several years Russian influence predominated in it. Battenberg j|^ -^^g started on its career by Russian officials. A consti- tution was drawn up establishing an assembly called the Sobranje. This assembly chose as Prince of Bulgaria, Alexander of Battenberg, a young German of twenty-two, a relative of the Russian Imperial House, supposedly acceptable to the Czar (April, 1879). The Bulgarians were grateful to the Russians for their aid. They recognized those who remained after the war was over as having all the Friction rights of Bulgarian citizens, among others the right to hold between the ofhce. Russians held important positions in the Bulgarian Bulgarians . . .,,.,. . , , and the ministry. They organized the military forces and be- Russians came officers. Before long, however, friction developed, and gratitude gave way to indignation at the high-handed conduct of the Russians, who plainly regarded Bulgaria as a sort of province or out- post of Russia, to be administered according to Russian ideas and in- terests. The Russian ministers were arrogant, and made it evident that they regarded the Czar, not Prince Alexander, as their superior, whose wishes they were bound to execute. The Prince, the nativfe army officers, i UNION OF THE TWO BULGARIAS 551 and the people found their position increasingly humiliating. Finally, in 1883, the Russian ministers were virtually forced to resign, and the Prince now relied upon Bulgarian leaders. This caused an open breach with Russia which was further widened by the action of the people of Eastern Roumelia in 1885 in expressing their desire to be united with Bulgaria. Prince Alexander agreed to this and assumed the title of "Prince of the Two Bulgarias." The powers protested against this unification, and would not recognize the change, but they refrained from doing anything further. Russia, however, incensed at the growing independence of the new state, which she looked upon as a mere satellite, resolved to read her a lesson in humility by organizing a conspiracy. The con- Abdication of spirators seized Prince Alexander in his bedroom in the Prince dead of night, forced him to sign his abdication, and then ^^^^"«^«'" carried him off to Russian soil. Alexander was detained in Russia a short time, until it was supposed that the Russian party was thoroughly established in power in Bulgaria, when he was permitted to go to Austria. He was immediately recalled to Bulgaria, returned to receive an immense ovation, and then, at the height of his popularity, in a moment of weak- ness, abdicated, apparently overwhelmed by the continued opposition of Russia (September 7, 1886). The situation was most critical. Two parties advocating opposite policies confronted each other; one pro- Russian, believing that Bulgaria should accept in place of Alexander any prince whom the Czar should choose for herj the other national and independent, rallying to the cry of "Bulgaria for the Bulgarians." The latter speedily secured control, fortunate in that it had a remarkable leader in the person of Stambuloff, a native, a son of an innkeeper, a man of extraordinary firmness, suppleness, and courage, Ferdinand of vigorous and intelligent. Through him Russian efforts to Saxe-Coburg regain control of the principality were foiled and a new ruler was secured, Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg, twenty-six years of age, who was elected unanimously by the Sob ran je, July 7, 1887. Russia protested against this action, and none of the great powers recognized Ferdinand. Stambuloff was the most forceful statesman developed in the history of the Balkan states. He succeeded in keeping Bulgaria Dictatorship self-dependent. During the earlier years of his rule Ferdi- ^^ Stambuloff nand rehed upon him, and, indeed, owed to him his continuance on the 552 DISRUPTION OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE throne. He won the pretentious title of "the Bulgarian Bismarck." His methods resembled those of his Teutonic prototype in more than one respect. For seven years he was practically dictator of Bulgaria. Russian plots continued. He repressed them pitilessly. His one funda- mental principle was Bulgaria for the Bulgarians. His rule was one of terror, of suppression of liberties, 'of unscrupulousness, directed to patri- otic ends. His object was to rid Bulgaria of Russian, as of Turkish, control. Bulgaria under him increased in wealth and population. The army received a modern equipment, universal military service was instituted, commerce was encouraged, railroads were built, popular edu- m cation begun, and the capital, Sofia, a dirty, wretched Turkish village, ■ made over into one of the attractive capitals of Europe. But Stambuloff Murder of made a multitude of enemies, and as a result he fell from Stambuloff power in 1894. In the following year he was foully mur- dered in the streets of Sofia. But he had done his work thoroughly, and it remains the basis of the life of Bulgaria to-day. The Turkish sovereignty was merely nominal, and even that was not destined to endure long. In March, 1896 the election of Ferdinand as prince was finally recognized by the great powers. The preceding years had been immensely significant. They had thoroughly consolidated the unity of Bulgaria, had permitted her institutions to strike root, had accustomed her to independence of action, to self-reliance. Those years, too, had been used for the enrichment of the national life with the agencies of the modern world, schools, railways, an army. Bulgaria had a popula- H tion of about four million, a capital in Sofia, an area of about 38,000 ' square miles. She aspired to annex Macedonia, where, however, she was to encounter many rivals. She only awaited a favorable opportu- nity to renounce her nominal connection with Turkey. The oppor- tunity came in 1908. On October 5th of that year Bulgaria declared her independence, and her Prince assumed the title of Czar. The later history of Bulgaria may best be described in connection with the Balkan wars of 191 2 and 1913. ROUMANIA AND SERVIA AFTER 1878 At the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish war in 1877, Roumania de- clared herself entirely independent of Turkey. This independence was recognized by the Sultan and the powers at the Congress of Berlin on V condition that all citizens should enjoy legal equality, whatever their THE KINGDOM OF ROUMANIA 553 religion, a condition designed to protect the Jews, who were numerous, but who had previously been without political rights. In 1 88 1 Roumania proclaimed herself a kingdom, and her prince henceforth styled himself King Charles I. The royal crown was made of steel from a Turkish gun captured at Plevna, a nernet- ■„ , . , r , , . ' t' t^ Roumama ual remmder of what was her war of mdependence. Rou- proclaimed a mania has created an army on Prussian models of about ^"sdom 500,000 men, has built railroads and highways, and has, by agrarian legislation, improved the condition of the peasantry. The population has steadily increased, and now numbers over seven millions. The area of Roumania is about 53,000 square miles. While mainly an agri- cultural country', in recent years her industrial development has been notable, and her commerce is more important than that of any other Balkan state. Her government is a constitutional monarchy, with leg- islative chambers. The most important political question in recent years has been a demand for the reform of the electoral system, which resembles the Prussian three-class system, and which gives the direct vote to only a small fraction of the population. In 1907 the peasantry rose in insurrection, demanding agrarian reforms. As more Agrarian dis- than four-fifths of the population live upon the land, and turbances as the population has steadily increased, the holding of each peasant has correspondingly decreased. A military force of 140,000 men was needed to quell the revolt. After having restored order, the ministry introduced and carried various measures intended to bring relief to the peasants from their severest burdens. Servia, also, was recognized as independent by the Berlin Treaty in 1878. She proclaimed herself a kingdom in 1882. She has had a turbu- lent history m recent years. In 1885 she declared war against Bulgaria, only to be unexpectedly and badly defeated. The financial policy was deplorable. In seven years the debt increased from seven g^^^.^ million to three hundred and twelve million francs. The scandals of the private life of King Milan utterly discredited the mon- archy. He was forced to abdicate in 1889, and was succeeded by his twelve-year-old son, Alexander I, who was brutally murdered in 1903 with his wife. Queen Draga, in a midnight palace revolution. The new king, Peter I, found his position for several years most unstable. A new and important chapter in the history of Servia began with the Balkan War of 191 2. 554 DISRUPTION OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE GREECE AFTER 1833 In January, 1833, Otto, second son of Louis I, the King of Bavaria, became King of Greece, a country of great poverty, with a population of about 750,000, unaccustomed to the reign of law and order usual in western Europe. The kingdom was small, with unsatisfactory boun- daries, lacking Thessaly, which was peopled entirely by Greeks. The country had been devastated by a long and unusually sanguinary war. Internal conditions were anarchic. Brigandage was rife; the debt was large. The problem was, how to make out of such unpromising materials a prosperous and progressive state. King Otto reigned from 1833 to 1862. He was aided in his govern- ment by many Bavarians, who filled important positions in the army Reign of and the civil service. This German influence was a pri- Otto I mary cause of the unpopularity of the new regime. The beginnings were made, however, in the construction of a healthy national life. Athens was made the capital, and a university was established there. A police system was organized; a national bank created. In 1844 Otto was forced to consent to the conversion of his absolute monarchy into a constitutional one. A parliament with two chambers, the Deputies being chosen by universal suffrage, was instituted. The political education of the Greeks then began. From the reopening of the Eastern Question by the Crimean war Greece hoped to profit by the enlargement of her boundaries. The great powers, however, thought otherwise, and forced her to remain quiet. Because the Government did not defy Europe and insist upon her rights. Overthrow which would have been an insane proceeding, it became of otto very unpopular. For this reason, as well as for despotic tendencies. Otto was driven from power in 1862 by an insurrection, and left Greece, never to return. A new king was secured in the person of a Danish prince, a brother of the then King of Denmark. The new king, George I, ruled from 1863 to 1 91 3. That his popularity might be strengthened at the very outset, The Ionian England in 1864 ceded to the kingdom the Ionian Islands, Islands which she had held since 181 5. This was the first enlarge- ment of the kingdom since its foundation. A new constitution was established (1864) which abolished the Senate and left all parliamentary power in the hands of a single assembly, the Boule, elected by universal THE PROBLEM OF MACEDONIA 555 suffrage, and consisting of 192 members, with a four-year term. In 1 88 1, mainly through the exertions of England, the Sultan was induced to cede Thessaly to Greece, and thus a second enlargement Annexation of territory occurred. This was in accordance with the °^ Thessaly promise of the Congress of Berlin that the Greek frontier should be "rectified." In 1897 Greece declared war against Turkey, aiming at the annexa- tion of Crete, which had risen in insurrection against Turkey. Greece was easily defeated, and was forced to cede certain parts of Thessaly to Turkey and give up the project of the annexation of Crete. After long negotiations among the powers, the latter island was made autonomous under the suzerainty of the Sultan, and under the direct administration of Prince George, a son of the King of Greece, who remained in power until 1906. A new problem, the Cretan, was thus pushed into the fore- ground of Greek politics. The financial condition of Greece is not sound. Her debt has grown enormously owing to armaments, the building of railroads, and the dig- ging of canals. She has, however, increased in population xh g k and much has been accomplished in the direction of pop- outside of ular education. Several millions of Greeks live outside the ^^^^^ Greek kingdom. Those inside are ambitious to have them included. Servian, Bulgarian, and Greek rivalries met in the plains of Macedonia, which each country coveted and which was inhabited by representatives of all these peoples, inextricably intermingled. The problem of Macedonia was further complicated by the rivalry of the great powxrs and by the revolution which broke out in Turkey itself in 1908. REVOLUTION IN TURKEY The Eastern Question entered upon a new and startling phase in the summer of 1908. In July a swift, sweeping, and pacific revolution occurred in Turkey. The Young Turks, a revolutionary, xhe Young constitutional party, dominated by the political principles Turks of western Europe, seized control of the government, to the complete surprise of the diplomatists and public of Europe. This party consisted of those who had been driven from Turkey by the despotism of the Sul- tan, Abdul Hamid II, and were resident abroad, chiefly in Paris, and of those who, still living in Turkey, dissembled their opinions and were able to escape expulsion. Its members desired the overthrow of the 556 DISRUPTION OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE Revolution of July, 1908 despotic, corrupt, and inefficient government, and the creation in its place of a modern liberal system, capable, by varied and thoroughgoing reforms, of ranging Turkey among progressive nations. Weaving their conspiracy in silence and with remarkable adroitness, they suc- ceeded in drawing into it the Turkish army, hitherto the solid bulwark of the Sultan's power. Then, at the ripe moment, the army refused to obey the Sultan's orders, and the conspirators de- manded peremptorily by tele- graph that the Sultan restore the Constitution of 1876, a constitu- tion which had been granted by the Sultan in that year merely to enable him to weather a crisis, and which, having quickly served the purpose, had been immediately suspended and had remained sus- pended ever since. The Sultan, seeing the ominous defection of the army, complied at once with the demands of the Young Turks, "restored" on July 24 the Constitution of 1876, and ordered elections for a parliament, which should meet in November. Thus an odious tyranny was instantly swept away. It was a veritable coup d'etat, this time effected, not by some would-be autocrat, but by the army, usually the chief support of des- potism or of the authority of the monarch, now, apparently, the main instrument for the achievement of freedom for the democracy. This military revolution, completely successful and almost bloodless, was received with incredible enthusiasm throughout the entire Apparent 1 1 t unanimity breadth of the Sultan's dominions. Insurgents and soldiers, of this Mohammedans and Christians, Greeks, Serbs, Bulgarians, movement ,..,., Albanians, Armenians, Turks, all joined in jubilant celebra- tions of the release from intolerable conditions. The most astonishing Abdul Hamid II From a photograph by W. and D. Downey. Restoration of the Con- stitution THE TURKISH REVOLUTION 557 feature was the complete subsidence of the racial and religious hatreds which had hitherto torn and ravaged the Empire from end to end. The revolution proved to be the most fraternal movement in modern history. Picturesque and memorable were the scenes of universal reconciliation. The ease and suddenness with which this astounding change was effected proved the universality of the detestation of the reign and methods of Abdul Hamid II throughout all his provinces and among all his peoples. Was this the beginning of a new era or was it the beginning of the end of the Turkish Empire? It will be more convenient to examine this question a little later. REFERENCES Greek War of Independence: Phillips, Modern Europe, Chap. VII, pp. 135-167; Fyffe, History of Modern Europe, Chap. XV. Crimean War: Walpole, History of England Since 1815, Vol. VI, Chap. XXIV; Fyffe, pp. 824-865; Phillips, Chap. XIV, pp. 332-360; Murdock, The Reconstruclion of Europe, Chaps. III-VIII, pp. 16-95; McCarthy, History of Our Oum Times, Vol. I, Chaps. XXV-XXVIII, pp. 433-524; Forbes et al., The Balkans. Reopening of the Eastern Question, 1877-8: Rose, Development of the Euro- pean Nations, Vol. I, pp. 184-224; McCarthy, Vol. II, Chap. LXIV, pp. 574^595. Russo-TuRKisH War and the Congress of Berlin: Rose, Vol. I, Chaps. VIII and IX, pp. 225-298; McCarthy, Vol. II, Chap. LXV, pp. 595-613. Walpole, History of Twenty-five Years, Vol. IV, Chaps. XVIII, pp. 98-187; Fyffe, pp. 1022-1052; Phillips, Chap. XIX, pp. 486-523. Bulg.\ria: Rose, Vol. I, Chap. IX, pp. 264-299; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XII, pp. 404-411; Seignobos, Political History of Europe Since 1S14, pp. 664-669; Miller, The Balkans, pp. 215-248. Roumania: Seignobos, pp. 640-648. Servia and Montenegro: Seignobos, pp. 657-664. Greece: Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XII, pp. 419-428. CHAPTER XXXIV RUSSIA TO THE WAR WITH JAPAN THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER I Russia at the fall of Napoleon was the largest state in Europe, and was a still larger Asiatic empire. It extended in unbroken stretch from the German Confederation to the Pacific Ocean. Its population was about 45,000,000. Its European territory covered about 2,000,000 square miles. It was inhabited by a variety of races, but the principal one was the Slavic. Though there were many religions, the religion of the court and of more than two-thirds of the population was the so- called Greek Orthodox forrn of Christianity. Though various languages were spoken, Russian was the chief one. The Russians had conquered many peoples in various directions. A considerable part of the former Kingdom of Poland had been acquired in the three partitions at the Russian close of the eighteenth century, and more in 181 5. Here conquests ^-j^g people spoke a different language, the Polish, and ad- hered to a different religion, the Roman Catholic. In the Baltic prov- inces, Esthonia, Livonia, and Courland, the upper class was of German origin and spoke the German language, while the mass of peasants were Finns and Lithuanians, speaking different tongues. All the inhabitants were Lutherans. Finland had recently been conquered from Sweden. The languages spoken there were Swedish and Finnish, and the religion was Lutheran. To the east and south were peoples of Asiatic origin, many of them Mohammedans in religion. There were in certain sec- tions considerable bodies of Jews. All these dissimilar elements were bound together by their alle- giance to the sovereign, the Czar, a monarch of absolute, unlimited power. There were two classes of society in Russia — the nobiUty and the The peasantry. The large majority of the latter were serfs of nobUity ^hg q^q^j. ^^d the nobility. The nobility numbered about 140,000 families. The nobles secured offices in the army and the civil 558 LIBERALISM OF ALEXANDER I 559 service. They were exempt from many taxes, and enjoyed certain mo- nopolies. Their power over their serfs was extensive and despotic. They enforced obedience to their orders by the knout and by banishment to Siberia. The middle class of well-to-do and educated people, increas- ingly important in the other countries of Europe, practically did not exist in Russia. Russia was an agricultural country, whose agriculture, moreover, was very primitive and inefficient. It was a na- The tion of serfs and of peasants little better off than the serfs, peasantry This class was wretched, uneducated, indolent, prone to drink excessively, j In the "mir," or village community, however, it possessed a rudimentary ' form of communism and limited self-government. Over this vast and ill-eciuipped nation ruled the Autocrat of All the Russias, or Czar, an absolute monarch, whose decisions, expressed in the form of ukases or decrees, were the law of the land. Alexander i The ruler in 181 5 was Alexander I, a man thirty-eight ^^^^^ ^^^S) years of age. Alexander stood forth as the most enlightened sovereign on any of the great thrones of Europe. In the reorganization of Europe in 1814 and 181 5 he was, on the whole, a liberal force. He favored generous terms to the conquered French, he insisted that Louis XVIII should grant a constitution to the French people, he encouraged the aspira- tions of the German people for a larger political life. He showed his liberal tendencies even more unmistakably in his Polish policy. He succeeded at the Congress of Vienna in securing most of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw which he now transformed ^^^^^^ into the Kingdom of Poland. This was a state of 3,000,000 inhabitants with an area less than one-sixth the size of the former Polish kingdom, but containing the Polish capital, Warsaw. This was hence- forth to be an independent kingdom, not a part of Russia. The only connection between the two was in the person of the ruler. The Czar of Russia was to be King of Poland. Alexander granted a constitution to this state, creating a parliament, and promising liberty of the press and of religion. The Polish language was to be the official language. Poland enjoyed freer institutions at this moment than did either Prussia or Austria, the franchise was wider than that of England or France. Apparently, also, Alexander considered his Polish experiment as pre- liminary to an introduction of similar reforms in Russia also. But Alexander's character, was unstable. He was impressionable, I 56o RUSSIA TO THE WAR WITH JAPAN changeable, easily discouraged. Metternich made it his especial business Alexander ^° frighten him out of his liberalism, which was the chief becomes obstacle in Europe to his policy of resolute reaction. He reac lonary ceaselessly played upon Alexander's essentially timid nature and it took him only three years to accomplish this conversion. Alex- ander then became a vigorous supporter of Metternich's policy of inter- vention which expressed itself in the various congresses and which made the name of the Holy Alliance a by- word among men. He became dis- appointed over his Polish experiment and began to infringe upon the liberties he himself had granted. He grew more and more reactionary and when he died, on December i, 1825, he left an administration domi- nated by a totally different spirit from that which had prevailed in the earlier years. . THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS I He was succeeded by his brother Nicholas I, whose reign of thirty years, 1825-1855, was eventful. It was one of uncompromising abso- Nichoias I lutism, both at home and abroad. Nicholas was the great (1825 1855) bulwark of monarchical authority in Europe for thirty years. His system of government was one of remorseless, undeviating repression, through the agencies of a brutal police and an elaborate Systematic censorship. Punishments for Liberals of any kind were repression ^f great severity. The most harmless word might mean exile to Siberia, without any kind of preliminary trial. In twenty years perhaps 150,000 persons were thus exiled. Tens of thousands lan- guished in the prisons of Russia. Religious persecution was added to political. Nicholas's foreign policy was marked by the same characteristics, and made him hated throughout Europe as the most brutal autocrat His foreign on the Continent. He suppressed the Polish insurrection i?°^^y of 1830-31, abolished the constitution granted by Alexander I, and incorporated Poland in Russia, thus ending the history of that kingdom, a history of only fifteen years. He waged two wars against Turkey, previously described, one in 1828-9, and one in 1853-5. ^^ interfered decisively to suppress the Hungarian revolutionists in 1849. He died in the middle of the Crimean War, though not until it was ap- parent that the prestige of his country, so overwhelming since Napo- leon's flight from Moscow in 181 2, had been completely shattered. This war was not only a defeat but a disillusionment. The Govern- THE EMANCIPATION OF THE SERFS 561 ment was proved to be as incompetent and as impotent as it was reactionary. It was clear that the state was honeycombed with abuses which must be reformed if it was to prosper. THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER II That the time for changes had come was clearly seen by the next occupant of the throne, Alexander II, who ruled from 1855 to 1881. Of an open mind, and desirous of ameliorating the condi- Alexander 11 tions of Russian life, he for some years followed a policy (1855-I88i) of reform. He relaxed the censorship of the press and removed most of the restrictions w^hich had been imposed upon the universities and upon travel. Particularly did he address himself to the question of serfdom. . Nearly all, practically nine-tenths, of the arable land of Russia, was owmed by the imperial family and by the one hundred and forty thou- sand families of the nobility. The land was, therefore, prgvaUin generally held in large estates. It was owned by a small system of minority; it was tilled by the miUions of Russia who were ^^°"^ ^^^^^^ serfs. It was easy for the Emperor to free the crown serfs, about 23,000,000, since no one could question the right of the state to do what it would with its own. Consequently the crown serfs were freed by a series of measures covering several years, 1859 to 1866. But the Edict of Emancipation, which was to constitute Alexander II's most legitimate title to fame, concerned the serfs of private The problem landowners, the nobles. There were about 23,000,000 of °^ serfdom these, also. These private landlords reserved a part of their land for themselves requiring the serfs to work it without pay, generally three days a week. The rest of the land was turned over to the serfs who cultivated it on their own account, getting therefrom what sup- port they could, hardly enough, as a matter of fact, for sustenance. The serfs were not slaves in the strict sense of the word. They could not be sold separately. But they were attached to the soil, could not leave it without the consent of the owner, and passed, if he sold his estate, to the new owner. The landlord otherwise had practically un- limited authority over his serfs. They possessed no rights which, in practice, he was bound to respect. Such a system, it is needless to say, offended the conscience of the age. On March 3, 1861, the Edict of Emancipation was issued. It abol- 562 RUSSIA TO THE WAR WITH JAPAN ished serfdom throughout the Empire, and it won for Alexander the The Edict of popular title of "the Czar Liberator." This manifesto Emancipation (^[^ j^q^ merely declare the serfs free men; but it under- took also to solve the far more difficult problem of the ownership of the soil. The Czar felt that merely to give the serfs freedom, and to leave all the land in the possession of the nobles, would mean the creation of a great proletariat possessing no property, therefore likely to fall at once into a position of economic dependence upon the nobles, which would make the gift of freedom a mere mockery. Moreover, the peasants were firmly convinced that they were the right- The land ful Owners of the lands which they and their ancestors for problem centuries had lived upon and cultivated, and the fact that the landlords were legally the owners did not alter their opinion. To give them freedom without land, leaving that with the nobles, who de- sired to retain it, would be bitterly resented as making their condition worse than ever. On the other hand, to give them the land with their freedom would mean the ruin of the nobility as a class, considered essen- tial to the state. The consequence of this conflict of interests was a compromise, satisfactory to neither party, but more favorable to the nobihty than to the peasants. The lands were divided into two parts. The landlords were to keep one; the other was to go to the peasants either individually or collec- Division of tively as members of the village community or mir to the land which they belonged. But this was not given them out- right; the peasant and the village must pay the landlord for the land assigned them. As they were not in a position to do this the state was to advance the money, getting it back from the peasant and the mir in easy installments. These installments were to run for forty-nine years, at the end of which time they would cease and the peasant and the mir would then own outright the lands they had acquired. This arrangement was a great disappointment to the peasants. Their newly acquired freedom seemed a doubtful boon in the light of Disappoint- ^^^^ method of dividing the land. Indeed, they could ment of the not see that they were profiting from the change. Per- peasan ry sonal liberty would not mean much, when the conditions of earning a livelihood became harder rather than lighter. The peas- ants regarded the land as their own. But the state guaranteed for- ever a part to the landlords and announced that the peasants must THE QUESTION OF THE LAND 563 pay for the part assigned to themselves. To the peasants this seemed sheer robbery. Moreover, as the division worked out, they found that they had less land for their own use than in the preemancipation days, and that they had to pay the landlords, through the state, j. more than the lands which they did receive were worth, question not The Edict of Emancipation did not therefore bring eithpr ^°'^®'* peace or prosperity to the peasants. The land question became steadily more acute during the next fifty years owing to the vast increase of population and the consequent greater pressure upon the land. The Russian peasant lived necessarily upon the verge of starvation. The emancipation of the serfs is seen, therefore, not to have been an unalloyed boon. Yet Russia gained morally in the esteem of other nations by abolishing an indefensible wrong. Theoretically, at least, every man was free. Moreover, the peasants, though faring ill, yet fared better than had the peasants of Prussia and Austria at the time of their liberation. The abolition of serfdom was the greatest act of Alexander II's reign, but it was only one of several liberal measures enacted at this time of general enthusiasm. A certain amount of local Domestic self-government was granted, reforms in the judicial sys- reforms tem were carried through, based upon a study of the systems of Europe and the United States, the censorship of the press was relaxed, educa- tional facilities were somewhat developed. This hopeful era of reform was, however, soon over, and a period of reaction began, which characterized the latter half of Alexander's reign and ended in his assassination in 1881. There were several ^^^ ^f ^^^ causes for this change: the vacillating character of the era of monarch himself, taking fright at his own work; the dis- '^^ °'^™ appointment felt by many who had expected a millennium, but who found it not ; the intense dislike of the privileged and conservative classes for the measures just described. Just at this time, when the attitude of the Emperor was changing, when public opinion was in this fluid, uncertain state, occurred an event which immensely strengthened the reactionary forces, a ^^^ p^ugj, new insurrection of Poland. After the failure of their insurrection attempt to achieve independence in 183 1 the Poles had remained quiet, the quiet of despair. As long as Nicholas I lived they were ruled with the greatest severity, and they could not but 564 RUSSIA TO THE WAR WITH JAPAN see the impracticability of any attempt to throw off their chains. But the accession of Alexander II aroused hopes of better conditions. The spirit of nationalism revived, greatly encouraged by the success of the same spirit elsewhere. The Italians had just realized their aspiration, the creation of an Italian nation — not solely by their own efforts but by the aid of foreign nations. Might not the Poles hope for as much? Alexander would not for a moment entertain the favorite idea of the Poles, that they should be independent. He emphatically told them that such a notion was an idle dream, that they "must abandon all thoughts of independence, now and forever impossible." This un- compromising attitude, coupled with repressive measures, irritated the Poles to the point of desperation. Finally in 1863 an insurrection broke out, aiming at independence. It was put down with vigor and without mercy. The only hope for the Poles lay in foreign intervention but in this they were bitterly disappointed. England, France, and Aus- tria intervened three tirries in their behalf, but only by diplomatic notes, making no attempt to give emphasis to their notes by a show of force. Russia, seeing this, and supported by Prussia, treated their intervention as an impertinence, and proceeded to wreak her vengeance. It was a fearful punishment she meted out. A process of Russification was now vigorously pursued. The Russian language was prescribed for the correspondence of the officials and the A policy of lectures of the university professors, and the use of Polish Russification ^g^g forbidden in churches, schools, theatres, newspapers, in business signs, in fact, everywhere. It was not long before Alexander, always vacillating, gave up all dallying with reforms and relapsed into the traditional repressive ways of Russian monarchs. This reaction aroused intense discontent and engendered a movement which threatened the very existence of the monarchy itself, namely. Nihilism. The Nihilists belonged to the intellectual class of Russia. Reading the works of the more radical philosophers and scientists of western Rise of Europe, and reflecting upon the foundations of their own Nihilism national institutions and conditions, they became most destructive critics. They were extreme individualists who tested every human institution and custom by reason. As few Russian institutions could meet such a test, the Nihilists condemned them all. Theirs was an attitude, first of intellectual challenge, then of revolt against the whole THE NIHILIST MOVEMENT 565 established order. Shortly, Socialism was grafted upon this hatred of all established institutions. In the place of the existing society, which must be swept away, a new society was to be erected, based on socialistic prin- ciples. Thus the movement entered upon a new phase. It ceased to be merely critical and destructive. It became constructive as well, in short, a poHtical party with a positive programme, a party very small but resolute and reckless, willing to resort to any means to achieve its aims. This party now determined to institute an educational campaign in Russia, realizing that nothing could be done unless the millions of peas- ants were shaken out of their stolid acquiescence in the Nihilist prevalent order which weighed so heavily upon them, propaganda This extraordinary movement, called "going in among the people," became very active after 1870. Young men and women, all belonging to the educated class, and frequently to noble families, became day laborers and peasants in order to mingle with the people, to arouse them to action, "to found," as one of their documents said, "on the ruins of the present social organization the empire of the working classes." They showed the self-sacrifice, the heroism of the missionary laboring under the most discouraging conditions. It is estimated that, between 1872 and 1878, between two and three thousand such missionaries were active in this propaganda. Their efforts, however, were not rewarded with success. The peasantry remained stolid, if not contented. Moreover, this campaign of education and persuasion was broken up wherever possible by the ubiquitous and lawless police. Many were imprisoned or exiled to Siberia. A pacific propaganda being impossible, one of violence seemed to the more energetic spirits the only alternative. As the Government held the people in a subjection unworthy of human 'beings, a policy of as it employed all its engines of power against every one terrorism who demanded reform of any kind, as, in short, it ruled by terror, these reformers resolved to fight it with terror as the only method possible. The ' ' Terrorists ' ' were not bloodthirsty or cruel by nature. They simply believed that no progress whatever could be made in raising Russia from her misery except by getting rid of the more unscrupulous officials. They perfected their organization and entered upon a period of violence. Numerous attempts, often successful, were made to assassinate the high officials, chiefs of police and others who had rendered themselves particu^ larly odious. In turn many of the revolutionists were executed. 