LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. ipT.. 53T ChapT. Copyright No..„. ShelLtlL J£ A UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE. Gbautauqua IRea&tng Circle Xiterature EUROPE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY BY HARRY PRATT JUDSON. LL.D. Head Professor of Political Science in The University of Chicago MEADVILLE PENNA FLOOD AND VINCENT Cbe (ftbautauqua^enturi? ^xtH NEW YORK : CINCINNATI: CHICAGO: 150 Fifth Avenue. 222 W. Fourth St. 57 Washington St. 1898 The required books of the C. L. S. C. are recommended by a Council of six. It must, however, be understood that recommendation does not involve an approval by the Coun- cil, or by any member of it, of every principle or doctrine contained in the book recommended. to?9y Copyright, 1894, 1898 By Flood & Vincent TWO COPIES RECEIVED. *b\K The Chautauqua- Century Press, Meadville, Pa., U. S. A. Electrotyped, Printed, and Bound by Flood & Vincent. 2ru : J98. CONTENTS. CHAPTER. PAGE. Introduction 9 PART I.— THE FIRST REVOLUTION. Preliminary 17 I. Europe under the Old Regime . 19 II. The Revolution in France ... 31 III. Napoleon Bonaparte 45 IV. Results of the French Revolution 59 PART II.— THE REACTION AND THE SECOND REVOLUTION. Preliminary 71 V. The Congress of Vienna 72 VI. The Reign of Metternich .... 80 VII. The Orleans Monarchy and the Second French Republic ... 90 VIII. Eighteen Hundred Forty-eight in Germany 101 IX. Eighteen Hundred Forty-eight in Austria no X. Disunited Italy 118 XL Reaction in Italy and France . .127 PART III.— THE THIRD REVOLUTION— RE- CONSTRUCTION OF CENTRAL EUROPE. Preliminary 135 XII. The Second Empire in France . . 137 XIII. United Germany 146 XIV. United Italy 157 IV Contents. CHAPTER. PAGE. XV. Reformed Austria 167 XVI. France as It Is 176 XVII. The Triple Alliance 190 PART IV.— THE BRITISH EMPIRE— RECON- STRUCTION WITHOUT REVOLUTION. Preliminary 201 XVIII. The British People in Eighteen Hundred Fifteen 204 XIX. The Beginning of Reform . . . .210 XX. The Progress of Reform .... 219 XXI. The Irish Question 228 PART V.— THE RECONSTRUCTION OF EASTERN EUROPE. Preliminary 239 XXII. Russia 240 XXIII. The Empire of the Turks .... 251 XXIV. The Expulsion of the Turks from Europe 259 XXV. The Eastern Question 268 PART VI.— THE MINOR POWERS. Preliminary 283 XXVI. The Small Central States . . . 284 XXVII. Northmen and Southrons .... 293 PART VII.— TO-DAY. Preliminary 305 XXVIII. Progress of the World 307 XXIX. Progress of the World (Con.) . . 316 XXX. Questions of the Day 324 Bibliography 335 ILLUSTRATIONS. William Ewart Gladstone Frontispiece Page Central Europe in 1789 16 The "Ancien Regime" 21 The Cathedral at Cologne 25 The Cathedral at Milan 28 Louis XVI 31 Officer of Infantry, 1789 33 Marie Antoinette 38 Robespierre 39 French Grenadier, 1795 41 French Infantry Soldier, 1799 42 Napoleon Bonaparte 44 French General 47 Silhouette of Napoleon 48 Josephine 50 French Military Eagle 52 Maria Louisa 55 Central and Western Europe in 1812 56 The Kremlin Palace, Napoleon's Headquarters at Moscow 57 Arch of Triumph, Paris 60 Arms of France — The Restoration 64 Mirabeau 67 Column Vendome, Paris 68 Central and Western Europe in 1815 70 Talleyrand 73 Prussian Royal Mausoleum at Charlottenburg. Queen Louise and King Frederick William III 77 Court Dress 82 Louis XVIII. in the Tuileries (1814) S6 Tomb of Napoleon, Hotel des Invalides, Paris 94 Thiers as a Soldier of the National Guard 98 Louis Kossuth 11 1 Church of St. Mark, Venice 119 The Nineteenth Cent'ry 128 vi Illustrations. Napoleon III 138 Costumes, 1855 139 Europe in 1871 145 Bismarck 148 Europe in 1866 151 William I., German Emperor 152 Moltke 155 Cavour 158 Mazzini 159 Victor Emmanuel 160 Garibaldi 163 Italy 165 Austria-Hungary 167 Francis Joseph 169 Thiers 176 The H6tel de Ville, Paris 177 Gambetta 178 Marshal MacMahon 179 Eugdnie 181 M. GreVy 182 Sadi-Carnot 183 Jules Ferry 184 Casimir-P£rier 185 Francois Felix Faure 187 Heidelberg 193 The Houses of Parliament, Berlin 195 Trinity College, Cambridge 203 Wellington 211 The Noble Peer 221 Salisbury 235 Rosebery 236 Russia 240 Alexander III 243 Nicholas II 248 Bulgarian National Costume 256 Modern Greece 260 Turkish Empire before the Treaty of San Stefano .... 269 Eastern Europe as Regulated by the Treaty of San Stefano 274 Beaconsfield 275 Victoria 276 George 1 27Q Illustrations. vii A Modern War Cruiser 282 Switzerland 284 Belgium 290 Leopold II 291 Norway and Sweden 297 Denmark 298 Oscar II. 299 Emilio Castelar 302 Spain 303 Europe To-day 306 First Railway Passenger Train, Liverpool and Manchester Railway 318 William II., German Emperor 325 A Modern Locomotive 332 EUROPE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. INTRODUCTION. The nineteenth century is on the whole the most brilliant in the history of human achievement. Other The Nineteenth . . Century. ages excel in some things. The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries disclosed the real geography of the western continent. There has been but one Shakspere, but one Raphael, but one Protestant Reformation. The English constitution, in its Magna Charta and Bill of Rights, gave the world the years 12 15 and 1688. And yet no equal period of time has been so crowded with great deeds as has been this busy age in which we live. It is the pur- pose of the pages which follow to tell briefly the story of those deeds, and at the same time to attempt the group- ing of them in such way as to show the underlying thought. Because, after all, the deepest interest of his- tory is not the mere sequence of events, dramatic and picturesque as that may be, so much as penetrating to the heart of things and learning what it all means. The distinction between political and other social matters is not always easy to make. Still in general p^acttcaTLife. we may say that politics relates to government, while there are many activities of men in society which have either no bearing, or at least only an indirect bearing, on those functions which we commonly regard as gov- ernmental. As most people are absorbed in these other activities, which usually are the means of livelihood, it follows that men generally are apt to pay little attention to politics. Political reform, therefore, usually has in view some practical considerations. Taxes are felt to be IO Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Politics and Race Dis- tinctions. The Formative Ideas. The Political People. Oligarchy and Democracy. too heavy, or to be inequitably imposed, privileges are granted to some classes and denied to others, individual liberty is in some way curtailed — for these or similar reasons the attention of men is directed to politics as a necessary condition of betterment, and there result great political movements, which sometimes end in revolution. Besides these practical motives, there are various sentimental considerations which powerfully influence political action. The ties of blood are strong. Race jealousies are keen. And no efforts of masses of men are more energetic than those directed toward throwing off a foreign yoke. When interest and sentiment combine to the same end, then we have just the conditions for the most violent and far-reaching political convulsions. And the present century is filled with such movements. The political life of Europe in the last hundred years has been controlled by two formative ideas — democracy \ nationality. Society is always governed by a portion of it. This governing portion should be the most fit. It is, in fact, the strongest, mentally or physically. And this govern- ing portion of society we may call, for convenience, the political people. Children, lunatics, criminals, are not political people. Women usually are not. Now, if the political people in a nation are few, the government, whatever its form, rests on an oligarchy. If the political people are many, the nation is demo- cratic. And one striking form of progress in Europe in this century is the transference of power from the few to the many. In other words, as has been said, one formative idea of the age has been democracy. An oligarchy, if the members composing it are suffi- ciently wise and disinterested, might afford a very Introduction. 1 1 excellent government for the nation at large. But the Misrule and trouble is that the ruling few are apt to manage affairs Revolution, largely for selfish ends. They forget that they are trustees of power for all. And so those outside ' ' the ring ". usually suffer. Sooner or later they are likely to realize the cause of their suffering, and to make an opposition which has generally ended the oligarchy. The advance of democracy in the nineteenth century is not an isolated fact in history. It is only a part of the ofthe e Semo- e ' irresistible sweep of modern civilization. In the Middle ment! m0ve ~ Ages there was a triple aristocracy which held most of the good things of life. There was a small oligarchy which monopolized learning, another group which managed religion, and a third which administered gov- ernment. The masses were left to ignorance, blind faith, and obedience. The democratic movement, which has so vastly elevated the character of civilization, invaded these three fields successively. First, the monopoly of intellect was broken down. That was the Renaissance. And as learning became diffused it was enormously stimulated. Then with the weapons of quickened in- tellect and added knowledge, the masses assailed the oligarchy of religious belief and polity. That was the Protestant Revolution. When freed from the fetters of ignorance and superstition, society then attacked the despotism of king and noble. And the result is the triumph of political democracy which we see in our own time. The social upheaval which set it in motion is called the French Revolution. The conditions were such that the movement took shape first in France. But the times were ripe in other lands, and so in one form or other, and to a varying extent, it has spread over all Europe. The other formative political idea of the age is that of 12 Europe in the Nineteenth Century, Nationality. Material Progress. nationality. People of the same race and language are likely to have strong attachments for one another, as well as common ideas and feelings. Hence community of race is generally helpful in forming common political institutions. But political unity of those of the same race is a rather recent thing in Europe. In the con- fusion of the Middle Ages there could hardly be said to be nations, in the modern sense. The territory of Europe was occupied by a medley of races, and was divided by the feudal system into a multitude of more or less independent portions. Peculiar circumstances served to weld together the different stocks that made their home in France, and so produced the French nation. The same was true of Spain, and of a few other lands. But, on the other hand, in some countries, like Austria, people of a great variety of race and speech were gathered under one government and have never amalgamated at all. And again, people of the same blood, like the Germans and the Italians, were divided into a cluster of governments, mutually jealous, and sometimes quite as hostile to one another as to foreign- ers. But a keener national consciousness has been one product of our century. And that has led to the union of several of these scattered and subject peoples. United Germany and united Italy and free Hungary and free states along the lower Danube, are the creation of very recent years. At the same time the centrifugal force of diverse nationalities makes the cohesion of composite states like Austria-Hungary perilously weak. But progress in material things has been as marked a feature of our century as have been its great political changes. Men have won a mastery over the forces of nature that has produced marvelous consequences. Comfort has been increased. Wealth has been multi- Introduction. 1 3 plied. It has also largely changed its form. Once mainly in land, it is now chiefly in personal property. In the factory, one man can now do with accuracy and rapidity what once consumed much time and required many hands. By the new means of transmitting intelli- gence and transporting persons and property, the whole world has been drawn nearer together. Knowledge has been put in easy reach of the masses. Society has been rearranged. Ease of movement has led to migration at all points. Old cities have become crowded, and new ones have sprung up like magic. Vast industrial changes have altered the balance of social classes. The wage- workers have risen in importance. All this has strength- ened the democratic tendency of political life. Of course there are other and darker effects of the _,___. The Modern material development of the age. While wealth has Proletariat, been created beyond the fondest dreams of avarice, its distribution has been capriciously irregular. The mil- lionaire and the pauper are the twin blooms of our civilization. Festering masses of poverty and misery are part of all great cities. The despotic king and the feudal lord will soon be little more than a memory. But the tramp and the criminal we have not yet abolished. Finally, the nineteenth century has witnessed Euro- ..... The Conques pean civilization going out to possess the whole world, of the World. Millions have emigrated to North and South America, thus serving to swell the population and multiply the resources of the republics of the New World. Asia is now largely a possession of two or three European powers. Africa is no longer the ' ' dark continent, but is dominated by the nations of Europe, and is rapidly yielding to those greatest of all civilizers, the railroad and the telegraph. Even the islands of the South Seas, so long the home of picturesque and brutal H Europe in the Nineteenth Century. The Interest of America. Revolution. The three revolutionary movements. savagery, are the spoil of Aryan colonization. What- ever the motive of conquering nations, and whatever the opposition of sentimentalists, the simple, irresistible fact is, that the world belongs to civilization. We in America are no longer the isolated people whom Jefferson dreamed of keeping in Chinese seclu- sion. The nations are closely drawn together in our day, with many ideas and interests in common. The United States is a tangle of races. While the English form of our institutions will doubtless persist, still with us English ideas are not exclusive. The experience of the continent of Europe with the problems which confront us is of no small value. Aside from the mere interest of the spectacle, we need for our own sakes a comparative study of the achievements and mistakes of those nations. The political progress of Europe in the nineteenth century has been effected in general by a series of revo- lutions. Revolution implies the violent subversion of a state of things, and may take one of two forms — domes- tic insurrection or foreign conquest. On the Continent it has had both of these forms. In Great Britain the process has been peaceful and constitutional, although the results have been revolutionary. The revolutionary movement on the Continent has consisted of three distinct waves, with two intervals of reaction intervening. It would perhaps be convenient to speak of these waves as three revolutions, always understanding, of course, that they are parts of one and the same general series of events. Each has had its own characteristics, resulting from the nature and fate of the revolution preceding, and from the peculiar form assumed by the reactionary period. The first revolution began with the meeting of the States-General of France, in 1789, and ended with the Introduction. 15 downfall of Napoleon, in 1815. It was first an insur- rection of the French people against their government, revolution. and later a great series of inter-European wars. This is commonly known as the French Revolution. It failed in many of its aims, yet it had lasting and impor- tant effects, not on France alone, but on all Europe. The second revolution was the general popular insur- rection of 1848, in which reactionary governments were overthrown in nearly all central Europe. This was revolution, combined with a few international wars intended to secure race union and independence. While some per- manent results were attained, yet the movement, on the whole, was a disastrous failure. The third revolution has been rather a series of revo- lutions, in which international wars have played a - prom- inent part. Taught by previous failures, the actors revolution, have been more reasonable in their designs and more practical in their means, and the achievements have been very great. Not merely has the map of Europe been reconstructed, but a large degree of constitutional free- dom has been won in lands once dominated by the most dreary absolutism. This has been carried so far that on the Continent, as well as in the British Islands, democracy may hereafter win battles by ballots rather than by bullets — by reason rather than by blows. In Great Britain the democratic movement was re- . The democratic tarded by the trench Revolution. But when the night- movement in mare fear of Napoleon had once passed away from the English mind, the reform was soon set in motion and has proceeded since by a series of constitutional changes and legislative enactments which have trans- formed the kingdom, but which are yet by no means complete. In the east of Europe, even the huge ice- berg of Russia is apparently beginning to melt. Great Britain. PART I.-THE FIRST REVOLUTION. PRELIMINARY. The revolutions which have altered the face of society J Changes politi- in Europe have been both political and social. Forms cai and social, of government have been changed. The relations of social classes have been readjusted. Economic and legal conditions have been reconstructed. Society in the latter part of the eighteenth century was a series of privileged classes beneath which were the unprivileged masses. Many of the privileges legally enjoyed were grossly unjust. Many were merely vex- atious. But all were the sustenance of a spirit of arrogance and insolence in those above, which in turn generated animosity, as well as indignation, among those below. There was no nation in Europe more intelligent and Revolution be- sensitive than the French. Their government and gin social system were not the worst on the Continent. But they realized wrongs more keenly, and resented them more bitterly than others. The movement for reform, therefore, began in France, and was French through the whole first period. Soon falling from the hands of moderate leaders, it was carried forward by a fanatical democracy which involved all the world in turmoil. Then followed a series of wars to which history affords no parallel. The military spirit ab- sorbed Europe for a quarter century. At the end of this time reaction had apparently conquered. But in 1 8 Preliminary. truth society was vitally and permanently changed. This whole series of events we call the French Revo- lution. CHAPTER I. EUROPE UNDER THE OLD REGIME. Before the French Revolution turned the ancient oid Europe, society topsy-turvy, Europe seemed much like an ivy- grown feudal castle, in which a few modern ideas had entered. There were tall towers and picturesque battle- ments. There were crumbling ruins in some parts, haunted by bats and owls. There were stately rooms which were dark and damp and unwholesome. There were others of new fashion, airy, light, well drained. There were gloomy dungeons underneath, in which prisoners were chained and went mad. Some people loved the dark and the bats and the bad drainage, and furiously resisted reform as mere sacrilege. Others wanted to give the old structure modern conditions of health and comfort. But the reformers were few, and the conservatives controlled the sentries and the dun- geons. The map showed international political conditions A political which already seem ancient. Poland was an independ- crazy quilt " ent kingdom about as large as the Austrian dominions. Denmark and Norway were one monarchy. Turkey still had in its grasp the fairest lands of the southeast. Central Europe was a crazy quilt with independent and semi-independent states, large and small. There was no Italy. There was no Germany. The Holy Roman Empire extended its venerable shadow from the Mediter- ranean to the Baltic. The general character of government on the Conti- 20 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. nent was autocratic monarchy, supported by a privileged nobility and a wealthy, established church. Beneath all were the unprivileged masses, whose chief functions in the state were to pay taxes, to fill the armies, and to obey. England, to be sure, had free institutions. But her Parliament in both houses meant merely the landed aris- tocracy. Politically speaking, England was an oli- garchy. The leading nation in political and social influence was France. undoubtedly France. The reign of Louis XIV., to be sure, had sown the seeds of the evils of which the Reign of Terror was the crop. At the same time, notwith- standing all its errors and disasters, this long reign had won for France a commanding position in diplomacy, in arms, and in the arts of civilized life. And not all the follies of the succeeding years had sufficed to forfeit this leadership. The French government was, in theory, the absolute Government. monarchy. Legislation was simply the edicts of the king, decided in the councils of ministers and duly reg- istered in the Parliament of Paris, or in such other parlia- ment as might be concerned. Of course the special form which laws assumed depended largely on the ad- vice of councilors, especially under a monarch whose personality was not strong. The parliament, which was a mere law court, could, and occasionally did, delay legislation by remonstrating against registering an ob- noxious measure. But the crown could always compel registration, nevertheless, so that the delay was not a veto. It meant merely an opportunity for royal recon- sideration. The administrative system was an elaborate compli- Administration. cation of historic feudal forms largely shorn of power, and the centralized organization which had been built up Europe Under the Old Regime. 