566 RUSSIA TO THE WAR WITH JAPAN Finally the terrorists determined to kill the Czar as the only way of overthrowing the whole hated arbitrary and oppressive system. Sev- eral attempts were made. In April, 1879, a schoolmaster, Attempts • r r 1 upon the Solovief, hred Emperor's fiyg shotS at the Emperor, none 01 which took effect. In Decem- ber of the same year a train on which he was supposed to be returning from the Crimea was wrecked, just as it reached Moscow, by a mine placed between the rails, Alexander escaped only because he had reached the capital secretly on an earlier train. The next attempt (February, 1880) was to kill him while at dinner in the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. Dynamite was exploded, ten soldiers were killed and fifty-three wounded in the guardroom directly overhead, and the floor of the dining room was torn up. The Czar narrowly escaped because he did not go to dinner at th| usual hour. St. Petersburg Was by this time thoroughly terrorized. Alexander now appointed Loris Melikoff practically dictator. Melikoff sought tc inaugurate a milder regime. He released hundreds of prisoners, and ir Alexander II "^any cases commuted the death sentence. He urged the and Loris Czar to grant the people some share in the government] believing that this would kill the Nihilist movement, whict was a violent expression of the discontent of the nation with the abuses of an arbitrary and lawless system of government. He urged that this could be done without weakening the principle of autocracy, and that thus Alexander would win back the popularity he had enjoyed during his early reforming years. After much hesitation and mental perturba- KM ,-^» - >i'<'" ... \v'''^ '%, Alexander II ABSOLUTISM OF .ALEXANDER III 567 tion the Czar ordered, March 13, 1881, Melikoff's scheme to be pub- lished in the official journal. But on that same afternoon, as * . . , . ^ , . ' Assassination he was returnmg from a drive, escorted by Cossacks, a bomb of Alexander was thrown at his carriage. The carriage was wrecked, " and many of his escorts were injured. Alexander escaped as by a mi- racle, but a second bomb exploded near him as he was going to aid the injured. He was horribly mangled, and died within an hour. Thus perished the Czar Liberator. At the same time the hopes of the Liberals perished also. This act of supreme violence did not intimidate the suc- cessor to the throne, Alexander III, whose entire reign was one of stern repression. THE REIGN OF ALEXANDER III The man who now ascended the throne of Russia was in the full flush of magnificent manhood. Alexander III, son of Alexander Alexander II, was thirty-six years of age, and of powerful m physique. His education had been chiefly military. He ^ was a man of firm and resolute rather than large or active mind. It shortly became clear that he possessed a strong, inflexible character, that he was a thorough believer in absolutism, and was determined to maintain it undiminished. He assumed an attitude of de- Rigorous fiant hostility to innovators and liberals. His reign, which policy of lasted from 1881 to 1894, was one of reversion to the older ideals of government and of unqualified absolutism. The terrorists were hunted down, and their attempts practically ceased. The press was thoroughly gagged, university professors and students were watched, suspended, exiled, as the case ^^^ might be. The reforms of Alexander II were in part un- terrorists done, and the secret poHce, the terrible Third Section, was ^"^^^^^ greatly augmented. Liberals gave up all hope of any im- ^ provement during this reign, and waited for better days. Under Alexan- \ der III began the inhuman persecutions of the Jews which have been so V dark a feature of recent Russian history. The great Jewish emigration / to the United States dates from this time. _ / In one sphere only was there any progress in this bleak, stern reign. That sphere was the economic. An industrial revolution began then which has been carried much further under his successor. Russia had been for centuries an agricultural country whose agriculture, moreover, was of the primitive type. Whatever industries existed were mainly of 568 RUSSIA TO THE WAR WITH JAPAN the household kind. Russia was one of the poorest countries in the world, her immense resources being undeveloped. Under the system of pro- tection adopted by Alexander II, and continued and increased by Alex- ander III, industries of a modern kind began to grow up. A tremendous impetus was given to this development by the appoint- Witte, ment in 1892 as Minister of Finance and Commerce of Minister of Sergius de Witte. Witte believed that Russia, the largest Finance f , . ^ ,,..,, and most populous country m Europe, a world m itself, ought to be self-sufficient, that as long as it remained chiefly agricultural it would be tributary to the industrial nations for manufactured articles, that it had abundant resources, in raw material and in labor, to enable it to supply its own needs if they were but developed. He believed that Witte's ^^^^ development could be brought about by the adoption industrial of a policy of protection. Was not the astonishing industrial poicy growth of Germany and of the United States convincing proof of the value of such a policy? By adopting it for Russia, by en- couraging foreigners to invest heavily in the new protected industries, by showing them that their rewards would inevitably be large, he began and carried far the economic transformation of his country. Immense amounts of foreign capital poured in and Russia advanced industrially in the closing decade of the nineteenth century with great swiftness. One thing more was necessary. Russia's greatest lack was good means of communication. She now undertook to supply this want by exten- Extensive ^^^^ railway building. For some years before Witte as- raUway sumed office, Russia was building less than 400 miles of cons rue ion j-^y-^ay ^ year; from that time on for the rest of the decade, she built nearly 1,400 miles a year. The most stupendous of these undertakings was that of a trunk line connecting Europe with the Pacific Ocean, the great Trans-Siberian railroad. For this Russia borrowed vast sums of money in western Europe, principally in France. Begun in 1891, the road was formally opened in 1902. It has reduced the time and cost of transportation to the East about one-half. In 1909 Russia possessed over 41,000 miles of railway, over 28,000 of which were owned and operated by the Government. This tremendous change in the economic life of the Empire was des- Rise of labor fined to have momentous consequences, some of which problems were quickly apparent. Cities grew rapidly, a large laboring class developed, and labor problems of the kind familiar to Western ACCESSION OF NICHOLAS II 569 countries, socialistic theories, spread among the working people; also a new middle class of capitalists and manufacturers was created which might some day demand a share in the government. These new forces would, in time, threaten the old, illiberal, unprogressive regime which had so long kept Russia stagnant and profoundly unhappy. That the old system was being undermined was not, however, apparent, and might not have been for many years had not Russia, ten years after Alexander's death, become involved in a disastrous and hu- miliating war with Japan. THE REIGN OF NICHOLAS II Alexander III died in 1894, and was succeeded by his son, Nicholas II, then twenty-six years of age. The hope was gen- eral that a milder Accession of regime might now be Nicholas II introduced. This, however, was not to be. For ten years the young Czar pursued the policy of his father with scarcely a variation save in the direction of greater severity. A suggestion that representa- tive institutions might be granted was declared "a senseless dream." The government was not one of law but of arbitrary power. Its mstru- ments were a numerous and corrupt body of state officials and a ruth- less, active police'. No one was secure against anest, imprisonment, exile. The most elementary personal rights were lackmg. The professional and educated man was in an intolerable position. If a professor in a university, he was watched by the police, and was likely to be removed at any moment as was Professor persecution Milyoukov, an historian of distinguished attainments, for ofj^e^^^^-- no other reason than "generally noxious tendencies It an editor, his position was even more precarious, unless he was utterly servile to the authorities. It was a suffocating atmosphere for any man of the slightest intellectual independence, living in the ideas o the es- ent age The censorship grew more and more rigorous, and included Nicholas II 570 RUSSIA TO THE WAR WITH JAPAN such books as Green's History of England, and Bryce's American Com- monwealth. Arbitrary arrests of all kinds increased from year to year as the difhculty of thoroughly bottling up Russia increased. Students were the objects of special police care, as it was the young and ardent and educated who were most indignant at this senseless despotism. Many of them disappeared, in one year as many as a fifth of those in the University of Moscow, probably sent to Siberia or to prisons in Europe. A government of this kind was not likely to err from excess of sym- pathy with the subject nationalities, such as the Poles and the Finns. Attack upon In Finland, indeed, its arbitrary course attained its climax, the Finns Finland had been acquired by Russia in 1809, but on lib- eral terms. It was not incorporated in Russia, but continued a Grand Duchy, with the Emperor of Russia as simply Grand Duke. It had its own Parliament, its Fundamental Laws or constitution, to which the Grand Duke swore fidelity. These Fundamental Laws could not be altered or interpreted or repealed except with the consent of the Diet and the Grand Duke. Finland was a constitutional state, governing itself, connected with Russia in the person of its sovereign. It had its own army, its own currency and postal system. Under this liberal regime it prospered greatly, its population increasing from less than a million to nearly three millions by the close of the century, and was, according to an historian of Russia, at least thirty years in advance of that country in all the appliances of material civilization. The sight of this country enjoying a constitution of its own and a separate organization was an offense to the men controlling Russia. They wished to sweep away all distinctions between the various parts of the Emperor's dominions, to unify, to Russify. The attack upon the liberties of the Finns began under Alexander III. It was carried much further by Abrogation of the Nicholas II, who, on February 15, 1899, issued an imperial Finnish con- manifesto which really abrogated the constitution of that stitution -^ ° country. The Finns began a stubborn but apparently hopeless struggle for their historic rights with the autocrat of one hundred and forty million men. Under such a system as that just described men could be terrorized into silence; they could not be made contented. Disaffection of all classes, driven into subterranean channels, only increased, awaiting the time for explosion. That time came with the disastrous defeat of RELATIONS WITH THE ORIENT 571 Russia in the war with Japan in 1904-5, a landmark in contemporary history. To understand recent events in Russia it is necessary to trace the course of that war whose consequences have been profound, and to show the significance of that conflict we must interrupt this ^.^^^ ^ .. narrative of Russian history in order to give an account of Far Eastern the recent evolution of Asia, the rise of the so-called Far ^*^^^**°'^ Eastern Question, and the interaction of Occident and Orient upon each other. REFERENCES Russia in 1815: Skrine, Expansion of Russia, pp. 8-13; Cambridge Modern His- tory, Vol. X, Chap. XIII, pp. 413-439. Reign of Alexander I: Skrine, pp. 15-85. Reign of Nicholas I: Skrine, pp. 86-164. Alexander II and the Emancipation of the Serfs: Skrine, pp. 178-191; Wallace, Russia, Chaps. XXVII-XXXIII; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XI, pp. 613-627. Alexander II and Nihilism: Rose, Development of the European Nations, Vol. I, pp. 344-366; Skrine, pp. 214-222, 265-270; Wallace, Chap. XXXIV; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XI, pp. 628-630. Reign of Alexander III: Skrine, pp. 271-308; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XII, pp. 312-321. Reign of Nicholas II: Skrine, pp. 309-348; Wallace, Chaps. XXXVI-XXXIX. Poland Since 1862: Phillips, Poland (Home University Librarj'), PP- 125-250; Orris, A Brief History of Poland, Chaps. VIII-X. CHAPTER XXXV THE FAR EAST ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND RUSSIA IN ASIA Europe has not only taken possession of Africa, but she has taken possession of large parts of Asia, and presses with increasing force upon ^ , J the remainder. England and France dominate southern England, . . *^ France, and Asia by their control, the former of India and Burma, the Russia in latter of a large part of Indo-China. Russia, on the other hand, dominates the north, from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. As far as geographical extent is concerned, she is far more an Asiatic power than a European, which, indeed, is also true of England and of France, and she has been an Asiatic power much longer than they, for she began her expansion into Asia before the Pil- grims came to America. For nearly three centuries Russia has been a great Asiatic state, while England has been a power in India for only half that time. It was not until the nineteenth century, however, that Russia began to devote serious attention to Asia as a field for colonial and commercial Russian expansion. Siberia was regarded merely as a convenient expansion prison to which to, send her disalTected or criminal citizens. Events in Europe have caused her to concentrate her attention more and more upon her Asiatic development. She has sought there what she had long been seeking in Europe, but without avail, because of the opposition she encountered, namely, contact with the ocean, free outlet Russia seeks ^^ ^^^ world. Russia's coast line, either in Europe or Asia, access to the had no harbors free from ice the year round. Blocked decisively and repeatedly from obtaining such in Europe at the expense of Turkey, she has sought them in Eastern Asia. This ambition explains her Asiatic policies. In 1858 she acquired from China the whole northern bank of the Amur and two years later more territory ' farther south, the Maritime Province, at the southern point of which she founded as a naval base Vladivostok, which means the Dominator 572 CONDITIONS IN CHINA 573 of the East. But Vladivostok was not ice-free in winter. Russia still lacked her longed-for outlet. CHINA Between Russian Asia on the north, and British and French Asia on the south, lies the oldest empire of the world, China, and one more extensive than Europe and probably more populous, with The civiiiza- more than 400,000,000 inhabitants. It is a land of great **°'^ °^ ^^'"^ navigable rivers, of vast agricultural areas, and of mines rich in coal and metals, as yet largely undeveloped. The Chinese were a highly civilized people long before the Europeans were. They preceded the latter by centuries in the use of the compass, powder, porcelain, paper. As early as the skth century of our era they knew the art of printing from movable wooden blocks. They have long been famous for their work in bronze, in wood, in lacquer, for the marvels of their silk manu- facture. As a people laborious and intelligent, they have always been devoted to the peaceful pursuits of industry, and have despised the arts of war. China had always lived a life of isolation, despising the outside world. She had no diplomatic representatives in any foreign country, nor were any foreign ambassadors resident in Peking. Foreigners The isola- were permitted to trade in only one Chinese port. Canton, *'°° ®^ *^^°* and even there only under vexatious and humiliating conditions. It was not likely that a policy of such isolation could be permanently maintained in the modern age, and as the nineteenth century progressed it was gradually shattered. The Chinese desired nothing better than to be left alone. But this was not to be. By a long series of aggressions extending to our own day various European powers have forced China to enter into relations with them, to make concessions of territory, of trad- ing privileges, of diplomatic intercourse. In this story of European aggression the Opium War waged by Great Britain against The Opium China from 1840 to 1842 was decisive, as showing how easy W" it was to conquer China. The Chinese had forbidden the importa- tion of opium, as injurious to their people. But the British did not wish to give up a trade in which the profits were enormous. The war, the first between China and a European power, lasted two years and ended in the victory of Great Britain. The consequences, m forc- ing the doors of China open to European influence, were important. 574 THE FAR EAST By the Treaty of Nanking, 1842, she was forced to pay a large in- The treaty demnity, to open to British trade four ports in addition po'^ts to Canton, and to cede the island of Hong Kong, near Can- ton, to England outright. Hong Kong has since become one of the most important naval and commercial stations of the British Empire. Other powers now proceeded to take advantage of the British success. The United States sent Caleb Cushing to make a commercial treaty with China in 1844, and before long France, Belgium, Holland, Prussia, and Portugal established trade centers at the five treaty ports. The number of such ports has since been increased to over forty. China was obliged to abandon her policy of isolation and to send and receive ambassadors. A period of critical importance in China's relations with Europe began in the last decade of the nineteenth century as a result of a war with Japan in 1894-5. To appreciate this war it is necessary to give some account of the previous evolution of Japan. JAPAN The rise of Japan as the most forceful state in the Orient is a chapter of very recent history, of absorbing interest, and of great significance to the present age. Accomplished in the last third of the nineteenth century, it has already profoundly altered the conditions of international politics, and seems likely to be a factor of increasing moment in the future evolution of the world. Japan is an archipelago consisting of several large islands and about four thousand smaller ones. It covered, in 1894, an area of 147,000 Description square miles, an area smaller than that of California. The of Japan main islands form a crescent, the northern point being op- posite Siberia, the southern turning in toward Korea. Between it and Asia is the Sea of Japan. The country is very mountainous, its most famous peak, Fujiyama, rising to a height of 12,000 feet. Of volcanic origin, numerous craters are still active. Earthquakes are not uncom- mon, and have determined the character of domestic architecture. The coast line is much indented, and there are many good harbors. The Japanese call their country Nippon, or the Land of the Rising Sim. Only about one-sixth of the land is under cultivation, owing to its moun- tainous character, and owing to the prevalent mode of farming. Yet into this small area is crowded a population of about fifty millions, 'EMERGENCE OF JAPAN which is larger than that of Great Britain or France. It is no occasion for surprise that the Japanese have desired territorial expansion. The people of Japan derived the beginnings of their civilization from China, but in many respects they differed greatly from the Chinese. The virtues of the soldier were held in high esteem. Patri- Japanese otism was a passion, and with it went the spirit of unques- civilization tioning self-sacrifice. " Thou shalt honor the gods and love thy country," was a command of the Shinto religion, and was universally obeyed. An art-loving and pleasure-loving people, they possessed active minds and a surprising power of assimilation which they were to show on a national and momentous scale. The Japanese had followed the same policy of seclusion as had the Chinese. Japan had for centuries been almost hermetically y^ ^^^^ sealed against the outside world. On the peninsula of policy Deshima there was a single trading station which carried °^ isolation on a slight commerce with the Dutch. This was Japan's sole point of contact with the outside world for over two centuries. This unnatural seclusion was rudely disturbed by the arrival in Japanese waters of an American fleet under Commodore Perry in 1853, sent out by the government of the United States. American Commodore sailors, engaged in the whale fisheries in the Pacific, were P^iry now and then wrecked on the coasts of Japan, where they generally re- ceived cruel treatment. Perry was instructed to demand of the ruler of Japan protection for American sailors and property thus wrecked, and permission for American ships to put into one or more Japanese ports, in order to obtain necessary supplies and to dispose of their cargoes. He presented these demands to the government. He announced further that if his requests were refused, he would open hostilities. The govern- ment granted certain immediate demands, but insisted that the general question of opening relations with a foreign state required careful con- sideration. Perry consented to allow this discussion and sailed away, stating that he would return the following year for the final answer. The discussion of the general question on the part of the govern- ing classes was very earnest. Some believed in maintaining the old policy of complete exclusion of foreigners. Others, how- p^jj^y „{ ever, believed this impossible, owing to the manifest mill- j^^^J^^^^^^^^ tary superiority of the foreigners. They thought it well to enter into relations with them in order to learn the secret of that 576 THE FAR EAST superiority, and then to appropriate it for Japan. They beheved this the only way to insure, in the long run, the independence and power of their country. This opinion finally prevailed, and when Perry reap- peared a treaty was made with him (1854) by which two ports were opened to American ships. This w^as a mere beginning, but the impor- tant fact was that Japan had, after two centuries of seclusion, entered into relations with a foreign state. Later other and more liberal treaties were concluded with the United States and with other countries. The reaction of these events upon the internal evolution of Japan was remarkable. They produced a very critical situation, and precipi- tated a civil war, the outcome of which discussion and conflict was the triumph of the party that believed in change. After 1868 Japan 1-evolu- Ranid trans- tionized her political and social institutions in a few years, formation of adopted with ardor the material and scientific civilization Japan ^£ ^-^^ West, made herself in these respects a European state, and entered as a result upon an international career, which has already profoundly modified the world, and is likely to be a constant and an increasing factor in the future development of the East. So complete, so rapid, so hearty an appropriation of an alien civilization, a civiliza- tion against which every precaution of exclusion had for centuries been taken, is a change imique in the history of the world, and notable for the audacity and the intelligence displayed. The entrance upon this course was a direct result of Perry's expedition. The Japanese revolu- tion will always remain an astounding story. Once begun it proceeded Adoption of ^^^^ great rapidity. In place of the former military class European arose an army based on European models. Military ser- institutions ^-^^ ^^^ declared universal and obligatory in 1872. The German system, which has revolutionized Europe, began to revolu- tionize Asia. The first railroad was begun in 1870 between Tokio and Yokohama. Thirty years later there were over 3,600 miles in operation. To-day there are 6,000. The educational methods of the West were also intro- Reform in duced. A university was established at Tokio, and later education another at Kioto. Professors from abroad were induced to accept important positions in them. Students showed great enthusi- asm in pursuing the new learning. Public schools were created rapidly, and by 1883 about 3,300,000 pupils were receiving education. In 1873 the European calendar was adopted. The codes of law were thoroughly WAR BETWEEN CHINA AND JAPAN 577 remodeled after an exhaustive study of European systems. Finally a constitution was granted in 1889, after eight years of careful elaboration and study of foreign models. It established a wmes^a^'con- parliament of two chambers, a House of Peers (the so- stitutionai called ''Elder Statesmen") and a House of Representatives. The vote was given to men of twenty-five years or older who paid a certain property tax. The constitution reserves very large powers for the monarch. Parliament met for the first time in 1890. The test of reformed Japan came in the last decade of the nineteenth ^^^^ . . century and the first of the twentieth, and proved the solid- China and ity of this amazing achievement. During those years she ^"®^** fought and defeated two powers apparently much stronger than herself, China and Russia, and took her place as an equal in the family of nations. CHINO-JAPANESE WAR AND ITS CONSEQUENCES A war in which the efhciency of the transformed Japan was clearly established broke out with China in 1894. The immediate cause was the relations of the two powers to Korea. Korea was a king- c^use of the dom, but both China and Japan claimed suzerainty over war with it. Japan had an interest in extending her claims, as she desired larger markets for her products. Friction was frequent between the two countries concerning their rights in Korea, as a consequence of which Japan began a war in which, with her modern army, she was easily victorious over her giant neighbor, whose armies fought in the old Asiatic style with a traditional Asiatic equipment. The Japanese drove the Chinese out of Korea, invaded Manchuria, where they seized the fortress of Port Arthur, the strongest position in eastern Asia, occupied the Liao-tung peninsula on which that fortress is located. Treaty of and prepared to advance toward Peking. The Chinese, ShimonoseM alarmed for their capital, agreed to make peace, and signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki (April 17, 1895), by which they ceded Port Arthur, the Liao-tung peninsula, the Island of Formosa, and the Pescadores Islands to Japan, also agreeing to pay a large war indemnity of two hundred million taels (about $175,000,000). China recognized the complete independence of Korea. But in the hour of her triumph Japan was thwarted by a European intervention, and deprived of the fruits of her victory. Russia now entered in decisive fashion upon a scene where she was to play a promi- 578 THE FAR EAST nent part for the next ten years. She soon showed that she entertained plans directly opposed to those of the Japanese. She in- Intervention , ,_, ....... of Russia, duced r ranee and Germany to jom her in forcing them to France, and gjyg ^p the most important rewards of their victory, in ordering them to surrender the Liao-tung peninsula on the ground that the possession of Port Arthur threatened the independence of Peking and would be a perpetual menace "to the peace of the Far East." This was a bitter blow to the Japanese. Recognizing, however, Japan ^^^^ ^^ would be folly to oppose the three great military relinquishes powers of Europe, they yielded, restored Port Arthur and °^ ^^ the peninsula to China, and withdrew from the mainland, indignant at the action of the powers, and resolved to increase their army and navy and develop their resources, believing that their enemy in Asia was Russia, with whom a day of reckoning must come sooner or later, and confirmed in this belief by events that crowded thick and fast in the next few years. The insincerity of the powers in talking about the integrity of China i and the peace of the East was not long in manifesting itself. In 1897 two German missionaries were murdered in the province of' Shantung. The German Emperor immediately sent a fleet to demand German redress. As a result Germany secured (March 5, 1898) aggression from China a ninety-nine year lease of the fine harbor of Kiauchau, with a considerable area round about, and extensive com- mercial and financial privileges in the whole province of Shantung. Indeed, that province became a German "sphere of influence." This action encouraged Russia to make further demands. She acquired from China (March 27, 1898) a lease for twenty-five years of Port Arthur, Russia se- ^^^ strongest position in eastern Asia, which, as she had cures Port stated to Japan in 1895, enabled the possessor to threaten ^^ ^^ Peking and to disturb the peace of the Orient. France and England also each acquired a port on similar terms of lease. The powers also forced China to open a dozen new ports to the trade of the world, and to grant extensive rights to establish factories and build railways and develop mines. It seemed, in the summer of 1898, that China was about to un- dergo the fate of Africa, that it was to be carved up among the va- rious powers. This tendency was checked by the rise of a bitterly anti-foreign party, occasioned by these acts of aggression, and culmi- RUSSIA AND MANCHURIA 579 nating in the Boxer insurrections of 1900. These grew rapidly, and spread over northern China. Their aim was to drive the "foreign devils into the sea." Scores of missionaries and "Boxer" their families were killed, and hundreds of Chinese converts ™°^®™«°t murdered in cold blood. Finally, the Legations of the various powers in Peking w^ere besieged, and for weeks Europe and America feared that all the foreigners there would be massacred. In the presence of this common danger the powers were obliged to drop their jealousies and rivalries, and send a relief expedition, consisting of troops from Japan, Russia, Ger- many, France, Great Britain, and the United States. The Legations were rescued, just as their resources were exhausted by the Rggcyg siege of two months (June 13-August 14, 1900). The in- of the ternational army suppressed the Boxer movement after a ®^* °°^ short campaign, forced the Chinese to pay a large indemnity, and to punish the ringleaders. In forming this international army, the powers had agreed not to acquire territory, and at the close of the war they guaranteed the integrity of China. Whether this would mean anything remained to be seen. The integrity of China had been invoked in 1895 and ignored in the years following. Russia, France, and Germany had appealed to it as a reason for demanding the evacuation of Port Arthur by ^^ the Japanese in 1895. Soon afterward Germany had vir- indignant tually annexed a port and a province of China, and France J^^gf^^J""^' had also acquired a port in the south. Then came the most decisive act, the securing of Port Arthur by Russia. This caused a wave of indignation to sweep over Japan, and the people of that country were with difficulty kept in check by the prudence of their statesmen. The acquisition of Port Arthur by Russia meant that now she had a harbor ice-free the year round. That Russia did not look upon her possession as merely a short lease, but as a permanent one, was Russian unmistakably shown by her conduct. She constructed a ^^^^^^^^^ railroad south from Harbin, connecting with the Trans- Siberian. She threw thousands of troops into Manchuria; she set about immensely strengthening Port Arthur as a fortress, and a considerable fleet was stationed there. To the Japanese all this seemed to prove that she purposed ultimately to annex the immense province of Manchuria, and later probably Korea, which would give her a larger number of ice- free harbors and place her in a dominant position on the Pacific, men- 580 THE FAR EAST acing, the Japanese felt, the very existence of Japan. Moreover, this would absolutely cut off all chance of possible Japanese expansion in these directions, and of the acquisition of their markets for Japanese industries. The ambitions of the two powers to dominate the East clashed, and, in addition, to Japan the matter seemed to involve her permanent safety, even in her island empire. RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR AND ITS CONSEQUENCES Japan's prestige at this time was greatly increased by a treaty con- cluded with England in 1902 establishing a defensive alliance, each power promising the other aid in certain contingencies. In case Japanese either should become involved in war the other would re- Treaty of main neutral but would abandon its neutrality and come 1902 to the assistance of its ally if another power should join the enemy. This meant that if France or Germany should aid Russia in a war with Japan, then England would aid Japan. In a war between Russia and Japan alone England would be neutral. The treaty was therefore of great practical importance to Japan, and it also increased her prestige. For the first time in history, an Asiatic power had entered into an alliance with a European power on a plane of entire equality. Japan had entered the family of nations and it was remarkable evidence of her importance that Great Britain saw advantage in an alliance with her. Meanwhile Russia had a large army in Manchuria and a lease- hold of the strong fortress and naval base of Port Arthur. She had def- initely promised to withdraw from Manchuria when order should be Japan makes restored, but she declined to make the statement more war upon explicit. Her military preparations increasing all the while, Russia ^j^g Japanese demanded of her the date at which she in- tended to withdraw her troops from Manchuria, order having apparently been restored. Negotiations between the two powers dragged on from August, 1903 to February, 1904. Japan, believing that Russia was merely trying to gain time to tighten her grip on Manchuria by elaborate and intentional delay and evasion, and to prolong the discussion until she had sufficient troops in the province to be able to throw aside the mask, suddenly broke off diplomatic relations and commenced hostilities. On the night of the 8th-9th of February, 1904, the Japanese torpedoed a part of the Russian fleet before Port Arthur and threw their armies into Korea. THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR 581 The Russo-Japanese War, thus begun, lasted from February, 1904 to September, 1905. It was fought on both land and sea. Russia had two fleets in Asiatic waters, one at Port Arthur and one at Vladi- t, . 1 TT 1 1 • -1 Russo-Jap- vostok. Her land connection with eastern Asia was by the anese War, long single track of the Trans-Siberian railway. Japan sue- ^^^^-^^^^ ceeded in bottling the Port Arthur fleet at the very outset of the war. Controlling the Asiatic waters she was able to transport armies and munitions to the scene of the land warfare with only slight losses at the hands of the Vladivostok fleet. One army drove the Russians out of Korea, back from the Yalu. Another under General Oku landed on the Liaotung peninsula and cut off the connections of Port Arthur with Russia. It attempted to take Port Arthur by assault, but was unable to carry it, and finally began a siege. This siege was con- siege of ducted by General Nogi, General Oku being engaged in ^°^^ Arthur driving the Russians back upon Mukden. The Russian General Kuro- patkin marched south from Mukden to relieve Port Arthur. South of Mukden great battles occurred, that of Liao-yang, engaging probably half a million men and lasting several days, resulting in a victory of the Japanese, who entered Liao-yang September 4, 1904. Their objective now was Mukden. Meanwhile, in August, the Japanese had defeated disastrously both the Port Arthur and Vladivostok fleets, eliminating them from the war. The terrific bombardment of Port Arthur con- tinued until that fortress surrendered after a siege of ten months, costing the Japanese 60,000 in killed and wounded (January i, 1905). The army which had conducted this siege was now able to march northward to cooperate with General Oku around Mukden. There several battles were fought, the greatest since the Franco-German war of Mukden 1870, lasting in each case several days. The last, at Muk- captured by den (March 6-10, 1905), cost both armies 120,000 men kUled and wounded in four days' fighting. The Russians were defeated and evacuated Mukden, leaving 40,000 prisoners in the hands of the Japanese. Another incident of the war was the sending out from Russia of a new fleet under Admiral Rodjestvensky, which, after a long voy- Destruction age around the Cape of Good Hope, was attacked by Ad- ^^f^^^ miral Togo as it entered the Sea of Japan and annihilated fleet, May in the great naval battle of the Straits of Tsushima, May 27, 1905. 582 THE FAR EAST The two powers finally consented, at the suggestion of President Roosevelt, to send delegates to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to see if the war could be brought to a close. The result was the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth, September 5, 1905. The war between Japan and Russia had been fought in lands belonging to neither power, in Korea, and principally in Manchuria, a province of China, yet Korea and China took no part in the war, were passive spectators, powerless to preserve the neutrality of their soil or their independent sovereignty. The war had cost each nation about a billion dollars and about 200,000 in killed and wounded. By the Treaty of Portsmouth Russia recognized Japan's paramount interests in Korea, which country, however, was to remain indepen- The Treaty dent. Both the Russians and the Japanese were to evacu- of Ports- ate Manchuria. Russia transferred to Japan her lease of ™**" Port Arthur and the Liao-tung peninsula, and ceded the southern half of the island of Saghalin. Japan thus stood forth the dominant power of the Orient. She had expanded in ten years by the annexation of Formosa and Saghalin. She has not regarded Korea as independent, but since the close of the war has annexed her (1910). She possesses Port Arthur, and her position in Manchuria is one which has given rise to much diplomatic discussion. She has an army of 600,000 men, equipped with all the most modern appliances of destruction, a navy about the size of that of France, flourishing industries, and flourishing commerce. The drain upon her resources during the period just passed had been tremendous, and, appreciating the need of many years of quiet recuperation and upbuild- ing, she was willing to make the Peace of Portsmouth. Her financial difficulties are great, imposing an abnormally heavy taxation. No people has accomplished so vast a transformation in so short a time. The lesson of these tremendous events was not lost upon the Chi- nese. The victories of Japan, an Oriental state, over a great Occidental Reaction of power, as well as over China, convinced many influential these events Chinese of the advantage to be derived from an adoption of upon na European methods, an appropriation of European knowledge. Moreover, they saw that the only way to repel the aggressions of out- side powers was to be equipped with the weapons used by the aggressor. The leaven of reform began to work fruitfully in the Middle King- dom. A military spirit arose in this state, which formerly despised the martial 1m RADICAL CHANGES IN CHINA 583 martial virtues. Under the direction of Japanese instructors a begin- ning was made in the construction of a Chinese army after Reform in European models and equipped in P:uropean fashion. The ^'^'"^ acquisition of western knowledge was encouraged. Students went in large numbers to the schools and universities of Europe and America. Twenty thousand of them went to Japan. The state encouraged the process by throwing open the civil service, that is, official careers, to those who obtained honors in examinations in western subjects. Schools were opened throughout the country. Even public schools for giris were established in some places, a remarkable fact for any Oriental country. In 1906 an edict was issued aiming at the prohibition of the use of opium within ten years. This edict has since been put into execution and the opium trade has finally been suppressed. Political reorganization was also undertaken. An imperial commis- sion was sent to Europe in 1905 to study the representative systems of various countries, and on its return a committee, consist- a constitu- ing of many high dignitaries, was appointed to study its tion promised report. In August, 1908 an official edict was issued promising, in the name of the Emperor, a constitution in 191 7. But the process of transformation was destined to proceed more rapidly than was contemplated. Radical and revolutionary parties ap- peared upon the scene, demanding a constitution immediately. As the Imperial Government could not resist, it granted one in 191 1, estab- lishing a parliament with extensive powers. To cap all, in central and southern China a republican movement arose and spread rapidly. Finally a republic was proclaimed at Nanking and Dr. Sun Yat Sen, who had been educated in part in the United States, was elected presi- dent. A clash between this republican movement and the j^^ Manchu imperial party in the north resulted in the forced abdi- dynasty over- , , \ rr^i • ii. thrown cation of the boy Emperor (February, 1912). This was the end of the Manchu dynasty. Thereupon Yuan Shih K'ai was chosen President of the Republic of China. The situation con- ^hina pro- fronting the new Republic was extremely grave. Would ^^^j^"^^^^^ it prove possible to estabUsh the new regime upon solid and enduring bases, or would the Republic fall a prey- to the internal dissensions of the Chinese, or to foreign aggression at the^ hands of European powers, or, more hkely, at the hands of an ambitious and miHtaristic neighbor, Japan? These were the secrets of the future. 584 THE FAR EAST REFERENCES Early Relations of Europe with China: Douglas, Europe and the Far East, pp. 41-90. The Opening of Japan: Douglas, pp. 144-168. The Revolution in Japan: Douglas, pp. 169-209; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XII, Chap. XVIII, pp. 537-575. The Boxer Movement: Douglas, pp. 323-360; Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XII, pp. 517-521. Causes of the Russo-Japanese War: Douglas, pp. 409^24; Asakawa, Russo- Japanese Conflict, pp. 1-64. The Russo-Japanese War: Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XII, Chap. XIX, pp. 576-601. The Treaty of Portsmouth: Hershey, The International Law and Diplomacy of the Russo-Japanese War, Chap. XIII. Conditions in China and Japan: Hornbeck, S. ¥.., Contemporary Politics in the Far East (1916). CHAPTER XXXVI RUSSIA SINCE THE WAR WITH JAPAN We are now in a position to follow with some understanding the very recent history of Russia, a history at once crowded, intricate, and tur- bulent. That history is the record of the reaction of the Japanese War upon Russia herself. That war was from the beginning unpopular with the Russians. Consisting of a series of defeats, its unpopularity only increased, and the indignation and wrath of the people were shown during its course in many ways. The Government was justly held ity in Russia responsible, and was discredited by its failure. As it added °^ *^^ *^'' , 1 , , . . ,. , ,. , . w»th Japan greatly to the already existmg discontent, the plight in which the Government found itself rendered it powerless to repress the popular expression of that discontent in the usual summary fashion. There was for many months extraordinary freedom of ^ , , Open ex- discussion, of the press, of speech, cut short now and then pression of by the officials, only to break out later. The war with V^« popular -' ' -' discontent Japan had for the Government most unexpected and un- welcome consequences. The very winds were let loose. The Minister of the Interior, in whose hands lay the maintenance of public order, was at this time Plehve, one of the most bitterly hated men in recent Russian history. Plehve had been piehve's in power since 1902, and had revealed a character of un- """^ ""^s'™* usual harshness. He had incessantly and pitilessly prosecuted liberals everywhere, had filled the prisons with his victims, had been the center of the movement against the Finns, previously described, and seems to have secretly favored the horrible massacres of Jews which occurred at this time. He was detested as few men have been. He attempted to suppress in the usual manner the rising volume of criticism occasioned by the war by applying the same ruthless methods of AssassinaHon breaking up meetings, and exiling to Siberia students, pro- fessional men, laborers. He was killed July, 1904 by a bomb thrown under his carriage by a former student. Russia breathed more easily. 585 586 RUSSIA SINCE THE WAR WITH JAPAN The various liberal and advanced elements of the population uttered their desires with a freedom such as they had never known before. They A Russian demanded that the reign of law be established in Russia, defense of that the era of bureaucratic and police control, recognizing assassina on ^^ limits of inquisition and of cruelty, should cease. They demanded the individual rights usual in western Europe, freedom of conscience, of speech, of publication, of public meetings and associations, of justice administered by independent judges. They also demanded a constitution, to be framed by the people, and a national parliament. The Czar showing no inclination to accede to these demands, dis- order continued and became more widespread, particularly when the Popular dis- shameful facts became known that officials were enrich- satisfaction jj^g themselves at the expense of the national honor, sell- ing for private gain supplies intended for the army, even seizing the funds of the Red Cross Society. The war continued to be a series of I humiliating and sanguinary defeats, and on January i, 1905, came the / surrender of Port Arthur after a fearful siege. The horror of the civi- ( " Bloody lized world was aroused by an event which occurred a few fJ Sunday " weeks later, the slaughter of "Bloody Sunday" (January 22, 1905). Workmen in immense numbers, under the leadership of a radi- cal priest. Father Gapon, tried to approach the Imperial Palace in St. Petersburg, hoping to be able to lay their grievances directly before the Emperor, as they had no faith in any of the officials. Instead of that they were attacked by the Cossacks and the regular troops and the ^ result was a fearful loss of life, how large cannot be accurately stated. All through the year 1905 tumults and disturbances occurred. Peas- ants burned the houses of the nobles. Mutinies in the army and navy were frequent. The uncle of the Czar, the Grand Duke Sergius, one of the most pronounced reactionaries in the Empire, who had said "the people want the stick," was assassinated. Russia was in a state border- The Mani- ^"S *-*^ anarchy. Finally the Czar sought to reduce the festo of Au- ever-mounting spirit of opposition by issuing a manifesto ^"^ ' concerning the representative assembly which was so ve- hemently demanded (August 19, 1905). The manifesto proved a bitter disappointment, as it spoke of the necessity of preserving autocratic government and promised a representative assembly which should only have the power to give advice, not to see that its advice was followed. The agitation therefore continued unabated, or rather increased, as- CREATION OF THE DUMA 5S7 suming new and alarming aspects, which exerted in the end a terrific pressure upon the Government. Finally the Czar on October 30, 1905 issued a new manifesto which promised freedom of conscience, speech,' meeting, and association, also a representative assembly The Emperor or Duma, to be elected on a wide franchise, establishing promises a "as an immutable rule that no law can come into force Jive'l^sem- without the approval of the Duma," and giving to the ^^y °^ J^uma Duma also effective control over the acts of public officials. The Czar thus promised the Duma, which was to be a law-making body and was to have a supervision over state officials. But before it met he proceeded to clip its wings. He issued a ^,. ^ J • • 1 ^ ., \. , The Council decree constitutmg the Council of the Empire, that is, a of the body consisting largely of official appointees from the bu- ^^P"'^ reaucracy, or of persons associated with the old order of things, as a kind of Upper Chamber of the legislature, of which the Duma should be the Lower. Laws must have the consent of both Council and Duma before being submitted to the Czar for approval. The elections to the Duma were held in March and April, igo6, and resulted in a large majority for the Constitutional Democrats, popularly called the "Cadets." In the name of the Czar certain The "organic "organic laws" were now issued, laws that could not be '^ws" touched by the Duma. Thus the powers of that body were again restricted, before it had even met. The Duma was opened by Nicholas II in person with elaborate ceremony, May 10, 1906. It was destined to have a short and stormy life. It showed from the beginning that it desired a com- opening of prehensive reform of Russia along the well-known lines of the Duma, Western liberalism. It was combated by the court and ^^ ' bureaucratic parties, which had not been able to prevent its meeting, but which were bent upon rendering it powerless, and were only waiting for a favorable time to secure its abolition. It demanded that the Council of the Empire, the second chamber, demands should be reformed, as it was under the complete con- of the 11 ii-f ii Duma trol of the Emperor, and was thus able to nullity the work of the people's chamber. It demanded that the ministers be made responsible to the Duma as the only way of giving the people control over the officials. It demanded the abolition of martial law throughout the Empire, under cover of which all kinds of crimes were 588 RUSSIA SINCE THE WAR WITH JAPAN being perpetrated by the governing classes. It passed a bill abolishing capital punishment. As the needs of the peasants were most pressing, it demanded that the lands belonging to the state, the crown, and the monasteries be given to them on long lease. The Duma lasted a little over two months. Its debates were marked by a high degree of intelligence and by frequent displays of eloquence, The impo- ^ which several peasants distinguished themselves. It tence of the criticised the abuses of the Government freely and scath- ingly. Its sessions were often stormy, the attitude of the ministers frequently contemptuous. It was foiled in all its attempts at reform by the Council of the Empire, and by the Czar. The crucial contest was over the responsibility of ministers. The Duma demanded this as the only way of giving the people an effective participation in the government. The Czar steadily refused. A dead- lock ensued. The Czar cut the whole matter short by dissolving the Duma, on July 22, 1906, expressing himself as "cruelly disappointed" by its actions, and ordering elections for a new Duma. The second Duma was opened by the Czar March 5, 1907. It did not work to the satisfaction of the Government. Friction between it The second and the ministry developed early and steadily increased. Duma Finally the Government arrested sixteen of the members and indicted many others for carrying on an alleged revolutionary propaganda. This was, of course, a vital assault upon the integrity of the assembly, a gross infringement upon even the most moderate consti- tutional liberties. Preparing to contest this high-handed action, the Duma was desolved on June 16, 1907, and a new one ordered to be elected in September, and to meet in November. An imperial manifesto was issued at the same time altering the electoral law in most sweep- ing fashion, and practically bestowing the right of choosing alters the the large majority of the members upon about 130,000 electoral landowners. This also was a grave infringement upon the constitutional liberties hitherto granted, which had, among other things, promised that the electoral law should not be changed without the consent of the Duma. The Government declared by word and by act that the autocracy of The third the ruler was undiminished. Illegalities of the old, fa- Duma miliar kind were committed freely by ofhcials. Reaction ruled unchecked. The third Duma, elected on a very limited and plu- THE TRIUMPH OF CONSERVATISM 589 tocratic suffrage, was opened on November 14, 1907. It was composed in large measure of reactionaries, of large landowners. It proved a docile assembly. The Government has not yet dared to abolish the Duma outright, as urged by the reactionaries. The Duma still exists, but is rather a con- sultative than a legislative body. With the mere passage of time it takes on more and more the character of a permanent institution, exerting a feeble influence on the national life. However, The triumph the government of Russia is practically what it was before °* reaction the war with Japan, what it was all through the nineteenth century. The tremendous struggle for Hberty has thus far failed. The former governing classes have recovered control of the state, after the stormy years from 1904 to 1907, and have applied the former principles. Among these have been renewed attacks upon the Finns, increasingly severe measures against the Poles, and savage treatment of the Jews. Russia is still wedded to her idols, or at least her idols have not been over- thrown. Her mediaeval past is still the strongest force in the state, to which it still gives a thoroughly mediaeval tone. Whether the war of 1914 will result in accomplishing what the war with Japan began but did not achieve, a sweeping reformation of the institutions and policies, ambitions and mental outlook of the nation, will be known later. At present it is certainly unknown. REFERENCES The Annual Register; The International Year Book; Statesman's Year Book. Volumes since 1905. Sections on Russia. CHAPTER XXXVII THE BALKAN WARS OF 1912 AND 1913 THE PEACE MOVEMENT The contemporary world, to a degree altogether unprecedented in history, has been dominated by the thought of war, by extraordinary preparations for war, and by zealous and concerted efforts to prevent war. Finally a conflict, which staggers the imagination and beggars de- scription and whose issues are incalculable, has come and is clamping the entire world in its iron grip. It is a ghastly outcome of a century of development rich beyond compare in many lines. It is, however, not inexplicable and it is important for us to see how so melancholy, so sinister a turn has been given to the destinies of the race. The rise and development of the militaristic spirit have been shown in the preceding pages. The Prussian military system, marked by scien- Spread of tific thoroughness and efhciency, has been adopted by most militarism Qf ^^q countries of the Continent. Europe became in the last quarter of the nineteenth century what she had never been before, literally an armed continent. The rivalry of the nations to have the most perfect instruments of destruction, the strongest army, and the strongest navy, became one of the most conspicuous features of the modern world. Ships of war were made so strong that they could resist attack. New projectiles of terrific force were consequently required and the torpedo was invented. A new agency would be useful to discharge this missile and thus the torpedo boat was developed. To neutralize it was therefore the immediate necessity and the torpedo-boat destroyer was the result. Boats that could navigate beneath the waters would have an obvious advantage over those that could be seen, and the submarine was provided for this need. And now we are taking possession of the air with dirigible balloons and aeroplanes, as aerial auxiliaries of war. Thus man's immemorial occupation, war, gains from the advance of science and contributes to that advance. The wars of the past were fought on 59° THE PEACE MOVEMENT 591 the surface of the globe. Those of the present are fought in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath, and in the waters under the earth. But all this is tremendously expensive. It costs more than a hun- dred thousand dollars to construct the largest coast defense gun, which carries over twenty miles, and its single discharge costs a thousand dollars. Fifteen millions are necessary to build a modem dreadnought, and now we have super-dreadnoughts, more instruments costly still and more destructive. The debts of European ° *^ countries were nearly doubled during the last thirty years, largely because of military expenditures. The military budgets of European states in a time of "armed peace" amounted to not far from a billion and a half dollars a year, half as much again as the indemnity exacted by Germany from France in 187 1. The burden became so heavy, the rivalry so keen that it gave rise to a movement which aimed to end it. The very aggravation of the evil prompted a desire for its cure. In the summer of 1898 the civil and military authorities of Russia were considering how they might escape the necessity of replacing an antiquated kind of artillery with a more modern but very expensive one. Out of this discussion emerged the idea that it would be desirable, if possible, to check the increase of armaments. This could not be achieved by one nation alone but must be done by all, if ^^. . , „ ^ •' Nicholas II done at all. The outcome of these discussions was the and the issuance by the Czar, Nicholas II, on August 24, 1898, of ^^^l^^^^f a communication to the powers, suggesting that an inter- national conference be held to consider the general problem. The conference, thus suggested by the Czar, was held at the Hague in 1899. Twenty-six of the fifty-nine sovereign governments of the world were represented by one hundred members. Twenty ^^^ ^.^^^ of these states were European, four were Asiatic — China, Peace Con- Japan, Persia, and Siam, — and two were American — the J^'^^ ^^g^^ United States and Mexico. The Conference was opened on May 18 and closed on July 29. The official utterances of most of the delegates emphasized the fright- ful burden and waste of this vast expenditure upon the equipment for war, when all nations, big and little, needed all their re- Criticism of sources for the works of peace, for education, for social °* * ^"^'^ improvement in many directions. Most of the delegates emphasized also the loss entailed by compulsory military service, removing millions 592 THE BALKAN WARS OF 1912 AND 1913 and millions of young men from their careers, from productive activity for several precious years. A German delegate, on the other hand, denied all this, denied that the necessary weight of charges and taxes portended approaching ruin and exhaustion, declared that the general welfare was increasing all the while, and that compulsory military service was not regarded in his country as a heavy burden but as a sacred and patriotic duty to which his country owed its existence, its prosperity, and its future. With such differences of opinion the Conference was unable to reach any agreement upon the fundamental question which had given rise to its convocation. It could only adopt a resolution expressing the belief that "a limitation of the military expenses which now burden the world is greatly to be desired in the interests of the material and moral well- being of mankind" and the desire that the governments "shall take up the study of the possibility of an agreement concerning the limitation of armed forces on land and sea, and of military budgets." With regard to arbitration the Conference was more successful. It established a Permanent Court of Arbitration for the purpose of facili- Establish- tating arbitration in the case of international disputes which ment of a j^ jg found impossible to settle by the ordinary means Permanent ^ i- rr^i /-, • <• Court of of diplomacy. The Court does not consist of a group Arbitration Qf judges holding sessions at stated times to try such cases as may be brought before it. But it is provided that each power "shall select not more than four persons of recognized competence in questions of international law, enjoying the highest moral reputation and disposed to accept the duties of arbitrators," and that their appointment shall run for six years and may be renewed. Out of this long list the powers at variance may choose, in a manner indi- cated, the judges who shall decide any given case. Recourse to this Court is optional, but the Court is always ready to be invoked. Arbitration is entirely voluntary with the parties to a quarrel, but if they wish to arbitrate, the machinery is at hand, a fact which is, perhaps, an encouragement to its use. The work of the First Peace Conference was very limited and mod- est, yet encouraging. But that the new century was to bring not peace but a sword, that force still ruled the world, was shortly apparent. Those who were optimistic about the rapid spread of arbitration as a principle destined to regulate the international relations of the future were sadly THE HAGUE CONFERENCE 593 disappointed by the meager results of the Conference, and were still more depressed by subsequent events. For almost on the very heels of this Conference, which it was hoped would JethTemury further the interests of peace, came the devastating war in °p^"s w**^ South Africa, followed quickly by the war between Russia ^"^ and Japan. Also the expenditures of European states upon armies and navies continued to increase, and at an even faster rate than ever. During the eight years, from 1898 to 1906, they augmented nearly £70,000,000, the sum total mounting from £250,000,000 to £320,000,000. Such was the disappointing sequel of the Hague Conference. But despite discouragements the friends of peace were activ^e, and finally brought about the Second Conference at the Hague in 1907. This also was called by Nicholas II, though Peace Con- President Roosevelt had first taken the initiative. The Terence at Second Conference was in session from June 15 to October 18. It was attended by representatives from forty-four of the world's fifty-seven states claiming sovereignty in 1907. The number of countries represented in this Conference, therefore, was nearly double that represented in the first, and the number of members was more than double, mounting from one hundred to two hundred and fifty-six. The chief additions came from the republics of Central and South America. The number of American governments represented rose, indeed, from two to nineteen. Twenty-one European, nineteen American, and four Asiatic states sent delegates to this Second Confer- ence. Its membership illustrated excellently certain features of our day, among others the indubitable fact that we live in an age of world politics, that isolation no longer exists, either of nation or of hemi- spheres. The Conference was not European but international, — the majority of the states were non-European. The Second Conference accomplished much useful work in the adop- tion of conventions regulating the actual conduct of war in more hu- mane fashion, and in defining certain aspects of interna- Work of the tional law with greater precision than heretofore. But, Conference concerning compulsory arbitration, and concerning disarmament or the limitation of armaments, nothing was achieved. It passed this resolu- tion: "The Conference confirms the resolution adopted by the Con- ference of 1899 in regard to the restriction of military expenditures; and, since military expenditures have increased considerably in nearly 594 THE BALKAN WARS OF 1912 AND 1913 every country since the said year, the Conference declares that it is highly desirable to see the governments take up the serious study of the question." This platonic resolution was adopted unanimously. A grim commen- tary on its importance in the eyes of the governments was contained in the history of the succeeding years with their ever-increasing military and naval appropriations, their tenser rivalry, their deepening deter- mination to be ready for whatever the future might have in store. That future had in store for 191 2 and 1913 two desperate wars in the Balkan peninsula and for 1914 an appalling cataclysm. THE COLLAPSE OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE We have seen with what enthusiasm the bloodless revolution of July 24, 1908, was hailed by all the races of Turkey. It seemed the bril- The Turkish li^^^^t dawn of a new era. It has however proved to be the Revolution beginning of the end of the Turkish Empire in Europe, if not in Asia as well. From that day to the outbreak of the European war six years later the Balkan peninsula was the storm center of the world. Event succeeded event, swift, startling, and sensational, throwing a lengthening and deepening shadow before. No adequate description of these crowded years can be attempted here. Only an outline can be given indicating the successive stages of a portentous and absorbing drama. The ease with which the Young Turks overthrew in those July days of 1908 the loathsome regime of Abdul Hamid, and the principles of freedom and fair play which they proclaimed, aroused the Apparent , . . . f "^ , ,• , 1 i- ,• 1 unanimity of happiest anticipations, and enlisted the liveliest sympathy the move- among multitudes within and without the Empire. The very atmosphere was charged with the hope and the expec- tation that the reign of liberty, equality, and fraternity was about to begin for this sorely visited land where unreason in all its varied forms had hitherto held sway. Would not Turkey, rejuvenated, modernized, and liberalized, strong in the loyalty and well-being of its citizens, freed from the blighting inheritance of its gloomy past, take an honorable place at last in the famUy of humane and progressive nations? Might not the old racial and religious feuds disappear under a new regime, where each locality would have a certain autonomy, large enough to in- sure essential freedom in religion and in language? Might not a strong THE TURKISH REVOLUTION 595 national patriotism be developed out of the polyglot conditions by free- dom, a thing which despotism had never been able to evoke? Might not Turkey become a stronger nation by adopting the principles of true toleration toward all her various races and religions? Had not the time come for the elimination of these primitive but hardy prejudices and animosities? Might not races and creeds be subordinated to a large and essential unity? Might not this be the final, though unex- pected, solution of the famous Eastern Question? Even in those golden days some doubted, not seeing any authentic signs of an impending millenium for that distracted corner of the world. At least the problem of so vast a transformation would be very difficult. The unanimity shown in the joyous destruction of the old system might not be shown in the construction of the new, as many precedents in European history suggested. If Turkey were left alone to concentrate her entire energy upon the impending work of reform, she Attitude of might perhaps succeed. But she was not to be left alone foreign now any more than she had been for centuries. The P"^^""^ Eastern Question has long perplexed the powers of Europe, and has at the same time lured them on to seek their own advantage in its labyrinthine mazes. It is conspicuously an international problem. But the internal reform of Turkey might profoundly alter her inter- national position by increasing the power of the Empire. Thus it came about that the July Revolution of 1908 instantly riveted the attention of European powers and precipitated a series of startling events. Might not a reformed Turkey, animated with a new national spirit, with her army and finances reorganized and placed upon a solid basis, attempt to recover complete control of some of the possessions which, as we have seen, had been really, though not nominally and technically, torn from her — Bosnia, Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Crete, possibly Cyprus, possibly Egypt? There was very little evidence to show that the Young Turks had any such intention or dreamed of entering upon so hazardous an adventure. Indeed, it was quite apparent that they asked nothing better than to be left alone, fully recognizing the intricacy of their immediate problem, the need of quiet for its solution. But the extremity of one is the oppor- tunity of another. On October 3, 1908 Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria-Hungary announced, through autograph letters to various rulers, his decision to 596 THE BALKAN WARS OF 1912 AND 1913 declares her independence incorporate Bosnia and Herzegovina definitively within *his empire. Austria- These were Turkish provinces, handed over by the Congress Hungary Qf Berlin in 1878 to Austria-Hungary for "occupation" flriI16X6S Bosnia and and administration, though they still remained officially Herzegovina under the suzerainty of the Porte. On October 5 Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria proclaimed, amid great ceremony, the complete Bulgaria independence of Bul- garia from Turkish suzerainty, and as- sumed the title of Czar. Tw^o days later the Greek population of the island of Crete repudiated all connection with Turkey and de- clared for union with Greece. On the same day, October 7, Francis Joseph issued a proclamation to the people of Bosnia and Herze- govina announcing the annexation of .those provinces. Against this action Servia protested vigorously to the powers, her parliament was immediately convoked, and the war spirit flamed up and threat- ened to get beyond control. Fer- dinand was prepared to defend the independence of Bulgaria by going to war with Turkey, if necessary. These startling events immediately aroused intense excitement throughout Europe. They constituted violent breaches of the Treaty of Berlin. The crisis precipitated by the actions of Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria brought all the great powers, signatories of that treaty, upon the scene. It became quickly apparent that they did not agree. Ger- many made it clear that she would support Austria, and Italy seemed likely to do the same. The Triple Alliance, therefore, remained firm. In another group were Great Britain, France, and Russia, their precise position not clear, but plainly irritated at the defiance of the Treaty of Berlin. A tremendous interchange of diplomatic notes ensued. The British Francis Joseph From a photograph taken in igis. The powers do not pre- vent these breaches of the Treaty of Berlin OPENING OF THE TURKISH PARLIAMENT 597 Foreign Minister, Sir Edward Grey, announced that Great Britain could not admit "the right of any power to alter an international treaty without the consent of the other parties to it," and demanded that as the public law of the Balkans rested upon the Treaty of Berlin of 1878, and that as that treaty was made by all the great powers, it could only be revised by the great powers, meeting again in Congress. But neither Austria nor Germany would listen to this suggestion. They knew that Russia could not intervene, lamed, as she was, by the dis- astrous war with Japan, with her army disorganized and her finances in bad condition. And they had no fear of Great Britain and France. Thus the Treaty of Berlin was flouted, although later the signatories of that treaty formally recognized the accomplished fact. Of all the states the most aggrieved by these occurrences was Servia, and the most helpless. For years the Servians had entertained the ambition of uniting Servia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Mon- ^ . 1 1 r 1 o • Servia tenegro, peopled by members of the same Servian race, thus restoring the Servian empire of the Middle Ages, and gaining ac- cess to the sea. This plan was blocked, apparently forever. Servia could not expand to the west, as Austria barred the way with Bosnia and Herzegovina. She could not reach the sea. Thus she could get her products to market only with the consent of other nations. She alone of all the states in Europe, with the exception of Switzerland, was in this predicament. Feeling that she must thus become a vassal state, probably to her enemy, Austria-Hungary, seeing all possibility of ex- pansion ended, all hopes of combining the Serbs of the Balkans under her banner frustrated, the feeling was strong that war, even against desperate odds, was preferable to strangulation. However she did not fly to arms. But the feeling of anger and alarm remained, an element in the general situation that could not be ignored, auguring ill for the future. But trouble for the Young Turks came not only from the outside. It also came from inside and, as was shortly seen, it lay in large measure in their own unwisdom, Difficulties manifold encompassed them about. The new Turkish Parliament met in December, 1908 amid general enthusiasm. It consisted of two chambers, a Senate, ap- opening of pointed by the Sultan, and a Chamber of Deputies, elected J^^^^jj^'^f by the people. Four months later events occurred which threatened the abrupt termination of this experiment in constitutional 598 THE BALKAN WARS OF 1912 AND 1913 and parliamentary government. On April 13, 1909, without warning, thousands of troops in Constantinople broke into mutiny, killed some The counter- '^^ their officers, denounced the Young Turks, and de- revolution manded the abolition of the constitution. The city was ° ^'^ ' terrorized. At the same time sickening massacres occurred in Asia Minor, particularly at Adana, showing that the religious and racial animosities of forrner times had lost none of their force. It seemed The Young ^^'^^ ^^^ ^^^^ regime was about to founder utterly. A Turks re- counter-revolution was to undo the work of July. But gain con ro ^.j^j^ counter-revolution was energetically suppressed by troops sent up from Salonica and Adrianople and the Young Turks were soon in power again. Holding that the mutiny had been inspired and organized by the Sultan, who had corrupted the troops so that he might restore the old regime, they resolved to terminate his rule. On April Deposition of ^7' i9°9' Abdul Hamid II was deposed, and was immedi- Abdui ately taken as a prisoner of state to Salonica. He was , ^"" succeeded by his brother, whom he had kept imprisoned many years. The new Sultan, Mohammed V, was in his sixty-fourth year. He at once expressed his entire sympathy with the armies of the Young Turks, his intention to be a constitutional monarch. The Young Turks were in power once more. From the very beginning they failed. They did not rise to the height of their opportunity, they did not meet the expectations that had been The Young aroused, they did not loyally live up to the principles they Turks be- professed. They made no attempt to introduce the spirit come reac- . . . tionary and of justice, of fair play toward the various elements of their despotic highly composite empire. Instead of seeking to apply the principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity, they resorted to autocratic government, to domination by a single race, to the ruthless suppression of the rights of the people. They did just what the Germans have done in Alsace-Lorraine and Posen, what the Russians have done in Finland and in Poland, what the Austrians and Hungarians have done with the Slavic peoples within their borders. The policy of oppression of subject Oppression races, the attempt at amalgamation by force and craft, of subject have strewn Europe with combustible material and the combustion has finally come. The government of the Young Turks was just as despotic as that of Abdul Hamid and its outcome was the same, a further and decisive disruption of the Empire. POLICY OF TURKIFICATION 599 From the very first they showed their purpose. They, the Turks, that is the Mohammedan ruling race, determined to keep power abso- lutely in their own hands by hook or crook. In the very first elections to Parliament they arranged affairs so that they would have a majority over all other races combined. They did not intend to divide power with the Christian Greeks and Armenians or the Mohammedan Arabs. Their policy was one of Turkification, just as the Russian a policy of policy was one of Russification, the German of Germani- Turkification zation. They made no attempt to punish the perpetrators of the Adana massacres in which over thirty thousand Armenian Christians were slaughtered. The Armenian population was thus alienated from them. They tried to suppress the liberties which under all previous regimes the Orthodox Greek Church had enjoyed. As they intended to subject all the races of the Empire to their own race, so they intended to suppress by force all religious privileges. They thus offended and infuriated the Greeks, whom they also alarmed and embittered by a commercial boy- cott because the Greeks would not agree to their repressive policy in regard to the Cretans. Their treatment of Macedonia was the acme of folly. They sought to reinforce the Moslem elements of q^^^^ jjjjg. the population by bringing in Moslems from other regions, rule of This aroused the Christian elements, Greek, Bulgarian, ^*^^ °^^ and Servian. Large numbers of these Christians fled from Mace- donia to Greece, Bulgaria, and Servia, carrying with them their griev- ances, urging the governments of those countries to hostility against the Turks. The Turks went a step farther. In the west were the Albanians, a Moslem people who had hitherto combined local independence with loyal and appreciated services to the Turkish authorities, jj^^jj. ^J^^^_ in both the army and the government. The Turks decided ment of to suppress this independence and to make the Albanians submit in all matters to the authorities at Constantinople. But the Albanians had been for centuries remarkable fighters. They now flew to arms. Year after year the Albanian rebellion broke out, only tempo- rarily subdued or smothered by the Turks, who thus exhausted their strength and squandered their resources in fruitless but costly efforts to "pacify" these hardy war-loving mountaineers. Thus only a few years of Young Turk rule were necessary to create a highly critical situation, so numerous were the disaffected elements. 6oo THE BALKAN WARS OF 1912 AND 1913 There had been no serious attempt to regenerate Turkey, to bring Widespread together the various races on the basis of Hberty for all. disaffection Turkey lost hundreds of thousands of its Christian sub- jects who fled to surrounding countries rather than endure the odious oppression. These exiles did what they could to hit back at their oppressors. The Young Turks from the very beginning failed as reformers be- cause they were untrue to their promises. Their failure led The Young • i t^ n i i • i t^ n Turks false to war m the Balkans and the war ni the Balkans led to to their ^j^g European War. They spent their time in endeavoring to assert themselves as a race of masters. They sowed y^the wind and they quickly reaped the whirlwind. THE TURKO-ITALIAN WAR OF 1911 While the Turkish Empire was in this highly perturbed condition and while the Balkan states were aglow with indignation at the treat- ment being meted out to the members of their races resident in Mace- donia and were trembling with the desire to act, trouble flared up for the Italian colo- Young Turks in another quarter. Italy had for y«ars been nial aspira- casting longing eyes on the territories which fringe the *°°^ southern shores of the Mediterranean. She had once hoped to acquire Tunis but had unexpectedly found herself forestalled by France, which seized that country in i88i. At the same time England began her occupation of Egypt. All that remained therefore was Trip- oli, like Egypt a part of the Turkish Empire. For many years the thought that this territory ought to belong to Italy had been accepted as axiomatic in influential quarters in the Italian government and dip- lomatic circles. Schemes had been worked out and partly put into force for a "pacific penetration" of an economic character of this land. Now, however the time seemed to have arrived to seize it outright. Austria- Hungary had annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Bulgaria had de- clared her independence in 1908, and there had been no successful J opposition on the part of Turkey or of any of the Great Powers. Was ^ not this the ripe moment for Italy's project? She evidently thought so, for, in September, 191 1, she sent her war- Italy invades ships to Tripoli and began the conquest of that country. Tnpoli (1911) j|- proved a more difficiflt vmdertaking than had been imagined. While she seized the coast towns, her hold on them was pre- ITALY AND TRIPOLI 6oi carious and her progress into the interior was slow and costly, owing to the fact that the Turks aroused and directed the natives against the invaders. Italy had given her ally Austria-Hungary to understand that she would not attack Turkey directly in Europe, as European Turkey was a veritable tinder-box which, if it once caught fire, might blaze up into a devastating and incalculable conflagration. But as month after month went by and Italy was producing only an uncertain effect in Tripoli, she resolved on more decisive ishTsknds " action nearer Constantinople, hoping to bring the Turks "^ *^® to terms. She attacked and seized Rhodes and eleven other Turkish islands in the ^gean, the Dodecanese. This, and the fact that an Albanian revolution against the Turks was at the same time at- taining alarming proportions, made the latter ready to conclude peace with Italy so that they might be free to put down the Albanians. On ■October 15, .1912, was signed at Ouchy, or Lausanne, a Treaty of treaty whereby Turkey relinquished Tripoli. It was also Lausanne provided that Italy should withdraw her troops from the Dodecanese as soon as the Turkish troops were withdrawn from Tripoli, a phrase about which it was easy to quibble later. The great significance of this war did not lie in the fact that Italy^ acquired a new colony. It lay in the fact that it began again the process, arrested since 1878, of the violent dismemberment of the Momentous Turkish Empire; that it revealed the military weakness of ^^^ ^j^gjo'. °^ that empire, powerless to preserve its integrity; and, what Turkish is most important, that it contributed directly and greatly ^^ to a far more serious attack upon Turkey by the Balkan states, which, in turn, led to the European War. The tinder-box was lighted and a general European conflagration resulted. The Italian attack upon Trip- oli was momentous in its consequences. THE BALKAN WARS Durmg the war the Balkan states were negotiating with each other with a view to united action against Turkey. This union was not easy to bring about as Bulgaria, Servia, and Greece disliked ^^^ ^^^^^^ each other intensely, for historical, racial, sentimental rea- states unite sons, too numerous and too complex to be described here. ^^^^^^ However, they disliked the Turks more and they were suffering constantly from the Turks. Terrible persecutions, even mas- 6o2 THE BALKAN WARS OF 1912 AND 1913 sacres, of the Christians in Macedonia in which large numbers of Greeks, Bulgarians, and Servians lost their lives, inflamed the people of those states with the desire to liberate their brothers in Macedonia. By doing this they would also increase their own territories and diminish or end an odious tyranny. These nations found it possible to unite for the pur- pose of overwhelming the Turks; they might not find it possible to agree as to the partition among themselves of any territories they might ac- quire, since here their old, established ambitions and antipathies might conflict. It was because of the strength of these rivalries and hatreds that neither the Turks nor the outside powers considered an alliance of the Balkan states as at all among the possibilities. But the statesmen of the Balkans had learned something from the troubled history of the peninsula, and saw the folly of continuing their dissensions. They also realized that now was their chance, that they might never again find their common enemy so weak and demoralized, the general European situation so favorable. Thus it came about that in October, igi2 the four Balkan states, Montenegro, Servia, Bulgaria, and Greece made war on Turkey. The The Balkan war was brief and an overwhelming success for the aUies. War of 1912 Fighting began on October 15, the very day of the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne between Italy and Turkey, although techni- cally the declarations of war were not issued until October 18. The Greeks pushed northward into Macedonia, gained several victories over The Greeks ^^^ enemy, and on November 8, only three weeks after the enter beginning of the campaign, they entered the important a omca ^j^^ ^^^ p^^^ ^^ Salonica, with Crown Prince Constantine, the present king, who had revealed conspicuous military ability, at their head. Farther west the Servians and Montenegrins were also success- The Servians ful. The Servians won a great victory at Kumanovo. where victorious ^]^gy avenged the defeat of their ancestors at Kossova which they had not forgotten for five hundred years. They then cap- tured Monastir. Meanwhile the Bulgarians, who had the larger armies, had gone . from victory to victory, defeating the Turks brilliantly in campaign of the battles of Kirk Kilisse and Lule Burgas. The latter *J^® . was one of the great battles of modern times, three hun- Bulganans dred and fifty thousand troops being involved in fierce, tenacious struggle for three days. The result was the destruction of THE TREATY OF LONDON 603 the military power of the Turks. By the middle of November the Bulgarians had reached the Chataldja line of fortifications which ex- tend from the Sea of Marmora to the Black Sea. Only twenty-five miles beyond them lay Constantinople. The collapse of the Turkish power in Europe was nearly complete. Only the very important fortresses of Adrianople in the east, and Jan- ina and Scutari in the w^est, had not fallen. In a six weeks' ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^ campaign Turkish possessions in Europe had shrunk to the Turkish Constantinople and the twenty-five mile stretch west to p°^®'' the Chataldja fortifications. This overthrow and collapse came as a staggering surprise to the Turks, the Balkan Allies themselves, and the Great Powers. The Ottoman Empire in Europe had ceased to exist, with the exception of Constantinople, Adrianople, Janina, and Scutari. The military prestige of Turkey was gone. In December delegates from the various states met in London to make peace. They were unsuccessful because Bulgaria demanded the surrender of Adrianople, which the Turks flatly refused, j^^ London In March, 1913, therefore, the war was resumed. One after Peace Con- another the fortresses fell, Janina on March 6, Adrianople on March 26, Scutari on April 23. Turkey was now compelled to accept terms of peace. On ]\Iay 30, the Treaty of London was signed. It pro- vided that a line should be drawn from Enos on the ^gean Sea to Midia on the Black Sea and that all Turkey west of that Ime should be ceded to the Allies, except a region of undefined dimensions on the Adriatic, Albania, whose boundaries and status should be determined by the Great Powers. Crete was ceded to the Great Powers and the decision as to the islands in the ^Egean which Greece had ^^^ ^^^^^^ seized was also left to them. In December, 1913, Crete of London was incorporated in the kingdom of Greece. The Sultan's j^^^y ^o, dominions in Europe had shrunk nearly to the vanishing point. After five centuries of proud possession he found himself almost expelled from Europe, retaining still Constantinople and only enough territory round about to protect it. This great achievement was the work of the four Balkan states, united for once in the common work of liberation. The Great Powers had done nothing. Europe felt relieved, however, that so great a change as this in the map of the Balkan peninsula had .been effected without involving the Great Powers m war. The Treaty of London, however, had not long to live. No sooner 6o4 THE BALKAN WARS OF 1912 AND 1913 had the Balkan states conquered Turkey than they fell to fighting among A short- themselves over the division of the spoils. The responsi- lived peace bility for this calamity does not rest solely with them. It rests in part with the Great Powers, particularly with Austria and Italy. It was the intervention of these powers and their insistence up- on the creation of a new independent state, Albania, out of a part of the territory now relinquished by the Turks, that precipitated a crisis whose very probable issue would be war. For the creation of this artificial state on the Adriatic coast absolutely prevented Servia Servia still from realizing one of her most passionate and legitimate land-locked ambitions, an outlet to the sea, an escape from her land-locked condition w^hich placed her at the mercy of her neighbors. Before beginning the war with the Turks, Servia and Bulgaria had defined their future spheres of influence in upper Macedonia, should the war result in their favor. The larger part of Macedonia should go to Bulgaria, and Servia's gains should be chiefly in the west, including the longed-for Adriatic sea coast. But now Albania was planted there and . . . Servia was as land-locked as ever. Austria was resolved Austrian op- position to that Servia should under no conditions become an Adriatic "^^^^ state. She has always been opposed to the aggrandizement of Servia, because she has miflions of Serbs under her own rule who might be attracted to an independent Servia, enlarged and with prestige heightened. Moreover she believed that Servia would be the pawn of Russia, and she would not tolerate Russia's influence on her southern borders and along the Adriatic, if she could help it. She did not propose to be less important in those waters than she had been in the past. Therefore Servia must be excluded from the Adriatic. It was the block- ing of Servia's outlet to the sea that caused the second Balkan war be- tween the allies. Intense was the indignation of the Servians, but they could do nothing. They therefore sought as partial compensation larger territories in Macedonia than their treaty with Bulgaria had as- signed them, arguing, correctly enough, that the conditions had greatly Claims of changed from those contemplated when that agreement was Servia and made and that the new conditions justified and necessitated Bulgana ^ ^^^ arrangement. But here they encountered the stub- born opposition of Bulgaria which refused any concessions along this line and insisted upon the strict observance of the treaty. Instantly the old, bitter hatred of these two countries for each other flamed up again. TREATY OF BUCHAREST 605 The Servians insisted that the expulsion of the Turks had been the work of all the allies and that there should be a fair division of the territories acquired in the name of aJl. On the other hand the Bulgarians argued that it had been they who had done the heavy fighting in the war, which was true, that they had furnished by far the larger number of troops, that it was their victories at Kirk Kilisse and Lule Burgas that had annihilated the power of the Turks in Europe, that they were entitled to annex territories in Macedonia which they declared were peopled by Bulgarians. Other considerations also entered into the situation. Suffice it to say that Bulgaria intended to have her way. Her army was elated by the recent astounding successes, was rather contemptuous of the Servians and Greeks, emphatically minimized the Bulgaria un- services rendered by these to the common cause, thought compromis- ' that it could easily conquer both if necessary, and could ^°^ / take what territories it chose. It was Bulgaria, whose war party had ^ lost all sense of proportion, all sense of the rights of her Bulgaria former allies, that began the new struggle. She treacher- attacks ously attacked Greece and Servia at the end of June, 1913. Servia Fierce fighting ensued for several days, marked by savage (J""®- 1913) atrocities on both sides. Bulgaria's action in plunging into this avoidable conflict was all the more foolhardy as her relations with her northern neighbor, Roumania, were also unsettled and precarious. Roumania had demanded that Bulgaria cede her a strip of territory in the northeast of j^ ^^^^^^ Bulgaria, in order that the balance of power among the enters the Balkan states might remain practically what it had been. gy[ aria"^* Bulgaria had refused this so-called compensation. The the Turks result was that Roumania also went to war with Bulgaria. The Turks, too, seeing a chance to recover some of the land they had recently lost, joined the war. Thus Bulgaria was confronted on all sides by enemies. She was at war with five states, not three, for Montenegro was also involved. By the middle of July she saw that the case was hope- Bulgaria less and consented to make peace, by the Treaty of defeated Bucharest, signed August 10, 1913, by which Servia and Greece se- cured larger possessions than they had ever anticipated. Treaty of and by which Roumania was given the territory she desired. Bucharest Turkey also recovered a large area which she had lost the year before, 6o6 THE BALKAN WARS OF 1912 AND 1913 including the important city and fortress of Adrianople. All this was at the expense of Bulgaria, who paid for her arrogance and unconciliatory temper by losing much territory which she would otherwise have secured, by seeing her former and hated allies victorious over her in the field and in annexations of territory which she regarded as rightfully hers. Bulgaria was deeply embittered by all this and has since only been waiting to tear up the Treaty of Bucharest which she has refused to consider as morally binding, as in any sense a permanent settlement of the Balkans. The year 1913 will remain of bitter memory in the minds of all Bulgarians. The two Balkan wars cost heavily in human life and in treasure. Turkey and Bulgaria each lost over 150,000 in killed and wounded. Cost of the Servia over 70,000, Greece nearly as many, little Monte- Balkan wars negro over 10,000. The losses among non-combatants were heavy in those who died from starvation, or disease, or massacre, for the second war was one of indisputable atrocity. On the other Changes in hand Montenegro^ Greece, and Servia had nearly doubled the map ^ ^[^^^ Bulgaria and Roumania had grown. The Turkish Empire in Europe was limited to a comparatively small area. We must now examine the reaction of all these profound and aston- ishing changes in the Balkans upon Europe in general. In other words „ . , we must study the causes of the war of 1014. For the Bal- Reaction of •' , , , _, the Balkan kan w'ars 01 191 2 and 191 3 were a prelude to the European wars upon -^^j. qJ 1914. The sequence of events from the Turkish Revolution of July, 1908 to the Austrian declaration of war upon Servia in July, 1914, is direct, unmistakable, disastrous. Each year added a link to the lengthening chain of iron. The map of Europe was thrown into the flames. What the new map will be is the secret of the future. It may be said in passing that the new Albanian state proved a fiasco from the start and that it disappeared completely when the war began The Alba- in August, 1914, the powers that had created it withdrawing man fiasco their support and its German prince, William of Wied, leaving for Germany where he joined the army that was fighting France. He had meanwhUe announced his abdication in a high-flown manifesto. THE BALKAN WARS OF 1912 AND 1913 607 REFERENCES The Regime of the Young Turks: Gibbons, The New Map of Europe, Chap. XI, pp. 180-219; Pears, Forty Years in Constaniinople. The War between Italy and Turkey: Gibbons, Chap. XIII, pp. 241-262. The War between the Balkan States and Turkey: Gibbons, Chap. XIV, pp. 263-318; Schurman, The Balkan Wars, pp. 3-60; Seymour, The Diplomatic Back- ground of the War, Chap. X. The War between the Balkan States: Gibbons, Chap. XV, pp. 319-350; Schurman, pp. 63-131; Sej'mour, Chap. X. CHAPTER XXXVIII THE EUROPEAN WAR In August, 1913 the long-drawn-out crisis in the Balkans seemed safely over with the Treaty of Bucharest, to the apparent satisfaction of the Dissatisfac- people of Europe. It had not resulted in what had been A°"tria Hun- greatly feared, a European war. That had been avoided gary and Ger- and the world breathed more freely. But that this feeling th^^Baikan "^'^^ "°^ shared by the governments of Austria and Ger- settlement many has since been revealed. Though this was not pub- licly known until more than a year afterward, it is now established that on August 9, 1913, the day before the Treaty of Bucharest was for- . X • J. _ mally signed, Austria informed her ally, Italy, that she pro- solves to at- posed to take action against Servia. She represented this tack Servia proposed action as defensive and as therefore justifying her in expecting the aid of Italy under the terms of the treaty of the Triple Alliance. Italy through her prime minister, Giolitti, refused to Ital declines accede to this view, stating that such a war would not to cooper- be one of defense on the part of Austria as no one was **® thinking of attacking her. The treaty of Triple Alliance ( required its members to aid each other only in the case of a defensive Y' war forced upon a colleague. Austria, then, planned war upon Servia \ in August, 1 91 3. Whether she was restrained by the knowledge that Italy would not support her or by other considerations is a matter for * conjecture. Prince von Biilow, who for nine years had been Chancellor of Ger- r many, has declai-ed that the collapse of Turkey was a blow to Germany. J Qermany ^^ ^^^ °^ ^^^^ ground that in 1913 new army and taxa- I increases her tion bills, extraordinarily increasing Germany's prepared- I army ^^^g^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ carried through. This inevitably led to similar, though not to as sweeping, legislation in France. Austria and Germany, therefore, were far from pleased at the out- come