21 tinder Louis XIY. The whole kingdom was divided into thirty-two territories, over each of which was placed a royal intendant. He was a lawyer, and was merely the agent of the royal councils. But his power was supreme overall branches of administration within the limits of his district. The historic provinces remained, and in each was a royal governor. He was always a great noble, but his actual powers had nearly all passed away. And in the minor administrative divisions there was this same con- fusion of ancient authority which retained little more than the form, while real authority was in some other official. The two bulwarks of monarchy in France were the The nobility and the Church. The noblesse were not numerous. It has been estimated that they com- prised 30,000 families. Another conjecture put them at 100,000 per- sons. And the rest of the nation was upwards of 25,000,000. The growth of the crown had long since deprived the nobles of the feudal au- thority to govern. But they retained many priv- ileges before the law — privileges which made the aristocrats vigor- ously hated by nearly everybody else. In the first place, the nobles Owned a good The "Ancien Regime. 22 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Privileges. Lowell, 195. Lowell, 195. " Aristocracy has three ages: first, the age of force s from which it degen- erates into the age of privilege, and is extin- guished, finally, in the age of vanity." Chat- eaubriand. share of the best lands. This in itself could cause only envy. But they also had a claim of some sort on other lands. The peasant usually had to pay his lord a ground tax. If he sold his farm, he paid the lord a mutation tax, amounting sometimes to one sixth the price. Then the farmer's grain could be ground only in the lord's mill, bread must be baked in the lord's oven, the grapes must go to the lord's wine press. Often a fixed number of days' labor must be rendered on the lord's land. Besides these taxes, monopolies, and servile require- ments, the noble had other rights which were vexatious. He could pursue wild game even across the growing crop of the farmer, regardless of the ruin thus wrought. And all this game, however noxious, was sacred from the peasant. To kill it was a crime severely punished by the lord's bailiff. In other places, on certain nights in the year, the peasants were obliged to beat the water in the castle ditch to keep the frogs quiet. And the exemptions of the aristocrats were as keenly felt. They were free from the land tax, and from a great part of other taxes. They were exempt from militia duty. And besides this, they had a monopoly, again, of official positions in the army, in the navy, and at court. With all these burdens which the nobles imposed on the peasants, there were felt few or no corresponding benefits. In their feudal origin, each tax, each monop- oly, each exemption, had had a justifiable reason. But the reasons had long since disappeared, while the impo- sition remained. The nobles, like Irish landlords of a later day, were absentees from their estates, squandering in sumptuous living at court the income wrung by the bailiff from the toil and penury of the peasant. More- Europe Under the Old Regime. 23 over, the laborer was stung by the marvelous arrogance of the aristocrats. The canaille were held as a lower order of beasts. It was Foulon, who, when told that the poor had no food, exclaimed, " Let them eat hay! " And these insults were matter of course. With all this it was felt that the noble did nothing for the general wel- fare. On the whole, he pretty well answered the defini- tion of a gentleman— " one who eats more than he earns. ' ' The Church was a state within the State. Established The Church, by law, it tolerated no sects. It owned a large amount of the best land, variously estimated at from one fifth to one fourth of the soil of France. It was exempt from most of the direct taxes, although the clergy were ac- customed in their assemblies to vote the king what they called a "free gift." There were upwards of 100,000 in France vowed to religion, both regular and secular. This ecclesiastical army was maintained by the income from Church estates, by tithes, and by various fees and gratuities. The proceeds of the estates have been esti- mated at 124,000,000 livres (about $49,600,000) a year, and the tithes at an equal amount. This income was ample, but it was not equitably divided. It was largely absorbed by the great prelates, usually of noble family, who lived luxuriously, while the parish priest worked hard and was poor. So there was a division in feeling among the clergy. The prelates sympathized with the aristocrats in the state, and the humble cur£, or vicar, with the plain people. Beneath the two great privileged classes was the The Third Es _ "third estate," in other words, the common people, about 98 per cent of the nation. What we should call the ' ' middle class, ' ' lawyers, merchants, and the like, dwelt mainly in the cities. tate. 24 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. They were often organized in gilds, which had their corporate privileges and exemptions. They were de- spised by the nobles and hated by the poor. And then below all else was the proletariat. The peasants were not perhaps in all respects so wretched as The tame (land has generally been held. Still they were taxed more in them fdl it h ad proportion than was just. They were harassed and foiThf 'tween- angered by feudal arrogance. They were subject to the Vii r ie 2S 48 T ° cque " corvee — -the compulsory levy to labor for the government or for the nobles. They were conscripted into the mili- tary service. And in the cities were the sullen masses of rags and misery from which were recruited the Jaco- bin mobs of 1792. Through the eighteenth century a new philosophy had losophy. been growing up in France. There were too many in- telligent and quick-witted people for the established order to win general respect. Voltaire, with his keen satire and pitiless logic, had assailed almost all existing institutions. And his views won their way because the evils which he attacked were obvious. There had come to be a general skepticism as to religion; and the State was no better than the Church. Many of the nobles sympathized with the popular view, and joined eagerly in speculations which tended ultimately to undermine crown and Church and aristocracy alike. The general picture of society in France, then, was of a government complicated, clumsy, and inefficient, of other social institutions full of inequality and injustice, of exclusive privileges belonging by law to the few, and of the heaviest burdens resting on those least able to bear them. The prevailing tone of thought was skepti- cal and destructive; and between the classes and the masses there was arrogant contempt on the one side, and vigorous hate on the other. 26 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. The Holy Ro= One of the most majestic survivals of feudal Europe man Empire. wag ^q Holy Roman Empire. This comprised the German lands, Belgium (then known as the Austrian Netherlands), and some of the various Slavonic dependencies of the House of Hapsburg. It was in theory the successor of the old Roman Empire of the west, and had been, in fact, as near an approach to a united German nation as history had yet afforded. But, unlike France, it was only a loose federation of practi- cally independent governments. The leading powers were Austria and Prussia, and there was a host of petty states. There were two hundred principalities, some of which were ecclesiastical, fifty imperial cities, and several hundred independent knights. Each of these last was sovereign in his domains, with perhaps three or four hundred subjects. But grotesque as it seems, these Lilliputian knightly monarchs ranked on a par with kings. One of them, whose dominions comprised a single farm, happening to receive a call from Frederick the Great, met the king with open arms, exclaiming, "Welcome, my brother." The sovereign count of Leimburg-Styrum-Wilhelmsdorf had a standing army of hussars, consisting of one colonel, nine lower officers, and two privates. The count published a court gazette and maintained an order of nobility. Lichtenstein was a constitutional monarchy. Its contingent in the armies of the confederation was fifty-five men. The Diet was only the ghost of a legislative body. It had little real power, as the various states of the Con- federation acted in foreign and domestic relations with entire independence. And so, naturally, deliberations were apt to be wasted on trivialities, such as ' ' whether Bryce, 356. the envoys of princes should have chairs of red cloth (cloth like those of electors) or less honorable green; Baring-Gould, The Diet. Europe Under the Old Regime. 27 whether they should be served on gold or 011 silver; how many hawthorn boughs should be hung before the door of each on May Day." And when a matter of im- portance came before them, their debates were dread- fully prolix. In 1792, at the time of the French in- vasion, the Diet deliberated four weeks before calling out the forces of the federation, and five months before declaring war. The head of the Confederation was the emperor, chosen for life by the electors. He had little real power. Beyond the august title, and the munificent salary of about $5,000 a year, he was an imperial shadow. Since 1438, the electors had uniformly given their suf- frages to the head of the House of Hapsburg (the Arch- duke of Austria). This family had acquired a great variety of dominions, over which it reigned with absolute authority. The shorter title of the head of the house was, ' ' King of Hungary, Bohemia, Croatia, Slavonia, Galicia; Archduke of Austria; Grand Duke of Transyl- vania; Duke of Styria, Carinthia, Carniola; Princely Count of Hapsburg and Tyrol." And the Archduke of Austria reigned also in Milan and Brussels. In these motley lands there were eleven languages spoken. There were some 10,000,000 Slavs, 5,000,000 Germans, and 3,000,000 Magyars, besides Italians, Flemings, Frenchmen, and Gypsies. It is obvious that Austria was not a German power, as its main interests lay among other races. The govern- ment, in all its lands alike, was an absolute despotism. But two powers were recognized — monarch and priest. The Hapsburgs were a Roman Catholic house, and so gathered around them the Catholic states of South Germany. 28 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Prussia. In North Germany lay the Protestant military king- dom of Frederick the Great, Prussia. The neighboring Protestant German states usually followed Prussian lead. Thus Austria and Prussia were leaders of two rival parties. But in the Confederation there was no national German feeling. Mutual jealousy and religious ani- mosity sharply divided the various states. Napoleon afterward had no difficulty in attaching to France the V s The Cathedral at Milan. German lands near the Rhine. That seemed to them quite as natural as union with Prussia or Austria. And in all Germany the feudal system remained hrmlv established. Serfage had not yet disappeared. The noble owned the peasants on his estates about as he did his cattle. And there was no intellectual ferment portending change, as there was in France. The Ger- man mind seemed hopelesslv sluggish. Europe Under the Old Regime. 29 Italy was " merely a geographical expression." The Italy, peninsula was divided as thoroughly as was Germany, and there was no national Italian feeling whatever. The pope was a temporal sovereign, and not a good one. Venice and Genoa yet preserved the memory of their venerable republican glories. Piedmont and the Two Sicilies were independent kingdoms. Lombardy be- longed to Austria; Tuscany, Modena, and Parma were independent states ; and in all the rule was merely abso- lute despotism, qualified here and there, as at Florence, by some gleams of enlightenment; but united Italy was yet hardly a dream. Holland behind its dikes and Switzerland among the Republics. Alps still preserved their liberties; but the Dutch stadt- holder was at the head of a federation of aristocratic commonwealths, and the Swiss were a loose league with- out any cohesive government. England had through long centuries created popular En ] nd institutions which are now the basis of free governments the world around. But England in 1789 sadly needed reform; it was really ruled by an oligarchy of noble families. The House of Commons was no longer repre- sentative of the nation at large, but through the working of the rotten boroughs was a mere appanage of the wealthy landowners. Bribery and office jobbing were matters of course. Protestant intolerance was about as strong as was Roman Catholic intolerance on the Continent. Still, there was no serfage. Free speech was sustained; government was not a despotism. There were liberties of Englishmen which did not exist for Frenchmen or Austrians; and so on the whole England was politically the most advanced nation of Europe. The international policy under the old regime was wholly selfish. Each continental nation was looking 30 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. eagerly for chances to add to its territory at the expense of its neighbors. Everywhere on the Continent was the absolute monarchy, everywhere the privileged aristoc- feanlres racy and the privileged Church. The masses had no political rights. Taxes were unfairly distributed, so that the poor paid the most. The noble squandered in riotous living the sums wrung from the hard labor and the penury of the peasants on his estate ; and these peasants were virtually or actually serfs. Meanwhile new ideas were stirring in France. A new school of thought was teaching that men ought not to be slaves, that gross inequalities of rights and for- tune were wrong, and that fraternity was better than class hatred. SUMMARY. The general character of government on the Continent was autocratic monarchy supported by a privileged nobility and a wealthy, established Church. France was the leading nation in social and political influ- ence. Its government was an absolute monarchy based on the centralized administration of Louis XIV. Its bulwarks were the nobility and the Church, who owned much of the best land, which was exempt from taxation. The nobles and clergy had many privileges and exercised many vexatious rights over the peasants. The third estate comprised the middle classes of the towns and the proletariat. The pre- vailing tone of thought was skeptical. The Holy Roman Empire was a feudal survival. Since 1438 the head of the House of Hapsburg had been chosen emperor. In his dominions eleven languages were spoken and his interests were primarily non-German. Throughout Germany the feudal system still survived. Italy was merely a geographical expression. England had free institutions and an oligarchic government. Politically it was the most advanced nation in Europe. CHAPTER II. THE REVOLUTION IN FRANCE. At the beginning' of 17S9, the royal treasury of France had for years been bankrupt. Expenditure chronically overran income. The court would not spend less; taxes could not be made to yield more. No one knew just how the accounts stood, and no one knew how to solve the puzzle. It was then, as a last resort, that, for the first time since 1 6 14, the States- General were sum- moned. This body was the ancient feu- dal assembly of the members or repre- sentatives of the three estates of the realm — nobles, clergy, commons. And now it was hoped that their collective wisdom and generosity might help the crown out of its difficulties. It was also in- tended that this solemn assembly should give advice toward renovating the clumsy and inefficient structure of Louis XVI. King of France. Born, 1754. Antoinette, 1770. King, 1774. 21, 1793- Married Marie Guillotined, Jan. The States- General. 32 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. May 5, 1789. At most the privileged or- ders were not more than 500,- 000 as against 25,000,000. Oath in the Ten- nis Court, June 20, 1789. The National Assembly. government. Thus it was a true constitutional conven- tion. The estates met in the great hall of the palace at Versailles, on the fifth of May. At the stately cere- monies of opening the august meeting, the commons in plain attire sat modestly behind the nobles and priests. But as soon as business was opened, it appeared that these simple lawyers and merchants were in no humble mood. The ancient custom had been for votes to be taken in the estates separately. In this way a combina- tion of the two privileged orders would hold the ' ' third estate," the commoners, utterly helpless. But the deputies of the third estate were as many as those of both the others combined, and they insisted that votes should be given in a combined meeting of all. As the aristocrats and churchmen were only a small minority of the whole nation, this proposition would seem sufficiently modest to our modern eyes. But it caused a deadlock which for several weeks prevented any business. At last the third estate, joined by some liberal nobles and priests, voted that they were themselves the National Assembly of the French people, and that they would at once proceed in "the work of national regeneration." At this the crown sided with the privileged orders and closed the doors of the hall at Versailles in the face of the commons. But the deputies were not overawed. Gathering in a tennis court near by, they took together a solemn oath that the Assembly ' ' would never separate till it had set the constitution on a sure foundation." And the oath was kept. Alarmed by the aggressive energy of the third estate, the crown and the other orders yielded, and the National Assembly, no longer the States-General, pro- ceeded to business. The revolution was beeain. The Revolution in France. 33 Constitution of 1790-1. There were already two serious portents. The court July 14, 17S9. was uneasy and began to devise expedients for getting back into its bottle this genie it had let loose. And the mob began to stir in the streets of Paris. When mili- tary movements made it plain that the king had sinister plans, the popular excitement broke out in rioting. The French Guards joined the people, and finally the mob rose and stormed the Bastille, the ancient fortress and political prison which had been built to dominate Paris. This was the first triumph of lawless violence. It was a baleful omen of anarchy to come. The National Assembly, meanwhile, labored hard at the knotty question of finance, and set out on the great and difficult task of reform in the government. The beginning was a complete abolition of all the long list of feudal customs and privileges. Then followed a series of measures of recon- struction. Hereditary offices and titles were done away. Church tithes were abolished. The land and other property of the Church were confiscated, and the clergy, to be elected by their flocks, were paid from the public treasury. Religious toleration was ordained. The historic provinces disappeared from the map, and all France was divided into depart- ments approximately equal in area and popu- lation. The crown was retained, but it was shorn of most of its power. Legislation was vested in a supreme assembly of a single cham- ber, chosen directly by popular vote. Cen- tralized administration was destroyed, and the largest local autonomy put in its place. All these and many more changes made France a limited monarchy, more advanced officer of infantry. 1789. 34 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. The flight to Yarennes. Legislative Assembly, 1791. The Gironde. The Jacobins. The Revolu- tionary wars bea;un. and systematic than the England of 1791 , but by no means socialistic or anarchistic. The National Assembly voted that none of its members should be eligible to the new Assembly, and then ad- journed without day. This vote was intended to be a noble measure of self-denial. It proved very unwise. But ugly events had been happening. The king had sworn to uphold the constitution, though he abhorred it. And presently it appeared that he was plotting to flee from the kingdom, with his family, and secure foreign help to restore the absolute throne. The flight was attempted, but the fugitives were arrested at the village of Varennes and brought back to Paris, and then men began to believe that Louis could not be trusted. The Legislative Assembly, in accordance with the new constitution, was duly chosen, and met in October. By the unfortunate "self-denying ordinance," no men who had acquired legislative experience were among its members. There were 750 deputies, divided into three parties, the Conservatives, the Radicals, and the Moder- ates. The leaders were a cluster of eloquent and able men, called, from their department, the Girondists. The Radicals were the organs of a new political force — the Jacobin clubs. These clubs were composed of fanatics who would destroy without mercy in order to set up their new democratic theories, and in their nightly meet- ings they harangued themselves into a high pitch of frenzy which one day was to carry away the very foundations of orderly society. It was not many months before the new Assembly had a serious question to face. The monarchs and feudal aristocrats of Europe had looked on with great dissatis- faction at the ominous changes in France. There was no telling how far such monstrous ideas of liberty and The Revolution in France. 