of events in the Balkans, and the former, a great European state 608 ASSASSINATION OF THE ARCHDUKE 609 of fifty millions, was planning action by arms against Servia, a nation of now perhaps four millions, a nation both exhausted and _ Dissatisfac- elated by two years of war. Of course Austria knew that tion of Aus- any such action would bring Russia upon the scene, and that *"^ ^°^ 1 r 1 1 • • 1 r 1 Germany was the reason for her desirmg the eventual support of her two allies. While for reasons that are somewhat obscure Austria finallyl did not consider the moment opportune for making war on Servia in v August, 1913, she did consider it opportune in July, 1914, and from her / action at that time came swiftly and dramatically the present conflict, j The relations of Austria-Hungary and Servia have already been alluded to, the former's annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908, and her part in the creation of the artificial state of Albania , , „ . , . Relations of tor the same purpose, to prevent Servia s gettmg any out- Austria- let to the sea. Yet, though successful in this, she had not Hungary and been able to prevent the growth of Servia. Servia had, however, submitted in 1908 and 1909 and in 1913, to demands which emanated from Austria-Hungary and which were deeply humiliating. On both sides there was, as there had long been, plenty of bad blood. Suddenly a horrible crime occurred which set in motion a mighty and lamentable train of events. On June 28, 1914, the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, nephew of the Emperor of Austria, and heir to the throne, was, with his wife, assassinated in the streets of the Arch- of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. The men who had done ^^^^ Francis 1 • r 1 , A • 1 • • r ^ Ferdinand the mfamous deed were Austrian subjects, natives of Bos- nia. But they were Servians by race. An outburst of intense indig- nation followed against the Servians, "a nation of assassins," it was declared. Servia was, by Austrian opinion, held responsible, although the crime occurred on Austrian soil and was committed by Austrian subjects, and although Austrian methods of rule in Bosnia were of such a character as sufficiently to account for the dastardly crime. At any rate the desire for war was expressed in many Austrian newspapers, which held the Servian government responsible. But four weeks went by and the Austrian government took no ac- tion. No information could be obtained by the diplomats Attitude f in Vienna as to what she proposed to do. They saw no the Austrian reason for any particular worry, as the government was government evidently so self-contained, and they therefore took their usual vaca- tions. It was intimated that Austria would make some demands upon 6io THE EUROPEAN WAR Servia but that they would be of a moderate character. There was widespread sympathy with her and a general feeling that she would be justified in demanding certain things of Servia. The representatives of the various European governments were kept in ignorance. A des- patch, which was destined to shake the very foundations of the world, was being fashioned, in utter silence and mystery. f On July 23, Austria delivered this despatch to Servia. It began by accusing the Servian government of not having fulfilled the obli- The Austrian g^^tions it had assumed in 1909 toward Austria. It de- despatch of manded that the Servian government should publish an official statement, the terms of which were dictated in the despatch, expressing its disapproval of the propaganda in Ser- via against Austria-Hungary and its regret that Servian officials had taken part in this propaganda. In the despatch the murder of the Arch- duke was ascribed to that propaganda. Then followed ten demands upon the Servian government concerning the suppression of the Pan-Servian Demands propaganda carried on by the newspapers and the secret made upon societies of Servia. The despatch demanded that the Ser- ^^^^^ vian government should suppress any publication which fostered hatred of and contempt for the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, should take the most comprehensive measures for the suppression and extinction of the secret societies, should eliminate from the schools all teachers and from text-books anything that served or might serve to foster the propaganda against Austria-Hungary, should remove from the army and from government positions all officials involved in the same propaganda, w^hose names the Austrian government reserved the right to communicate, and that Servia should accept the cooperation of Aus- trian officials in the work of investigating the conspiracy of June 28. Other clauses in this fateful despatch concerned the arrest of the ac- complices in the assassination and the prevention of the trade in arms and explosives across the frontier. Annexed to the despatch was a memorandum asserting that the murder of the Archduke and the Arch- duchess had been plotted in Servia and had been executed through the complicity of Servian officials. This despatch, harsh in its language, dictatorial in its demands, was This despatch an ultimatum, for it required the acceptance of it in its en- an ultimatum tirety within forty-eight hours, and it allowed no time for investigation or discussion of the charges made and the problems ere- AUSTRIAN ULTIMATUM TO SERVIA 6ii ated by the peremptory demand. No nation would issue such a note to an equal without intending and without desiring war. Issued to a power vastly inferior it could mean only unprecedented humiliation or national extinction, if followed up at the expiration of forty-eight hours. This Austrian ultimatum created a grave crisis. The ultimatum was not a passionate and unreflecting outburst of the Austrian govern- ment, swept away by natural anger at the foul murders. It was a cold-blooded and deliberate document, composed creates a after four weeks of secret preparation. The Russian am- dangerous bassador had not been told that it was coming and had left Vienna for his vacation. The Italian government had not been informed, although it was an ally and was particularly concerned with anything that affected the Balkan peninsula in any way or Peculiar cir- part. In this fact Italy was to find her justification for cumstances remaining neutral when the war finally broke out, as she re- with the garded that war as an aggressive one begun by Austria, despatch The ultimatum gave Servia the alternative of accepting egregiously humiliating conditions, practically reducing her to the state of a vassal of Austria, or of accepting war. England, France, and Russia tried to induce Austria to extend her time limit as the only way in which diplomacy might seek to act in the matter, as, moreover, required if the relations of nations were to be governed by a reasonable consideration urged to for each other's rights or wishes. Their efforts were in extend the ™, , 1 r- • . , . , . time limit vam. Ihey then turned to bervia urgnig her, m the m- terests of Europe in general, to make her answer as conciliatory as pos- sible. The result was that Servia in her reply yielded to the greater part of what Austria demanded and that she offered, in g • , case Austria was not satisfied with her answer, to refer reply to the the question to the Hague Tribunal or to a conference of "^'"^^*"™ the Great Powers. No state ever made a more complete submission under particularly humiliating circumstances. Austria, however, immediately declared the Servian answer unsatisfactory and prepared for war. She Austria re- well knew that such action would necessarily draw Russia jects Ser- into the controversy. She had every reason a state can ^'^ ^ ^^^ ^ have for knowing that, after the defiance of the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 190S, another attack upon a small Slavic people 6i2 THE EUROPEAN WAR would deeply offend the leading Slavic power. Austria could not and Austrian did not expect to be able to wreak her vengeance upon ultimatum a Servia without having to take Russia into account. Hers, challenge to therefore, is the responsibility for a deliberate and highly Russia dangerous provocation of a great state. Russia, a Slavic power, could not be ignored by Teutonic powers in determining the future of Slavic peoples. If there was a single well-known fact in the whole domain of European politics it was that Russia was greatly interested in the fate of the Slav states of the Balkans. If there was any other well- established commonplace of European politics, it was this, that every Balkan question has always been considered as of general concern, as distinctly international. As a matter of fact, Servia's obligations of 1909, already referred to, were undertaken to the Powers, not to Austria alone. Austria's position was that her action concerned herself and Servia alone ; that no other nation or nations were involved or had any rights in Austria sup- ^^^ matter. In this she was supported from start to finish ported by by Germany. Both Austria and Germany were aware that Germany warlike Steps against Servia would bring Russia into the question and that, owing to the obligations of the Triple and Dual alliances, a general European war might result, yet both steadily refused to consider that Russia had any right to intervene; it was all a matter solely between the two, Austria and Servia. Naturally Russia did not take this view. Her warnings having proved unavailing, when Austria began to prepare for the attack upon Servia, Conduct of Russia began to mobilize. The policy of Germany through Russia ^i^g^j- i^g|- week of July was to support Austria in her conten- tion that this was her affair. She asserted that the quarrel was solely one between those two and that no outside power had the right to inter- vene, that, if the trouble could be kept confined to those two, there would be no general disturbance of the peace, that if the Czar however inter- fered there would be "on account of the various alliances, inconceivable consequences." If this was all that Germany did for peace, which she Germany asserts she made every effort to maintain, then she did demands the simply nothing, for this policy of "localization of the con- 10CailZa~ ^ -IT*! tion of the flict" begged the whole question. It assumed that neither conflict" Russia nor any other power was in any way concerned. This was an absolutely untenable position in the light of history, of RUSSIA MOBILIZES AGx\INST AUSTRIA 613 reason, of interest. The question was a part of the Eastern Question which over and over has been considered and known to be emphatically international. No aspect of that question is to be left to the determina- tion of a state of fifty millions in conflict with one of four or five. A proposal was made by England that the question at issue should be submitted to a conference to be held in London by the Great Powers not directly concerned, namely Germany, France, England, and Italy. Perhaps these four might bring about the ad- proposes an iustment of the difficulties between Servia and Austria and international ... . . conference Russia. Russia signified her willingness but the proposal was declined by Germany. Other suggestions of a somewhat similar nature looking toward delay and diplomatic discussion or mediation like- wise fell before the opposition or indifference of Germany, ^j^^ proposal Then when England asked Germany herself to suggest declined by some method of mediation for the preservation of peace, ^'■™^ny she had nothing to suggest. She simply reaffirmed her position that the whole matter concerned merely Austria and Servia. She was willing to appeal and did appeal to Russia to keep out, to refrain Germany's from mobilizing, but her appeal was always based on this course thesis that the quarrel did not concern Russia but did concern simply Austria and Servia, a point of view which, naturally, Russia did not and could not share. Germany was ready to cooperate with other powers in bringing pressure to bear upon Russia but not upon her ally Austria, who had begun the whole trouble and to whom she gave a free hand in her procedure toward Servia. The attitudes of Germany and Russia were irreconcilable. Germany held that Russia should allow Austria entire liberty of action. Russia believed that Austria's uncompromising and violent procedure de- manded a Russian mobilization "directed solely against » • Tx ,) 1 , 111 -1 Russia mobi- Austria-Hungary as the only method that might cause lizes against that country to moderate her procedure and induce her to Austria- Hungary recognize the rights of others. If Russia remained inac- tive, then Austria would do what she liked with Servia. Russia em- phatically claimed the right to be consulted in the settle- •^ * . Germany ment of Balkan matters. Austria had mobilized and on sends an July 28 had begun a war upon Servia. Russia accordingly ultimatum to mobilized against Austria. Germany considered this ac- tion a menace to herself, and on July 31 sent an ultimatum to Rus- 6i4 THE EUROPEAN WAR sia demanding that Russia begin to dempbilize her army within twelve hours: otherwise Germany would mobiUze. As Russia did not reply Germany de- ^^ ^^^^ peremptory demand Germany, on August i, de- clares war on dared that a state of war existed between Russia and Germany. The German declaration of war against Russia necessarily meant war with France as well, because of the Dual Alliance. We have seen that this Dual Alliance was the inevitable outcome of the existence and power of the Triple Alliance, concluded between Ger- many, Austria, and Italy in 1882. The Dual Alliance grew and Triple out of the need which both Russia and France felt, of out- Alhances gj^g support in the presence of so powerful a combination. If there was to be anything like a balance of power in Europe, Russia and France must combine. Both alliances were defen- Tsive. The action of Austria against Servia brought Russia upon the J scene. Russia's action brought Germany forward. Germany's action \ necessitated action on the part of France. ^ One state was free to act as it saw fit, its conduct not controlled by any entangling alliance, England. The Triple and Dual Alliances rested on definite treaties, neither of which has been made public, and imposed obligations upon the contracting parties. There had in recent years also The Triple grown up what was called the Triple Entente. The com- Entente mercial rivalry of Germany and England, during the past fifteen or twenty years, expressing itself in a struggle for markets, in colonial competitions, in a striking development of naval power, has been an outstanding fact in recent European history. Great Britain, seeing that her policy of isolation was possibly becoming dangerous with so active and successful a rival in the field, sought, in the first decade of ; the twentieth century, to settle long continued misunderstandings with \ France and Russia. This she did by a treaty with France in 1Q04 and ' with Russia in 1907. These agreements settled certain problems and provided certain measures in common, the former in Africa, the latter I in Asia. During succeeding diplomatic crises the three powers worked I jjjg Triple ^ substantial harmony. But the Triple Entente was not { Entente not an alliance: it was simply a diplomatic groUp that might I an a lance |^^ found working together when the interests of its mem- bers happened to coincide. There was no actual alliance between Great Britain and France and there was no understanding of any kind THE INTERESTS OF GREAT BRITAIN 615 between Great Britain and Russia, with regard to any European policy or contingency. When the crisis of 1914 arose Great Britain was free to act as she chose, in the light of what she considered her interests. The diplomatic correspondence shows that this was understood in Berlin and Vienna as it w^as understood in Paris and St. Petersburg. But while Great Britain had no alliances that neces- sarily involved her in the present war, yet as a Euro- pean power, and as a great, imperial, colonial state, she had many and important in- terests for which she must care. It was for her interest that there should The interests be no European of Great J ., Britain war and it was also for the interest of Europe and the world. The negotia- tions of that week in July, from the issuance .of the ulti- matum to Servia to the decla- rations of war, abundantly demonstrate that she made earnest, repeated, and varied efforts to bring about a peaceful solution of the problems that had been so suddenly thrust forward. ^^ ^^^^ She was wedded to no particular scheme or formula and strives to invited Germany to make suggestions that might effect the mamtainj adjustment, if dissatisfied with hers. But despite her ef- forts a war had come involving four large states at least, Austria, Rus- sia, Germany, and France, and one small state, Servia. Would the conflagration spread? What would England do? It was certainly not for her interest that France should be conquered by Germany, as that would reduce France to the position of a satellite and would immensely augment the power and prestige of Germany. Moreover, England was bound in honor to prevent any attack upon Sir Edward Grey 6i6 THE EUROPEAN WAR the Atlantic sea coast of France, as, since 191 2, she had had a naval England's agreement with France whereby the French fleet was con- relation centrated in the Mediterranean in order that England wit ranee j^jgjT^j^ keep larger naval forces in the home waters. It seems probable that England would have been drawn into the war necessarily if France was attacked, which was of course the purpose of Germany. But her participation was rendered inevitable by Ger- many's attack upon Belgium. Three of the small states of Europe, Belgium, Luxemburg, and Switzerland, have been by international agreements declared neutral Belgium a territory forever. By these agreements the countries con- neutralized cerned should never make war, nor should they ever be ^ ^ ^ attacked. The powers that signed the treaties bound them- selves to respect and preserve that neutrality. The treaty guaranteeing the neutralization of Belgium was signed by England, France, Prussia, Austria, and Russia. For over eighty years that obligation had been Germany's scrupulously observed. Now, on August 2, Germany sent ultimatum to an ultimatum to Belgium, demanding that she allow the e gium German armies to cross her territory, promising to evacu- ate it after peace was concluded, and stating that, if she refused, her fate would be determined by the fortunes of war. Belgium replied that she had always been faithful to her international obligations, that the Belgium^s attack upon her independence would constitute a flagrant '■^ply violation of international law, that she would not sacri- fice her honor and the same time be recreant to her duty toward Europe, but that her army would resist the invader to the utmost of its ability. As Austria's ultimatum of July 23 meant the annihilation of the inde- pendence of one small state, Servia, Germany's ultimatum of August 2 meant the annihilation of the independence of another small state, Belgium. Germany's action was the baser and the more dishonorable, as she had promised to respect the neutrality of the coimtry which she was now about to destroy. The reason for this action was that the easiest way for German j armies to get into France was over Belgian soil. Germany intended to crush France as rapidly as possible, then to turn upon Russia and crush her. The invasion of France direct from Germany would necessarily be slower, if possible at all, as that frontier was strongly fortified. THE ATTACK ON BELGIUM 617 The official statement of the Chancellor, Bethmann-Hollweg, made in the Reichstag on August 4, declared that Germany was act- ^ The state- ing in self-defense: "Necessity knows no law. Our troops ment of the have occupied Luxemburg and have perhaps already entered German -r. , • •, ^ , 1 • • , , r . Chancellor on Belgian sou. Crentlemen, this is a breach of mterna- tional law. The French government has, it is true, notified Brussels that it would respect the neutrality of Belgium as long ,, Necessity as the enemy respected it. But we know that France knows no stood ready for an invasion. France could wait, we could *^ not. A French attack upon our flank in the lower Rhine might have been disastrous. Thus we have been obliged to ignore the just protests of the governments of Luxemburg and Belgium. The injustice, I speak frankly, the injustice that we are committing we will endeavor to make good as soon as our military aims have been attained. Anybody who is threatened as we are threatened and is fighting for his highest posses- sions can think only of one thing, how he is to attain his end, cost what it may." Thus the official, authoritative spokesman of Germany pronounced her own act unjust, thereby proclaiming the faithfulness of Belgium to all her obligations, admitted that Germany was doing Belgium a wrong, and that the action was in defiance of the law of nations. It was justified by necessity, he said. A nation of skty-five millions attacked a nation of seven millions, whose neutrality it had sworn to maintain, because, as the German Sec- retary of State, Jagow, said on that same August 4, statement of with frankness, "they had to advance into France by the ^^"^ Jagow quickest and easiest way, so as to be able to get well ahead with their operations and endeavor to strike some decisive blow as early as pos- sible. It was a matter of life and death for them." England could correctly assert that she had worked for peace "up to the last moment, and beyond the last moment." Now she entered the war because she had vital interests in the independ- England en- ence of Belgium, and because of her explicit treaty obli- ^^^^ *^® "^^ gations. For hundreds of years her policy had been to prevent the\ control of those coasts from being a menace to her own coast across the ' narrow channel as they would be in the hands of a strong military power. Over this question England had fought or acted repeatedly for centuries against the Spaniards, against the French; now it was to be against the Germans. That in protecting her vital interests she would also be 6i8 THE EUROPEAN WAR keeping her solemn promises and defending a small and peaceful state against the wanton aggression of a ruthless and mighty military power, engaged, according to its own admission, in a flagrant violation of the law of nations, was to her vast moral advantage in securing the spon- taneous sympathy and support of her own people and widespread approval beyond her borders. On the 23d of July, 1914 there was a dull midsummer peace in Europe. By August 4 seven nations were at war. The responsibility for this tragic, monstrous, unnecessary crime against civilization, against human- ity, was lightly assumed. The situation was created by the authorized heads of various states. Any power that in that crisis showed a willing- ness to delay, to negotiate, to confer, was working in the interest of peace. Any power that declined to do this, that adopted a peremptory attitude, that issued ultimatums with incredibly short time limits, hastened the appalling entanglement, and was ready for war, whether it desired or intended it or not. The opinion of the outside world as to where that responsibility lies has been overwhelmingly expressed. That opinion is shared by a state Opinion of ^^^^ ^^*^ ^°^ thirty-two years been the ally of Austria and neutral Germany and was an ally in August, 19 14. When asked on na ions August I, by the German ambassador, what were Italy's intentions, the Italian Government replied through its Minister of Foreign Affairs that "as the war undertaken by Austria was aggressive and did not fall within the purely defensive character of the Triple Alli- ance, particularly in view of the consequences which might result from it according to the declaration of the German Ambassador, Italy would not be able to take part in the war." The overwhelming verdict of neutral nations, like the verdict of Italy, has thrown the guilt of the war upon Austria and Germany. REFERENCES Causes of the European War: Gibbons, The New Map of Europe, Chaps. XIX- XXI, pp. 368-412; Seymour, The Diplomatic Background of the War, 1870-1914; Schmitt, England and Germany; Billiard, Diplomacy of the Great War; Allen, The Great War; Davenport, History of the Great War; Beyens, Germany before the War (by the Belgian Minister at Berlin); Rohrbach, Germany's Isolation (Chicago, 1915); Gauss, C, The German Emperor as Shown in his Public Utterances (1915); Biilow, Bernhard von. Imperial Germany, (1914); Headlam, J. W., History of Twelve Days, July 24-August 4, igi4 (1915); Stowell, G. C, The Diplomacy of the War of igi4. Vol. I (1915). INDEX Abd-el-Kader proclaims a Holy War, 404-405. Abdul Hamid II (Turkey), 555-557, 594; deposed, 598. Abukir, Nelson destroys French fleet at, 171; Napoleon destroys Turkish army at, 172. Abyssinia, Italy and, 412. Accident Insurance Laws, Germany (1S84 and i88j), 371-372. Acre, 172. Acton, Lord, opinion of Frederick the Great, 13; on the Partition of Poland, 284. Adana, massacres in, 598-599. Adowa, battle of, 412. Adrianople, Treaty of, 543; troops sent from, 598; falls, 603; Turkey recovers, 606. .^gean Islands, Italy acquires, 414, 601, 603. Afghanistan, England and, 490. Africa, England and, 252, 441, 464, 474-475, 499-505, 507-509; German colonies in, 373-374; Partition of, 374, 393,. 471, 507-514; French pos- sessions in, 404-408; War in South, 474, 476, 493, 497-504, 593; Spanish possessions in, 519; Portuguese pos- sessions in, 521. Agadir, Germany sends gunboat to, 408. AiguiUon, Duke d', 78. Alabama award, Gladstone and, 461. Albania, Young Turks and, 599, 601; Treaty of London (igij) and, 603- 604, 609; Servia desires, 604; dis- appears as a state, 606. .\lbert, of Saxe-Coburg, marries Queen Victoria, 444. Albert I (Belgium), 525. Alberta, 493. Alexander of Battenberg, Prince of Bulgaria, 550-551. Alexander I (Russia), concludes Peace of Tilsit, 211-212; meets Napoleon at Erfurt, 221-222; desires to break the Franco-Russian alliance, 233-234; Alexander I (Russia), continued enters Paris, 240; at the Congress of Vienna, 250; and the Holy Alliance, 254-255; and Poland, 284-286, 558- 560; reign of, 558-561. Alexander II (Russia), and Bismarck, 375; reign of, 561-567; and the Edict of Emancipation, 562-563; adopts system of protection, 568. Alexander III (Russia), reign of, 567- 569- Alexander I (Servda), 553. Alexandria, 1 70-1 71, 462. Alfieri, on Italian nationahty, 8. Alfonso XII, King of Spain, 517-518. Alfonso XIII, 518-519. Algeciras, Conference of {1906), 408. Algeria, France and, 404-407, 507; Tur- key and, 507. Algiers, 404. Alliance. See Holy, Quadruple, Dual, Triple. Alma, battle of the, 544. Alsace, feudal dues in, 105, in; Ger- mans invade, 357; ceded to Germany, 360, 369, 374, 384. Sec also Alsace- Lorraine. ■ Alsace-Lorraine, Imperial Territory, 363. See also Alsace and Lorraine. Amadeo (of Savoy), King of Spain, abdi- cates, 517. America, Seven Years' War in, 3-4, 14; revolt of the English Colonies in, 6-7; as model for France, 86-88, 147; Spanish colonies in, revolt, 263, 268; Napoleon III and, 352; Irish emigrate to, 457; British North, 491-497, 505. Amiens, Peace of, 183, 192, 199. Anglican Church, 432-433, 435; in Ireland, 455-457; schools under, 460, 475; the Universities and, 460; the Conservatives and, 477; in Wales dis- established, 485. Anglo- Japanese Treaty {igoz), 580. Annam, France and, 405-406. Anti-Corn Law League, 447. Arabi Pasha, 512. 619 620 INDEX Arbitration, in the Alabama affair, 461; in labor disputes. New Zealand, 498; Permanent Court of, established at the Hague, 592. Archives, National (France), 150. Areola, battle of, 160. Argentina, Italian emigration to, 413. Arrondissements, 92. Artisans, in pre-revolutionary France, 47. Artois, Count of, and the Revolution, 81, 97, 103; plots against Bonaparte, 191; becomes Charles X, 272. See Charles X. Ashley, Lord, and chUd labor, 442. Asia, Seven Years' War in, 3, 14; Russia and, 18, 235, 572-573; European as- pirations for, 393; French acquisitions in, 405-406, 572, 574; England and, 464, 505, 572-573; Portuguese posses- sions in, 521; Dutch colonies in, 523; and the Far Eastern Question, 571; Turkey in, 594. Asia Minor, massacres in, 598. Asquith, Herbert, 476-477; and the House of Lords, 479-482; and Home Rule, 483-485- Assembly. See National, Constituent, and Legislative. Assignats, 94. Associations of Worship (France), 402- 403- Athens, captured, 542; capital of Greece, 554- • Auckland, 497. Auerstadt, battle of, 210. Augereau, 157, 185. August 4, i^Sg, 78-80; Louis XVI and the decrees of, 81. August 10, 1792, 114-116, 137, 147, 156. Aulard, on the Convention, 120; on Robespierre, 141. Ausgleich, 419, 426. AusterUtz, battle of, 202, 206, 207, 211, 224, 246; results of , 203-208, 218, 223; anniversary of, 319. Australasia, 497, 505. Australia, commerce with, 462; English colonies in, 487, 493-497; Canada and, 493; Commonwealth of. Constitution Act, 495-497- 505- Australian ballot, introduced into Eng- land, 461. Austria, in 1789, i, 9-10; in the Seven Years' War, 4, 14-15; and Prussia, lo-ii, 13, 14-15, 29, 124; and Poland, 17, 29, 164, 234, 250, 283; and Russia, 25; and the emigres, 103; France at Austria, continued war with, 110-114, 124, 149, 152-165, 182-183; Prussia aids, against France, 113-114; and the Treaty of Campo Formio, 165, 183; joins coahtion (second) against France, 173, 182; war against, in Italy and Germany, 182-183; and the treaty of Lun'e- yille, 183; joins England and Russia in coahtion (third) against Napoleon, 201-202, 215; signs Treaty of Press- burg, 202-203; not included in the Confederation of the Rhine, 213, 228; and the Continental Blockade, 217; begins war against France {1809), 223-226, 229; makes Peace of Vienna, 224; becomes ally of Na- poleon, 228, 234; development of na- tionality in, 230; and the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, 234; joins Russia, Prussia, and England against Na- poleon, 238; and the Congress of Vienna, 242, 249-257; and the Water- loo Campaign, 244; acquisitions of, by Congress of Vienna, 252-253, 264- 265; and the Holy Alliance, 255; and the Quadruple Alliance, 255; Met- ternich and, 255-257; after iSij, 257-259, 261, 262; and Naples, 264- 265; and the "right of intervention," 266-269; Charles X goes to, 278; and the revolutions in Italy, 280; recognizes independence of Belgium, 282; and the revolution in Poland, 282-287; and the revolution in Italy, 287; and the revolution in Germany, 287; and the revolutions of 1848, 298-3x1; and the problem of German unity, 307-311; must be driven out of Italy, 327, 332; Victor Emmanuel II and, 329; Cavour and, 330, 332; and the war of iS^g, 333-335, 336-337; and reaction in Germany, 341; Bismarck and, 344-349; Prussia and, make war on. Denmark, 346; friction between Prussia and, 346-349; and the year 1866, 351, 418; and the pohcy of pro- tection, 372; and Russia rivals in the Balkans, 374; and the Congress of Berhn, 375, 548-550; makes treaty with Germany, iS/g, 375-376; and the Triple Alliance, 395, 412, 414; Italy covets possessions of, 414; Italy de- nounces treaty of alliance with, 414; to the compromise of i86y, 416-420; oppresses her subjects, 416; fails in the Italian war, 416; becomes a con- INDEX 621 Austria, continued stitutional state, 417; Hungary refuses to cooperate with, 417-418; and the Compromise of i86y, 419-420; the Empire of, since 1S67, 420-423; and the Ottoman Empire, 540; and the Treaty of San Stefano, 548; and the Congress of Berlin, 548-550; "occu- pies" Bosnia and Herzegovina, 548; and the insurrection of Poland {1863), 564; and Servia, 604, 608-612; and the European War, 608-618. Austria-Hungary, Italy declares war against, 415; since 1S48, 416-427; and the Compromise of 1867, 419; oc- cupies Bosnia and Herzegovina, 426; annexes Bosnia and Herzegovina, 595- 596, 600; Servia and, 597, 604, 608- 612; Italy and, 601; and the European War, 608-618. Austrian Netherlands, France in posses- sion of, 149, 152; Holland annexes, 250, 252, 253, 282. See also Belgium. Austrian Succession, War of the, 14, 28. Austro-German Treaty {i8/g), 375-376. Austro-Prussian War {1866), 347-349, 353, 361- Azores, Portugal and, 521. Baden, 9, 202, 310, 347; joins Prussia against France, 357. Bailly, 73, 136. Baker, Sir Samuel, 508. Balaklava, battle of, 544. Balfour, Arthur James, leader of the House of Commons, 473; and Queen Victoria, 474. Balkan, peninsula, events in {1876-187S), 374; rise of the, states, 540-557; revolts in the, 545-552; Wars of 191 2 and 1 9^31 590~6o6; and the European War, 608-618. Ballot, secret, demanded in Germany, 369- Baltic provinces, 20, 558. Baluchistan, 490. Bank of France, founded, 190. Barbary States, 404-405. Barnave, 136. Barras, 148. Basel, Treaty of, 208. Bashi-Bazouks, 546. Bastille, 50; fall of, 76-78, 86, 96, 103, 392- Batak, atrocities in, 546. Batavian Republic. See Holland. Baudin, 354. Bautzen, battle of, 238. Bavaria, electorate of, 9; Austria sends army into, 201; gains of, in South Germany, 202; becomes a kingdom, 203; and the Confederation of the Rhine, 206; Napoleon lights Austrians in, 223; and the Congress of Vienna, 249; supports Austria in 1866, 347; joins Prussia against France, 357; representation of, in Bundesrath, 363. Baylen, 220, 221. Bayonne, 218. Bazaine, shut up in Metz, 358. Beaconsfield, Lord. Sec Disraeli. Beauharnais, Eugene, 234. Beauharnais, Josephine. See Josephine, Empress. Beaulieu, 159. Bebel, and Socialism, 369. Belgium, emigres in, 96; war in, 112, 152; Austrian possessions in, ceded to France, 165; French conquest of, 183; Code Napoleon put into force in, 190; England's jealousy of French conquest of, 199-200; Napoleon at- tacks the aUies in, 244-247; annexed to Holland, 249-250, 252, 282; revo- lution of 1830 in, 269, 280, 287; de- clares its independence, 281-283, S22; and Congo Free State, 510; since ^830, 523-525; neutrality of, broken by Germany, 525, 616-617; and China, 5 74. See also Austrian Netherlands. Belgrade, 541. Bengal, 487, 489. Beresford, Lord, and Portugal, 519. Berg, 204. Berlin, war party in, 209; Napoleon issues decrees from, 210; University of, 230; Poles come to, 286; revolt in, 301; becomes the center of interest, 308,349,351; becomes the capital of the German Empire, 361; Congress of, 374, 426, 548-550, 555; Treaty of, 375, 548-550; representation of, in the Reichstag, 379, 381; German colonies ruled from, 505; Conference, 510; breaches of the Treaty of, 596-597. Berlin Decrees, 210, 215-216. Bern, 527, 529. Bernadotte, sent to Norway, 535. Berry, Duke of, murdered, 272, 276. Berthier, 169, 172. Bessarabia, Russia retains, 252. Bethmann-Hollweg, Chancellor, 377, 617. Birmingham, unrepresented, 432. 622 INDEX Bismarck, and the Prussian electoral system, 312; and the unification of Germany, 343-350; regards war with France as inevitable, 356; and the Hohenzollern candidacy, 356-357; and the Treaty of Frankfort, 360-361; as Chancellor, 365-366; and the Kultur- kampf, 367-368; and Socialism, 368- 372; and the policy of protection, 372- 373; and the German colonies, 373-374; and the Triple Alliance, 374-376; pre- sides over Congress of Berlin, 374-375, 548; William II and, 377-378; death of, 377; and democrac}', 382. Black Sea, neutralized, 545. Blanc, Louis, 294-297, 313-316. "Bloody Sunday," Russia, 586. "Bloody Week," Paris, 386. Bliicher, 244-246. Boer War, 474, 476, 497-504. Boers and English in South Africa, 499- 505, 508. Bohemia, 257; revolution in, 301-302, 416; conquered, 302, 304; invasion of, by Prussia, 348; and Austria, 420-422. Bombay, 488. Bonaparte, Caroline, 204. Bonaparte, Charles, 153. Bonaparte, Elise, 204. Bonaparte, Jerome, 153, 204-205; be- comes King of Westphalia, 213, 228; flees from Westphalia, 239. Bonaparte, Joseph, becomes King of Naples, 203, 218; abdicates and be- comes King of Spain, 218, 228, 262, 519; flees, 221. Bonaparte, Louis, becomes King of Holland, 204; refuses to enforce the Continental Blockade, 217; forced to abdicate, 217, 228; his son, 318. Bonaparte, Lucien, 174, 176-177, 204. Bonaparte, Louis Napoleon, 317-320, 446. See also Napoleon III. Bonaparte, Napoleon. See Napoleon. Bonaparte, Pauline, 204. Bonapartists, 290, 387-388. Bordeaux, Duke of, 276, 278, 290; seat of government at, 359, 384. Borneo, 523. Borodino, battle of, 235, 236. Boroughs, representation of, in Great Britain, 431-432, 436-441, 452, 465. Bosnia, Austria occupies, 375, 426, 548; Austria-Hungary annexes, 595-596, 600, 609; Servia covets, 597; Arch- duke assassinated in, 609. Botany Bay, 494. Botha, Louis, 504. Boulanger, General, 394-396. Boule (Greece), 554-555- Boulogne, 200, 201, 318. Bourbon (Island), now Reunion, 404. Bourbons, banner of the, 78, 242, 388; House of, in France, 81, 112; overthrow of, in France, no, 218; monarchical party desires restoration of, 146, 188; centralization of government under, 129, 182; England and the, 168; Na- poleon and the, 184-185, 187, 189; House of, ceases to rule in Naples, 203, 218; House of, in Spain, 218-219, 516; restored in France, 241-242, 270-271; and the law against sacrilege, 273; final overthrow of, in France, 278, 280. Bourgeoisie, in France, under Old Re- gime, 46-47; Louis Phihppe and, 278, 289-294. Bourrienne, 169, 176. "Boxer" insurrections, 579. Braga, Dr. Theopliile, President of Por- tugal, 521. Braganza, House of. See Portugal. Brandenburg. See Prussia. Brazil, 217, 519-520. Bremen, 217, 228, 365; merchants from, establish trading stations in Africa, 373- Breze, de, 74. Brienne, 153. Bright, John, and the Anti-Corn Law League, 447; and the Reform Bill of 1867, 451. British Columbia, 492. British Constitution, the theory of the, 436-437- British Empire, 487-506. See also England. British Isles. See England. British North America, 491-493; Act, 492; Broglie, Duke of, ministry of, 391. Brougham, Lord, and the first Reform BiU, 436, 439. Brumaire, 137; the i8th and 19th of, 174-177, 204, 319. Brunswick, Duke of, issues manifesto, 113-114, 116, 240; Duke of, leads forces against France, 117; revolution in, 287. Brussels, riot in, 281; and the Interna- tional African Association, 509-5x0. Bryce's American Co^nmonweallh, cen- sored in Russia, 570. INDEX 623 Bucharest, Treaty of, 605-606, 608. Budapest, 303, 419, 421. Budget, in England, 26; of IQ09, re- jected by the House of Lords, 478- 480; passed by the Lords,' 480. Bulgaria, the Turks and, 546; and the Treaty of San Stefano, 547; and the Treaty of Berlin, 548-550; after i8y8, 550-552; and Macedonia, 547-548, 552, 604-605; declares her independ- ence, 595-596, 600; Christians from Macedonia flee to, 599; and the Balkan War of IQ12, 602-605; and Sers'ia, 604-606; attacks Greece and Servia, 605-606; Roumania and Turkey join war against, 605-606; and the Treaty of Bucharest, 605-606. Billow, Prince von. Chancellor, 377, 379-380, 382, 608. Bundesrath, 349, 363-364; Chancellor not responsible to, 365. Burke, Edmund, and the Partition of Poland, 283; and the French Revolu- tion, 428; and the House of Commons, 437- Burma, 490, 572. Bute, voters iii, 430. Buzot, no. Byron, Lord, and Greece, 542. Cabinet Government, development of, in England, 3-7. "Cadets," Russia, 587. Cadoudal, Georges, 191. Caen, 127. Cahiers, 69-70, 89. Cairo, French march to, 170, 172. Calendar, Julian, introduced into Russia, 22; republican, in France, 137-138; European, adopted in Japan, 576. Calonne, 67-68. Cambaceres, 180. Cambodia, Kingdom of, 405. Cambridge, University of, 432-433, 460; voters in, 443. Campbell-Bannerman, Sir Henry, pre- mier, 476. Campo Formio, Peace of, 165, 168, 183, 199, 202, 205. Canada, acquired by England, 2, 4, 488, 491-492; Dominion of, 492-493, 505; and the South African War, 493; and the European War, 493, 506. Canadian Pacific Railway, 493. Cannes, 242, 244. Canning, and the Holy Alliance, 435; and the House of Commons, 437. Canton, trading port, 573; opened to British trade, 574. Cantons, in Switzerland, 527. Cape Colony, 252, 499. Cape of Good Hope, 462, 488. Cape Town, 504. Caprera, Garibaldi and, 336, 338. Caprivi (Chancellor) 1890-94, 377. Carbonari, 265; in Paris, 276; Mazzini joins the, 325; in Italy, 326, 333. Carinthia, 224. Carlos I (Portugal), 521. Carlotta, Empress of Mexico, 353. Carlsbad Decrees, 262, 287. Carlstad, Treaty of, 538. Carlyle, and Queen Victoria, 443-444; and the Reform Bill of 1S67, 452. "Carmen Sylva," 545-546. Carniola, 224, 422. Carnot, 132. Carnot, Sadi, chosen president, 394; assassinated, 395. Caroline Islands, 374. Carrier, 134, 137. Casimir-Perier, 395. Cassel, invaded, 347. Castelar, 518. Castelfidardo, 338. Castel Gondolfo, 410. Catherine II (Russia), 24-25, 27, 29, 283. Catholic Church (Greek), 18, 558, 599. Catholic Church (Roman), position of the clergy of, under the Old Regime, 38-39, 41-43: under Louis XVI, 50, 70; Voltaire and, 50, 55; clergy of, in fhe States General, 72-73; attitude of clergy of, toward the National Assem- bly, 74; clergy of, renounce privileges, 78; Constituent Assembly and, 93-94; Civil Constitution of the Clergy, 95- 96; and state separated, 149; the Bour- bons and, 187; Bonaparte and, 187-189, 224, 232; position of, in Germany altered by Bonaparte, 206-208; clergy of, in Spain against Napoleon, 220 and the Bourbon restoration, 242, 271 and Belgium, 281; in Poland, 285 and the Kulturkampf, 366-368; and the Third French Republic, 391, 400- 403; and the Kingdom of Italy, 409- 410; position of, in Great Britain, 432, 435; in Ireland, 455-456; schools of, in England, 460; in Lower Canada, 491; Spain and, 519; separation of, and State in Portugal, 521; in Belgiirm, 525. CathoHc Emancipation Act {1829), 435, 456- 624 INDEX Cavaignac, Republican leader, 279; and the June Days, 316; candidate for the presidency, 318. Cavite, battle of, 519. Cavour, Count, 329-334; Garibaldi and, 335)- 338; and Rome, 339; death of, 339; Lord Palmerston and, 339; and liberty, 340, 341; and Bismarck, 343; favors "free Church in a free State," 410. Cawnpore, 490. Celebes, 523. Center, party in Germany, 367-368. Central America, 515, 519, 593. Ceylon, 183, 252, 488. Chamber of Deputies (France), 270, 272; conflict between Charles X and, 274; calls Louis Philippe to the throne, 278, 290; Paris returns Republicans to, 385; under the Third French Repubhc, 390- 391; under the Kingdom of Italy, 409. Chamber of Deputies (Prussia), 380. Chamber of Peers (France), 270. Chamberlain, Joseph, Colonial Secre- tary, 473; urges tariff reform, 475; and South Africa, 502. Chambord, Count of, 387-389. Chancellor (German), powers of, 363, 365- Charles, Archduke of Austria, 160-162, 223-224. Charles I (Austria), 426. Charles I (Roumania), 545-546, 553. Charles IV (Spain), 218. ' Charles X (France), reign of, 273-276; flees to England, 276; goes to Austria, 278; the Legitimists defend the rights of, 290. See also Artois, Count of. Charles Albert (Piedmont) defeated at Custozza, 302, 305; abdicates, 306; Constitutional Statute granted by, 311, 329- Charles Felix (Piedmont), 267. Charter of 1814 (French), 241-242. Charter {1826), Portugal, 520-521. Chartist agitation, 445-446. Chataldja, 603. Chateaux, war upon the, 78, 96. Chatham, Earl of. See Pitt. Chaumette, 137. Child labor, German Socialists demand prohibition of, 369; England and, 441- 442, 448-449, 471. China, France takes Tonkin from, 406; commerce with, 462; Russia and, 572; Europe and, 573-574; and Japan, 577- 580, 582-583; and Germany, 578-579; China, continued reform in, 583; proclaimed a Republic, 583; and the First Peace Conference at the Hague, 591. Chino-Japanese War and its conse- quences, 577-580. Christian (King of Norway), 535. Christiania, 535, 538. Christina, Spanish Regent, 515-516. Church. See Catholic Church (Greek) and Catholic Church (Roman). Church of England. See Anglican Church. Cintra, 221. Cisalpine Republic, 165; becomes King- dom of Italy {1S05), 196. See Italy. Civil Code, 189-190. Civil Constitution of the Clergy. See Constitution. Civil Service (England), 460. Clement XIV (Pope) and the Jesuits, 16. Clergy. See Catholic Church (Roman). Clericalism, Gambetta and, 391, 401; Combes and, 401. Clericals (France), 392; and Boulanger, 395; and Dreyfus, 399. Cobbett, William, 434. Cobden, Richard, and the Anti-Corn Law League, 447. Coburg, Leopold of, 282. Cochin-China, France and, 405. Code Napoleon, 189-190. Coercion, policy of (Ireland), 459, 467- 468, 470. "Colonial preference," Chamberlain urges, 475. Colonial Society (German), 373. Colonies, German, 373-374, 378, 505; French, 393, 403-408, 505; Italian, 412; English, 461-462, 473, 487-506, 574; Spanish, 519; Portuguese, 521; Dutch, 523; Danish, 534; Japanese, 577- Combes, and Clericalism, 401. Committee of General Security, created, 124, 129; work of, 130, 145. Committee of Public Safety, created, 124, 129; work of, 129-134, 137, 139- 140, 145. . Commons, House of {181 5), 429-432; Tory loss in, 436; reform of, 436-441; demand for further reform of, 444- 446, 451-452; Liberals gain majority in, 453; Gladstone enters, 454; Irish representation in, 456, 467; Home Rulers hold the balance of power in. INDEX 625 Commons, conlinued 467, 472, 480; Lord Salisbury gains immense majority in, 473; budget of, iQog, passed, 479-480; and the Parlia- ment Bill, 481-482; Irish, 483; Do- minion, 49:2. Commune (Paris). See Paris. Compromise of 1867, 419-420, 421, 423; Francis Kossuth opposes,. 425. "Conclusion" of March, 1803, 206. Concordat, 1802, 187-189, 242; abro- gated, 402. Conde, Prince of. See Enghien, Duke d'. Condorcet, 136. Confederation of the Rhine (1806), for- mation of, 206-207, 213, 228; members of, desert Napoleon, 239; disappears, 259- Congo Free State, 509-510, 525. Congress, of Vienna, 241-242, 244, 249- 257, 264, 266, 280-281, 284, 335, 522, 559; of Troppau, 267; of Laibach, 267; of Verona, 267-268; of Paris (1836), 322, 332, 545; of Berlin, 374, 426, 548-550, 555- Congresses, The, 249-269. Conservatives (England), 451, 453, 477- 480; Gladstone and, 454; control under Lord Salisbury, 466, 470; defeat of, 475-476. See also Tories. Conservatory of Arts and Crafts, 150. Constantine, Crown Prince, later King of Greece, enters Salonica, 602. Constantinople, seat of Orthodox Greek Church, 18; Russia covets, 25, 234, 545; Napoleon's ambitions for, 172; Russians march toward, 543, 547; revolution in, 598; Turkey retains . (1913), 603. Constituent Assembly, composition and character, 74, 86, loi; comes to Paris, 84; and the making of the Constitu- tion, 86-98, 129, 231; and the German princes, 105; and the codification of the laws, 189; of 1848, 317-318. See National Assembly. Constitution, demand for, in France, 69, 70; making of the, 86-98; of 1791, 89-93, 116, 127, 147, 263; Civil, of the Clergy, 95-96, 102; of 1793, 127-128, 146; of J 795 (Year III), 146-147, 152; of the Year VIII (1799), 180-181; of j8i2 (Spain), 263, 266, 267; in Prussia, 301-302, 311; granted in Sardinia, 311; of the Second Republic (France), 313, 3i5~3i7; Louis Napoleon and the, 319-320; of the new German Em- Constitution, continued pire, 363-366, 379-380; of the Third Republic (France, 187^), 388-391; Boulanger demands revision of, 395; of Italy, 409; Spanish {1876), 518; of 1848 (Holland), 523; of 1848, Switzerland, 529; granted to Denmark, 533; of Eidsvold, 534-537; of 1876 (Turkey), 556; granted to Poland, 559; Nicholas II abrogates the Finnish, 570; granted to Japan, 577; promised in China, 583. Constitutional Charter, France, 241-242, 270-272; Charles X disregards, 276; modified, 278, 291. Constitutional Democrats (Russia), 587. Constitutional Statute (Piedmont), 311. Consulate, 179-192; the Empire and, 321. Consuls, 177, 179-180. See also Con- sulate. Continental System, 212, 215-217, 228- 229, 232-234, 519. Convention, called in France, 116; work of, 120-150, 152, 186, 189, 215, 231, 289; becomes prisoner of the Com- mune, 126; Bonaparte defends the, 148-149, 156; Convention, Philadel- phia (Federal). See Philadelphia Con- vention. Cook, Captain, voyages of, 494. Corday, Charlotte, 136. Cordelier Club, 105-107. Corn Law of 181 j, 433. Corn Laws, abolished, 446-448, 457. Cornwall, representation of, in Parlia- ment, 430. Corsica, Bonaparte and, 153, 154-155, 156, 173, 241. Cortes (Spain), 268, 516, 518. Corvee, 66. Council of Elders, 147-148, 174-177. Council of State (France), 181, 190. Council of States (Switzerland), 529. Council of the Empire (Russia), 587-588. Council of the Five Hundred, 147-148, 174-177. Counter-revolutionaries, 81, 96, 109. Coup d'etat, of 1799, 174-175, 177, 180; of 1S51, 319-320, 322, 354. Courland, 20, 558. Court of Cassation, and the Dreyfus case, 399. Couthon, 145. Cracow, 252. Crete, Greece and, 555, 595-596, 603. Crimea, 25; war in the, 322, 332, 543- 545- 626 INDEX Crispi, Francesco, 412. Croatia, 303, 420, 423. Croatians, in Hungary, 303, 423-425. Croker, and the second Reform Bill, 438. Cromarty, voters in, 430. Cromer, Lord, 512. Cromwell, and Ireland, 455. Cuba, Spain and, 515, 518-519. Curasao, 523. Curia Romana, 410. Cushing, Caleb, and China, 574. Customary laws, 37. Custozza, 302, 305, 329, 348. Cyprus, England and, 548; Turkey and, 595- Czechs, in Bohemia, 301-302, 420-422. Dahomey, 205.. Dalmatia, handed over to Austria, 165; ceded to Napoleon, 202. Danton, as a monarchist, 98; as a leader, 107; becomes head of the provisional executive council, 116; on the impor- tance of Paris, 121; and the Giron- dists, 1 21-122; as peacemaker, 126; dropped from Committee of Public Safety, 129; and the Revolutionary Tribunal, 130; and Robespierre, 139- 141, 145; advocates moderation, 140; fall of, 141; on education, 150. Dantonists, 139. Danubian principalities, 233. David, 142. Davout, 210. Deak, Francis, 298-299, 417-418, 425. December 2, 18^1, 319-320, 354. Dego, 158. Delarey, 504. Delbriick, Professor, on the German Parliament, 382. Delcasse, Theophile, 406-407. Delegations (Austria-Hungary), 419. Delhi, seized, 490. Denmark, and the Continental System, 217; and the Congress of Vienna, 249, 253; war between Prussia and Austria and, 345-346, 353; and Africa, 507; since 1814, 533-534; cedes Norway to Sweden, 533. Departments of France, 92; Girondists and the, 121, 127; civil war in, 127, 149; representatives on mission sent to, 130 ; government of, under the Consulate, 181; martial law proclaimed in, 320. Depretis, 412. Derby, Lord, ministry of, 451-452. Desaix, 169, 182. Deshima, 575. Desmoulins, Camille, 139. Devil's Island, Dreyfus deported to, 397, 398. Dey of Algeria, 404. Diderot, 24, 52. Diet, German (Imperial), 9, 105; of the German Confederation, 259-260, 311; , Hungarian, 299-300, 303, 416; Swiss, 527-529; Swedish, 535. See also Bundesrath. Directory, composition of, 147; work of, 149, 152-177, 186, 189, 215; aboli- tion of, 177; and Switzerland, 527. Disestablishment of the AngHcan Church in Ireland, 457; in Wales, 485. Disraeli, and the Reform Bill of 1S67, 451-452; ministry, 461-463, 500; and the Congress of Berlin, 548. Disruption of the Ottoman Empire and the Rise of the Balkan States, 540- 557- Dissenters, in England, 432-433, 475. Dodecanese, Italy seizes the, 601. Don Carlos (Spain) claims throne, 515- 517- Draga, Queen, murdered, 553. Dresden, battle of, 238, 250; King of Saxony retains, 252, Prussia occupies, 347- Dreyfus Case, 396-400, 402. Dual Alliance, 375, 395-396, 612, 614. Dual Control, 51 1-5 12. Dual Monarchy. See Austria-Hungary. Dublin, Irish ParHament at, aboHshed, 456, 466; bill to provide Irish Parlia- ment at, 468. Ducos, becomes Consul, 177. Duma (Russia), 587-589. Dumouriez, 124. Dunwich, 431. Dupont, General, 220, 221. Durham, and reform, 436; mission to Canada, 491-492. East Africa, Italy and, 412. See also German East Africa. East India Company, 488, 490. East Indies, Dutch colonies in, 523. East Prussia, 380. Eastern Question, 25; reopening of, 463, 546; defined, 540; Russia and, 543- 545; Europe and the, 547-55°; new phase of, 555, 595; the European War and the, 613. INDEX 627 Eastern Roumelia, 548, 551. Edict of Emancipation (Russia), 561-563. Edinburgh, 2 78. Education, in Russia, 22; the Convention (France) and, 150; system of national (France) reorganized, 190; free and compulsory demanded in Germany, 369; national system of, created in France, 393; State to control, in France, 401; problem of, in Italy, 411; in England neglected, 433; the factory system and, 442; Forster Act of 1870 (England), 459-460; made free in England, 471; Act of igo2 (England), 475, 477; in Portugal, 521; in Belgium, 524-525; in Switzerland, 528, 531; in Denmark, 534; in Bulgaria, 552; in Greece, 555; in Japan, 576; in China, 583. Edward VII (England), accession of, 474; death of, 480-481. Egypt, Napoleon and, 168-173, i8^~i83, 214; French compelled to evacuate, 183; England promises to evacuate, 183; and the Entente Cordiale, 407; England and, 462, 505, 507, 509, 511- 514; "a Protected State," 514; aids Turkey against Greece, 543. Eidsvold, Constitution of, 534. Elba, Napoleon sent to, 241; his return from, 242, 243-244, 250. Elders, Council of. Sec Council of Elders. Elgin, Lord, 492. Elizabeth (Russia), and the Seven Years' War, 24. Emerson, on Napoleon, 194. Emigration, German, 310, 373; Italian, 413-414; causes of, 487; to New Zea- land, 497. Emigres, intrigues of, 103, 109, iii, 113, 122; many, guillotined, 134; laws against, relaxed, 186; Louis XVIII's policy toward, 242; Charles X and, 273. Emperor (German), powers of, 363-366. Empire (France), 183; early years of, 194- 214; at its height, 215-226; British, 487-506. Empress Eugenie. See Eugenie, Empress. Empress Josephine. See Josephine (Beau- harnais). Empress. Ems despatch, 357. Ena, Princess (Battenberg), marries Al- fonso XIII, 519. Enghien, Duke d', 191, 218. England, in i8th century, 1-7, 26; territo- rial gains of, by Peace of Paris, 2, 4; evolution of the parUamentary system of government in, 2-7; colonial policy England, continued of, 3; in the Seven Years' War, 3-4, 14; and the American Revolution, 6-7; young Russians sent to, 20; Montes- quieu's opinion of the government of, 53; Rousseau on the government of, 57; influence of the government of, on French Constitution, 88, 90-91; at war with France, 124, 149, 152, 168, 171, 173, 182-183; Napoleon and, 168-173, 182-183, 191, 199-200, 210, 213, 215- 218, 221, 228-229, 232; makes Peace of Amiens with France, 183, 192, 199; French bishops in, 187; jealous of French expansion, 199; issues Orders in Council, 216; and Portugal, 217, 233; and Spain, 221, 263; and the Congress of Vienna, 242, 250-252; and the Waterloo Campaign, 244-247; acquisi- tions of, by Congress of Vienna, 252; and the Quadruple Alliance, 255; and the Congress of Troppau, 267; and the doctrine of intervention, 268; Charles X flees to, 276-278; and the July Revo- lution, 280; recognizes independence of Belgium, 282; and the revolution in Poland, 286; Louis PhiUppe and, 289, 296; Louis Napoleon Bonaparte and, 318; and the Crimean War, 322, 332, 544-545; Mazzini and, 326; Cavour and, 329-330, 332; and the war of iSsg in Italy, 334; Bismarck and, 343; and Mexico, 352; and Free Trade, 372; in Africa, 374; Germany the rival of, 378; William II and, 381; France adopts parliamentary system of, 390; gains colonies from France, 403-404; fleet of, bombards Algiers, 404; and the Entente Cordiale, 406-408; from 181 5-1 868, 428-452; Parliament of (18 ij), 429- 432; position of the Anglican Church in, 432-433; distress in, after 181^, 433; reforms in, 435-443; and the Chartist Movement, 444-446; and the repeal of the Corn Laws, 446-448; and labor legislation, 448-449; and the Reform Bill of i86y, 451-452; becomes a de- mocracy, 452; since 1868, 453-485; and Ireland, 454-459; educational reform in, 459-460; army, civil service and uni- versity reform in, 460-461; Disraeli ministry, 461-463 ; and Egypt, 46 2 , 5 n- 514; Second Gladstone Ministry, 464- 466; and Home Rule, 466-469; the Second Salisbury Ministry, 470-471; Fourth Gladstone Ministry, 472; Third SaHsbury, 473-475; Old Age Pensions 628 INDEX England, conlinued Act in, 476; and the budget of igog, 478-480; and the Parliament Act, 481- 483; and the Third Home Rule Bill, 483-485; colonies of, 487-506, 507-509, 5 1 1-5 14; and Portugal, 519, 521; and Greece, 542-543; and Turkey, 547; demands a revision of the Treaty of San Stefano, 547-550; and the Congress of Berlin, 548-550; "occupies" Cyprus, 548; cedes the Ionian Islands to Greece, 554; and Thessaly, 555; and the insur- rection of Poland {1S63), 564; in Asia, 572; andChina, 573-574, 578-579; and Japan, 580; and the breaches of the Treaty of BerUn, 596-597; and the European War, 61 1-6 18; and the Triple Entente, 614-615. Entente AUies, Italy joins, 415. EquaUty, the Revolution and, 51; Rous- seau and, 57; principle of, established, 80; French found new system upon, 91; spread of ideas of, 112; the Consuls and, 177; Bonaparte and civil, 184-185, 190, 196; Metternich and, 257; Consti- tutional Charter {1814) proclaims, of aU Frenchmen, 270. Erfurt Interview, 221-222. Eritrea, 412. Essling, battle of, 223. Established Church (England), 432. See also Anglican Church. Esterhazy, Major, and the Dreyfus case, 397- Esthonia, 20, 558. Eton College, Gladstone and, 453. Eugenie, Empress, 322. Europe, Old Regime in, 1-30; Seven Years' War in, 3, 14; emigres eager to embroil, with France, 96, 103; Treaty of Campo Formio changes the map of, 165; Russia and, 173-174; at peace, 183; ascendancy of France in, 196; coast of, blockaded, 200; Napo- leon alters diplomatic system of, 211; and the Continental Blockade, 216; effect of capitulation at Baylen upon, 220; Napoleon seeks to dazzle, 221; Napoleon preeminent in, 228; Congress of Vienna determines future organiza- tion of, 241-242, 244, 249-257; Napo- leon the "disturber of the peace of," 244; Russia extends into, 252; reaction in, after 1815, 257-269; influence of the Revolution of 18^0 in, 279; Cen- tral, in revolt, 298-312; states of, recognize the Second Empire (France), Europe, cofitinued 322; Cavour the most dynamic person- ality in, 332; changes in the pohtical system of, 335; Prussia fears inter- vention of, 349; map of, altered by Prussia, 349; and the year 1S66, 351; importance of France in, altered, 354; refuses to recognize the Treaty of San Stefano, 375; Triple AUiance dominates Central, 376, 412; and the Entente Cordiale, 406-408; Italy desires to be one of the great powers of, 412; expan- sion of, 487; increase of the popula- tion of, 487; Canada and, 493; Africa appropriated by, 509; and the BerUn Conference, 510; the Turkish Empire in, 540-557; Western, aids Greece, 542- 543 ; Turkey admitted to the family of, 545; pubhc opinion of, aroused against Turkey, 547; and the Treaty of San Stefano, 547; and the revolution in Turkey, 555-556; and Asia, 572; and China, 573-574, 583; and Japan, 577- 582; an armed continent, 590; end of the Turkish Empire in, 594, 603; powers of, and Turkey, 595-597; reaction of the Balkan Wars upon, 606-618. European War (1914), 426, 608-618; Ire- land and, 485; Canada and, 493; and Imperial Federation, 506; Germany and, 525. Eylau, battle of, 211. "F's, three," 464. Factory Act {i8jj), 442. Factory system, in England, 433, 441 Faidherbe, Governor of Senegal, 405. Falk Laws, 367-36S. Far East, The, 572-583. Faroe Islands, 534. Fashoda incident, 407-408. Faure, Felix, 395. Favre, Jules, and the Third Republic, 358. February Revolution (France), 317. Federal Act (German Confederation), 260. Federal Convention (U. S.). See Phila- delphia Convention. Federal Council (Germany). See Bun- desrath. Federal Council (Switzerland), 529. Federal Tribunal (Switzerland), 529. Ferdinand I (Austria), policy of, 258- 259; forced to abdicate, 304. Ferdinand (Saxe-Coburg) and Bulgaria, 551-552; becomes Czar of Bulgaria, 552, 596. INDEX 629 Ferdinand (later Ferdinand VII) of Spain, 218-219, 262-263, 268; restored, 515. Ferdinand (Naples) and Austria, 264- 265; grants constitution, 266. Ferry, Jules, and the Third Republic, 358, 3Q2-394, 405- Feudalism, in Prussia, 10; in France, 31, 37, 41, 47-48, 68, 70; abolished in France, 78, 80, 185, 233; in Alsace, 105; Napoleon and, 184; in Spain, 222; in Russia, 233; in Austria, 258; abol- ished in Hungary, 300. Fielden, and child labor, 442. Fife, voters in, 430. Figueras, 518. Finland, Alexander I and, 211, 217, 233, 252, 534; and Sweden, 558; Nicholas II and, 570. First Consul. See Napoleon. Five Hundred, Council of the. See Council. Florence, revolution in, 305-306; capital of Italy, 409. Florida, 4. Fontainebleau, 241. Formosa, Island of, ceded to Japan, 577, 582. Forster Education Act (iSyo), 459, 475. Fouquier-Tinville, 145. Fourteenth of July. See July 14, i/Sg. Fox, and the American Revolution, 6; and the House of Commons, 437; colonial policy of, 492. France, the Old Regime in, i, 31-58; and the Seven Years' War, 4, 14-15, 488; and the American Revolution, 6-7; and the Jesuits, 16; aids Prussia against Austria, 29; effect of the Revolution in the life of, 31; beginnings of the Revo- lution, 60-84; and the making of the Constitution, 86-98; government of, under the Constitution of lygi, 89-93; Civil Constitution of the Clergy of, 95- 96; Legislative Assembly of, 101-119; and the emigres, 103, 109; declares war against Francis II of Austria, 110-112; becomes a democracy, 116, 147; Paris becomes dominant in the affairs of, 116-117; under the Convention, 120- 150; republic established in, 120; civil war in, 124, 127; dechristianization of, i37~i39; under the Directory, 152- 177; and Corsica, 153; Savoy and Nice ceded to, 158; and the Treaty of Campo Formio, 165, 183; threatened with invasion, 172; under the Con- sulate, 179-192; and the Peace of France, continued Amiens, 183, 192, 199; Concordat de- termines relations of church and state in, 187-189; Code Napoleon, 189-190; Bank of, founded, 190; early years of the empire in, 194-214; becomes chief Adriatic power, 202; influence of, in South Germany, 208; the Empire at its height in, 215-226; annexes Hol- land and northern coasts of Germany, 217, 228; and the Papal States, 217, 228, 232; and Spain, 217-222; alliance of, and Russia renewed, 221, 223; and Austria, 223-226; gains of, by Peace of Vienna, 224; the decline and fall of Napoleon, 228-247; rupture of the Franco-Russian Alliance, 233-234; peace offered to, on the basis of the natural boundaries, 239-240; allies in- vade, 240; Louis XVIII proclaimed King of, 241; and the Congress of Vienna, 241-242, 249-255; policy of Louis XVIII in, 241-242; Napoleon returns to, 242-244; the "Hundred Days," 244; and the Belgium cam- paign, 244-247; and the Congress of Troppau, 267; sends army into Spain, 268; revolution of i8jo in, 269, 287; under the Restoration, 270-279; Rev- olutions beyond, 280-288; recognizes independence of Belgium, 282; and the revolution in Poland, 286; the- reign of Louis Philippe, 289-297; the Sec- ond Republic in, 297, 313-320; Pro- visional Government in, 297, 313- 316; Second Empire in, 313, 320-324; Mazzini in, 326; and the Crimean War, 332, 544-545; and the interview at Plombieres, 332; and the war of iSjQ, ssS'j Savoy and Nice ceded to, 335; Bismarck ambassador to, 344; Prussia and, 345, 349, 355-361; and the year 1866, 351; the Second Em- pire and the Franco-Prussian War, 351-361; and Mexico, 352-354; and the Treaty of Frankfort, 360, 374; and the policy of protection, 372; iso- lation of, after the Treaty of Frank- fort, 374; and the Austro-German Treaty of i8yg, 375-376; and the Dual Alliance, 376, 395-396; under the Third Republic, 384-408; and the Commune, 384-386; Versailles de- clared the capital of, 385; and the government of Thiers, 386-388; army reform in, 387; Septennate established in, 389; and the Constitution of iS/j, 630 INDEX France, 'continued 390-391; and the Catholic Church, 391, 400-403; national system of education established in, 393; colonial poUcy of, 393, 600; General Boulanger and, 394- 395; and the Dreyfus case, 396-400; Separation of Church and State in, 403; acquisition of colonies by, 403- 408; and the Entente Cordiale, 406- 408; and Italy, 407, 412; and Africa, 507-509; and Egypt, 511-512; aids Greece, 542-543; and the insurrection of Poland {1863), 564; Russia borrows money from, 568; in Asia, 572; and China, 574, 578-579; and Japan, 578; and the breaches of the Treaty of Berlin, 596-597; and the European War, 608-618; and the Triple Entente, 614-615. Francis I (Austria). See Francis II. Francis II (Holy Roman Empire), France declares war against, 110-112; retires from Vienna, 202; becomes Francis I (Austria), 207-208; daughter of, mar- ries Napoleon, 226; pohcy of , 258-259. Francis II (Naples), revolt against, 335, 336; flees to Gaeta, 338. Francis Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, assassinated, 609-610. Francis Joseph I {i 848-1 gi6), accession of, 304; and Hungary, 305, 416-418, 425-426; grants constitution, 416-417; and the Compromise of 1867, 419- 420; and Bohemia, 420-422; death of, 426; annexes Bosnia and Herze- govina, 595-596- Franco-Prussian War {1870), 350, 357- 361, 516; completes unification of Germany, 363; isolation of France after, 374, 395. Frankfort, Diet of, 259-260, 311; As- sembly meets at, 301; Parliament of, 306-310; work of Parliament of, re- jected, 341; Bismarck appointed Prus- sian delegate to the Diet in, 344; Prussia incorporates the free city of, 349; the Bundesrath and the Diet of, 364; Treaty of, 360, 374, 384. Frederick II (the Great), 11-17, 28, 29, 209; and the Pragmatic Sanction, 29; Napoleon visits tomb of, 210. Frederick III (German Emperor), 366, 376. Frederick VII (Denmark), 533. Frederick VIII (Denmark), 534. Frederick William I (Prussia), 11-12, 283. Frederick William II, 17. Frederick WiUiam III, policy of, 208- 210; enters Paris, 240; persecutes the Liberals, 262. Frederick William IV, rejects the work of the Frankfort Parliament, 308. Free Trade, 37, 65, 281; Germany aban- dons, 372; England and, 372, 446-448, 475- French Congo, founded, 393, 405, 408. French Revolution, importance of, i, 38; England and, 7, 404, 428; a transition from feudalism to democracy, 31; be- ginnings of the, 60-84; Paris celebrates the end of, loi; political clubs and, 108; and the war in Europe, no, 112; and the September Massacres, 117- 118; and the Convention, 120-150; Louis XVI and, 122-124; and the Constitution of 17 g3, 127-128; Ro- bespierre and, 142; and the insur- rection of 13 Vendemiaire, 148-149; Napoleon and, 155-156; 183-185, 196, 244; and the treaty of Campo Formio, 165; Roman CathoHc bishops and the laws of the, 187-188; and legislation, 189-190; Stein imitates the reforms of the, 231; Congress of Vienna and, 254; 'Metternich and, 256-257; Italy and, 264; the restored Bourbons and, 270-272, 274; of 1830, 276-279, 280; Belgium and, 281-283; Poland and, 284; of 1848, 296, 298, 445; widespread influence of, 428, 541- French Soudan, 406. Friedland, battle of, 211. Fundamental Law of 181 5 (Holland), Gabelle, 39-40. Gaeta, 338. Gag Laws, 434. Galicia, 224, 422. Gambetta, Leon, emergence of, 354-355; proclaims the Republic, 358; escapes from Paris, 359; wishes to continue the war, 384; and Clericalism, 391, 401; president of the Chamber of Deputies, 392; death of, 394; Waldeck- Rousseau and, 400. Gapon, Father, 586. Garibaldi, Anita, 336. Garibaldi, Giuseppe, joins "Young Italy," 327; and the making of the Kingdom of Italy, 335-338. Gatton, 431. INDEX 631 Gaza, 172. General Security. See Committee of General Security. "Generalities," 36. Geneva Commission, 461. Genoa, in ijSg, i, 8, 26; and Corsica, 153; becomes the Ligurian Repub- lic, 162; and Napoleon, 166, Massena driven into, 182; given to the King of Piedmont, 249, 253, 264; Mazzini born in, 325; Garibaldi and, 337. George, Lloyd, Chancellor of the Ex- chequer, and the budget of iQog, 478. George I (England), 2-3. George I (Greece), 554-SSS- George II (England), 2-4. George III (England), reign of, 4-7; death of, 435; and New South Wales, 494. George IV (England), accession of, 435; death of, 436. George V (England), accession of, 481; and the Parliament Bill, 482. German Confederation, established, 259- 262, 307-308; revived, 311; restored, 341; Holstein a member of the, 346; ceases to exist, 349. See also Ger- many. German East Africa, 374. German Empire. See Holy Roman Empire. German National Assembly, 301. German Southwest Africa, 374. Germans, the dominant race in Austria, 257, 302, ^420-423. Germany, in ijSg^ 9~io; Frederick II and, 11-17; influence of, in Russia, 21-22; emigres in, 96, 103; states of, at war with France, 105, 124, 152; France in possession of provinces west of the Rhine, 149, 199, 205; campaign through southern, 153; congress of states of, 165; French driven out of, 174; French defeat Austrians in, 183; French bishops in, 187; Code Napoleon put into force in states of, 190; Na- poleon seizes Hanover, 200; Napoleon sends Grand Army across, 201; Bavaria and Baden gain possessions in South, 202; transformation of, by Napoleon, 205-208, 211, 213; northern coasts of, annexed to France, 217, 228; kings and princes of, summoned to Erfurt, 221; troops from, sent to aid Napoleon, 224; and the Continental System, 234; Napoleon battles for supremacy in, 237~239; Prussia to have compensa- Germany, conlinued tion in northern, 238; Saxony and, 250; Metternich and, 255, 257; after iSij, 259-262; and the July Revolu- tion, 280; and the revolution in Po- land, 286; revolution in, 287-288, 301- 302; problem of unity in, 307-312; emigration of Liberals from, 310; uni- fication of, 341-350; reaction in, after iS4g, 341; Prussia conquers North, 347-348; states of South, 349; Con- federation of North, 349-350; war with France necessary for the unification of, 356; states of South, aid Prussia, 357; Napoleon III a prisoner in, 358; and the Treaty of Frankfort, 360, 384; com- pletion of unification of, 360-361; the Bundesrath and, 364; the parliamen- tary system does not exist in, 366; and the Kulturkampf, 366-368; the Center party in, 367; and Socialism, 368- 372; Bismarck adopts policy of protec- tion in, 372-373; acquires colonies, 373-374; and the Triple AUiance, 374- 376, 395, 412, 414; makes treaty with Austria, 375-376; the reign of William II, 376-382; expansion of industry in, 378; the Social Democrats in, 378- 380; Prussia rules, 379-380; demand for parliamentary reform in, 380-381; and Great Britain, 381; France pays indemnity to, 387; France feels the rivalry of, 393; and the Dreyfus Case, 396; and the Entente Cordiale, 407- 408; loss of .