35 equality might spread. These feelings were fostered by the French nobles, who had left their native land in crowds and swarmed at every European court, detailing to sympathizing ears the wrongs heaped on sacred privi- lege by the irreverent third estate. These and other considerations led to measures on the part of the Em- peror Leopold, brother of Queen Marie Antoinette, which could easily be construed as hostile. The pride and independent feeling of the French were aroused. They suspected a league of kings in behalf of Louis, and this was met promptly by a declaration of war against Aus- tria. Prussia followed its ally, and thus was kindled a Apri1, I792 - conflagration which raged for nearly a quarter century. The French at first met nothing but reverses, and by midsummer two great armies, attended by crowds of exulting hnigres, were invading France, proclaiming their design to free Louis from the duress in which he was kept and to restore his rebellious subjects to their allegiance. And the king showed that his sympathies were with the invaders rather than with France. He used his veto power to paralyze measures of the As- sembly, and insisted on a reactionary ministry. But now the storm burst. The Paris mob, never satisfied by what it deemed the half measures of the Revolution, and frenzied by the approach of hostile armies and the apparent treason of crown and nobles, _ ( August 10, 1792. rose against the king. The palace of the Tuileries was seized. The Swiss Guards of Louis stood bravely to their post, and were cut down to a man. Then the furious mass of wretches from the garrets and cellars and the dens of prostitution poured through the glorious Sack of the rooms, and soon the priceless works of art and the sumptuous furniture were torn in pieces and utterly destroved. Under stress of the excitement, the Radicals 36 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Deposition of the King. Massacres of September, 1792. About 1,400 were thus murdered. The Con- vention. The first re- public, Sept. 1792. prevailed in the Assembly. It was decreed that the king- was deposed, and that a National Convention should be elected to take action in the emergency. The royal family were confined in the temple. The Bourbon mon- archy was doomed. The mob had learned its power; it had stormed the Bastille in 1789; it had repeatedly intimidated govern- ment; it had now worked its will in the royal palace. It was the most fiendish mob spirit which in September rushed from prison to prison, took out the political prisoners who had been arrested on various pretexts, and slaughtered them in cold blood. The carnage raged un- checked for several days. At the same time mansions and churches were plundered. All the worst passions were let loose. Paris was a veritable hell on earth, and the authorities of the capital were guilty of com- plicity in it all. It was just after these scenes of horror that the new Convention met. The Girondist Moderates still had a majority, though on the whole the Radicals were stronger than in the Assembly. The treachery of the court had sunk deep into the minds of more than the extreme fanatics, and it was decided that the king must be tried. The monarchy was abolished and France proclaimed a republic. And in return for the in- solent interference of foreign nations in the domestic affairs of France, the Convention proclaimed that France would carry liberty to all nations. ' ' The rights of man" was the war cry of a new crusade. The unfortunate king was tried, not by a high court of justice, as was Charles I. of England, but by the. Convention itself. Of course the trial was a political one, and the fiercest passions were aroused. The Girondists wished to save Louis, but the Jacobins carried The Revolution in France. 37 their point, and he was found guilty and condemned to death, by a majority of one vote. And in January, 1793, The execution this descendant of St. Louis, of Henry of Navarre, and ja n th * k |"f;. of the Grand Monarque, was led to the scaffold, and his head fell like that of a common malefactor. Louis XVI. was perhaps weak rather than wicked. He never rose to the sublimity of falseness of the first Charles Stuart. But he could not be trusted, and his death was a sharp warning that the French people were in deadly earnest. The deposition and execution of the king alienated from the Revolution some who had been its leaders. Lafayette threw up his command in the army, and left the country. Dumouriez, who commanded in the north, tried to surrender his army to the allies, but succeeded only in himself escaping to the enemy. Battles and fortresses were lost, and only dissension among the allies kept the tide of invasion from rolling on Paris. Meanwhile England and Spain and, in short, nearly all Europe joined the coalition to put down French demo- crats and regicides. But to disaster and treason the Convention opposed an undaunted front. Moderation was overborne. Su- preme executive power was entrusted to a small com- mittee of the Convention, the Committee of Public committee of Safety. An extraordinary tribunal, soon to be famous as ApHi^y*^' the Revolutionary Tribunal, was constituted for the trial of political offenses. A levy en masse was decreed for the war, and the fury of faction soon overpowered the Girondists. The National Guards of Paris surrounded the Convention, and under the muzzles of their cannon the majority was obliged to yield. The Girondist leaders were arrested, and then, for the first time, the Jacobins triumph, June . 2. 1793- completely controlled the Revolution. 38 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Their hold on the Convention was made sure by the arrest of nearly one hundred opposing deputies. The Jacobin Committee of Public Safety thereafter was a despotic authority, the Convention promptly registering- its every decree. And it proceeded with terrible energy on its double task of defending France against invasion and crushing all op- position to extreme democracy. The member of the committee who served as minister of war was Carnot. A sincere republican, he had no share in Jacobin atrocities, but devoted himself to organizing vic- tory. The levy en masse was vigor- ously enforced. The armies were recon- structed. Traitorous aristocratic officers were weeded out, and a thorough democratic system applied.* Then was years, under Napo- Marie Antoinette. Queen of France. Born, 1755. Daughter of the Empress Maria Theresa. Married Louis, Dau- phin of France, 1770. Guillotined, 1793. begun the system of which in after * "Almost all the leaders appointed by the Committee of Public Safety were soldiers who had served in the ranks. . . . Patriotism, energy of charac- ter, acquaintance with warfare, instantly brought men into prominence. Soldiers of the old army, like Massena, who had reached middle life with their knapsacks on their backs; lawyers, like the Breton Moreau; waiters at inns, like Murat, found themselves at the head of battalions, and knew that Car- not was ever watching for genius and ability to call it to the highest com- mands." — Fyffe, 1., 80. The Revolution in France. 39 leon, it was said that every private carried in his knap- sack a marshal's baton. At all points energy and genius took the place of irresolution and incapacity. And defeat was turned into victory. The allies, already discordant, were driven from France. The French armies invaded and conquered the Netherlands. The coalition was dis- solved. Prussia and Spain made peace with these terrible democrats. England and Austria were left as the only enemies of the republic. The Committee of Public Safety at the same time was de- stroying the aristo- crats at home. The guillotine was busy in Paris and through- out France. No life was safe, for, with the Revolutionary Tribunal, suspicion was usually equiva- lent to proof of guilt. Arbitrary laws ground the rich with taxes. The accus- tomed rules of society were overturned. Dress and manners were changed, and the calendar was altered. Religion and morality went down in the wreck, and France for a full year was suffering from a nightmare of horrors. Events swept on. The fiends in the Committee of Robespierre. om, 1758. Elected to States-General, 17S9. Radical democrat. Deputy from Paris to Con- vention, 1792. Chief of the Mountain. Presi- dent of Committee of Public Safety during Reign of Terror. Guillotined, 1794. The Reign of Terror. 40 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Public Safety quarreled among themselves, and Robes- pierre, the ablest fanatic of them all, sent his rivals to the scaffold, and became for a few horrible months the virtual dictator of France. The despotism of the king had been displaced by the despotism of the mob. The cycle was complete, and the reaction was not long in coming. France had had a July, 1794- surfeit of horrors. The Republican armies had turned back the tide of invasion from the frontiers, and in the summer the Convention at last dared to resume authority. Robespierre and his satellites were arrested, and perished on the guillotine to which they had con- signed so many. The Jacobin clubs were put down ; the Revolutionary Tribunal was dissolved; and once more order and sanity were supreme. The Convention had proved a bad form of govern- ment. It was itself a relic of the Jacobin misrule, and a wiser system was needed. So a second constitution was devised, republican in form, but less liable to become the prey of popular frenzy. A legislature of two chambers was to be chosen, the Council of Five Hundred, and the Council of Ancients. The two councils were to Repubiic Utional choose a Directory of five as the executive authority, which was to be independent of the legislature in admin- istration. But to insure the perpetuity of republican rule, two thirds of the first legislature should consist of members of the Convention. Thereafter one director and a third of the legislature were to be renewed each year. The provision for retaining members of the Conven- tion aroused the anger of the Royalists in Paris, who since the fall of the Jacobins had again become strong. Insurrection was attempted, but the troops of the Con- vention, led by General Bonaparte, mowed down the Constitution of '795. October, 1795. 77/•-. of >y» r CoiirediTation , — ,. «M V MIl^ AUSTRIAN «._£3 that escaped were the wreck of the splendid hosts of inva- sion. The grand army was destroyed. And now Europe rose in arms against its conqueror. Prussia joined Russia in February, 18 13, and began with fervor the German national war of liberation. In March, Sweden joined the allies. Napoleon gathered new armies and struck his usual rapid and heavy blows. Austria now offered to mediate, and in the summer a congress of the powers was held at Prague. Napoleon would concede nothing, however, and so nothing was accomplished. In September, Austria turned against Napoleon, and in October Bavaria did the same. The terrible battle of Leipzig was a victory for the allies, and zig^Oct., 1813. at once Napoleon's German dependencies crumbled Napoleon Bonaparte. 57 away from him. The Confederation of the Rhine was dissolved, and Holland revolted. Then, in the first month of 1814, Denmark was compelled to give its adhesion to the general cause, and Napoleon's empire tottered to its foundations. The French kingdom in Spain had been overthrown by the aid of a liberating The Kremlin Palace, Napoleon's Headquarters at Moscow. army under Wellesley (afterwards Duke of Wellington), and France was invaded at all points. Never did the genius of Napoleon shine more brilliantly than in that last despairing campaign in France. But Paris was taken by the allies, and the French emperor, hemmed in on all sides by overwhelming armies, was compelled Abdicat i on to abdicate his throne. He was given the island of A f pdfi° le isi4. Elba, in the Mediterranean, as a home. And the Bour- bon king, Louis XVIII., brother of Louis XVI., found himself once more on the throne of his ancestors. 58 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Battle of Waterloo, June 15, 1815. Death of Napoleon, May 5, 1821. A year later, while the allies were solemnly wrangling at Vienna over the disposal of the spoils, Napoleon sud- denly returned from Elba, and his mere presence top- pled over the Bourbon kingdom. The war was at once renewed. But Napoleon's army was crushed utterly in Belgium by Wellington and Bliicher, and the empire finally fell. Louis XVIII. came back to Paris, and this time Napoleon was sent to St. Helena, in the south Atlantic, and held closely guarded. There the great emperor fretted his life away. He died a half dozen years later, and at the news the monarchs of Europe were relieved from a nightmare. The mere name of Napoleon was a dread to them. SUMMARY. The government established by the constitution of 1799 was an autocracy. The First Consul was a real monarch on whom the whole administrative system centered. Bonaparte's military genius brought victory to France and peace to Europe. He then devoted himself to the develop- ment of the government and the codification of the laws. He effected a reconciliation with the pope, and made Catholicism the established religion. In 1803 war again broke out, and in 1804 the First Consul became emperor. After Ulm and Austerlitz, the Federation of the Rhine sup- planted the Holy Roman Empire. Napoleon sought to con- quer England by the Continental System. He entered upon the Spanish project, which finally overthrew him. His alliance with Austria led to a break with Russia. In the Russian campaign of 181 2, the Grand Army was destroyed. Then the German war of liberation began. Napoleon's dependencies deserted him, Paris was captured, and the emperor abdicated. After a few months at Elba, he returned to France and to Waterloo. CHAPTER IV. RESULTS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. With the overthrow and exile of Napoleon, the old Bourbon dynasty returned to the throne of France. It was a million foreign bayonets, and not the voice of the French people, that restored Louis XVIII. In other words, it was the triumph of " legitimate royalty " over the upstart desires of a nation. And the nobles who had for a quarter of a century been lurking in foreign lands or serving against France in foreign armies, now trooped back to their own; and their own re- ceived them not. The old regime was gone forever. The Revolution had altered the face of society in France, and the Bourbons, who ' ' learned nothing and forgot nothing, ' ' found themselves in a new world. For, in truth, the convulsions and horrors so promi- Tem nent on the pages of history were but the temporary incidents of the great Revolution. The movement for reform at its inception was, in the main, in the hands of prudent and high-minded men. It was its misfortune that the control of things slipped away from them and was grasped by the mob. The destruction of religion and education was only for a time, and Jacobin violence was in turn soon restrained by reason and law. But it was the deep dread caused by the Reign of Terror which made it easy for a strong man like Bonaparte to become absolute. He stood in the popular mind for order at home and victory abroad, and so seemed the protector of the salutary social revolution at once against anarchy and against subjugation. results. 6o Europe in the Nineteenth Century. The international wars, which made the story of Eu- rope so bloody for a quarter century, were but the in- evitable commotion caused by so great a social upheaval. The settled order in other lands was shocked at what seemed a reversal in France of the natural order of things, and there was profound apprehension of the spread of dangerous ideas throughout Europe. The privileged orders regarded the revolutionists of 1789 about as mod- Arch ok Triumph, Paris. Commemorating the Victories of the Revolutionary Wars. ern society does the anarchists. And this dread was keenly stimulated by the international form which the revolutionary ideas took in 1792. In their enthusiasm for "the rights of man," and in their resentment at the coalition of kings against popular sovereignty, the French began a crusade of liberalism in all nations. And this seemed at the end of the eighteenth century about as a crusade of anarchy would at the end of the nineteenth. Results of the French Revolution. 61 The jealousy of the ruling classes in England was no small factor in prolonging the wars. The ruling classes in that country were two — the aristocracy, who, in common with the nobles of the Continent, dreaded the leveling movement of French democracy, and the mer- chants, who were eager rivals of France in trade. We shall not understand the revolutionary wars in full, unless we realize that they were part of the hundred years and more of strife between the two nations for commercial and colonial superiority. In the Seven Years' War, 1756-63. England wrested from France the Dominion of Canada and India. France retaliated in the War of the Ameri- 1775-83- can Revolution by aiding the revolted colonies of Great Britain to cut loose from the mother country. And during the French revolutionary wars England con- quered European colonies in every sea, and fixed finally her maritime and commercial supremacy. Of course the ambition of Napoleon to dominate Eu- rope greatly widened the area of military action. And Am P biUon. s yet this ambition should not be conceived as a deliberate and prearranged scheme. English money bought continental coalitions against France. These the great soldier shattered again and again; and each time he enlarged his power and broadened his aims. His im- perial ideas were a growth of conditions many of which were forced upon him. The victory of Wellington at Waterloo was the triumph of medieval privilege over modern democracy. Of course the issues were complicated by the autocracy of Napoleon. Still, he was a democratic emperor. He rested for his title on popular suffrage, not on divine right, and his government meant equality before the law. Wellington stood for all the privileged classes — for hereditary monarchy — against the elevation of the 62 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Permanent results. The Land. masses. He looked backward to the eighteenth cen- tury. Napoleon had his gaze on the twentieth. But the Reign of Terror and the wars, the empire of Napoleon and the crash of it at Waterloo, all these were mere transient and superficial incidents of the French Revolution. There were other results which were funda- mental and permanent. The restoration of the Bour- bons could not and did not materially affect these. And these results are the basis on which the structure of European society as it now exists has been erected. The changes in France naturally were more striking than elsewhere. And the most of them may be summed up in the one word, equality. The vicious character of eighteenth century society was more than anything else in its unjust discriminations; and all exclusive privilege was swept from the soil of France as by a flood. A quarter century since 1789 had seen a new generation grow up which never knew the exemptions and monopo- lies of the old noblesse. And they could not be re- stored. The Church, too, and the merchant gilds, had lost their special rights. All Frenchmen were equal before the law. Preferment in the civil service and in the army had too long been open to merit for a return to the old restriction to members of noble families. Massena, general of the republic and marshal of the empire, had been a private in the ranks. Murat, the incomparable leader of cavalry, marshal of France, and king of Naples, had been a waiter in an inn. The Gascon, Bernadotte, had become king of Sweden. And these cases were typical. The privilege of serving France in posts of honor belonged to all Frenchmen who could prove ability; and noble birth was no longer such proof. The vast body of land that formerly belonged to Results of the French Revolution. 63 the Church and the nobles had been appropriated by the State and sold. The titles had passed through many hands since 1793, and it was obviously as impracticable to restore the soil to its original owners as it would have been to undo the confiscations of the first Frankish con- querors of Gaul. The Church, to be sure, had been compensated by making the salaries of the clergy a charge on the public treasury, thus converting the priests from a body of independent landholders into an army of state officials. But the soil now belonged to its cultivators. There was freedom of agrarian contract for all classes, and the practical effect had been greatly to intensify the tendency to the breaking up of large estates; small peasant holdings became common. No inequality of the old regime was more indefensible Equality of or more exasperating than the capricious incidence of Taxat,on - taxation. The exemptions which formerly belonged to the nobles and clergy had disappeared. Taxation was uniform throughout the nation, and it would have been as hopeless to attempt to bring back the old unjust system as it would be to essay the reconstruction of an extinct geologic age. The condition of the working classes had been sreatlv 1 a o J Improved con- improved; wages had been raised on the average, ditionofin- tr o s> ' dustnal classes. estimated in purchasing power, to some two or three times what they had been before the Revolution ; and in the country the peasants were now owners of the soil. The destruction of the old feudal restrictions and the equalization of taxation had given a better chance to the proverbial thrift of the French industrial masses, of which they had availed themselves eagerly and success- fully. Here was a vast social revolution in itself, and one that could not go backward. The revolutionary idea of equality was nowhere more system. 64 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. The political strikingly evident than in the structure and working of the new government. The system evolved during the revolutionary epoch in its main features has been pre- served ever since, seeming well suited to the political genius of the French people. To be sure, popular self- government was no part of it. That is a refinement of freedom which any nation has to acquire slowly, and which France is only now beginning to enjoy. But the administrative system which grew from the Revolution, while as thoroughly centralized as was that of Louis Arms of France— The Restoration. XIV., was a very beautiful machine in its simplicity and symmetry. All the clumsy and irregular features of the old royal administration had been done away. The ancient provinces, glaringly unequal in area and population, and preserving in their names the historic diversity in origin of the French nation, had been abolished, and a new territorial division made into rela- tively uniform departments, named from rivers and mountains. Each department was divided into districts {arrondissements) . The only historic territorial unit that was left was the commune, which might indifferently be Results of the French Revolution. the largest city or the smallest country village. A cluster of adjacent communes forms a canton, and a group of cantons makes the arrondissement. The prefet (gov- ernor) of the department, as well as the sub-prefect of the district and the mayor of each commune, received appointment from the central government at Paris. The old idea of vested property interests in public office, so that one might buy and sell and inherit a judgeship, for instance, had disappeared; and all sinecure offices, so numerous under Louis XVI., had also been destroyed. An exact and uniform system of law courts had been created, with regular appeal to a supreme body at Paris; and the law administered had also been made equal. The tangle of customs and conflicting statutes which Legal reform- excited the derision of Voltaire had been replaced by the systematic Codes which made law the same every- where in France, and which at the same time made justice inexpensive and speedy. Besides these permanent changes in the social and other institu- political organization of France, changes on which a Bourbon restoration was merely superimposed, but which it did not vitally modify, the Revolution left certain institutions which had to be retained. The restored Church, under the Concordat of Napoleon and Pope Pius VII., was by no means the old Church of France. Its status has not been materially altered for better or worse, and it has been made simply more ultra- montane, rather than more national, by its dependence on the State. The University of France is the revolu- tionary idea of equality applied to education. It is merely the national system of education, from primary school to the most advanced original investigation, under State supervision and control. The Bank of France and the Legion of Honor are also revolutionary creations tions. 66 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. which seemed to meet an actual need, and which accord- ingly still exist. Thus it will be seen that, as has been intimated, the whole structure of French society was radically altered by the Revolution. Old France was dead and buried and forgotten. And these emigre" nobles who came back with the Prussian and English armies were in truth only ghosts. They did not realize it for a time; they smirked and swaggered and plotted as if they had been real flesh and blood nineteenth century people. But 1830 and 1848 showed that they were shadows, not substance. Results outside The rest of Europe was also permanently affected by the Revolution, though of course not so deeply as France was. When the In the first place, considerable areas were for many coast was an- years annexed to France and shared in the benefits of nexed to France . , . , , _ , i-» 1 • in 1810, the de- systematic and equitable t rench government. Belgium free tenure of and Savoy and the Rhenish provinces witnessed the de- ated thirty-six struction of feudal inequalities and enjoyed the orderly feudal service workings of the Code Napoleon. And when they were Abolished with- torn from France at the general peace, it was not practi- sation ° m Fyffe, cable to put them back either under the old system, which had gone to decay, or even under the improved system which Prussia, for instance, had devised. The Code of France was better. And feudal rights once gone could never be reimposed. There were still other parts of Europe which had never been annexed to France, but which had been in political dependence upon Napoleon's empire. Such were the Rhenish Federation and the kingdom of Italy. In these countries the French system of government and French political ideas had largely been introduced, and they were always an improvement. The marks of i. Results of the French Revolution. 67 this relation with France have never been wholly effaced. Then the countries which met France in the shock of war and were overthrown quite largely reorganized their social system in consequence. In Germany the long list of ecclesiastical feudal barons, and a longer list of petty lay princelings and whimsical sovereign knights of the empire, lost their independent jurisdictions alto- gether. Thus the way was paved for a modern consol- idated political society — the German nation. Such a nation was impossible while Germany was a mere sur- vival from the dark ages of feudal particularism. Nowhere was the reconstruction of things greater than in Prussia. The bitter humiliation of that nation in the years from 1806 to 18 13 led to great reforms, which in turn made effective the patriotic fervor of the War of Lib- eration in 1 81 3-4. And out of all this Prussia became so distinctively German and so distinct- ively modern that in the fulness of time it was of necessity under Prussian leadership that German unity was wrought out. The armies which marched and remarched over the soil of Europe carried liberal ideas with them as birds do the seeds by which vege- tation is so widely dis- seminated. The French soldiers were missionaries of democracy wherever they went ; and even the armies which finally overthrew Napoleon and bivouacked in Born, 1749 1789. " 1791. Prussia. MlRABEAU. Delegate to States-General, President of National Assembly, Died, 1791. The armies. 68 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Germany and Italv. Paris carried home with them new political thoughts, just as the French regiments in 1783 brought back with them republican ideas from America. This was the beginning of liberal- ism in Russia. Austria and Eng- land were least af- fected at the time. But both yielded ulti- mately to the demo- cratic forces which they thought they were destroying at Waterloo. Then, too, the whole movement was an object lesson of successful revolt to the oppressed masses in all lands ; and the lesson was not lost. Some peoples were rather slow in learn- ing it. But 1848 showed that finally the idea had penetrated skulls which in 1789 and even in 1 8 1 5 had seemed very thick. In two countries the stress of the revolutionary wars gave rise to a new idea, entirely aside from all questions of democracy and privilege — the idea of ethnic nation- ality. Germany and Italy were mere geographic ex- pressions when the century opened. The Bavarian Column Vendome, Paris. Made from cannon captured by Napoleon I. Results of the French Revolution. 69 allied himself more readily with France than with Aus- tria, which he dreaded, or with Prussia, which he hated. And there was no such thing as an Italian. But the cruel suffering of war and revolution engendered national consciousness in those lands ; and this national con- sciousness in our own day has embodied itself in organic state forms —the German Empire and the kingdom of Italy. So the French Revolution was not crushed at Water- The Revolution loo ; it was not a failure. The empire of Napoleon fell ; Ilot crushed. but it was a new world at which the reactionary con- querors looked with blind eyes. SUMMARY. After the excesses of the Revolution, Napoleon repre- sented order. In the French revolutionary wars, England's colonial con- quests fixed finally her maritime and commercial supremacy. The changes in France may be summed up in the word equality. The land of the Church and the nobles had been sold and could not be restored. The soil now belonged to its culti- vators. The political system was reformed, taxation made uniform, property rights in public offices abolished, and the laws codi- fied. The dependencies of France and the countries conquered by her, especially Prussia, shared in the results of the era. The revolutionary wars aroused in Germany and Italy the idea of national unity. c ; - / ----- FART Il-nr THE SE REVOLUTION". PRE! V .- \ - i 17S9 to 1815 F - the central fig •■ " . . . : Much lutio • tgh the era , gain beg there s se 548 s is monop ' , i Russ Tbes had etch its or democ - - e apts CHAPTER V. THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. In the history of European diplomacy there are three memorable congresses. The first made the gen- eral Peace of Westphalia in 1648, settling the religious and political character of Germany till the French Rev- olution. The second was the Congress of Vienna in 1814-15. The third met at Berlin in 1878, with refer- ence to the Eastern Question. When the armies of the allies triumphed over Napo- leon, in 1814, and his empire had fallen to pieces, the powers decided on a solemn conference which should rearrange on a firm basis the relations of the nations of Europe, so sadly unsettled by the Corsican adventurer. Accordingly in the autumn a brilliant concourse of monarchs and ministers and lackeys met in the capital of the Caesars. Their labors lasted from September, 1 8 14, until June, 18 15, and the series of treaties there made formed the public law of Europe for nearly half a century. Either in person or by their representatives a hundred sovereigns were present — all Europe, in fact, except- ing Turkey. Metternich, the minister of the Austrian emperor, presided at the public sessions. Alexander of Russia, Frederick William of Prussia, the Emperor Francis, and the kings of Bavaria and Wiirtemberg, were present in person. Hardenberg and William von Hum- boldt assisted their royal master in Prussian interests, Metternich kept his keen eye on the welfare of the 72 The Congress of Vie?ina. 73 Austrian dominions, while Castlereagh and Wellington in turn acted for England. Talleyrand, having with his accustomed skill deserted Napoleon in the nick of time, appeared for Louis XVIII. and France. The first two months were devoted mainly to social functions of the most elaborate character. Receptions, dinners, and balls fol- lowed one another in rapid succession. It is estimated that $50,000 a day were spent in entertain- ment. And so little but revelry ap- peared above the surface that the gen- eral sentiment of Europe was well expressed in the French mot: "/,<* Congrcs danse bien, m ais ne marc he pas.'' The methods of business, in fact, were quite unlike what would be ex- pected of so im- pressive a gathering of the powers. The general sessions were very few and of no great moment. All important matters were settled by private nego- tiations of the four leading powers — the five, when France was admitted to a share; and to avoid any question of precedence, the documents in which agree- "The Con- gress dances well, but it doesn't march." Talleyrand. Born, 1754. Lame from infancy. Entered church. Bishop of Autun, 1788. Member States-Gen- eral, 1789. Joined Third Estate. Resigned bishopric, 1790. Exile in United States, 1793. Minister of Foreign Affairs in Directory, 1797-^ — under Napoleon, 1799-1807 — under Louis XVIII., 1814-15. Ambassador to England, 1830. Died, 1838. 74 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. ments were recorded were signed in the order of the French alphabet: Autriche, France, Grande Bretagne, Prusse, Russe. For special purposes the great powers were joined by Spain, Portugal, and Sweden; and for some questions, like that of German union, committees were appointed to confer and agree on preliminary plans. ideas. The Congress was of course the very embodiment of absolutism. It was met to destroy the ideas of the French Revolution forever, and, so far as practicable, to put Europe back where it was in 17S9. It was not practicable to do this wholly. Alexander prided himself just then on his liberal sentiments, and England, while in the hands of a Tory ministry, was yet a marvel- ously liberal country in comparison with the victorious Continent. A Russian Liberal and an English high Tory were not far apart. The influence of these two powers, together with the obvious impolicy of the contrary course, sufficed to retain in France many of the fruits of the Revolution. And the liberalizing process which had been applied to German and Italian territory could not be reversed. Every kinglet or baron who held in his grasp lands formerly ecclesiastical, for instance, had no notion of restitution. Disputes. Many of the questions to be settled related to the disposal of territory which had in some shape formed a part of Napoleon's empire. And of course the interests of different powers soon came in collision, so that for a time the peace of Europe was again in danger. Poland. The chief disputes were about Poland and Saxony. Alexander had a scheme of his own about Poland. The grand duchy of Warsaw, which had been created by Napoleon out of a fragment of the old Polish king- dom which he had conquered from Prussia and Austria, of course had been subjugated by the Russians when The Congress of Vienna. 75 Saxony. Talleyrand. Napoleon was driven into Germany after his disastrous Moscow campaign. Now the tsar proposed to recon- stitute the kingdom of Poland, with himself as king, and with a liberal constitution. But this suited nobody else. Prussia and Austria both objected to Russian dominion thrust so deeply into their territory, and Eng- land strongly opposed any Russian aggrandizement. The king of Saxony had remained loyal to Napoleon to the last, and in consequence had been made prisoner and his country overrun. The tsar proposed to hand over the whole of this kingdom to Prussia, by way of compensation for Poland. And to this Frederick William was, on the whole, not disinclined. But Talleyrand was scheming to restore France to a place of influence among the great powers, and at once took advantage of the dissension. He opposed alike Russian annexation and the destruction of Saxon autonomy, and induced Austria and England, with some of the minor powers, to combine with France against the northern powers. A secret treaty was signed, pledging the signatory powers to forcible resistance, January, 181 5. if necessary. And thus the war was very nearly re- newed. But the dangerous dispute was settled by compromise, compromise. The limits of Alexander's proposed Polish kingdom were clipped of their most obnoxious fortresses in the direc- tion of both his southern neighbors, and on the other hand the king of Saxony was restored to his throne, losing only about half his territory to Prussia; and Fred- erick William was further compensated for his losses of 1806 by the annexation of the trans-Rhenish provinces which now for twenty years had been a part of France. The question of the organization of Germany was one already dear to the hearts of German patriots like Stein. German Unity. 76 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. The great powers had delegated to a German committee the consideration of this question. It was urged by- Stein that for the protection of Germany against future French aggression, as well as for the preservation of civil liberty in the smaller states, a German Federation should be formed, strong enough to control — in short, somewhat like the United States of America under the Constitution of 1787. But Stein was in advance of his age. The time was not yet ripe for a united German fatherland. Feder- ation is never easy, and in Germany in 181 5 it had to confront jealousies and antipathies which were irresist- ible. Neither of the great powers, Austria and Prussia, would surrender a jot of their independent sovereignty, nor would the small monarchs do more. And the result was a very weak act, creating a Germanic Federation which was such in little more than name. The confed- erates retained all their separate autonomy, and the Federal Diet was simply a powerless congress of am- bassadors. Instead of a repetition of the American Federal Constitution, there appeared an instrument of government even weaker than the old American Articles of Confederation. These same articles probably made about the weakest and worst form of government which the wit of man ever devised. But the German federal act of 18 1 5 was not a form of government at all; it was a polite and ceremonious way of doing nothing. The final act which summed up the work of the Congress was very voluminous, including some 205 pages of print. These international enactments formed the public law of Europe until the middle of the cen- tury. The arrangements of Vienna are the starting point from which the reconstruction of Europe in its second half has proceeded. The Congress of Vienna. 77 A brief view of those arrangements will be of advan- summary, tage. The Austrian and Prussian monarchies were re- stored in territory and population to what they had been before Napoleon reduced their power. In neither case was there a question of getting in all cases the same, but only equivalents. Prussia did not regain its Polish prov- Prussia, inces, but it had a full equivalent in a moiety of Saxony, and in the Rhenish provinces. And the direction thus given to Prussian power was of vast future significance. Prussian Royal Mausoleum at Charlottenburg. Queen Louise and King Frederick William III. It made Prussia more distinctively a German state, and placed it on the French frontier as a bulwark of Germany. What that meant was more fully apparent in 1870. Austria lost the Netherlands; but Lombardy and the Tyrol were regained, and Venetia, with the Illyrian and Dalmatian provinces, was finally acquired. This ominously increased Austrian influence in the Italian Austria, 7» Europe in the Nineteenth Century Russia. England. Sweden. Switzerland. Sardinia. The Bourbons and the Pope. The Netherlands. peninsula, and, at the same time, by providing a coast line and harbors, made Austria a Mediterranean Sea power. Russia acquired the kingdom of Poland, thus extend- ing her borders toward Germany, but at the same time including in its new territory mainly a Slavic people. England was confirmed in the possession of Malta, which island had been the casus belli with Napoleon in 1803, and also was given title to Heligoland, and various French and Dutch colonies. Sweden was rewarded for its early adhesion to the alliance by the gift of Norway, which was taken from Denmark. The latter country had been true to Na- poleon as long as possible, the bombardment of Copen- hagen not disposing the Danes to much amity with England. Switzerland was given Geneva, the Wallis, and Neu- chatel, thus raising the number of confederated cantons from nineteen to its present number, twenty-two. The old republic of Genoa was awarded to Piedmont (the kingdom of Sardinia), thus sharing final extinction with its ancient rival, Venice. The overthrown Bourbon dynasties were restored to their thrones in France, in Spain, in Sardinia, Tuscany, Modena, and Naples. The papal states were restored to the temporal sovereignty of the pope. The old Dutch republic (Holland) and the old Span- ish and Austrian Netherlands (Belgium) were united and formed into the kingdom of the Netherlands, with a descendant of the old Orange stadtholders on the throne. This union proved an ill-starred one. The two countries thus arbitrarily paired were incongruous in every way, and after only fifteen years they fell apart. Thus was Europe parceled out at will by the victorious The Congress of Vienna. 79 powers at the Congress of Vienna. The spirit of that body was the triumph of the reaction over the Revo- The spoils. lution. The political face of Europe was put back where it was when the French zealots began to preach the rights of man. An acute writer says of the Congress : ' ' Its proceedings were characterized by a disregard of popular rights, of differences of race and religion, and Lod s e > 62 9- of historical tradition, worthy of Napoleon in his most absolute days. Europe was treated as if it were a blank map which might be divided into arbitrary districts of so many square miles and so many inhabitants. ' ' But after all society could not altogether be put where it had been in the middle of the eighteenth century. The French Revolution had happened, and never again could the masses be the same as before 1789. The democratic trend of the nineteenth century has been like the current of Niagara. Its waters may be quiet, but they are hastening toward the cataract. SUMMARY. The Congress of Vienna met for the purpose of recon- structing Europe. The treaties made by it formed the public law of Europe for fifty years. The object of the congress was to put Europe back where it was in 17S9. All important questions were settled by private negotiations of the five leading powers. Talleyrand opposed Russian annexation of Poland and Prussian annexation of Saxony and formed a coalition against both projects. The attempt to form a German federation was a failure. Austria and Prussia were practically restored to what they were in 1789. Russia acquired Poland, England got Malta and various colonial possessions, Sweden received Norway, Switzerland was reorganized and enlarged, the pope recovered his dominions, and the new kingdom of the Netherlands was formed. CHAPTER VI. THE REIGN OF METTERNICH. Count Metternich. His Idea. Muller, 5, 6. The Mephistopheles of European politics from the Congress of Vienna until the year 1848 was the prime minister of Austria, Count Metternich. In his political ideas he was the very incarnation of the reaction, and so commanding' was the influence which he won, and so central was the position of Austria, that the ideas of Metternich were the ruling policies of the Continent. Austria was the foremost figure in Germany and the dominant power in Italy — and was the evil genius of each; and Austria was Metternich. His predominant idea was "neither to innovate nor to go back, but to keep things as they were." To go back he knew was impossible; but he set his face like a flint against any progress. " Ideas were at work," he said, ' ' which ought never to have entered the world, but, having unfortunately gained admission, made it the task of government to resist their influence by all avail- able means." And so he set out to keep Austria passive by a comprehensive system of police espionage, and to keep the rest of Europe in accord by his skilful diplomacy. Muller analyzes his Austrian policy neatly: "Austria must make herself felt, not by her military strength, but through the skill of her diplomats and the omnipresence of her police and spies. This was Met- ternich' s chosen field; while the emperor found his pleasure in the details of the police system, which was developed under him into a system of espionage of the The Reign of Metternich. 