\ustrian influence in, 416, 418; principle of nationality effective in, 420; and Africa, 509; violates Bel- gian neutrality, 525, 616; aids Greece, 542; and Japan, 578-579; and China, 578-579; and the breaches of the Treaty of Berlin, 596-597; and the European War, 608-618. Giolitti, and Austria, 608. Gironde, no. Girondists, personnel, iio-iii; desire war, in; and the Jacobins, no, in, 118, 120-126; and the trial of Louis XVI, 123; leaders of, expelled from the Convention, 126, 129, 133, 137; call the departments to arms, 127; Lyons and, 133; twenty-one, guillotined, 134; offices open to, 186. Gladstone, and reform of the House of Commons, 451; and the Great Minis- try, 453-461; early life, 453-454; and Ireland, 454-459; and education, 459- 460; other reforms of, 460-461; second 632 INDEX Gladstone, continued ■ ministry of, 463-466; third ministry, 467-470; fourth ministry, 472; resigns, .472-473; and the House of Lords, 472, 480; and the Transvaal, 500-501; and the Soudan, 513; denounces "the un- speakable Turk," 546-547. Godoy, 218. Goethe, 222, 261. Gordon, General, 513-514. Gorgei, 305. Gortchakoff (Russian Chancellor) and the Congress of Berlin, 375. Gotha, Socialist platform adopted at, 369- "Governments," France, 35-36. Gramont, and the Hohenzollern candi- dacy, 356-357. Grattan, 467. Great Commoner. See Pitt. Great Elector (Prussia), 11. Great Khan, 18. Great Saint Bernard pass, 182, 201. "Great Terror," 137, 145. Great Trek, 499. Greece, and the war of independence, 541-543; foreign intervention in, 542- 543; becomes a kingdom, 543, 545, 554; after 1833, 554-555; acquires the Ionian Islands and Thessaly, 554-555; declares war against Turkey, 555; and the Young Turks, 599; and the Bal- kan War of igi2, 602-605; Bulgaria attacks, 605; and the Treaty of Bucharest, 605-606. Greenland, 534. Green's History of England, censored in Russia, 570. Grenoble, 243. Grevy, Jules, chosen President, 392; resigns, 394. Grey, Earl, becomes prime minister, 436; ministry of, defeated, 437; ministry of, resigns, 439; recalled, 439. Grey, Sir Edward, and the breaches of the Treaty of Berlin, 597. Guadaloupe, 404. Guam, 374. Guastalla, 204. Guiana, South America, 404, 488; Dutch, 523- Guilds, in France, 47; abolished, 65-66, 80, 185. Guinea, 405. Guizot, Ministry of {1840-1848), 292- 296. Gustavus V (Sweden), 538. Haakon VII (Norway), 538. Habeas Corpus, 50; suspended, 434. Hague, First Peace Conference at, 591- 593; Second, 593-594- Hague International Arbitration Tri- j bunal, 538, 592; Servia and, 611. Hallam, Arthur, 453-454. Ham, 318. Hamburg, 217, 228, 365; merchants of, found trading stations in Africa, 373. Hanover, House of, 2; Napoleon seizes, 200; supports Austria in 1866, 347; Prussia invades, 347; King of, taken prisoner, 348; Kingdom of, incor- porated in Prussia, 349. Hapsburg, House' of. See Austria. Harbin, 579. Hardenburg, 230. Hebert, and the Pcre Duchesne, 137; guillotined, 140. Hebertists, 139; and the Committee of PubUc Safety, 140. Helgoland, 252, 488. Henry, Colonel, 397. "Henry V" (France), 388. Herzegovina, Austria occupies, 375, 426, 548; insurrection in, 546; Austria-Hun- gary annexes, 595-596, 600; Servia covets, 597. Hesse-Cassel, revolution in, 287; sup- ports Austria in 1866, 347; Elector of, taken prisoner, 348; Prussia incor- porates the duchy of, 349. Hesse-Darmstadt, supports Austria in 1866, 347. Hindus, and the Sepoy Mutiny, 489-490. Hohenlinden, battle of, 183. Hohenlohe (Chancellor, i8g4-igoo), 377. HohenzoUern, House of. See Prussia. Hohenzollern candidacy, 356-357. Holland, in i78g, i; young Russians sent to, 20; at war with France, 124, 149; makes peace with France, 149, 152; loses colonies, 183; colonies of, re- stored, 183; Louis Bonaparte becomes king of, 203; and the Continental Blockade, 217; annexed to France, 217, 228; Belgium annexed to, 250, 252, 281; colonial losses of, 252, 488, 499; and Africa, 507; since 1830, 522-523; and China, 574. Holstein, Denmark and, 345-346, 533; Prussia incorporates, 349, 533. Holy Alliance, 254-255; and Spain, 263, 268, 515; a synonym for tyranny, 267; becomes dominant force in European politics, 268-269; powerlessness of, INDEX ^33 Holy Alliance, continued 280; the Poles and, 287; Canning and, 435- "Holy Allies," 255, 260, 268. Holy Roman Empire, in i^Sg, i, 9; comes to an end, 206-207, 259. See also Germany. Holyrood Palace, 278. Home Rule Bill (Ireland), first, 466-469; second, 472; third, 483-485. Home Rule Movement, 466-470, 472- 473, 483-485- Hong Kong, ceded to England, 574. Hudson Bay territory, 487, 491-493. Humbert I (Italy), accession of, 410; assassinated, 413. "Hundred Days," 244. Hungary, Kingdom of, 257; and the re- volution of 1S48, 298-305, 416; Diet of, abolished, 416; refuses to cooperate with Austria, 417-418; and the Com- promise of 186/, 419-420, 423; the Kingdom of, since iS6y, 423-426. See also Austria-Hungary. Huskisson, and the tariff, 435. Ibrahim, 542. Iceland, 534. Illyrian Provinces, 224, 252. Imperial Federation (British), 505-506. "Imperial Gcrmanv" by von Billow, 382._ Imperial Parhament (German) and the King of Prussia, 366; and the Kultur- kampf, 367-368; and Sociahsm, 370; and the policy of protection, 372-373. Imperialism, era of, begins, 393; Eng- land and, 461-462, 470, 473, 476. Imperialists (France) and Boulanger, 395. Income tax, demanded by SociaHsts, 369; England and, 478. Indemnity, Act of (England), 432. India, accjuired by England, 2, 4, 487- 490, 572; French designs on, 7; Na- poleon and, 168-169, 172; Wellesley and, 221; French towns on coast of, 404; commerce with, 462; Queen of England proclaimed Empress of, 463, 490; declared an Empire, 490; govern- ment of, 490, 505. Indo-China, French acquisitions in, 405, 572. _ Industrial Revolution, in England, 2. Initiative (Switzerland), 530-531. Inkermann, battle of, 544. Inquisition, in Spain, 222; in Italy, 265. Institute, 150. Insurance, against sickness, accident, old age and incapacity in Germany, 371. Intendants, under the Old Regime, 36, 92, 182.' International African Association, 509. Invalides, 247. Ionian Islands, 252, 488; ceded to Greece, 554. Ireland, representation of, in the Eng- Ush Parhament, 430; famine of 184^ in, 447-448; Gladstone and, 454-459, 464-465, 467-470, 472; and Home Rule, 466-469, 472, 483-485; Lord Salisbury and, 470-471, 473; old age pensions in, 476. Irish Government Bill (Gladstone's), 468. Irish Home Rulers, support the Liberals, 467, 472, 480. Isabella II, Queen (Spain), driven out, 356, 516; reign of, 515-516; her son becomes king, 518. Ismail, Khedive of Egypt, 462, 51 1-5 12. Isnard, no. Istria, handed over to Austria, 165; ceded to Napoleon, 202; Italy covets, 414. Italia irredenta, 414. Italy, in ijSg, 7-8; states of, enter war against France, 124; Bonaparte and, 153, 156, 158-166, 211; French driven out of, 172, 174, 182; Bonaparte's Second Campaign in, 182; northern, abandoned to the French, 182; Code Napoleon in force in, 190; Napoleon, King of, 196, 228; England jealous of French domination in, 199; Austria eager to recover her position in, 201; Venetia ceded to the Kingdom of, 202; and the Continental Blockade, 216; Napoleon annexes part of the Papal States to the Kingdom of, 217, 228, 232; troops from, go to aid Napoleon, 224; Austria receives northern, 252; and the Congress of Vienna, 252-253; • Metternich and, 257, 259, 282; after 181^, 264-266, 267; and the July Revo- lution, 280; Revolution in, 287, 301- 302; partially conquered, 302, 304; conquest of, completed, 305-306, 416; Constitutional Statute granted in Sar- dinia, 311; War of 18 jg in, 322-324; making of the Kingdom of, 325-340; Austria to be driven out of, 332, 361, 418; Napoleon III and, 332-335, 338; and the war of i8$g, 333, 416; aids Prussia against Austria, 347; completes her unification, 360; joins the Austro- 634 INDEX Italy, continued German AUiance, 375-376, 395, 412; France feels the rivalry of, 393, 405; Delcasse and, 407; Kingdom of, since 18^0, 409-415; and the Papacy, 409- 410; and the problem of education, 411; dreads France, 412; colonial policy of, 412; increase of population in, 413- 414; emigration from, 413-414; acquisi- tions of, in 1912, 414; unredeemed, 414; denounces treaty of alliance with Austria, 414; declares war against Austria-Hungary, 415; principle of na- tionality in, 420; and Africa, 509; and the breaches of the Treaty of Berlin, 596; at war with Turkey, 600-601; and Tripoli, 600-601; Austria informs, of her intention to attack Servia, 606-612. Ivory Coast, 405. Jacobin Club, 105-107, 130; Robespierre and, 106, 141; Louis Philippe and, 289. Jacobins, and Girondists, no, in, 118, 120-126,; desire war, in; organize demonstration against the King, 113; and the insurrection of August 10, 1792, 116; and the Commune, 117, 126-127; demand execution of Louis XVI, 123; become masters of the Convention, 127; Robespierre and, 141; lose power, 146; offices open to, 186; in Paris {iSyi), 386. Jaffa, 172. Jagow, statement of, 617. Jamaica, 442, 487. Jameson Raid, 502. Janina, falls, 603. Japan, Canada and, 493; and Russia, 569, 571, 577-582, 593; early history of, 574- 577; at war with China, 577-580; gains Formosa, 577, 582; gains of, by the Treaty of Portsmouth, 582; and the First Peace Conference at the Hague, 591- Java, 523. Jellachich, 303. Jemappes, 2S9. Jena, battle of, 210, 211, 238; Prussia after, 230. Jesuits, 16; expelled from Germany, 367; in Switzerland, 528-529. Jews, under Louis XVI, 50; position of, in South Germany improved, 208; Dreyfus and the, 399; position of, in England, 432; in Roumania, 553; in Russia, 558, 567, 585, 589; emigrate to the United States, 567. Johannesburg, 501. John VI (Portugal), 520. Josephine (Beauharnais), Empress, and Napoleon, 156, 164, 201, 211; crowned, 196; divorced, 224. Jourdan, 153. Juarez, 353. July Monarchy, 291-297. July Ordinances (iSjo), 274-276. July Revolution (iSjo), 276-278; influ- ence of, 280-288; of 1908 (Turkey), 555-557, 594-S9S- July 14, i/Sg, 76-78, 81; declared a national holiday, 392. June 20, iyg2, 113, 156. June 2, J79J, insurrection of, 126-127, 129. June Days (June 23-26, 1848), 316, 318. Junot, 221. Jury, trial by, in Hungary, 299, 300. Kalisch, Treaty of, 237-238. Kamerun, 374, 408. Kara George, 541. Kent, Duke of, 443. Khartoum, 513-514. Kiauchau, Germany secures lease of, 578. Kiel, harbor of, 347; treaty of, 534, 536. "King of Rome," 226, 232, 318. Kioto, university established at, 576. Kirk Kilisse, Bulgarians defeat Turks at, 602, 605. Kitchener, Lord, and the Soudan, 474, 514; and the South African War, 504. Kleber, 169, 172. Koniggratz, battle of, 348, 351, 355. Korea, China and Japan desire control of, 577; China recognizes independence of, 577; Japan sends army into, 580-581; Russia recognizes Japan's paramount interests in, 582; Japan annexes, 582. Kosciusko, 283. Kossuth, Francis, 425. Kossuth, Louis, 298-305, 425. Kotzebue, murder of, 261. Kruger, Paul, President of the Transvaal, 502-503. Kulturkampf, 366-368. Kumanovo, Servian victory at, 602. Kunersdorf, battle of, 15. Kuropatkin, General, and Port Arthur, 581. Labor Commission, 314. Labor Legislation (England), 442, 448- 449- Labor Party, England, 477; supports the Liberals, 480. Ladrone Islands, 374. INDEX 63s Lafayette, and the events of Oct. 5-6, i78g, 82; and the Declaration of the Rights of Man, 86-87; favors Louis Philippe, 278, 290-291. Laibach, Congress of, 267. Lamartine, no, 293, 297; leader of the Republicans, 313-316. Land, Act of 1870 (Ireland), 459, 464, 470; Act of iSSi, 464-465, 470; Pur- chase Bill (Gladstone), 468; Purchase Act of iSgi (Salisbury), 471; Act of ^903^ 471- Landcsgcmcindc cantons, (Switzerland), 530- Landtag (Prussian), 379. Lannes, 169. Lassalle, Ferdinand, and Socialism, 368, 370. Lateran, 410. Lausanne, Treaty of, 601-602. Law of Associations (France), 401-403. Law of January 2, igoy (France), 403. Law of Papal Guarantees, 409-410. Law of 22nd Prairial, 142-145. Law of 1868 (Hungary), 425. Law School (Paris), 150. Lebrun, 180. Leeds, unrepresented, 432. Legendre, 113. Legion of Honor, founded, 190; Drej^us and, 399. Legislative Assembly, 101-119, 313-. Legislative Body, 181, 321, 358. Legislative Chamber, larger rights granted to, 354. Legitimacy, doctrine of, 250. Legitimists (France), 290, 387. Leipsic, battle of, 238-239, 348; King of Saxony retains, 252; commemora- tion of battle of, 261. Leo XIII (Pope), and the Kultur- kampf, 368; and the Law of Papal Guarantees, 410-41 1. Leoben, preliminary peace of, 162, .164. Leopold of Coburg, becomes Leopold I, King of Belgium, 282, 353; and Queen Victoria, 444; reign of, 523-524. Leopold II (Belgium), and Congo Free State, 509-510; reign of, 524-525. Leopold, of Hohenzollern, accepts Span- ish crown, 356; declines crown, 516. Lese-majeste, 379. Lesseps, Ferdinand de, and the Suez Canal, 511. Lettre dc cachet, 32, 50-51, 54, 70, 76. . Liao-tung peninsula, Japan and, 577-578, 581-582. Liao-yang, battle of, 581. Liberal-Unionists. See Unionists. Liberals, of Germany, 260-262, 306, 345, 350; in Spain, 268, 515; in France, 272, 274; in Poland, 286; Piedmont the hope of Itahan, 329; Napoleon III and, 354; in England, 451, 453, 454, 463, 469-470, 472-473, 475-485; blocked by the House of Lords, 477- 480; of Holland, 523; in Russia, 560, .567, 585. Liberty, restrictions upon, in France, 48- 51, 185; Montesquieu and, 53, 56, 89; Voltaire and, 56; Rousseau and, 56; economic, demanded in France, 64; constitution must guarantee in- dividual, 69; Louis XVI proclaimed the Restorer of French, 80; Lafayette and, 86; principles of French, 87-89; spread of ideas of, 112; jMadame Roland on, 136; the year One of, 137; the Consuls promise fidelity to, 177; Napoleon and, 184-186, 244; reUgious, established in Germany, 208; Met- ier nich and, 257; suppressed in Ger- many, 262; religious, established in Hungary, 300; Cavour and, 340, 341; religious, in Great Britain, 432-433; religious, in Spain, 516. Library, National, 150. Liebknecht, and Socialism, 369. Ligurian Republic. Sec Genoa. Lisbon, 217, 221, 519-521. Lissa, 349. Liverpool, 453. Livingstone, David, 508-509. Livonia, 20, 558. Lobau, Island of, 224. Lodi, 159, 160. Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom, Austria receives, 252, 257, 264; declares its independence, 302; revolution in, 416; Austria loses, 426. Lombardy, Austria controls, 153, 159; Austria relinquishes her rights in, 165; Austria acquires, 253; Austrian policy in, 265; revolution in, 301-302; con- quered, 2>iy, ceded to Piedmont, 333, 416; illiteracy in, 411. See also Lom- bardo-Venetian Kingdom. Lombardy-Venetia. See Lombardo-Ve- netian Kingdom. Lomenie de Brienne, 68. London, 191; conference in, recognizes independence of Belgium, 282; Maz- zini in, 328; Times and the Dreyfus case, 398; Parliament meets at, 430, 636 INDEX London, continued 456; Standard, 434; riots in, 438; and the Chartist agitation, 445-446; Ire- land and the English ParHament in, 468-469, 483; imperial conference in, 473; and old age pensions, 476; Treaty of {1S27), 542-543; Treaty of {1913), 603-604. Lonsdale, Lord, 431. Lords, House of {181 5), 429, 431; de- feats the second Reform Bill, 438; and the third Reform BUI, 438-439; bishops of Irish Church lose seats in, 457; House of, defeats Second Home Rule Bill, 472; Gladstone attacks House of, 472; the Liberals blocked by, 477; reject the budget of igog, 479; Asquith and, 479-482; passes the ParHament BiU, 482; and the Third Home Rule Bill, 485; and Welsh Disestablishment, 485. "Lord's Veto," the Liberals and, 480. Lorraine, Germans invade, 357; part of, ceded to Germany, 360, 369, 374, 384. See also Alsace-Lorraine. Loubet, President, and Dreyfus, 398. Louis I (Bavaria), 554. Louis I (Portugal), 521. Louis XIII (France), 405. Louis XIV, 60, 474. Louis XV, and the Seven Years' War, 7, 404; extravagance of, 60; death of, 60. Louis XVI, government under, 32-51, 60-68; extravagance of, 34-35, 38; and Protestantism, 48-50; and the beginnings of the Revolution, 60-84; his character, 60-62; his ministers, 64-68; and the States-General, 68- 73; and the National Assembly, 73- 74; and the revolution in Paris, 78; proclaimed the "Restorer of French Liberty," 80; and the decrees of August 4, 1789, 81; leaves Ver- sailles, 84; accepts the Declaration of the Rights of Man, 87; and the Constitution of 1791, 89-90, 98, 181; and the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, 95-96; and the flight to Varennes, 96-98; and the Legislative Assembly, 101-119; and the Dec- laration of Pillnitz, 103; his brothers, 103, 187, 191; treason of, 109, 112, 122; Jacobins and, 111-113, 116; Duke of Brunswick and, 113-114; vetoes decrees, 113, 156; seeks safety in the Assembly, 114; suspended, Louis XVI, continued 116; and the Revolution, 122; trial and execution of, 123-124, 136, 274, 289. Louis XVIII, legitimate ruler of France, 187; proclaimed King, 241; grants charter, 241-242; policy of, 241-242; flees, 244; restored, 270-272; Alexan- der I and, 559. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, 317-320. See also Napoleon III. Louis Philippe, becomes King of France, 278; recognized by the powers, 280; and Belgium, 282; and Italy, 287; reign of, 289-297, 313; fall of, 296, 298, 300; and Algiers, 404. Louise, Queen, 209, 342. Louvre, Museum of, 150. Lovett, and " The Rotten House of Com- mons," 444. Lowe, Robert, and parliamentary reform, 452. Lubeck, 217, 228, 365. Lucca, 204, 264. Lucerne, 527. Lucknow, 490. Lule Burgas, Bulgarians defeat Turks at, 602, 605. LunevUle, Treaty of, 183, 199, 205. Lutzen, battle of, 238. Luxembourg Palace, 314. Luxemburg, a neutral state, 616-617. Lyons, 127, 133. Lytton, Lord, Viceroy of India, 490. Macaulay, T. B., and representation in the House of Commons, 437; and Gladstone, 454. Macaulay, Zachary, and slavery, 441. Macedonia, Bulgaria and, 547, 548, 552, 604-605; Greece and, 555, 602; Young Turks and, 599-600, 602; Servia and, 604. Machiavelli, 13. Mack, General, 201. MacMahon, Marshal elected President, 388-389; policy of, 391-392, 401. Madagascar, France and, 393, 406. Madeira, Portugal and, 521. Madeleine, 295. Madrid, 222, 518. Magenta, battle of, 333, 416. Magyars, the dominant race in Hungary, 257,302-303, 304,420,422-423; Francis Joseph and, 416-417; oppose demands of Czechs in Bohemia, 421; policy of, 424-426. INDEX 637 Mahratta confederacy, overthrow of, 488. Majuba Hill, battle of, 500-501. Malesherbes, 50. Malta, 170, 183, 252, 488. Mamelukes, 170. Manchester, unrepresented, 432; and the Anti-Corn Law League, 447. Manchu dynasty overthrown, 583. Manchuria, invaded by the Japanese, 577; Russian activity in, 579-580; Russians and Japanese to evacuate, 582. Manin, Daniel, and Venice, 301. Manitoba, 492. Mantua, siege of, 159; fall of, 160. Manuel (King of Portugal), 521. Maoris, 497. Marat, a monarchist, 98; incites the Sep- tember Massacres, 118; and the Jaco- bins, 118; and the Girondists, 121; the Commune and, 126; Charlotte Corday and, 136. Marchand, seizes Fashoda, 407. March Days, in Germany, 301, 311. March Laws, 300-301; abrogated, 304. Marches, the, annexed by Victor Emman- uel II, 338-339- Marengo, 182, 186, 187, 191, 201; anni- versary of, 211. Maria Christina (Spanish Regent), 518. Maria da Gloria, 520. Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria, 13, 29, 62. Marie, Minister of Commerce, 315. Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, ex- travagance of, 34; accession of, 60; her influence over Louis XVI, 62-64, 66, 81-84; and Turgot, 66; and the flight to Varennes, 96-97; treason of, 98, 112; Duke of Brunswick and, 114; im- prisoned, 116; death of, 136, 226. Marie Louise, Archduchess of Austria, marries Napoleon, 226; given Duchy of Parma, 253. Maritime Province, 572. Marmont, 158, i6g. Marseilles, 127, 133. Marsh, the, 121. Martinique, 404. Marx, Karl, and Socialism, 369. Massacre of the boulevards, 320. Massawa, 412. Massena, 157, 182, 185. Mauritius, 441, 488. MaximiUan, Archduke of Austria, and Mexico, 352-353. May Laws, 367-368. Mazzini, Joseph, and the Italian Risorgi- mento, 325-328; Cavour and, 330; Garibaldi and, 335. Medical School (Paris), 150. Mehemet Ali, and Egypt, 511; Turkey seeks aid from, against Greece, 542. Melas, 182. Melbourne, Lord, and the first Reform BUI, 436; and Queen Victoria, 444. Melikofi", Loris, 566-567. Metric system, established in France, 150. Metternich, and the Congress of Vienna, 249-255; influence of, 255-257; his policy in Austria, 258-259; his policy in Germany, 259-262; and the "right of intervention," 266-269, 280; and the revolution in Germany, 287; and Eng- land, 296, 300; and the revolution of 184S, 298; overthrow of, 300; and Bis- marck, 370; and Canning, 435; and Alexander I, 560. Metz, 96; besieged by the Germans, 358; fall of, 359; ceded to Germany, 360. Mexico, Napoleon III and, 352-354; and the First Peace Conference at the Hague, 591. Michelet, on the Constituent Assembly, 88. Miguel (Dom), 520. Milan, capital of Lombardy, 153; Bona- parte and, 159, 166; Napoleon issues Decrees from, 216; occupied, 333. Milan, King of Servia, 553. Militarism, 590-592. Military School (France), 396, 399. Mill, John Stuart, and woman suffrage, 452- Milyoukov, Professor, 569. Miquelon, 404. "Mir," 559, 562. Mirabeau, on Prussia, 11; imprisormient of, 51, 76; defies the King, 74; on the Constitution of lygi, 93; and the royal flight, 96; a leader in the Constituent Assembly, 136; compared with Robes- pierre, 141. Miramar, 353. Mission, representatives on. See Repre- sentatives on mission. Missolonghi, fall of, 542. Modena, Duke of, and Bonaparte, 162, 165-166; Austria and, 253, 264; revo- lution in, 287; ruler should be restored in, 333 > 334; annexed to Italy, 334. Mohammed V (Turkey), 598. Mohammedans, and the Sepoy Mutiny, 489. 638 INDEX Moldavia, practically independent, 543; independent, 545. See Roumania. Moltke, General von, 347-348. Mommsen, on Germany, 382. Monaco, 264. Monarchists (France) control National Assembly, 384-385; wish to abolish the Republic, 387-389; secure ma- jority in Senate, 391; the Republic- ans victorious over, 392; wish to overthrow the Republic, 395, 399-400. Monastir, Servians capture, 602. Mondovi, 158. Mongols, 18-19. Monroe, James (President of the U. S.), and the Monroe Doctrine, 268-269. Montalembert, 318. Montcalm, defeated by Wolfe, 4. Montebello, 164. Montenegro, declares war against Tur- key, 547; independence of, recognized, 547, 548; Servia covets, 597; and the Balkan War of 191 2, 602-605; joins war against Bulgaria, 605-606; and the Treaty of Bucharest, 605-606. Montesquieu, influence of, 46, 52-53, 89, 129; Rousseau and, 56-57. Montevideo, 336. Montijo, Mile. Eugenie de, Napoleon III marries, 322. Montreal, 491. Morea, 542-543- Moreau, and the campaigns in Germany, 153, 182, 183; and Napoleon, 160. Morley, -and Irish Home Rule, 468. Morocco, France and, 406-408; Turkey and, 507; Spain and, 519. Mortmain, in France, 400. Moscow, ancient capital of Russia, 18, 19, 22; Napoleon's march to, 235-236; his retreat from, 236, 560; students sent from University of, 570. Mt. Tabor, 172. Mountain, the, 121. See also Jacobins. Mukden, captured by Japanese, 581. Municipal government (England), reform of, 442-443. Murat, Joachim, brings cannon to the Tuileries, 148; sails with Bonaparte, 169; returns to France, 172; and the 19th of Brumaire, 177; humbly born, 185; becomes Duke of Berg, 204; and the army in Spain, 218; becomes King of Naples, 218, 228; and the Russian Campaign, 234. Muscovy, Principality of. See Russia. Museum of the Louvre, 150, 162, 166. Nancy, Bishop of, 78. Nanking, Treaty of, 574; Republic pro- claimed at, 583. Nantes, Edict of, revoked, 48; city of, 134- Naples, Joseph becomes King of, 203, 218; Murat becomes King of, 218, 228; after 181 j, 264-265; insurrection in, 266; the congresses and, 267; Austria sends army into, 267-268; revolution in, 301-302; conquest of the Kingdom of, 335-340; illiteracy in, 411. Napoleon, and the Revolution, 10, 28, no, 148; witnesses attack on the Tuileries, 114, 156; defends the Con- vention, 148-149, 156; and the codi- fication of the laws (Code Napoleon) 150; and the Italian campaign, 153 158-166; early life of, 153-156; career of, under the Directory, 156-177; as Consul, 177, 179-192; his religion, i and the Concordat, 187-189, 402; Pius VII and, 187-189, 195-196, 217, 220 232, 264, 402; and the Duke d'Enghien 191; consul for life, 192; Emperor of the French, 192, 194-226; "Protector' of the Confederation of the Rhine 206, 228, 259; and Frederick WiUiam III, 208-209; concludes Peace of Til- sit, 211-212, 217; and England, 213- 218, 221, 228; and Italy, 217, 264; and Spain, 217-223, 262-263; ^.nd Alexander I at Erfurt, 221-222; and Austria, 223-226; divorces Josephine and marries Marie Louise, 224-226; decline and faU of, 228-247; Russia, Prussia and Austria, his allies, 228; invades Russia, 234-237; and the campaign of 1813 in Germany, 238- 239; forced to abdicate, 241; returns to Paris, 242-244, 247, 250; and Waterloo, 246-247; sent to St. Helena, 247, 257; death of, 247; effects of the overthrow of, 249-257; and Metter- nich, 257; his nephew, 317-320; and Switzerland, 527; and Denmark, 533. Napoleon III (Emperor of the French), 320-324; Cavour and, 332; and Italy, 332-335, 338; and the Preliminaries of Villafranca, 2>i?,\ takes Savoy and Nice, 335; allows Victor Emmanuel to annex the Marches and Umbria, 338; fails to use his opportunity, 351; and Mexico, 352-354; Gambetta and, 354- 355; and the HohenzoUern candidac)', 356-357; taken prisoner, 358; Bona- partists desire restoration of, 388; and INDEX 639 Napoleon Til, continued the conquest of Africa, 405; and the Crimean War, 544. See also Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. Nassau, supports Austria in 1866, 347; Prussia incorporates the duchy of, 349- National Archives, 150. National Assembly {ijSg), Third Estate declares itself, 73; nobiUty and clergy join, 74; becomes Constituent Assem- bly, 74; effect of the Revolution in Paris upon, 78-80; threats against, 82; goes to Paris, 84; sends for Louis XVI, 97; adjourns, 98; self-denying ordinance, 98, 105. See also Con- stituent Assembly. National Constituent Assembly (France, 1S71), 313, 315, 384-388; forces resig- nation of Thiers, 388; and the framing of the constitution, 388-396. National Council, Switzerland, 529. National Guard, organized, 78; called out, 296. National Library, 150. National Workshops (France), 314-316. NationaUty, development of, in Spain, 219-220; in Austria, 223; in Prussia, 230-232; principle of, ignored at Con- gress of Vienna, 254; development of, in Germany, 260; in Hungary, 303; divisive effect of the principle of, in Austria-Hungary, 420; Irish feeling for, 466; Australia and, 495; South African Union and, 505; development of, in Switzerland, 529. Navarino, battle of, 543. Nazareth, 172. Necker, 62; financial reforms of, 66-67; recalled, 68; incapacity of, 69, 70; dismissed, 76. Nelson, Admiral, and the French, 170, 214. Netherlands. See Austrian Netherlands and Belgium and Holland. New Brunswick, England and, 487, 491- 492. Newfoundland, 487, 491-493. New Guinea, 374. New Holland, 494. New South Wales, 494-497. New York Herald, sends Stanley to Africa, 508. New Zealand, 494, 497-498, 505. Ney, 185, 211, 234. Nice, 158; France and, 332, 334; Gari- baldi born at, 335. Nicholas I (Russia), and Poland, 286; and Francis Joseph I, 305; death of, 544; reign of, 560-561. Nicholas II (Russia), reign of, 569-571, 586-588; promises a Duma, 587; and the limitation of armaments, 591; and the Hague Conferences, 591-593. Nihilism, 564-566. Nikolsburg, Peace of, 347. Nile, Battle of the, 171; sources of, 508. Noailles, Viscount of, 78. Nobility, in France, under the Old Re- gime, 38-39, 41, 43-45, 70; position of, in the States General, 72-73; atti- tude of, toward the National Assem- bly, 74; renounces feudal dues, 78; titles of, abolished, 103, 185; com- manding position of, in England, 429- abolition of the Norwegian, 537; in Russia, 558, 561-562. Nogi, General, and the siege of Port Arthur, 581. Non-juring priests, origin of, 95; and the war in the Vendee, 102; emigrate, 103; decree against, 113; murdered, n8; guillotined, 134; laws against, relaxed, 186. Normal School, 150. North, Lord, ministr\' of, 6. North Cape, 289. North German Confederation {1H67- 187 1), 349-350, 363; opposed by Lieb- knecht and Bebel, 369. Norway, joined with Sweden, 253, 533- 537; abolition of the nobility of, 537; dissolution of the union of Sweden and, 537-538; suffrage in, 538. Notre Dame, 138, 139, 196. Novara, 267, 306, 329. Nova Scotia, 4, 487, 491-492. Obrenovitch, Milosch, 541. O'Connell, and the repeal movement, 456,467. October 5-6, ijSg, 82-84, 87. Oku, General, and Mukden, 581. Old Age, Insurance Law, Germany, {i88g), 371; Pensions Act (England), igo8, 476; Pension Law (New Zea- land), 498; pensions in Denmark, 533. Old Catholics, in Germany, 367-368. Old Regime, in Europe, 1-30; in France, 31-58, loi, 185, 186; desire to restore, 102; Bonaparte prevents the restora- tion of, 185; Bourbons do not restore, 270; attitude of the July Monarchy toward, 291; England a land of, 429. 