81 most unworthy sort. This was, however, admirably- adapted to that patriarchal system in accordance with which the government, so far from denying its Oriental views, even dared to inculcate in its subjects the doctrine that the sovereign ' has full power over their lives and property.' No less care was exercised in shutting up Austria against other lands. The influx of foreign intellects and intellectual products was guarded against like the smuggling in of the cattle plague. Study in foreign universities was forbidden. The entrance into Austrian schools of foreign teachers and of scholars over ten years of age was forbidden, and even for younger children permission had to be obtained. The imparting of private instruction was rendered very diffi- cult, permission being granted by the police only under oppressive conditions, and even then revocable every six years. All political literature, as well as modern his- tories, was subjected to strict censorship, with a view to police prohibition. For Austria the German movement in the provinces of philosophy and theology, the progress in history and the natural sciences, did not exist. What was there permitted and pursued was the study of Ori- ental languages and literature, a little poetry, and by preference, music, in order to charm the excited spirits into a soft world of sense, and to rock the empire into an Epimenidean sleep of years. As for popular instruc- tion, scarcely three fifths of the children of school age attended school and those who attended were, with their teachers, confined to a mechanical drill from which the why and wherefore were carefully excluded. The object was not to produce savants, but subjects and officials trained to blind obedience. For this purpose no guard and overseer could be more effective than the clergy. Upon their religious certificate depended every advance 82 Europe in the Nineteenth Century in the gymnasium and universities, and confession was exacted from teachers and scholars six times yearly. It will readily be understood that the Protestants were much oppressed, hardly tolerated. Upon purchasing a house — upon assuming a trade — they were obliged to apply for a dispensation. To enter the military academy at Vienna they must abjure their religion." Enforced calm. Under this potent system of civil and ecclesiastical police, the empire was kept in political quiet. The merchant traded, the peasant tilled the soil, the noble lived a life of stately elegance, and Metternich and the emperor governed. Thinking was not a prerogative of subjects; and so in those years Austria added nothing to the intellectual wealth of Europe. But there were uneasy stirrings in the empire, nevertheless. The population was a motley of various races. There were German Liberals who were restive under repression. There were Slavs and Magyars and Italian patriots who submitted sullenly to a foreign dom- ination. What Metternich called "the pernicious principle of nationalities" had sprung into life during the Napoleonic wars. National consciousness was quick- ening among races which had long been subject. And national autonomy was as fatal a solvent of the complex Austrian dominions as the ' ' rights of man ' ' had proved to autocratic royalty. Of the Germanic Confederation, which was the stone offered by the Congress of Vienna to German patriots in lieu of the bread of national organization for which Court Dress. they longed, Austria was the president. The Reign of Metternich. 83 In this way Metternich was able to exert a wide influence Germany. among the various states. In Prussia and Protestant north Germany in general, the full Austrian system of re- pression was impossible. Thought was free, and a vig- orous intellectual life was beginning already to presage German leadership in mental achievement. But political reform had not yet come, and the policy of most of the German princes was to promise constitutions, but never in fact to grant them. Metternich steadily exerted his influence in favor of absolutism and repression, and so German thinkers were sickened as they saw popular rights as freely disregarded as was German unity. In southern Europe Metternich' s baleful policy was The south, quite as effective as in the center. It had been the plan of the great powers that the Italian peninsula (there was no Italy) should comprise a number of independent states. Austria, to be sure, was given the northeast. The kingdom of Sardinia, under a prince of the old line of Savoy, occupied the north- west. In a belt across the center were the temporal dominions of the pope. The whole south of the penin- sula was the kingdom of Naples, to which belonged also the island of Sicily. And between Sardinia and the papal states was a cluster of small independent duchies, Tuscany, Modena, Parma. But as Austria was the only one of the great powers which had a footing in Italy, it was the idea of Metternich that Austrian influence should be supreme throughout the peninsula. To this end he readily effected treaties with Naples and the duchies, binding them to cooperate with Austria in stamping out any notions of constitutional freedom. The king of Sardinia and the pope declined to make the alliance sought. There were dangerous thoughts fermenting in Italy. 84 Europe in the Nineteenth Century Unity and free- dom. The Holy Alliance. Spanish Revolution, 1820. French in Spain, 1823. A large part of the peninsula had for years been a part of France, and another large part had been Napoleon' s Italian kingdom. In this way many Italians had be- come practically familiar with French political ideas, and the thought of a united Italian nation had become a serious political project with not a few; and this meant danger to all the vested ruling interests from the Alps to Sicily. In 181 5, while the allies were in Paris, Alexander drew the plan of a semi-religious, semi-political brother- hood of the sovereigns to maintain peace and right- eousness on earth. This was not exactly the aim of the various courts, but the plan was received with the courtesy due to its powerful projector. However, it had no practical effect. But in 181 8 a conference was held at Aix-la-Chapelle, at which, while no definite projects were adopted, there was a general agreement to repress with a firm hand any movements for constitutional freedom. Alexander had now renounced his liberalism, and the concert of Europe was complete. Of all the Bourbons who were restored to their thrones, none was more vigorously despicable than Ferdinand of Spain. The constitution adopted by the Spanish patriots in 181 2 he at once subverted, and the Inqui- sition and the priests were the real sovereign. Pro- scription, repression, tyranny, and corruption, then, had their logical outcome in 1820 in a general revolt. The constitution was again proclaimed, and Ferdinand compelled to swear to its observance. But this excited the alarm of Europe, and France, with general assent, dispatched an army into Spain. The liberal govern- ment was overthrown, and Ferdinand, restored to his absolute throne, celebrated his victory by a harvest of confiscations and executions. The Reign of Metternich. §5 There was another Ferdinand in Naples, uncle of the Spanish king, and a true Bourbon. When the news of the Spanish insurrection reached southern Italy, revolt broke out there also, and the Spanish constitution, adopted by the revolutionists, was accepted by the king, who solemnly swore to observe it. Then he quietly wrote to the emperor of Austria that he had no idea at all of keeping his oath. And in the following year an Austrian army entered Naples, overthrew the constitu- tionalists, and replaced the king on his absolute throne. In the spring of 182 1 insurrection in behalf of a consti- tutional government broke out in Piedmont. The tsar, alarmed at the situation, was ready to march 100,000 Russians into Italy, but it was unnecessary. The Aus- trians easily put down this revolt also. Thus Austria and France in turn became the agents of absolutism to crush attempts at revolution, and the popular insurrections of 1820 all failed. Revolution on the other side of the Atlantic also ex- cited the attention of reactionary Europe. The Spanish American colonies threw off the yoke of King Ferdinand, and maintained their republican liberties by force of arms. It was seriously proposed by the great powers to send troops to reclaim these rebels to their allegiance, and France was quite willing to be the agent of Spain to this end. But President James Monroe, in a message to Congress, December, 1823, intimated that any such pro- ceeding would be regarded as inimical to the United States; and the plan of European intervention in South America was quietly dropped. When Louis XVIII., brother of the guillotined Louis XVI., ascended the throne of France, he was main- tained by foreign troops. It was not until 1818 that the last garrisons of the allies were withdrawn. It was Naples. The Monroe Doctrine. France. 1S14. 86 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. The Charter. Fyffe, II., 15,16. See the charter in full in Miche- let. necessary that some measures should be taken to secure the dynasty popular support. France was not Austria or Russia, and so the king was induced to grant a con- stitution, the royal charter of 18 14. By this measure France became a constitutional mon- archy with a legislature of two chambers, and a re- LOUIS XVIII. IN THE TUILERIES. (1814.) Louis XVIII., King of France. Born, 1755. Brother of Louis XVI. Fled from France, 1791. Placed on throne by the allies, 1814. Restored after Waterloo, 1815. Died, 1824. sponsible ministry, copied from that of England. The Chamber of Peers consisted of members for life and hereditary members, and included many of Napoleon's marshals and senators. The lower house was elected by voters possessed of a very high property qualification, the payment of some $325 a year in direct taxes; no one could be a member who did not pay at least The Reign of Mcttcrnich. 87 $2,000 a year in direct taxes. By these restrictions the whole number of voters in France was only about 200,000, while often there were not fifty men in a department eligible for membership. Further, the crown had the sole right of initiating laws. The cham- bers could only discuss and vote. With all these re- strictions, which make the charter seem illiberal enough in American eyes, still it was a decided advance on the constitution of the consulate and empire. There was the gain in a responsible ministry, in the power of dis- cussion and voting in both houses, and in the extent of suffrage. Aside from this scheme of organizing the general government, the institutions which the Revolu- tion had worked out were, in the main, left untouched. Louis XVIII. was himself a good-natured and rather L OU i s xvm easy-going king, who, like Charles II. of England, made it his chief aim to keep from going on his travels again. He was disposed to be moderate, therefore, and not to look too closely at the antecedents of persons whom he employed, and anything savoring of perse- cution was quite foreign to his temperament. But it was no easy task for him to restrain his fol- lowers. A swarm of emigre nobles and priests had returned with the king, and these as a rule by no means shared his liberal views. At their head was the king's brother and heir, the Count of Artois (afterwards Charles X.). This prince was a thoroughgoing bigot and reac- tionary, and through the pressure exerted by this party of ultra royalists and clericals a strong policy was gradu- ally forced on the crown. The reactionaries could not subvert the constitution or obliterate the results of the Revolution, but they could control the administration. And so France soon saw the army reorganized with emigre nobles in the The Reaction- aries. Europe in the Nineteenth Century. 1824. place of veterans, with the white flag in place of the revolutionary tri-color, with the old royal household troops in place of the Imperial Guard. The Church could not get back its land, as it had to a considerable extent in Naples, or introduce the Inquisition, as it had in Spain, but in all ways possible it was favored by the court. Bishops were given seats in the House of Peers, and priests favored as far as could be. Charles x. It was the influence of this extreme reactionary party which induced Louis XVIII. to send an army into Spain in 1823, and at the death of Louis in the follow- ing year, it was the leader of this party who ascended the throne as Charles X. The brief reign of this typical Bourbon was sufficient proof that his ancient family is hopelessly at odds with the nineteenth century. A sum of $200,000,000 was given from the public treasury to reimburse the emigrant noblesse for their confiscated lands. Royal favor was extended to the monastic orders, although their existence in France was illegal. And in 1829 the king gave up the pretense of cabinet government, and appointed a clerical and re- actionary ministry in the face of an overwhelming Liberal majority in the Chamber of Deputies. When the Chamber met this with an address praying the king to change his ministers, he dissolved the Chamber and ordered new elections. But the electors replied by re- turning a largely increased Liberal majority. Then the king showed his real character. Basing his action on a clause of the charter empowering the crown ' ' to make the regulations and ordinances necessary for the execu- tion of the laws and for the security of the State," Charles issued a series of ordinances restricting the liberty of the press, dissolving the newly elected Cham- ber of Deputies, still further restricting the electorate, July 26, 1830. The Reign of Metternich. 89 and restoring to the crown the sole initiative in legisla- tion (which had been granted to the Chambers a few years before). This was an audacious abrogation of Revolution of the constitution, which the people of Paris met by in- surrection. Again barricades rose in the streets, and the tri-color flew from the Hotel de Ville. The royal troops were driven from the city, and the Chambers, meeting in spite of the dissolution, summoned Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, the king's kinsman, to act as lieutenant-general of the kingdom. Charles and his son then both abdicated in favor of the son of the latter, but the abdications only were accepted, and Louis Philippe was formally tendered the throne by the Chambers. He declared that he could not resist the call of his country, took the oath to support the consti- tution as it had been modified by the Liberal Chambers, and was formally proclaimed king of the French. Thus for a second time the Bourbon dynasty fell. It was an anachronism in the nineteenth century. It was not overthrown by the French nation, but fell by its own imbecility. SUMMARY. Metternich dominated European politics from 1815 to 1848. His purpose was "neither to innovate nor to go back, but to keep things as they were." Thought was suppressed wherever Austria controlled. The Holy Alliance sought to repress all movements for constitutional freedom. It put down the Spanish and Neapol- itan revolts of 1820 and threatened intervention in South America. Louis XVIII. established a constitutional government, but the Reactionaries controlled the administration. Charles X. reimbursed the nobles for their confiscated lands, extended his favor to the illegal monastic orders, and abandoned cabinet government. His July decrees raised an insurrection in Paris by which he was overthrown. CHAPTER VII. Character of Louis Philippe and of the revolution of 1830. THE ORLEANS MONARCHY AND THE SECOND FRENCH REPUBLIC. Louis Philippe was the son of that infamous Duke of Orleans whose vote in the Convention had sent Louis XVI. to the guillotine, and whose own head afterwards fell during the Terror. The young duke had been a soldier of France at Jemappes in 1792, an exile earning his bread by teaching, had wandered in many lands, and in 1 8 14 had returned to the home of his ancestors to receive the vast estates of his family. His role during the reign of Charles X. had been that of the quiet citizen, interested in all things modern and intellectual, sympathizing with liberal ideas in politics, and quite simple and democratic in his ways. His elevation to the throne seemed a victory for constitutionalism over absolutist tendencies in the crown, and for the middle classes over the aristocrats. It was in truth more than that. The Orleans mon- archy was founded on the assent of Parliament and on the negative of divine right. It is quite true that the intrigue which diverted the insurrection of July to Louis Philippe was in no sense a popular movement. The nation, as a whole, had no opportunity of choice. The Republicans who had raised the tri-color in the spirit of '92 were bitterly disappointed. Whether one set of politicians or another wielded the monarchy, seemed of little moment, so long as in either case there must be a king. But the difference after all was vital. The prin- 90 Orleans Monarchy and Second Republic. 91 ciple of the Orleans monarchy was popular sovereignty; that of the Bourbons was royalty by divine right. Louis XVIII. granted his people a constitution. The French legislature in 1830 granted Louis Philippe a throne, with a constitution as a condition precedent.* The form of government was very slightly changed. Government. The legislature retained the initiative which Charles had attempted to take away. But the administrative system was as centralized as ever, and the electorate as limited. In all France there were no more voters than there are to-day in the one city of Chicago. However, quite a new policy was manifested in the administration. The bishops were removed from the House of Peers, educa- tion was secularized, the laws against monastic orders were enforced. The nobles, too, as well as the priests, lost all political influence. The eighteen years from 1830 to 1848 were spent by R e i gn of Louis Louis Philippe in the anxious endeavor to strengthen his Phlh PP e - dynasty at home and abroad. The most conspicuous politicians were Thiers and Guizot, who alternately headed the ministry through most of the reign, and there was no one great thing for which all those years are memorable. The first serious difficulty came from the immediate Risin „ sin effects in other lands of the Paris Revolution. Smoul- Eur °P e > l8 3°- dering discontent broke out at once into flame in Bel- gium, in Germany, and in Italy. Belgium had been unequally yoked together with Holland in the arrangements of the Congress of Vienna. There was no sympathy between the countries, and now * " Instead of a representative of divine right, attended by guards and nobles and counseled by Jesuit confessors, there was now a citizen king, who walked about the streets of Paris with an umbrella under his arm, and sent his sons to the public schools, but who had at heart as keen a devotion to dynastic in- terests as either of his predecessors, and a much greater capacity for personal rule." — Fyffe, II., 379. Italy. 92 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Belgium was in open revolt. The Dutch were inclined to reduce the rebels, and if France alone had sided with Belgium, doubtless the great powers would have united with Holland. But Louis Philippe, by good diplomacy, induced England to join with France in maintaining Belgian independence, and so the Dutch had to give way. The tsar was busy with a determined revolt in Poland, and Austria was similarly occupied in Italy. Thus the concert between France and England was un- opposed, and the good understanding then established on the two sides of the Channel continued for several years. The attempts at revolution in Italy were unsuccessful. Austrian arms were used to maintain the old order in the peninsula, but Metternich was checked from going very far in intervention by the determined opposition of France. Policy of These first diplomatic moves of the citizen king were Iippe ' successful. He was recognized by all the powers, the old political isolation of France was done away, and the French power was felt with decisive effect. But in sub- sequent years there was not the same good fortune. Algiers, to be sure, was conquered, and thus France gained a foothold in Africa. But when Mehemet AH, the revolted viceroy of Egypt, threatened to move on Constantinople and to overthrow the sultan, the powers of Europe interfered. France was inclined to support Mehemet, but a quadruple alliance of the other powers was then formed, and the Egyptian driven back to his own place on the Nile. As this was in direct oppo- sition to French diplomacy, the government of Louis Philippe lost no little prestige at home. And a few years later the good understanding with England, im- periled by the Egyptian question, was quite lost by the Orleans Monarchy and Second Republic. 93 folly of the French government. Louis Philippe was anxious to ally his family with other reigning houses, and negotiated a marriage of one of his sons with the sister of the Spanish queen ; and this marriage was con- summated by a shabby evasion of an explicit agreement with England. This tricky conduct alienated England and at the same time disgusted France with the Orleans monarch. In the meantime a vivid sentiment of admiration for The Napoleon Napoleon had been growing up. The ambition and despotism of the emperor were forgotten, and only the strength and glory of his reign were remembered, the greater in contrast with the weak and commonplace Bourbon and Orleans monarchies. Thiers wrote in glowing terms the history of the consulate and empire. Beranger's inspiring lyrics sang of the great deeds of Frenchmen under Napoleon's lead. Many veterans of Waterloo and Borodino and Austerlitz were yet living to keep fresh the recollection of their exploits, and the picture of the emperor was found in the peasant's cot- tage from Flanders to the Pyrenees. The government of Louis Philippe thought to win for itself popular favor from this renascence of Bonapartist sentiment, and so negotiated with England the return of Napoleon's body from St. Helena. A French squadron conveyed the coffin to France, and with imposing solemnities the mortal remains of the conqueror were deposited in a stately tomb under the dome of the Invalides. But all this pageantry served only to add to the rising tide of worship for Napoleon. The king and his dynasty gained nothing. There was another force which complicated the politi- SocJa i; sm cal situation. During the long peace, speculation on economic questions became rife, and socialism began to Tomb of Napoleon, Hotel des Invalides, Paris. Orleans Monarchy and Second Rep2cblic. 95 win many adherents. The laboring poor in the cities saw little gain from all the political commotion since 1789, and they were readily captivated by the doctrine that the State owed them labor and wages, and that the means of production should be the property of the workers. The year 1847 was a hard one, and there was much suffering. This greatly recruited the numbers of the socialists. As the middle of the century approached, the crown weakness of had lost support in all quarters. It had become plainly government, evident that Louis Philippe was a Bourbon at heart, and that his government was weak and corrupt. The king was exceedingly thrifty in his personal menage, and people did not like the spectacle of the royal private funds embarked in business speculation. The contempt for a bourgeois king was not lessened when the Spanish marriages showed that he was capable of shuffling evasions unworthy of any man of honor, and so there was little respect for the monarch as a man. Then, after an attempt on Louis Philippe's life in 1835, the press laws had been made very strict again, and this alienated the journalists. The limited franchise, too, made the legislature merely representative of the wealthy bourgeoisie, so that there was no political outlet for popular unrest. And the revival of the worship of Bonaparte, together with the rapid spread of socialistic theories among the artisans, added positive antagonistic ideas to mere negative opposition. It was evident that the dynasty must crumble at any determined blow. It was the franchise that was the immediate cause of Electoral re _ the crash. The property qualification was so high that form - there were only about 300,000 voters in all France, and folre^hortiy none but rich men could sit in the Chambers. Further, aft f r > made the ' voters about there was no law to prevent officeholders from sitting, 1°.°°°.°°°. 9 6 Etirope in the Nineteenth Century. Revolution of February, 1848 Feb. 22, iS Feb. 23. Feb. 24. The Second Republic- and in fact more than a third of the deputies were thus in the direct employ of the crown; so the Parliament was felt to be in no true sense a body representative of the nation. It was merely an agency of the wealthy classes and of the king — even worse than the English Parliament before 1832. Against this restricted system a constitutional agitation was set on foot in 1847, under the leadership of Thiers, Guizot being prime minister. But the Chamber was loyal to the throne, and the Liberals were defeated. A banquet of the reform party was then appointed for the 22nd of February (Washington's birthday), 1848, at which it was intended to continue the campaign. The government, however, forbade the banquet, and the Moderate Liberals obeyed. But the extremists resisted, and, when barricades began to rise, regular troops and National Guards were called out to maintain order. But now it appeared that the guard could not be depended upon. When the king learned this he yielded, and dis- missed his ministry. Now it seemed that all trouble was over. But in the evening there was an unexpected collision between workmen and soldiers, in which a number of the former were killed. At this the mob rose. The military were unprepared, and were defeated at several points. The king lost courage, and, having abdicated in favor of his grandson, fled from Paris. The accidental and tumultu- ary insurrection, thus most unexpectedly successful, hastily established a provisional government at the Hotel de Ville. The accession of the young Count of Paris was not permitted, but the Orleans dynasty was swept away at once, and the republic proclaimed. Thus, at a single hap-hazard blow, the Orleans mon- archy dissolved like a bubble. The uprising was aptly Provisional Government. The national Orleans Monarchy and Second Republic. 97 called the ' ' revolution of contempt. ' ' Louis Philippe fell, not so much because of the strength of the opposi- tion, as because nobody cared particularly to stand by him. The provisional government, which thus doubtless quite to its own surprise found itself in power, was com- posed of members of whom a majority were Moderate Republicans. But there was an active minority of so- cialists, who were eager to raise the red flag and at once to proclaim a socialistic republic. This the government would not do. The tri-color was retained, and the elec- tion of a National Assembly by universal suffrage or- dered for April. However, the concession was made to the socialists (the "Red Republicans") of promising work to all the unemployed. In accordance with this workshops, pledge, national workshops were established, although |^, s French no one had any very definite idea as to how to manage lod^m ?" them or what to make. When the shops were opened x^es™ p 113 there were 14,000 of the unemployed in Paris. But Revolutionof straightway the roads were black with workmen pouring l848 - to the capital. In a month the number of employees rose to 65,000; and the labor was marvelously inefficient. The April elections returned a National Assembly in The Nationa i which the Moderate Republicans were in a majority. The Assembl y- provisional government was converted into an executive commission, a few of the reds being dropped, Louis May4 Blanc being the most notable of them. This measure was followed by an insurrection in the streets of Paris, which was promptly put down by the National Guards. The Assembly then proceeded to abolish the workshops as an evident failure, and a danger to the State. At J une 23 ~ 26 - this the socialists again rose, this time in force. General Cavaignac, the minister of war, was entrusted with the command of the troops, and after four days of hard 98 Eiirope in the Nineteenth Century. Constitution of Louis Napoleon. fighting the insurgents were crushed. The immediate result of this revolt was to impress on France a profound fear of the social revolution, and a positive desire for a strong government. The executive commission resigned, and the sole executive power was placed in the hands of General Cavaignac. The Assembly then proceeded to form a permanent constitu- tion for France. This provided for a legis- lature of one house, chosen by universal suffrage; a president for four years (inel- igible for a second successive term), also chosen directly by universal suffrage; and a ministry re- sponsible to the legislature. The election of president was appointed for December 10. Among the candidates was Louis Napoleon Bonaparte. The son of Hortense Beauharnais (daughter of Napo- leon's first wife, Josephine), who was married to Louis, a younger brother of the emperor, Louis Napoleon was brought up in exile. After the death of his own elder brother, and of Napoleon's son, the Duke of Reichstadt, Louis became the heir of his imperial uncle, and was early possessed with the idea that he should one day wear the crown of France. Believing implicitly the saying, "If Napoleon's cocked hat Thiers as a Soldier of the National Guard. From a French Caricature. Orleans Monarchy and Second Republic. 99 and gray coat should be raised on the cliffs of Bou- logne on a stick, all Europe would run to arms," the young prince on two occasions landed in France and attempted to repeat the brilliant success of his uncle's return from Elba. But although he wore the cocked hat and gray coat, nobody ran to arms. Perhaps the stick was all too perceptible. He was imprisoned for his second attempt, but succeeded in escaping to England a couple of years before the fall of Louis Philippe. His name commended him to the constituencies when Elements of the Assembly was chosen in 1848, and he was elected a stren s th - member. And then suddenly this almost unknown man, who had never shown talent or energy, appeared a for- midable candidate for the presidency of the French Republic. What was the secret of his strength ? It must be remembered that at that time the majority of the people of France wanted, above all else, social order — the protection of property and life against the Red Republicans. This majority comprised all the wealthy, the middle classes in the towns, and the rural peasantry. Politically there were four parties: the Legitimists, who favored the elder Bourbon line, the Orleanists, the Republicans, and the Bonapartists. The two Royalist parties could not agree with each other, and had no can- didate who could overcome the recent odium of both the last two reigns. The Republicans were discredited by the June insurrection of the reds, and, moreover, had no candidate who was wholly trusted. Cavaignac was honest, but had no elements of popularity. Louis Napoleon stood for order, and he had back of him all the new enthusiasm for his name. In other words, he alone stood for order and sentiment, while the Royalists were politically paralyzed, and the nation was inspired with profound dread of the ' ' red specter. ' ' ioo Europe in the Nineteenth Century. It was thought by some of the leaders in the Assem- bly that Louis Napoleon was a very dull man, who could easily be kept in order. They had occasion to change their minds afterwards.* About 7,300,000 votes were cast. Louis Napoleon had 5,400,000, Cavaignac had 1,500,000, the rest were scattering. Thus, once more a Bonaparte was at the head of a French Republic. SUMMARY. The principle of the Orleans monarchy was popular sover- eignty : that of the Bourbons was divine right. The Orleans government was not reactionary : otherwise it differed little from that of the Bourbons. The Belgian revolt against Holland was supported by France and England, and Belgium became independent. France conquered Algiers, but her conduct with reference to Mehemet Ali impaired her good understanding with Eng- land. The memory of Napoleon made the Orleans monarchy seem commonplace. Socialism became a force in politics. The downfall of the Orleans monarchy was occasioned by the question of the electoral franchise. The Moderate Republicans controlled the Provisional Gov- ernment and the National Assembly, and established a re- public. Louis Napoleon was chosen president because he repre- sented the Napoleonic legend and stood for order. * Thiers said afterwards that the French made two mistakes about Louis Napoleon : first, when they took him for a fool, and, afterwards, when they took him for a man of genius. CHAPTER VIII. EIGHTEEN HUNDRED FORTY-EIGHT IN GERMANY. The revolution of February in Paris was like a lighted match touched to the dry prairie grass after a drought. The flames flashed at once throughout the Continent. When the French people overturned their monarchy in 1792, there was little response among the masses of other lands. All seemed sunk in profound apathy. But since then a quiet but profound change had come over all Europe. Metternich fancied in 1847 that the old order was as secure as ever. A few hours of 1848 showed the old man the political earth melting away under his feet. The desire for one German nation hardly existed be- German unity, fore the nineteenth century, except among poets and other dreamers; but the oppressive rule of Napoleon awakened the spirit of German patriotism, and the rising of Germany against the French emperor in 18 13 was not only an assault on a hated invader, but was quite as much an insurrection of national sentiment. There was ardent hope among German patriots that the Con- gress of Vienna would organize a united Germany. But the selfish and disruptive forces were too strong, and the feeble Germanic Confederation of 18 14 was a sad disap- pointment. Another political idea had become rooted among many constitutional Germans during the stormy years of the Napoleonic rule. government. 102 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. The German Renascence. Austria and Prussia. England enjoyed constitutional freedom. Even in con- quered France a constitution was granted by the restored Bourbon king; and similar rights were now the object of hope and effort among German patriots. But the victory of the allied monarchs over Napoleon was too complete. They had not finally crushed the democratic revolution in France only to give it lodg- ment in their own dominions. And so it soon appeared that the assurances of some of the German potentates in the midst of the struggle were meant only in a Pick- wickian sense. The promised constitutions were not granted, and a paternal despotism yet supervised every act of private life. There was sullen obedience; but the leaven went on working. Students became enthusiasts for German unity and free government. Artisans learned that in France and England their fellows were free to form asso- ciations for mutual welfare, which were strictly forbidden in Germany. And ideas of unity and liberty crept from mind to mind, in spite of an active police and vigorous supervision of the press. There was a great awakening of German intellect in all lines of thought, and this could not be restricted to archaeology and speculative philos- ophy. The French Revolution in 1830 was echoed in several German states, but without effect. As yet there were too many bayonets at the control of the autocrats. The time was not ripe. The possibility of union was made all the more diffi- cult by the position and mutual jealousy of Austria and Prussia. The latter state was Protestant, the former was Catholic. Austria was very largely non-German, but yet retained large German provinces and the leader- ship in the Germanic Confederation. Prussia was prac- Eighteen Hundred Forty-eight in Germany. 103 tically wholly German. And either was too strong to yield precedence to the other. Still, one step taken by Prussia looked toward united The zoiiverein, action. A series of treaties between that power and I 2 ' 3 ' nearly all the other states of the Confederation (excepting Austria) united them in a customs union {Zollverebi) . Custom houses between the members of this union were done away, and the duties levied on the general frontiers were divided pro rata. This was by no means a political union, but common action accustomed the states to work together, and so paved the way to union for wider pur- poses. The beneficent economic effect of removing the paltry impediments to domestic trade was soon felt in a great increase of business; and thus was provided a new and powerful motive for national union. In Prussia the efforts of Liberals for free institutions p ruS sia. were hindered by the fact that the government, although sufficiently absolute, nevertheless was efficient and economical, so that there were no grievances which the masses could be led to regard as more than merely theo- retical. Still there was constant agitation, and in Feb- ruary, 1847, the king granted a Parliament. This con- sisted of a House of Lords and a Lower Chamber, which represented the knights, the towns, and the peasants. But the Parliament had no power at all to initiate legislation, being merely a consultative body; and it was soon at odds with the crown, and broke up without mending matters. The crown was discredited by the failure, and the Liberals irritated and discouraged. The news of the February days in Paris led to in- insurrections in stant imitation all over Germany. In every capital there was insurrection in behalf of popular rights, and every- where the government in alarm yielded to the revolu- tionists, and granted a free constitution. The demands 104 Ei/rope in the Nineteenth Century. The Prussian Constitution. German union. The ante- Parliament, March 30. of the Liberals were alike in each state — freedom of the press, trial by jury, the equality of religious creeds be- fore the law, a responsible ministry, the abolition of feudal rights, equal taxation. These have so long been the commonplaces of English and American institutions that it is not easy for us to realize how lately they have been won on the continent of Europe. In Berlin the king hesitated at first, but on learning that the revolution was everywhere, that even in Vienna, the stronghold of absolutism, liberalism had prevailed, and that Metternich was overthrown, he yielded, and granted constitutional government. The guarantees of civil liberty for which the Liberals contended were all freely promised. A National Assembly* was to convene, and this body should secure the whole scheme of popu- lar rights. The Prussian king did not stop here. A second aspiration, that for German national union, was dear to the hearts of the people. Indeed there were many who longed for this but who cared little for constitutional government. And the king now boldly put himself in the forefront of the great national movement, and pub- licly announced that thereafter Prussia should be merged in Germany. He thus anticipated the policy of a later generation, one which it was not for him to carry to success. In the first flush of revolutionary success, the nation- alists had things all their own way. At the end of March an informal convention of Liberals from all parts of Germany met at Frankfort and proceeded to plan for *"To this National Assembly the government would submit measures securing the liberty of the individual, the right of public meeting and of associations, trial by jury, the responsibility of ministers, and the independence of the judicature. . . . Hereditary jurisdictions and manorial rights of police were to be abolished ; equality before the laws was to be universally en- forced."— Fyffe, III., 24. Eighteen Hundred Forty -eight in Germany. 105 a National Assembly. Of course this body had no legal authority, but its resolves were promptly adopted by the Diet of the Confederation, and thus the way was made clear for a legal Constituent body. But there were di- visions and difficulties in the preliminary convention which foreshadowed the troubles to come. The attempt to prepare a plan of a constitution failed, owing to the antagonism between Republicans and Monarchists. The latter, on the whole, prevailed. The convention ad- journed after a session of less than a week, leaving further preparation in the hands of a committee. But this committee was not able to devise a plan of repre- sentation which would unite the people and the govern- ments, and so when the Assembly met, the governments were uniformly hostile or luke-warm. These were the initial errors — no draft of a constitution ready, no cor- dial cooperation of the federal units with the body of the nation. True, neither of these was an easy thing to bring about. The occasion called for a statesman, or a group of statesmen, endowed with the genius to see the crucial thing, and with the energy to seize it. But there was no Bismarck at Frankfort. The election for the National Assembly proceeded The National amid the deep emotion of all Germany. This was in- May ?8. y * deed the promise at once of liberty and union ; and the representatives chosen seemed truly the embodiment of the best thought of reawakened German national life. There were scholars and poets, learned jurists, university professors. "Never," says Muller, "has a political assembly contained a greater number of in- tellectual and scholarly men — men of character, and capable of self-sacrifice. " " But, ' ' he adds, ' ' it cer- tainly was not the forte of these numerous professors and jurists to conduct practical politics." And that io6 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. soon proved to be the fatal defect. What was needed above all was men of action. German union implied that each one of the numerous governments should yield obedience to the central authority. But by what compulsion should these independent states be de- prived of their sovereignty ? Who could constrain Austria and Prussia against their will ? To be sure, if the revolution should finally triumph in Berlin and Vi- enna, the German people might be trusted to coerce their governments. But meanwhile there the govern- ments were, jealous, independent, by no means over- thrown, only yielding to the storm, and waiting for its first force to pass. When the Assembly was organized, it was decided to Provisional create a provisional executive in place of the old Diet, government. x m 1 and then to proceed with the construction of a constitu- tion. The Archduke John of Austria was elected Ad- ministrator of Germany, with a responsible ministry. Thus the Assembly asserted its position as the supreme government of the German nation, while it at the same time was proceeding busily with its functions as a con- stituent body (a constitutional convention, we should call it). The Moderates of all shades were in a decided ma- jority; but there were two main parties, with various sub-divisions of each. The Right* (Conservatives) de- sired an imperial constitution in harmony with the exist- ing governments. The Left (Liberals) aimed at a re- publican federation. The plan of an imperial constitu- tion prevailed in the end, but it was only after long * Political parties on the continent of Europe are popularly named in parlia- mentary language from the place occupied by their representatives in legisla- tive sessions. The Liberals sit at the left of the presiding officer, the Con- servatives at his right. Men of moderate views sit in the center. Thus the left center are Moderate Liberals, the extreme right are uncompromising Con- servatives, etc. Eighteen Hundred Forty-eight in Germany. 