640 INDEX Old Sarum, 431. Oldenburg, Grand Duchy of, 234. Olmiitz, humiliation of, 311. Omdurman, 514. Opium War, 573-574- Orange, House of. See Holland. Orange Free State, 499, 503-504. Orange River Colony, 504. Orders in Council, 216. Ordinances of July (iSjo), 274-276. Oregon dispute, settled, 492-493. "Organic laws" (Russia), 587. Orleanists, uphold the right of the Count of Paris, 387-388. Orleans, Duke of, intrigues of, 81, 289; death of, 136, 289; Louis Philippe, Duke of, becomes King, 278. Oscar II (Sweden and Norway), 536- 538. Otto I (Kmg of Greece), 543, 554. Ottoman Empire, Disruption of the, and the Rise of the Balkan States, 540- 557; collapse of the, 594-600. See also Turkey. Ouchy, Treaty of, 601. Oudh province, 489. Owen, Robert, and child labor, 442. Oxford, University of, 432, 453-454; reli- gious tests in, abolished, 460. Pact of 181^ (Switzerland), 527, 529. Palais Royal, 289. Palmerston, Lord, and Italy, 334; and Cavour, 339; and the first Reform Bill, 436. Papacy. See Catholic Church (Roman). Papal States, in lySg, i ; Napoleon and, 165, 217, 228, 232; reestablished, 253, 264; revolution in, 287, 301-302; Vic- tor Emmanuel leads army into, 338. Paris, Peace of {1763), 4; capital of. France, 32, 36; paupers in {1788), 48; Parlement of, demands convocation of the States General, 68-70; and the events of July 14, I78g, 76-78; organ- izes the National Guard, 78; Arch- bishop of, 80; government removed to, 84; Louis XVI plans to escape from, 96-97; celebrates "the end of the Revolution," loi; political clubs in, 106-107, 130; Assembly provides army for the protection of, 113; de- struction of, threatened, 114; Revolu- tionary Commune of , 116-118, 126-127, 137-140, 141, 146; September Mas- sacres in, 1 1 7-1 18; the Convention and, 121-150; Jacobins and, 121; exe- Paris, continued cutions in, 136, 145; organizes insur- rection against the Convention, 145, 148-149; schools of, 150; Museum of, 150, 162; Napoleon and, 153, 155-157, 162, 166, 169, 173, 210, 237, 241, 243- 244, 247; Councils return to, 177; government centralized in, under the Consulate, 182; becomes center of German politics, 206-208; ecclesias- tical court in, 224; capitulates, 240; First Treaty of, 249; ceases to be cen- ter of European affairs, 259; clerical reaction in, 274; and the July Revo- lution, 276, 281; Poles come to, 286; Louis Philippe and, 289, 295-296; Count of, 296, 388-389; June Days in, 316; coup d'etat in, 319; massacre of the boulevards, 320; modernized, 322; Congress of {1856), 322, 332, 545; Re- publican party master of, 355; siege of, 358-360; and the Commune, 384-386; second siege of, 386; seat of govern- ment transferred to, 392; Boulanger elected deputy in, 395; French colonies ruled from, 505; Treaty of (i8g8), 519; Young Turks in, 555. Parhmeul, 45, 66; of Paris, 68-69. Parliament, supremacy of, in England, 2-3; George III and, 5-7; composition of English {i8i§), 429-432; Cobbett urges reform of, 434; the Tories and the reform of, 434-436; the Whigs re- form, 436-441; demand for further reform of, 444-445, 451-452; Irish, abolish, 456; demand for Irish, 466, 468, 483; Home Rulers and English, 467, 472, 480; Irish to be represented in London, 483; Irish, granted to Ireland, 483-485; English, suspends Third Home Rule Bill and Bill for Welsh Disestablishment, 485; Enghsh, passes British North America Act, 492; in Ottawa, 492; British, and Australia, 495; Austrahan, 497; South African, 504- ParHament Bill (England), igir, 481- 482, 485. Parma, Duke of, and Bonaparte, 162, 165; Duchy of, given to Marie Louise, 253, 264; revolution in, 287, 334; an- nexed to Italy, 334. Parnell, Charles Stewart, and Home Rule, 467. Patterson, Elizabeth, 205. Peace movement, 590-594. Peace of Paris, 4. INDEX 641 Peasantry, in France, 47-48; and the Bourbon restoration, 242; in Russia, 558-550- Pedro (Dom) and Brazil, 520. Pedro IV (Portugal), 520. Pedro V (Portugal), 520. Peel, Sir Robert, reforms the Penal Code, 435; and the second Reform Bill, 438; and Queen Victoria, 444; repeals the Corn Laws, 448; Gladstone and, 454. Peking, capital of China, 573; Japan advances toward, 577; Legations in, besieged, 579. Penal Code, reformed in England, 435. Peninsula War, 218-222. People's Charter, 444-445. Pere Duchesne, 137. Perry, Commodore, and Japan, 575-576. Persia, and the First Peace Conference at the Hague, 591. Pescadores Islands, ceded to Japan, 577. Peter the Great, 19-24. Peter I (Servia), 553. Peter III (Russia), 24. Philadelphia Convention, 89, 93. Philhellenic societies founded, 542. Philip Equality. See Orleans, Duke of. Philippe Egalite. See Orleans, Duke of. Philippines, 515, 519. Phrygian cap, 108. Piacenza, 159. Pichegru, 191. Picquart, Colonel, and the Dreyfus case, 397) 399; becomes Minister of War, 399- Piedmont, in i7Sg, 8; emigres in, 96; in the war against France, 149, 152-158; cedes Savoy and Nice to France, 158; King of, restored, 249; after 181 j, 264- 265; revolution in, 266, 267-268, 301- 302; army of, defeated, 306; Consti- tutional Statute granted by Charles Albert to, 311; and the Crimean War, 322, 332, 544-545; a constitutional state, 329-332; and the interview at Plombieres, 332; and the war of i8jg, 333-339; and the Kingdom of Italy, 339; and Prussia, 341, 344-345; con- stitution of, 409; ilhteracy in, 411. Pillnitz, Declaration of, 103. Pitt, William, Earl of Chatham, Prime Minister' of England, 4; and the American Revolution, 6. Pitt the Younger, war leader, 183; and the French Revolution, 428; on repre- sentation in Great Britain, 432; and the House of Commons, 437. Pius VI (Pope), 162, 166. Pius VII (Pope) and Louis XVIII, 187; and Napoleon, 187-189, 195-196, 217, 220, 228, 232, 264, 402. Pius IX (Pope), and the Kulturkampf, 367-368; and the Law of Papal Guar- antees, 409-411; death of, 410. Pius X (Pope), denounces the Associa- tions of Worship, 403. Pi y Margall, 518. Plain, the, 121. Plassey, centenary of, 489. Plebiscite, 192, 320. Plehve, iron regime of, 585. Plevna, siege of, 547, 553. Plombieres, interview at, 332. Plural voting (England), 466, 477; Bel- gium, 525. Poland, in i/S'p, i; and Russia, 17, 24, 283-287, 560; Partitions of, 17, 29, 104, 164, 211, 213, 224, 234, 283, 558; Napoleon and, 211; Alexander I and, 234, 250, 558-560; and the July Revo- lution, 280, 282; Revolutions in, 283- 287, 563-564; becomes province of the Russian Empire, 286; Nicholas I and, 560; Russification of, 564. Polignac ministry, 274. Polytechnic School, 150. Pomerania, Prussia acquires, 252. Pondicherry, 404. Port Arthur, seized by Japan, 577; ceded to Japan, 577; Japan forced to give up, 578; Russia secures lease of, 578- 579; Japan torpedoes Russian fleet near, 580-581; siege of, 581; Russia transfers to Japan her lease of, 582, 586. Porte. See Turkey. Porto Rico, Spain and, 515, 517, 519. Portsmouth (England), voters in, 443. Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Treaty of, 582. Portugal, and the Jesuits, 16; Napoleon and, 217-218, 519-520; Duke of Well- ington and, 221, 235; England and, 217, 223; and the Congress of Vienna, 253; revolution in, 266; and Africa, 507, 509-510; i8i5-igi4, 519-521; and China, 574. Posen, province of, 252. Potsdam, 210. Pragmatic Sanction,- 29. Prague, revolt in, 302; Peace of, 347, 355; Bohemia desires Francis Joseph to be crowned in, 421; University of, divided, 422. 642 INDEX Prairial, Law of 22nd, 142-145. Prefect, 181. President (French Republic), 390-391, 395- Press, censorship of, under Louis XVI, 32; restricted under the Old Regime, 50; the Commune destroys the free- dom of, 117; Bonaparte and, 185; censorship of, in Austria, 258; censor- ship of, in Germany, 262, 287, 342; gagged in Spain, 263; free in France under the Restoration, 271-272; liberty of, in Poland, 285, 559; in Hungary, 299, 300; freedom of, in France, 354; freedom of, demanded in Germany, 369; freedom of, secured in France, 392; freedom of, restricted in England, 434; and the Char- tist movement, 445; freedom of, in Spain, 516; freedom of, in Switzerland, 528; censorship of, relaxed in Russia, 561, 563; gagged in Russia, 567, 569; freedom of, promised in Russia, 587. Pressburg, Treaty of, 202-203. Pretoria, 504. Prim, General, 516. Prince Consort. See Albert of Saxe- Coburg. Prince Edward Island, 487, 491-492. Prince Imperial, 322. Proportional Representation (Belgium), 525- "Protected Princes of India," 490. Protection, Belgium favors, 281; Bis- marck adopts policy of, 372-373; France, Austria, Russia and the United States believers in, 372; England and, 446-448, 475; Alexander II (Russia) adopts system of, 568. Protestantism, outlawed in France, 48; Protestants and the Civil Constitu- tion of the Clergy, 95; in Holland, 281; in Ireland, 455-457, 469- Provence, Count of, 103-104. Provinces, of France, 35, 92; tariff boundaries of, 37. Provisional Government of National Defense (France), 297, 313-316, 358- 359, 384- Prussia, in ijSg, i, 9-17; in the Seven Years' War, 4, 14-15; and Austria, lo-ii, 13, 14-15, 29, 124; rise of, 10- 17, 25; and Poland, 17, 29, 164, 234, 250, 283; and Russia, 25, 211; and the emigres, 103; joins Austria in the war against France, 113-114, 149; makes Prussia, continued peace with France, 149, 152; policy of Frederick William III of, 208-210; Napoleon and, 210-213, 215, 228, 234; not included in the Confederation of the Rliine, 213, 228; aboHshes serfdom, 230; and the Continental Blockade, 217; development of nationality in, 230-232; army reforms in, 231; and the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, 234, 238; King of, makes treaty of alliance with Russia, 237, 238; and the Con- gress of Vienna, 242, 249-255; and the Waterloo Campaign, 244-246; retains Posen, 252; gains of, by Congress of Vienna, 252; and the Holy Alliance, 255; and the Quadruple AUiance, 255; King of, promises constitution, 260- 261; and the Carlsbad Decrees, 262; and the "right of intervention," 266- 269; and the revolutions in Germany, 280; recognizes independence of Bel- gium, 282; and the revolution in Poland, 282-287; and the revolution in Germany, 287; King of, promises constitution, 301-302; and the prob- lem of German unity, 307-312; three- class system of election in, 311-312, 380; and the war in Italy, 2,2,3) given a constitution, 341; army reform in, 342-345; Bismarck and, 343-350; three wars of, 345-349, 355-361, 533; annexations to, 349; and the North German Confederation, 349-350; and the year 1866, 351; and the comple- tion of German unification, 361; King of, is German Emperor, 363; represen- tation of, in Bundesrath, 363-364; the great powers of the King of, 366; and the Kulturkampf, 367-368; and the Falk Laws, 367-368; demand for electoral reform in, 379; rules German Empire, 379-380; demand for parlia- mentary reform in, 380; the resolute opponent of democracy, 382; military system of, adopted in France, 387; Austria humiliates, 416; and the Polish insurrection {1863), 564; and China, 574; military system of, adopted in Europe, 590; and the neutrality of Belgium, 616. Sec also German Em- pire. Prussian Union {1840), 310-311. Public Safety. See Committee of Pub- lic Safety. Punjab, annexation of, 489-490. Pyramids, battle of the, 170. INDEX 643 Quadruple Alliance, 254-255. Quakers, position of, in England, 432. Quebec, 491. Queensland, 495. Quesnay, 52. Radetzky, defeats Charles Albert, 302. Ramolino, Laetitia, 153. Ravenna, 336. Reason, Worship of. See Worship. Red Cross Society, Russia and, 586. Referendum, 127, 530-531. Reform banquets, 295. Reform Bill, first, 436-437; second, 438; {1832), third, 438-441, 444, 45 1, 454, 465; of 1S67, 451-452, 465; of 18S4, 465-466. Reichenau, 289. Reichsrath (Austrian Parliament), 422. Reichstag, created, 350, 363-365; the Center party in, 367-368; Socialists in the, 369, 371, 379; and State Socialism, . 37i~372; reform of, demanded, 379- 382; disapproves action of William II, 381; Bethmann-HoUweg's official state- ment in, 617. Reign of Terror, no, 128, 136, 150; Dan- ton and, 139-140. Religious orders, in France, 400-401. Rennes, court-martial at, 397-399. Representatives on mission, 129-130. Republic, established in France, no, 120, 147; under the Convention, 120-150; and the Constitution of 7795, 147-148; under the Directory, 152-177; under the Consulate, 177, 179-192; England recognizes the French, 183; and the Concordat, 188-189; Louis Philippe and, 289, 296; rise of the second, in France, 297, 313-320; Constitution of the, 313, 315-317; Louis Napoleon Bonaparte offers his services to, 318; Louis Napoleon overthrows the, 319- 320, 321; Third, established in France, 358, 384; Thiers and the, 387; the Republicans control, 391; and the Church, 391, 400-403; and education, 393; colonial policy of, 393-394) dis- content with the, 394-395; weathers the crisis, 395; and the Dreyfus case, 396-400; and the separation of Church and State, 400-403; expansion under the Third, 405-408; Spain declared a, 517-518; Portugal proclaimed a, 521; China proclaimed a, 583. Republican Party, in France, created, 98; Lafayette, the leader of, 278; and Louis Republican Party, continued Philippe, 290-292, 296-297; in Ger- many, fails, 310; Lamartine, the leader of, 313-316; Napoleon III crushes, 321; secures control of Chamber of Deputies, 391; and clericalism, 391; controls government, 392; and education, 392- 393; in Portugal, 521. Residents (English) in India, 488, 490. Restoration, France under the, 270-279. Reunion, 404. Revolution of 16S8 in England, 3. Revolution, American, 6-7, 491; Spanish {1820), 263; of July, igo8 (Turke_v), 556. See also French Revolution. Revolutionary Commune of Paris. See Paris. Revolutionary Tribunal, created, 124, 129, 140; Marat and, 126; work of, 130, 133, 134, 140-146; Robespierre and, 141-146. Revolutions beyond France, 280-288. Rhenish Confederation. See Confedera- tion of the Rhine. Rhodes, Italy seizes, 601. Rhodes, Cecil, 502. Rhodesia, 502, 505. Richelieu, 405. Rights of Man, Declaration of, 86-89, 91, 92, 109, n3, 129, 133, 185, 231. Rio de Janeiro, 520. Rio de Oro, 519. Rio Muni, 519. Risorgimenlo, 325. Rivoli, 160. Roberts, Lord, and the South African War, 504. Robespierre, a monarchist, 98; leader of the Jacobin Club, 106; opposes war with Austria, 112; overthrow of, 117, 146; on the Republic, 120; and the Girondists, 121, 126; demands execu- tion of Louis XVI, 123; and the Com- mune, 126; and the Committee of Public Safety, 129-130; and Danton, 139-141; becomes master of the Jaco- bins, 141; as dictator, 141-145; fall of, 145-146, 156. Rodjestvensky, Admiral, fleet of, de- stroyed, 581. Roland, Madame, influence of, no; death of, 134; her Memoirs, 135. Roman Catholic Church. See Catholic Church (Roman). Romanoff, House of. See Russia. Rome, 166, 507; King of, 226, 232, 318, 322; Napoleon annexes, 228, 232; rev- 644 INDEX Rome, continued olutions in, 305-306; Garibaldi and, 336, 338; subject to Pope, 339; Italy seizes, 360; becomes capital of the Kingdom of Italy, 361, 409. Romilly, on Venice, 253. Roosevelt, President, and the Treaty of Portsmouth (igoj), 582; and the Peace Conference at the Hague, 593. Rossbach, battle of, 15. "Rotten House of Commons, The," by Lovett, 444. Roumania, Kingdom of, 423, 425, 545, 553; independence of, recognized, 547- 548, 552; after iS^'S, 552-553; enters war against Bulgaria (igij), 605; and the Treaty of Bucharest, 605-606. Roumanians, in eastern Hungary, 257, 303, 423-425; in Turkey, 540. Roumansch, 531. Roumeha, Bulgaria and, 547. Rousseau, Jean Jacques, influence and work of, 46, 48, 52, 55-58, 141-142, 154, 184; on Corsica, 156-157. Royal Session (June 23), 73-74. Russell, Lord John, and parliamentary reform, 436-438; and Gladstone, 451. Russia, in lySg, i; in the Seven Years' War, 4, 14-15; early history, 17-25; and Poland, 17, 24, 29, 164, 250, 283- 287, 560; and Austria, 18-19; Peter the Great and, 19-24; and Sweden, 20, 24; and Turkey, 20, 24, 200; in- fluence of Germany in, 21-22; enters war against France, 124; enters new coalition, 173, 182; joins England against Napoleon, 200-202, 210; Alex- ander I of, concludes Peace of Tilsit, 211-212, 215, 217, 233; and the Conti- nental System, 216, 233-234; gains Finland, 217, 233; Alexander I of, and Napoleon at Erfurt, 221-222; alliance of, and France renewed, 221, 223, 228; gains part of Galicia, 224; rupture of Franco-Russian alliance, 233-234; Napoleon invades, 234-237; makes Treaty of Kalisch with Prussia, 237-238; acquisitions of, by Congress of Vienna, 242, 249-255; and the Duchy of Warsaw, 252; and the Quadruple Alliance, 255; and the right of intervention, 266-269; aids Greeks against the Turks, 269; and the revo- lution in Poland, 280, 282-287; recog- nizes independence of Belgium, 282; and the Crimean War, 322, 332, 543- 545; and the policy of protection, Russia, continued 372; and Austria rivals in the Balkans, 374; at war with Turkey, 375, 547; and the Treaty of San Stefano, 375, 547; and the Treaty of Berlin, 375, 548-550; and the Austro-German Treaty of iSyg, 375-376; alliance of, and France, 376, 395-396, 534; and Sweden, 534; and the Ottoman Em- pire, 540-557; and Servia, 541; and Greece, 542-543; and Bulgaria, 550- 552; to the war with Japan, 558-571; and Japan, 569, 571, 577-582, 593; in Asia, 572-573; and China, 572, 578; since the war with Japan, 585-589; and the limitation of armaments, 591; and the breaches of the Treaty of BerUn, 596-597; and the European War, 608- 618; and the Triple Entente, 614-615. Russo-Japanese War, and its conse- quences, 580-583. Russo-Turkish War {i82g), 543, 560; {1S53-5), 322, 332, 543-545, 560; {1S77), 375, 426, 547-550, 552. Ruthenians, in Galicia, 422. SacrUege, law against, 273. Sadler, Thomas, and child labor, 442. Sadowa, battle of, 348, 351, 355; "Re- venge for," 355. Saghalin, Russia cedes part of, to Japan, 582. Sahara, 405. St. Cloud, 175. St. Croix, 534. St. Helena, Napoleon and, 168, 189, 195, 199, 244, 247, 257. St. John, 534. Saint-Just, 123, 145. St. Lawrence, the region of the, 487. St. Louis (Africa), 405. St. Lucia, 488. St. Petersburg, 22-23; Bismarck sent to, 344; terrorized, 566. St. Pierre, 404. St. Simon, and socialism, 294. St. Thomas, 534. Salisbury, Lord, first ministry, 466-467; second ministry, 470-471; third min- istry, 473-475- Salmeron, 518. Salonica, troops sent from, 598; Greeks enter, 602. Samoan Islands, 374. San Marino, 264. San Stefano, Treaty of, 375, 547. Sans-culottes, 108. INDEX 64s Santiago, battle of, 519. Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia, 609. Sardinia. See Piedmont. Saskatchewan, 493. Savona, Mazzini imprisoned at, 326. Savoy, 158; House of, 306, 329-330, 409; France desires, 332, 334; insurrection in, 335- Saxe-Weimar, Grand Duke of, issues Con- stitution, 261. Saxony, Frederick II and, 14, 15; and the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, 213; and the Confederation of the Rhine, 213, 228; Prussia desires, 250; King of, re- stored, 252; Prussia gains part of, 252; revolution in, 287; supports Austria in 1866, 347; representation of, in the Bundesrath, 363. Scandinavian States, 533-538. Schaumburg-Lippe, 365. Schiller, 261. Schleswig, Denmark and, 345-346, 533; Prussia incorporates, 349, 533. Schonbrunn, Peace of, 224. Schurz, Carl, comes to the United States, 310. Scotland, representation of, in the Eng- Hsh ParUament, 430; Ireland and, 455; old age pensions in, 476. Scutari, falls, 603. Sebastopol, siege of, 544. Second Empire (France), 313, 320-324; and the I^anco-Prussian War, 351-362. Second French Republic and the Found- ing of the Second Empire, 313-324. Sedan, battle of, 358, 360, 382, 384. Senate (French), under the Constitution of the Year VIII, 180-181; approves new constitution, 192; dissolves Napo- leon's marriage with Josephine, 224; proclaims Louis XVIII King of France, 241; under the Second Empire, 321; of the United States compared with Bun- desrath, 363; under the Third French Republic, 390-391; and Boulanger, 395; of the Kingdom of Italy, 409; Irish, 483; of the Dominion Parha- ment, 492; Australian, 497. Senegal, 404-405. Sepoy Mutiny (7557), 489-490. September Laws, 292. September- Massacres, 117-118, 126, 156. "Septembrists," 118. Septennate, established in France, 389. Serfdom, in Europe, 26; in France, 47; abolished in Prussia, 230; in Russia, 233> 559, 561-562. Sergius, Grand Duke of Russia, assassin- ated, 586. Serrano, Marshal, and Spain, 516, 518. Ser^'ia, Serbs of Hungary desire incorpor- ation in Kingdom of, 425; revolt of, 541; semi-independent, 545; declares war against Turkey, 547; independence of, recognized, 547-548; becomes a Kingdom, 553; and Bulgaria, 553, 596, 604-606; and the Balkan War oi igi2, 553; and the breaches of the Treaty of Berlin, 596-597; and Austria-Hungary, 597, 604, 608-612; Macedonian Chris- tians flee to, 599; and the Balkan War of 1912, 602-605; ^nd Albania, 604; and the Treaty of Bucharest, 605-606; Austria resolves to attack, 608-612. Seven Weeks' War, 347-349. Seven Years' War, 17^6-1763, 3-4, 6-7, 14-15, 488. Shantung, Germany and, 578. Sheffield, unrepresented, 432. Shimonoseki, Treaty of, 577. Siam, and the First Peace Conference at the Hague, 591. Siberia, 19; Poles sent to, 286; Russia and, 559-560, 565, 570, 572,_58s- . Sicilian Insurrection, 335; Garibaldi and, 336. See also Naples. Sicily, Garibaldi and, 336-337; illiteracy in, 411; emigration from, 414. Sickness Insurance Law (German}', i8Sj), 371- Sieyes, Abbe, on the Third Estate, 47; and Bonaparte, 174-177; and the Con- stitution of the Year VIII, 180. Silesia, Frederick the Great and, 13-17, .29- Simon ministry, dismissed, 391. Slavery, abolished in English colonies, 441,499. Slavonia, 420; inhabitants of, resist the Magyars, 424. Slavs, in Austria, 257, 301-305, 421- 422; in Hungary, 423-425; rise in the Balkans, 546; in Russia, 558. Slovaks, 423-425. Slovenes, in Carniola, 422. Smith, Goldwin, on the American Revo- lution, 6. Smolensk, 235. Sobranje, 55o-55i- Social Contract by Rousseau, 57. Social Democrat, founded by Lassalle, 369, 372. Social Democrats (Prussia), 312, 378- 380. 646 INDEX Socialism, growth of, in France, 294- 297, 314-317; Bismarck and, 368-372; William IL and, 378-380; in Russia, 565- Socialists, in Paris, 386; 87 elected in Austria, 423; in Portugal, 521; in Belgium, 525. "Society of the Exterminating Angel," 268. Sofia, 552. Solferino, battle of, 333, 416. Solovief, 566. Somaliland, Italy and, 412. Sonderbund, 528-529. Soudan, Lord Kitchener recovers, 474, 514; England and, 505, 513-514- See also French Soudan. South Africa. Sec Africa. South African Union, 504-505. South America, Garibaldi escapes to, 335-336; Guiana in, a French posses- sion, 404; England acquires Dutch possessions in, 499, 505; rise of in- dependent states of, 515, 519; and the Second Peace Conference, 593. South Australia, 495. Spain, and Florida, 4; and the Jesuits, 16; enters war against France, 124, 149; makes peace with France, 149, 152; ally of France, 183; colonies of, restored, 183; and the war between France and England, 216, 221; Napo- leon and, 217-223, 229; Charles IV of, abdicates, 218; Joseph becomes King of, 218, 228; development of nationality in, 219-220, 230; and the Congress of Vienna, 253; Metternich and, 257; after iSoS, 262-263; Revo- lution of 1820 in, 266-268, 282; and Mexico, 352; Queen Isabella driven out of, 356; Germany purchases islands from, 374; and Africa, 507; since i52j, 515-519- Speke, 508. Spirit of Laivs, by Montesquieu, 52-53. Stambuloff, 551. Standard (London), 434. Stanley, and the first Reform Bill, 436. Stanley, Henry M., 508-510. State Socialism (Germany), 371-372. States-General (France), summoned, 68; meets May 5, i^Sg, 69, 70-73, 86; (Holland) ,522. See National Assembly and Constituent Assembly. States of the Church. See Papal States. Stein, 230-231. Stockholm, 535. Storthing (Norway), 534-538- Straits of Tsushima, naval battle of, 581. Strassburg, Archbishop of, 42; Louis Napoleon Bonaparte at, 318; surren- ders, 359. Stuarts (England), 2, 3. Suez Canal, shares purchased by Eng- land, 462, 511. Suffrage, universal, in France, 116, 127, 181; abandoned, 147; under the July Monarchy, 291; in Prussia, 311-312; Provisional Government establishes universal, in France, 315, 317-318, 321; universal, demanded in Germany, 369; opponents of universal, in Germany, 379; Chamber of Deputies (France) elected by universal, 390, 392; ex- tended in Italy, 411; in Austria-Hun- gary, 419; universal, in Austria, 423; demand for universal, in Hungary, 426; in England (iSis), 430-431, 434; the Reform Bill of iSj2 and, 439- 441, 444; municipal (England), 443; demand for further reform in Eng- lish, 445; further extension of, in Eng- land, 446, 451-452, 465-466; woman's, 452, 466, 498; in New Zealand, 498; in South Africa, 502; in Spain, 516- 517, 519; in Holland, 523; in Belgium, 524-525; in Switzerland, 528; in Den- mark, 534; in Sweden, 536, 538; in Norway, 538; in Greece, 554-555; in Japan, 577; in Russia altered, 588. Sumatra, 523. Sun Yat Sen, Dr., chosen president, 583. Super-tax, on incomes, 478. Surinam, 523. "Suspects," 132-133. Sweden, in the Seven Years' War, 14; and Russia, 20, 22, 24; Alexander I and, 211, 233; allied with Eng- land, 217; Prussia acquires Pomer- ania from, 252; and Finland, 252, 534; Norway joined with, 253, 533- 537; dissolution of the union of Nor- way and, 537-538; suffrage in, 538. Swiss Guard, 76, 114. Switzerland, in i/Sg, i, 26; three can- tons added to, 253; and the July Revolution, 280; Louis Philippe and, 289; Mazzini and, 326; German so- cialist paper published in, 370; and Spain, 517; since 1815, 527-531; and Greece, 542; a neutral state, 616. Sydney, 494. Syria, 171-172. INDEX 647 Taaffe ministrj^, 422. Talleyrand, and the transformation of German}', 206; and the Congress of Vienna, 249. Talma, 221. Taranto, 200. Tariff, boundaries, 37; Napoleon estab- lishes high protective, 199; in Spain, 222; Bismarck adopts policy of high, 372-373; in Austria-Hungary, 419; on breadstuffs in England, 433, 448; Huskisson and, 435; England and, 488; Chamberlain urges, reform, 475; Canada and, 493. Tasman, and New Zealand, 494. Tasmania, 495. Taxation, in France under the Old Re- gime, 38-42, 44, 47-48; Turgot and, 64, 66; States General should vote, 70; heavy in Italy, 412; additional, in Eng- land, 478; in New Zealand, 498; op- pressive in Portugal, 521; heavy in Japan, 582. Telegraph (London, October 28, igoS), Temple, King and Queen imprisoned in, 116. Tennis Court Oath, 73. Tennyson's In Memoriam, 454. Terra Austral is, 493-494. "Terrible Year," 384. Terror. See Reign of Terror and "Great Terror." "Terrorists" (Russia), 565-567. Tewfik, and the Dual Control, 512. Thermidor, 137; death of Robespierre on the 9th of, 145-146. Thermidorian reaction, 146. Thessaly, Greece and, 554-555. Thiers, declares a "vacancy of power," 358; Chief of the Executive Power, 384, 386-388. Third Estate (France) under the Old Regime, 38-41, 43, 45-51; demands the suppression of feudal dues, 70; position of, in the States General, 72- 73; declares itself the National Assem- bly, 73- Third RepubUc, in France, 354, 358-360. Third Section (Russia), 567. Thousand, expedition of the, 336-338. Tilsit, Peace of, 211-212, 213, 215, 217, .221, 233, 534. Times, London, and the Dreyfus case, .398. Tithes, under the Old Regime, 41, 47; abandoned, 78, 80, 185; abolished in Tithes, continued South Germany, 208; Irish pay, to Anglican Church, 455, 457. Tobago, 488. Todleben, 544. Togo, Admiral, destrovs Russian fleet, 581. Togoland, 374. Tokio, university established at, 576. Tonkin, France and, 393, 406. Tories, in England, 3; and George III, 5; in America, 6; and the French Rev- olution, 429; oppose Parliamentary reform, 434; and reform, 435-439; Gladstone the "hope of," 454. Toulon, suspects in, 133; Bonaparte and, 148, 156, 169. Toulouse, speech of Waldeck-Rousseau at, 400. Tours, seat of government, 359. Trades Unions, permitted in France, 392. Trafalgar, battle of, 214, 215; Square, ■ 318. Trans-Saharan railroad contemplated, 406. Trans-Siberian railroad, 568, 579, 581. Transvaal or South African Republic, 499-504. Transylvania, 420, 423, 425. Treitschke, 382. Trent, 414. Trentino, 414. Tribunate, 181. Tricolor, adopted, 78; stamped upon, 82; cockade, 108; banished, 242; soldiers put on, 243; and the July Revolution, 276, 278; the Count of Chambord and, 388-389. Trieste, Austria retains, 202; ceded to France, 224; Italy covets, 414. Trinidad, 183, 4S8. Triple AUiance, 37''4-376, 395-396, 412, 608, 612, 614; comes to an end, 414- 415; and the breaches of the Treaty of Berlin, 596. Triple Entente, England, France and Russia, 614. Tripoh, 404; Italy and, 407, 414, 600- 601; Turke\^ and, 507, 601. Trochu, General, head of the Government of National Defense, 358. Troppau, Congress of, 267. TuUeries, Louis XVI and, 84, 97, 113, 122, 124; attacked, 114, 156; Conven- tion meets in, 126, 148; Committee of Public Safety in, 129; and the Wor- 648 INDEX Tuileries, continued ship of Reason, 144; Napoleon returns to, 241, 244; Napoleon III and, 322. Tunis, France seizes, 375; France estab- lishes protectorate over, 393, 404-406, 509, 600; Italy covets, 412, 600; Tur- key and, 507. ■Turgot, on the taxation of the peasantry, 47; and Louis XVI, 62; financial re- forms, 64-66, 68; influence of, on Napoleon, 154. Turin, 158, 265; Parliament meets at, 335, 339; capital of Italy, 409. Turkey in lySg, 1; and Russia, 18, 20, 24-25, 200, 375, 543-545, 547-548; and Egypt, 168-173, 511-512, 542- 543; Sultan of, declares war against Bonaparte, 1 71-172; Alexander I and, 211, 233; not represented at the Con- gress of Vienna, 249; Kossuth flees to, 305; possessions of, in Africa, 404-405; Italy and, 414; question of the integ- rity of, 463; and Africa, 507; disrup- tion of, 540-557; and Greece, 541-543, 555; and the revolts in the Balkans, 545-550; and the Congress of Berlin, 548-550; revolution in, 555-557, 594- 595; collapse of the Empire of, 594- 600; Parhament of, 597; counter-revo- lution in, 598; at war with Italy, 600-601; Balkan States unite against, 601-606; gains of, by the Treaty of Bucharest, 605-606. Turko-Italian War of iQii, 600-601. Tuscany, (iSis), 253, 264; revolution in, 301-302; Grand Duke of, flees, 306; ruler should be restored in, 333, 334; annexed to Italy, 334. Uitlanders, 501-502. Ulm, 201, 214. Ulster, and Flome Rule, 483-485. Ultras (France), 272. Umbria, annexed by Victor Emmanuel II, 338-339. Union, Act of (England and Ireland), movement to repeal, 456-457, 466. Unionist Coahtion (England), 470. Unionists (England), 469, 472-473, 480; disruption of, 475-476; policies of, from i8gj-igo^, 476. United States, Constitution of, compared with French Constitution of 1791, 89- 91; and the Monroe Doctrine, 268-269; Louis Philippe and, 289; emigration of German Liberals to, 310, 373; Louis Napoleon Bonaparte exiled to, 318; United States, continued intervention of, in Mexico, 353-354; and the policy of protection, 372; Germany the rival of, 378; Third French Republic compared with, 390- 391; Italian emigration to, 413-414; Irish emigration to, 457; and the Alabama award, 461; and the Oregon dispute, 492-493; and Spain, 517-519; and Greece, 542; Jews from Russia emigrate to, 567; and China, 574, 579; and Japan, 575-576; and ths First Peace Conference at the Hague, Universities, representation of, in the English Parliament, 431-432. Valais, 528. Valengay, 218. Valmy, 119, 289. Varennes, flight to, 97, 102, 103, 106, 107. Vatican, 410-411. Vatican Council, proclaims dogma of papal infallibility, 367. Vaud, 528. Vendee, civil war in, 96, 102, 124, 127, 133, 174- Vendemiaire, the 13th of, 148-149, 156. Venetia, and the Cisalpine Republic, 165; ceded to the Kingdom of Italy, 202; Austria acquires, 253; Austrian policy in, 265; revolution in, 301-302; and the war of i8jp, 333; still Austrian, 339; Italy receives, 349, 409. See also Lombardo-Venetian King- dom. Venice, in lySp, i, 8, 26; j^oung Russians sent to, 20; overthrow of, 162-164; disposal of, 165; bronze horses of, 166, 253; given to Austria, 253, 264; re- public restored in, 301; republic of, overthrown, 306,. Verdun, 117. Vergniaud, no. Verona, Congress of, 267-268. Versailles, life at, 32-34, 42-43; gov^ern- ment of France directed from, 36; States-General to meet in, 68, 70, 86; soldiers appear near, 76; tricolor in- sulted, 82; people march to, 82; King and Assembly leave, 84; palace at, 180; royalists at, 209; King Wil- liam I proclaimed German Emperor at, 361; declared the capital, 385-386, 392. Veto Bill. See Parliament Bfll. INDEX 649 Victor Emanuel I (Piedmont), 267. Victor Emmanuel II (Piedmont), acces- sion of, 306, 329; not consulted con- cerning the Preliminaries of VUlafranca, 334; and Sicily, 337; leads army into the ' Papal States, 338; annexes the Marches and Umbria, 338; enters Naples, 338; proclaimed King of Ital}^ 339; enters Rome, 360; the Pope and, 409; death of, 410; son of, becomes King of Spain, 517. Victor Emmanuel III, accession of, 413. Victoria, colony of, 495, 498. Victoria, Queen, 443-444; proclaimed Empress of India, 463, 490; her dia- mond jubilee, 473; death of, 474. Vienna, Marie Antoinette and, 64; campaign directed against, 153, 159, 183, 201; Napoleon enters, 202, 223; Peace of, 224; Congress of, 241-242, 244, 249-257, 260, 264, 266, 280, 284, 307, 335, 521; Treaties of, 254, 282; becomes center of European affairs, 259; "great deception" of, 260; Poles come to, 286; the storm center in 1848, 298, 300, 301; Prus- sian army marches toward, 348; center of interest shifts from, to Berlin, 351. Vilagos, 305. Villafranca, Preliminaries of, 333. Vincennes, 191. Vladivostok, 572-573; Russian fleet at, 581. Volney, Bonaparte and, 188. Voltaire, influence of, 24, 46, 48, 52, 154; on the laws of France, 37; and the Roman Catholic Church, 50, 55; imprisonment of, 50, 54, 76; work of, 53-55; compared with Rousseau, 55-56. Wagram, battle of, 224. Waldeck, 381. Waldeck-Rousseau, and the separation of Church and State in France, 400- 401. Wales, representation of, in the Eng- lish Parliament, 430; old age pensions in, 476; Anglican Church in, dises- tablished, 485. Wallachia, practically independent, 543; independent, 545. See Roumania. Warsaw, Napoleon goes to, 211; Grand Duchy of, 213, 224, 228, 234, 238, 250-252; fall of, 286; Alexander I and the Grand Duchy of, 559-560. Wartburg Festival, 261, 287. Waterloo, 7, 110, 168; battle of, 246-247, 257, 263, 270, 298, 300, 428, 433. "Weekly Political Register, The,'" 434. Weimar, Duke of, 261. Wellesley, Sir Arthur (later Duke of Well- ington), and the war in Spain, 221, 239; military tactics of, 235; invades France, 239; and Napoleon at Water- loo,. 244-247; and the Congress of Vienna, 249; ministry of, resigns, 436; WilUam IV and, 439; and the Chartist agitation, 446. Wellington, Duke of. 5ee Wellesley. Wellington, New Zealand, 497. West Indies, French possessions in, 404; slavery in English colonies in, 441; England and, 487; Dutch colonies in, 523; Danish colonies in, 534. Western AustraUa, 495. Westminster Abbey, 472, 508. Westminster, Parliament at, and Ireland, 466, 468. Westphalia, treaties of, 105; Kingdom of, and the Confederation of the Rliine, 213, 228; Jerome flees from, 239- Wet, Christian de, 504. Wetherell, and the second Reform Bill, 438. Weyler, 518. Whigs, rule of, in England, 3; and George III, 5; and the American Revolution, 6; urge reform of Parlia- ment, 436-441; other reforms of, 441- 443- Wieland, 222. Wilberforce, and slaver}^, 441. WiUaelmina, Queen (HoUand), 522-523. WiUiam I (Holland), 522-523. William II (Holland), 522. William III (HoUand), 522. William I (Prussia), 342-350; proclaimed German Emperor, 361; reign of, 366; and Socialism, 368; death of, 376. William II, character of liis rule, 365; reign of, 366, 376-382. William IV of England (iS 30-1 8 37), accession of, 436; and the third Re- form BUI, 439; death of, 443. WiUiam of Wied, and Albania, 606. Windischgratz, bombards Prague, 302. Witte, Sergius de, industrial policy of, 568. Wolfe, defeats Montcalm, 4. Wordsworth, on Venice, 164. Worship of Reason, 138-139, 142. Wurmser, 159. 650 INDEX Wiirtemberg, electorate of, 9; becomes Young Turks, and the Revolution of a kingdom, 203; and the Confederation igoS, 555-556, 594-595; policj^ df, of the Rhine, 206; and the Congress 597-600. ,' ^^ of Vienna, 249; supports Austria in Yuan Shih K'ai, President of the Re- 1866,2,41', joins Prussia against France, public of China, 583. 357; representation of, in the Bundes- rath, 364. Zola, Emile, and the Dreyfus case, 397, 399- " Young Ireland," 456. Zurich, 527, constitution of the canton "Young Italy," founded by Mazzini, of, 531. 326-327, 335.