107 debates. What was needed was action; but the good university professors occupied themselves with profound and scholarly debates on the fundamental principles of government. The Assembly met in May, 1848. It was not until March, 1849, that a constitution was adopted, and in April the imperial crown was formally tendered to the king of Prussia. But during these eleven months many things had been happening. The Prussian National Assembly promised in March p russ i a . was duly convened in May. It proved a tumultuous May 22, 1848. and democratic body, not endowed with much political wisdom. Its proceedings dragged along through the summer and autumn, until the news came that the Austrian monarchy had put down the insurrection in Vienna. Then King Frederick William of Prussia felt strong enough to follow a similar course. The Assem- bly was dissolved, and the government issued a consti- ecem er5 ' tution of its own. This provided for a Parliament of two houses, the lower resting on a democratic basis. This constitution was substantially accepted by the new Parliament, and thus Prussia finally became a consti- Jan „ l8so# tutional state; but it retained a strong government. A bone of contention which complicated German foreign relations was the Schleswig-Holstein question. H C oistein g " The two duchies were governed by their own estates with the king of Denmark as duke — so that their union with Denmark was merely personal, in the crown. But the population of Holstein was German, as was the case largely in Schleswig. The people of the duchies, there- fore, shared in the German national feeling and strongly opposed any closer union with Denmark. But on his accession to the throne, King Frederick VII. of Den- January, 184S mark granted a constitution in which all parts of the io8 Europe hi the Nineteenth Century. The Succes- sion. Austria. kingdom were to be treated alike, thus amalgamating the German duchies with the Danish nation. Another dispute was vitally connected with this. The Salic law of succession was claimed in Schleswig and Holstein, but did not apply in Denmark. Frederick VII. was likely to be the last of the male line, so that on his death the duchies and Denmark would be divided. In 1846 the then king, Christian VIII., issued a declaration that this claim of his German subjects would be disregarded, and the constitution of Frederick VII. was the realization of this policy. At this the Holsteiners revolted, and the Prussian king, at the request of the German Diet, sent troops to their support. Austria had been paralyzed in the spring of 1848 by insurrection which blazed out in all quarters of the empire. But later in the year the tide turned, and the emperor was able to take a more decided policy in Germany. When the question of German fed- eration was before the National Assembly, the status of Austria was of critical importance. Should only the German parts of that empire be admitted ? Or should the entire empire, with its motley population, including thirty million Slavs and Magyars, be a part of Germany? Or should Austria be excluded alto- gether? The first might have happened if the Austrian Empire had become disintegrated, as seemed probable when the National Assembly met. But when the choice was nar- rowed to one of the two latter alternatives, the difficulties seemed insuperable. As the less of the two evils, the Assembly voted to form the federation without Austria at all. Thereupon Austria promptly announced that it "would neither let itself be expelled from the German Eighteen Hundred Forty-eight in Germany. 109 Confederation, nor let its German provinces be sepa- rated from the invisible monarchy." The election of the Prussian king to the imperial headship was the decisive stroke. He was under Aus- trian influence and reluctant to risk a war. Further, he had no sympathy with a revolutionary assembly. He rejected the offered crown because it did not come from Apnl 3 - l849# a legitimate authority. And immediately afterwards the Austrian delegates withdrew from the Assembly. Others followed. The small governments had generally ac- cepted the constitution, but the Assembly was powerless without Prussia and Austria. It had reached its con- clusions too late. The reaction had come. The Assem- June l8, l849, bly crumbled away. Adjourning its sessions to Stutt- gart, the remnant identified itself with futile insurrec- tions, and finally was turned ignominiously out of doors. The revolution had spent its force. Under constraint from Austria and Russia the Prussian king withdrew his troops from Holstein and abandoned the duchies to the Danes. The constitutions were revoked in nearly all the states. The old Diet was restored, and the old Germanic Confederation, under the headship of Austria, was de- clared still in legal existence. German unity was still in the future, and constitutional freedom was yet a dream. SUMMARY. The Germans wanted national unity and a constitution. Unity was retarded by the rivalry of Austria and Prussia : the Zollverein formed by Prussia was a step in advance. The Prussian king granted a Parliament which had no initiative. The Paris revolution of 1848 spread to Germany and the Prussian king granted a constitution and promised to labor for German unity. Prussia became a constitutional state. Schleswig-Holstein question complicated German politics. In Austria the revolution was suppressed, and Austrian in- fluence prevented German unity. The reaction. CHAPTER IX. EIGHTEEN HUNDRED FORTY-EIGHT IN AUSTRIA. The Austrian Dominions. Vienna. Hungary. The Austrian dominions in 1848, as they do now, in- cluded the most complicated tangle of races and tongues in Europe. The dominant race, the Germans, were in the majority in the western crown lands (provinces), and were found largely in Bohemia, and more or less in most of the other dominions. The Slavs formed a circle, broken only at the west, around the whole empire. In the center was Hungary, with a Turanian race, the Mag- yars, akin to the Turks; and northeastern Italy also was ruled by the Hapsburgs. Amid the confusion of blood and language there was also equal diversity in religion. Roman Catholics, Oriental Christians, and Jews were all under the imperial flag. Metternich had kept political ideas so thoroughly out of the public mind that he hoped to see no effects in Austria from the Paris insurrection; but he found that after all people would think. Revolt broke out in Vi- enna, headed by the students of the university. Met- ternich was compelled to resign and to flee from the country, and the crown was obliged to convene a Na- tional Assembly, on the basis of universal suffrage, to form a constitution. Hungary was of old an independent kingdom, which had become attached to the Austrian dominions only by the political accident of choosing a Hapsburg as king. For several years before 1848 an agitation had been going on for the restoration of Hungarian nationality. A Eighteen Hundred Forty-eight in Austria. prominent leader of the patriots in this movement was Louis Kossuth, a brilliant journalist and orator. The Diet of Hungary was in session when the German re- volts began, and at once followed the lead of Kossuth in demanding independ- ent government, sav- ing only the person of the monarch. And a deputation was sent to Vienna with an ad- dress demanding a responsible ministry for Hungary, and also freedom of the press, trial by jury, equality of religion, and a sys- tem of national edu- cation. This program was accepted by the emperor, and was fol- lowed by more ex- treme measures, to which the imperial assent was also ex- torted. The peasants were released from all feudal burdens, as had been done in France in 1789. And Hungary was thus virtually an independent kingdom. The example of the German and Hungarian insur- gents was promptly followed by the Slavs in Bohemia. The population of this ancient kingdom was largely German, though the Slavic Cekhs were in the majority. Louis Kossuth. Born, 1S02 ; lawyer, 1822; elected to Diet, 1832; imprisoned for political offenses, 1838-40 (while in prison he learned English by studying Shakspere) ; member of Diet, 1847 ; leader of Hungarian revolution, 1848-9; guest of Amer- ican government in the United States, 1851 ; opposed the Hungarian settlement in 1866; refused to return home, preferring to live in exile rather than to recognize a Hapsburg as King ; died at Turin, March 20, 1894. Bohemia. 112 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. There are now about 2,800,000 C2khs and 1,800,000 Germans. June 2. June 18. March 18. At first an attempt was made to unite both peoples in a movement for constitutional government; but this failed to command support, and the long repressed Slavic national sentiment, inspired by the success of Hungary, burst forth beyond all control. The people began to arm, and the government at Vienna yielded to the storm, as had been done already in case of the Austrians and the Hungarians, and promised a Bohemian National Assembly with local autonomy. A general congress of Slavonic races was convened at Prague, and a provi- sional government was set up. But now revolution met with a check. The com- mander of the Austrian troops at Prague was Count Windischgratz. His aristocratic feeling was indicated by the saying attributed to him, "Humankind begins with the barons." And his determination was plainly shown in what followed. A collision between the peo- ple and the soldiers occurred on the 12th of June. Five days later Windischgratz attacked the insurgents, and the following day found him in full possession of Prague, and the Bohemian revolution was suddenly at an end. In Italy, too, the revolution blazed out as soon as Vienna was known to be in revolt. In Milan the Aus- trian troops were driven from the city. Venice seized the arsenals and dockyard, and proclaimed the republic of St. Mark. Only in General Radetzky's camp was left a fragment of Austrian authority. And to insure the expulsion of the foreigner, Piedmont took up the cause of Lombardy and Venice, and ^before the end of March the Piedmontese soldiers entered Milan. Thus in every quarter of the empire successful revolt had been enthroned. A constitution was promised at Vienna. Hungary was practically independent and en- dowed with free institutions. The Bohemians had been Eighteen Hundred Forty-eight in Austria. 1 13 promised what the Hungarians had won. Italy was apparently lost. And the emperor had fled from his May I7 _ capital, leaving it to the revolutionary committees. The prospect was not only that absolute government was doomed, but also that the empire would be dissolved Into its ethnic elements. There remained, however, one element which was vet J Reaction. to assert itself — the army. And there were two deter- mined soldiers who meant to crush rebellion by military force. Windischgr'atz quelled the revolt of Prague, as has been seen. And Radetzky, undismayed by the Italian rising, calmly prepared to attack. He was successful. The mainland of Venetia soon fell into his hands, the Piedmontese king, Charles Albert, was outgeneraled and defeated in successive battles. In August, Radetzky again entered Milan, and the Piedmontese were finally driven out of Lombardy. The emperor, encouraged by the victories of his gen- erals in Bohemia and Italy, ventured to return to Vienna. But here, between the turbulent Viennese and the head- strong Magyars the imperial ministry had no quiet time. The fatal error of the Magyars was that they failed to Y J Magyar show the same consideration for other races which andsiav. they demanded for themselves from Austria. Hungary was encircled, except on the northwest, by Slavic lands — Croatia, Dalmatia, Slavonia, Transylvania. At the south lay the Military Frontier, inhabited by a hardy population of Servians. These people had been invited into the empire and given lands in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, in order to form a bulwark against the Turks. They were promised a large measure of self-government. Austrian absolutism, however, recked little of promises, and the Servians had long lost their chartered rights. But the revolution of 1848 kindled anew the national aspira- ii4 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. The Slav revolt. October 3. tions of the Slavs, and the utmost bitterness was roused at the policy of the Magyars. These ambitious people, having now won their independence, were eager that Hungary should be a great kingdom, and so extorted from the emperor the consolidation of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia with Hungary. Not content with this, they attempted to enforce the Magyar language as the official tongue of these Slavic provinces. It was only little more than a year since the Magyars had suc- ceeded in establishing their own language in the pro- ceedings of the Hungarian Diet. When the Servians and Croatians learned that they had only exchanged a German for a Magyar master, their indignation flamed into revolt. They declared their independence of Hungary and demanded of the emperor to be organized as free and independent na- tions under his scepter. The Croatians, having no gov- ernor at the time, had succeeded in securing from the crown the appointment to that position of Jellacic, colonel of a Croatian regiment in the imperial army. Jellacic was a Magyar hater, and was in sympathy with Windischgnitz and Radetzky in desiring a restora- tion of the emperor's power. He refused to obey the Magyar authorities, and defied their power. Thus civil war among the revolutionists came to the aid of the reaction; and Jellacic invaded Hungary with an army of Croatians. Meanwhile the ministry had played a double game with Hungary. The demands of Hungarian ministers had all been granted, including even the removal of Jellacic. But at the same time the Slavs were encour- aged in their animosity against the Magyars. Presently Jellacic was restored, and as soon as the ministry felt strong enough the mask was cast aside. The Hun- Eighteen Hundred Forty-eight in Austria. 1 15 garian Parliament was dissolved, and its acts proclaimed null and void. Hungary was put under martial law, and Jellacic was appointed to the supreme military and civil command. And Austrian troops were set in motion to aid his campaign. But now trouble was renewed in Vienna. The Parlia- Revolt merit, which was one result of the revolution, had no in Vienna - sympathy with the policy of Magyar independence. But the populace of the capital had, and in October insur- October 6 rection broke out to prevent troops from going to attack Hungary. The rising was successful. The emperor again fled from Vienna, leaving the Parliament still sitting as the only legal government. And now Windischgratz took matters into his own hands and proceeded to put October n. down this turbulent capital once for all. His course was afterwards ratified by the emperor. But the initia- tive in restoring the imperial authority, it will be ob- served, was in no case taken by the emperor. Ferdi- nand, indeed, was imbecile, and his ministers bewildered. But Radetzky in Italy, Jellacic in Croatia, and Windisch- gratz in Bohemia, had with independent energy and resolution set out to crush the revolution. Windischgratz marched on Vienna and after a brief , r . a Vienna taken. siege carried it by storm. The Hungarians had sent an army to its relief, but it had been repelled without serious difficulty. The capital was now in the hands of the regular troops, and further insurrectionary move- ments there were at an end. There remained the Parliament, which had been pro- rogued at Vienna to meet later in Moravia, and the independent Magyars. To deal with these, a new prime minister was selected, Prince Schwarzenberg, who proved schwarzenberg. an able coadjutor to the three soldiers who had thus far saved the empire. Under his advice the weak-minded n6 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Abdication of Ferdinand, Dec. 2, 1848. Francis Joseph. Hungarian Declaration of Independence, April 19, 1849. Russia inter- venes. Aug. 13, 1849. Ferdinand was led to abdicate the throne, and his nephew, Francis Joseph, a youth of eighteen, became emperor. In this way the pledges which Ferdinand had given were regarded as set aside, and the new emperor was free to take such measures as seemed proper. The measures which seemed proper were the subjuga- tion of the rebels. In Hungary the party of entire inde- pendence secured control, with Kossuth as dictator. A national army was raised, and its early operations were favorable to the patriots. Jellacic was driven back on one side and Windischgratz on the other. And in the first flush of victory, the Magyar legislature declared ' ' the House of Hapsburg deprived of its dominion and banished from Hungary forever. ' ' Austria now sought help from a power which was the natural friend of despotism. The Russian tsar, Nicho- las, besides being himself an autocrat, saw plainly that free Hungary would at once mean free Poland; so he very readily responded to the request of the Austrian emperor by marching a powerful army into Hungary. The Austrian armies then moved anew against the rebels, and this time the victory was won. The Hungarian general-in-chief, Gbrgey, already disaffected with Kos- suth, surrendered his army to the Russians. Kossuth, with a small detachment, succeeded in crossing the Turkish frontier, and he was afforded asylum by that country, in spite of the urgent demands of Austria and Russia. A stern retribution was inflicted on the unfortunate Hungarians. Executions by the gallows and by shoot- ing were remorselessly enforced. Many of the noblest Magyars were thus put to death, and the land was handed over to a stern despotism. Thus in the Austrian dominions the revolution of Eighteen Hundred Forty-eight in Austria. 1 17 1S48 had failed. The constitutions so freely promised by Ferdinand, when he was in terror from the insur- F ail u r eof ' the revolution gents, were all cancelled. The empire was not dis- throughout l central solved. " The pernicious principle of nationalities," as Europe. Metternich had called it, was crushed. Italy, Hun- gary, Bohemia were once more under the iron heel of the German Austrian, and Germany again recognized Austrian headship in the old Confederation. Things political were back in the year 18 14. One social change, however, remained as almost the sole relic of the revolution. The Austrian National Assembly, during its few months of troubled existence, had freed the peasants from feudal burdens, and con- Permanent • results verted them into free landed proprietors. They could not be reenslaved, and so, as generally in Germany, the peasantry had made a solid gain. The revolution had done one thing more. It had shown plainly how national autonomy and constitutional freedom could not be won. It remained for the patriots to wait patiently and gather their forces for a wiser effort. SUMMARY. The Austrian dominions include many races and languages. In 1848 Hungary revolted under Kossuth and demanded separation from Austria except as to the king. Bohemia imitated Hungary, but was soon subdued. The same is true of Italy. The Slavs were encouraged by Austria to revolt against the Magyars, and Hungary was conquered by Russian aid. Ferdinand was persuaded to abdicate and Francis Joseph became emperor. The revolution failed throughout central Europe, but not until the Austrian peasants had been freed from feudal burdens. This was a substantial, permanent gain. CHAPTER X. DISUNITED ITALY. What Italy is. Ramsay, 497. We are quite apt in America to form an inadequate notion of Italy, because we too often give our attention to some one phase of the subject to the exclusion of others. The name to many will suggest primarily, for instance, plastic art, or architecture, or archaeology. It is true that the art treasures of Florence and Rome are priceless, and that there are magnificent cathedrals and palaces; but these are combined with a depth of squalid poverty rarely found elsewhere in Europe, and the glori- ous landscapes and picturesque architecture must be interpreted often as animated with human misery and filth which are far from poetic. Perhaps one thinks of Italy as the land of the ven- detta, the stiletto, the bandit — the land of jealousy and revenge. But, in fact, there is ' ' scarcely a more inof- fensive and amiable people than the Italians." It is hardly safe to judge of a nation by the laborers whom we import for the coarsest of coarse toil. Some of us, realizing that in Italy there are more priests to the square mile than in any other land, at once infer the predominance of that pet bugbear of the American democracy — "priestcraft." In truth, how- ever, Italy is thoroughly leavened with rationalism. Few lands have legislated and acted so audaciously against the Church. In this last fact our enthusiastic Protestants see a com- plete break with "Romanism," and dream of a new Disunited Italy 119 Italy which shall be vigorously Protestant. Possibly the dream may come true; but it hardly seems likely. At present only about two per cent of the nation are non- Catholic. Victor Emmanuel, to the day of his death, hoped for reconciliation with the pope and for absolution. Italy is a land of contrasts. It can only be under- stood by a comprehensive study. Of course, in this Church of St. Mark, Venice. brief sketch time is lacking for more than a hasty glance. But it will be desirable to cover some half dozen points: (1) What Italy had been before the nineteenth century opened; (2) what it was in 1815; (3) what the Italian patriots wanted; (4) how they set out to get it and failed; (5) how they set out to get it and succeeded; (6) what they have done with nationality and freedom. The last two points will fall in a subsequent chapter. If we should read the story of Italy going no farther 120 Europe in the Nineteenth Century What Italy was before the nineteenth century. Great names. Thus the first discoverer of American lands for each of the great nations which after- wards settled the New World, Spain, France, and England, was an Italian. Republics. San Marino. Foreign rivalry. back than the Middle Ages, we should find some quite obvious facts. Italy has been fertile in great men. In literature, Dante, Petrarch, and Tasso at once are suggested. In science and art, there are Galileo, Michael Angelo, Le- onardo da Vinci, Raphael; in social reform, Savonarola and Giordano Bruno; in geographical discovery, Co- lumbus, Verrazano, Cabot; in war and statecraft, Napo- leon Bonaparte. Italy has been fertile in republics. In the turmoil of the Middle Ages there arose a host of free municipali- ties, turbulent, quarrelsome, but, on the whole, self- governing. Some of these became very rich and pow- erful — Venice and Genoa in particular. The most of them gradually lost their liberties, and either became despotisms, like Florence, or were merged in some greater power. Venice and Genoa survived until the end of the eighteenth century. One of this medieval cluster still exists — the independent republic of San Marino. This little town of 8,000 people is an odd medieval petrifaction in the midst of our nineteenth century. Perched amid the Apennines, it has kept its freedom through all the changes which have swept over the peninsula. It was not overthrown in the past, because nobody particularly cared to attack it. It is preserved now partly because of the respect which modern and liberal Italy has for free institutions, and partly because the Italians are rather proud of its antiquity. They regard it as an interesting freak. It is bound to Italy by a treaty of friendship made in 1872. Another characteristic historical fact is this: For many centuries the peninsula was an object of rivalry to the Germans, the French, and the Spaniards. The Disunited Italy. 121 contests of these nations kept the land in confusion and kept it from consolidation. And finally, Italy has been the seat of the papacy. This has exerted a unique influence in the position of the peninsula as related to other lands, and of course at the same time has made ecclesiastical influence especially powerful. The general tendency of the political conditions which prevailed through many centuries was to keep Italy divided into numerous jealous and jarring portions. And with the decadence of the republics there was a steady tendency to despotic government. The great feature of Italian politics in the present century has been the fact that it has been possible for Italian politics to exist at all. And this has been brought about by the fervent desire of Italians for national union. This of course has been distinctively an Italian idea. The movement for liberal government Italy has shared with the rest of Europe. The idea of Italian unity is not new with this century. It was a dream of Dante, of Petrarch, and even of the worldly wise Machiavelli. Statesmen had tried to real- ize it, and soldiers had fought for it. But the time was not ripe. The dream was merely a dream — the idea of an individual now and then, the scheme of a plotter here or there. It was not till the nineteenth century that it really became impressed in the national conscious- ness as a definite popular aspiration. And this result was due more than all else to the rule of Napoleon Bonaparte. At the outbreak of the French Revolution Italy was, like Germany, a real political patchwork. But unlike Germany, there was in Italy not even a semblance of union. The Holy Roman Empire was far from holy, it The Papacy. What Italian patriots have wanted. The Idea of Italian unity. Italy before Napoleon. 122 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. was scarcely Roman at all, and it was hardly an empire. Still it did in some fashion serve to remind men that German people really belonged together. The Diet continued to meet, the head of the House of Hapsburg was nominal emperor. But there was not even such a figment of a united Italy. Venice and Genoa were independent republics. Milan with Lombardy belonged to Austria. The pope ruled his secular states in the center of the peninsula, and the rest was divided. There were two kings — in Piedmont and in Naples — and a cluster of petty dukes. Italy under But Napoleon changed all this. He conquered the Napoleon. whole peninsula. The northwest, with Genoa, Turin, Florence, and Rome, was annexed to France outright. The northeast, including Milan and Venice, was formed into a kingdom of Italy, of which Napoleon was king. And the south was the kingdom of Naples, over which were, first, Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon's ill-starred brother, and afterwards Napoleon's brother-in-law, Murat. These three fractions were not far from equal in size. In this way Italy became accustomed to several new things, all of which paved the way to a desire for union. In the first place, the whole peninsula for some years acted with a common political purpose. That this pur- pose was the interest of France, not of Italy, mattered little. It was the main thing that the Italians should act together, no matter for what end. Again, the north- ern portions, especially, were administered by the French system — a system which implied unity, efficiency, and intelligence. The government may have been for- eign, but that was not a new fact to the Italians; and foreign or not, it was certainly in most respects a good government. And to the habit of unity in action and orderly government were added the new ideas of Disunited Italy. 123 the French Revolution — equality before the law, the destruction of privilege, admission of all to public em- ployment. Thus the Italians learned democracy. Out of all this came a burning desire that Italy should be free and united. There was awakened a vivid con- sciousness that there was a nation of Italy; and there was impressed deeply a loathing for absolute govern- ment. These two ideas were not present always in the same minds. Some Italian patriots were not republicans or constitutionalists. But all the latter were devoted to the union of Italy. It was the ardent hope of many Italians that the Con- The Congress gress of Vienna would recognize the new aspirations of their sunny land, and would form some sort of a united Italy; but that extraordinary body was not greatly given to satisfying national aspirations. The division of the spoils was what busied the assembled potentates. It was a convention of the kites and the crows; and Italy was to them only a lump of luscious carrion. And so once more the fair peninsula was parceled out among the petty princelings who had before misruled it. The pope was given again the lands which he claimed as the patrimony of St. Peter. The infamous Ferdinand came back to the throne of Naples. Napoleon's Austrian wife, Maria Louisa, became Duchess of Parma. In Tuscany and Modena and Lucca, the Lilliputians were crowned anew, and the House of Savoy was restored to authority in Piedmont. But in this general restoration of "legitimate" dynas- Theold ties, the victorious despots were careful not to restore re P ubhcs - the famous old Italian republics. Venice, with Milan and Lombardy, became the property of Austria. Genoa was annexed to Piedmont. Republics were not in good odor at Vienna. 124 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Character of the restoration. Prohyn, 12. Probyn, 31. Dissatisfai tion. The Carbonari. The reactionary governments were despotic, it goes without saying. Austrian influence was predominant at every court, and the policy of Metternich was dominant. That policy was well expressed in the remarks of the emperor to the professors of the University of Pavia : " Know, gentlemen, that I do not desire cultured men, nor studious ones, but I wish you to form for me faithful subjects devoted to me and my house." And the policy was enforced with pitiless rigor. Disaffection was quelled by prompt violence, and was punished by wholesale and bloody executions. In 1828, for example, there was a petty rising in a portion of the kingdom of Naples. It was put down with ease. Twenty insurgents were at once shot without trial. Twenty-six others were con- demned to death. They were executed, " and their heads were displayed in the villages where they had lived, and in front of the houses inhabited by their wives, mothers, children, or other relations. " And in most of Italy government was corrupt as well as cruel. Piedmont was an honorable exception. In that kingdom the administration was honest, frugal, and efficient. And thus was paved the way to such respect for the House of Savoy as made it ultimately the only hope of united Italy. The new ideas which the dawn of the nineteenth cen- tury had brought were cruelly disappointed by the settle- ment of Vienna. And there followed a general discon- tent and ferment for many years. Denied expression in the ordinary modes of free political action, the Liberal opposition was diverted into the channels of secret revo- lutionary societies. Of these the most prominent was the Carbonari (charcoal burners). This society was organized on the model of the Freemasons, and extended its ramifications into all parts of the peninsula. And Disunited Italy. 125 under its auspices there were repeated but futile attempts at insurrection. Among the Carbonari in 1830 was a young Genoese, Joseph Mazzini. Dissatisfied with the management of the order, he organized the Society of Young Italy. Young Italy. The threefold object was, united Italy, the Italian re- public, and aid to republicanism throughout Europe. Mazzini thereafter was a prominent and influential factor in the liberal movement. One great difficulty with the Italian patriots was the discord among them. All agreed in the desire for national unity. But what form should it take? Some would have a union under the king of Piedmont. Plans of union. Others, like Mazzini, aimed at a republic. A third fac- tion desired a federation with the pope at the head. In 1846 Cardinal Mastai-Ferretti was elected pope, as Pius IX. And he electrified the Liberals by adopting a a liberal pope, most advanced policy. A general amnesty was pro- claimed for political offenses. Reforms in government were introduced. Education was encouraged. And when the revolution broke out in 1848, he granted a constitution for the papal states. There was for a time the wildest enthusiasm for Pio Nono. There seemed to be impending an irresistible alliance between the Church and the Liberals. And free Italy with the pope as president seemed more than a possibility. Early in 1848 the general uneasiness in Italy culmi- nated in a determined demand for constitutional gov- ernment in the various states. Insurrection in Naples in January compelled the king to grant a constitution. Naples, 01 ' " '" This example was followed by Tuscany, by the papal J anuai >- iS * 8 - states, and by Piedmont. The last named alone sur- vived, and has permanent interest as being the basis of the present constitution of the kingdom of Italy. 126 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. General Italian These efforts for reformed government were suddenly- war on Austria. • i lt 1 , , • given a new turn by the general revolutionary move- ment which was precipitated by the February days in Paris. When news came to Italy of the insurrection of March 13, in Vienna, and of the flight of Metternich, the peninsula was in flames instantly. The question now was national union. And that meant that the Austrians, who were encamped in the fairest provinces of the north and whose arms and policy had maintained absolutism since 18 15, must be expelled. Milan and Venice re- volted, and Charles Albert, the king of Piedmont, promptly espoused their cause and moved his troops to their aid. Every other Italian government was com- pelled to follow the same course, and from Naples and the papal states, as well as the duchies, soldiers poured into Lombardy to aid the Piedmontese king. Mean- while the Austrian monarchy seemed crumbling to pieces. In Hungary and Bohemia and Vienna, as well as in Milan, the insurrection was triumphant. Free Italy seemed in sight. Constitutional government had been won. The Austrians were all but expelled. And Italian union must follow. SUMMARY. Italy is famous for its great men, its republics, for the foreign rivalry for possession of it, and as the seat of the papacy. . The idea of Italian unity is as old as Dante. That it has been realized is due to the rule of Napoleon, who conquered the whole peninsula. After 1815 Austrian influence predominated throughout Italy. Pius IX. became pope in 1S46 and inaugurated a liberal policy. CHAPTER XI. REACTION IN ITALY AND FRANCE. The focal point of the revolution of 1848 in Italy The war in was in Lombardy. The rising tide of national sentiment Lombard y« had driven the Austrians from Milan and had rallied the troops of all the Italian states to complete the conquest. The Austrian commander, Radetzky, took refuge in the strong fortresses of the quadrilateral (Mantua, Verona, Peschiera, Legnano). And here with undaunted resolu- tion he prepared to win back his provinces. The first ominous event was the treachery of the king Defection. of Naples. He had been forced to send his army to Lombardy by the overwhelming tide of public opinion. But the Neapolitan general was ordered not to enter Austrian territory, and as soon as the king was able, he recalled his troops altogether. This defection weakened the Italian force in Lombardy at a most critical moment. And the soldiers of the pope also, although at first sent to the border of the Roman states in order to aid the general crusade against the Austrians, were held back and ultimately prevented from taking any part in the campaign. Thus deprived of resources on which there had been confident reliance, and being also inferior in military ability to his opponent, Charles Albert's successes in the field were brief enough. In July he was utterly defeated at Custozza and driven entirely out J uly - l848 - of Lombardy. Radetzky, having regained Milan, com- pelled Charles Albert to sign an armistice, and then turned his attention to restoring Austrian authority. 127 128 Europe in the Nineteenth Ce?itnry. March 23, 1849. Austrian victory. Naples. The Nineteenth Cent'rv. Everywhere he was successful except in the city of Venice. In 1849, Charles Albert renewed the struggle, but in vain. In March he was finally overthrown at Novara, and only saved his dominions from subjugation by abdicating in favor of his son Victor Emmanuel. The old king went into exile and died, broken hearted, a few months later. There remained in arms against Austria only the republic of Venice. The siege of the island city was prosecuted with energy, and in August was brought to a successful issue. Manin, the Venetian leader, with some six hundred others, went into exile. The insurrection was crushed, and stern military rule in Lombardy and Venetia replaced the brief vista of liberty. Meanwhile in Naples King Ferdinand was again master. And rebellious Sicily he brought to terms by force of arms. Absolutism reigned again in the south. Tuscany was reduced by Austrian troops. But in Rome the struggle was harder. The pope had granted a free constitution and had sent his army to aid Charles Albert. But free Rome proved a stormy place, and Pius IX., alarmed at the turbulent aspect of democracy, fled from his capital and took refuge in the dominions of Naples. The Romans at once set up a republic, with Mazzini among the leaders, and prepared to defend their liberty against the force which it was plain would soon be brought against them. But the prospect of Austrian arms in Rome, and thus of Austrian influence predominant through the peninsula, was little relished in France, and to forestall the Austrians, President Louis Napoleon sent an army under General Oudinot to take possession of the Eternal City. Although ostensibly com- ing to protect Rome against Austrian attack, The revolution fails. Reaction in Italy and France. 129 the French troops were not welcomed as deliverers, by any means, and they had to carry the city by a regu- lar siege. Mazzini and Garibaldi made a gallant defense, but it was in vain. The republic was subverted, and the pope returned as an absolute monarch. One of the first acts was to restore the Inquisition, and it was with no little difficulty that Oudinot prevented a general pro- scription. The French garrison remained in Rome until 1870, with the exception of a short time in 1867. Thus in Italy the revolution came and went. The absolute sovereigns were once more in power. Three lessons had been learned. learned The Sardinian king could be trusted. Charles Albert had thrown himself into the war for Italy against tre- mendous odds. He failed, and yielded his throne, and shortly his life, as a sacrifice for the good cause. And Victor Emmanuel firmly repelled the suggestions of Austria to revoke the constitution his father had granted. He was true to his honor; and this Sardinian constitu- tion remained the sole tangible result of 1848. A second lesson to Italy was the utter untrustworthi- ness of all the other rulers. All had granted constitu- tions, and had solemnly sworn to observe them; all had broken their oaths ; all alike were faithless and worthless. A third lesson was that Italy could never become a united nation while the Austrians remained in the penin- sula. These lessons were taken deeply to heart; and when next Italy took arms it was in the execution of an intel- ligent policy which led to complete success. The impulse to the revolutionary movement, which France shook every throne in central Europe in 1848, came from the February upheaval in Paris. For a second time France became a republic. In Germany and Austria and 130 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Italy the same forces were at work. Popular government and national independence were the aim of the people. Everywhere the first attack was successful. Govern- ments were bewildered, and yielded. But as the months passed the energy of revolution was dissipated. The autocrats gradually regained their power. Their disci- plined armies were loyal, and were too strong for the tumultuous forces of insurrection. The reaction swept away nearly all the constitutions, nearly all popular rights. Europe went back, apparently, to the ideas of Metternich. And it seemed only natural that France, which was the first to rise against royalty, should be the last to yield to the same forces which had struck down the rest of the peoples. The constitution of 1848 provided for an executive chosen by universal suffrage for four years, ineligible for the next term; for a National Assembly of one house; for a responsible ministry; and for amendment of the constitution by the vote of three fourths of the Assem- president? oleon bly. And we have seen Louis Napoleon Bonaparte elected to the presidency by an overwhelming vote. This election was regarded with complacency by many of the most liberal leaders. Louis Napoleon seemed to have so insignificant a personality that it was likely he might be managed with ease. But it turned out that he was no tool in the hands of anybody. In the depths of his sluggish mind he was quietly aiming to govern France without restriction, and the course of events powerfully aided his plots. The insurrection of the socialists in June, 1848, had specter." inspired in France a profound fear of anarchistic con- spiracies. Life and property seemed in danger, unless the law should keep a firm hand on the elements of disorder; and Louis Napoleon stood for order and the Reaction in Italy and France. 131 The symbol of socialism was the red flag. The May Laws. Revision of the Constitution. Church. As time passed, the fear of the ' ' red revolu- tion ' ' increased, and the middle classes began to feel that the lowest of the proletariat should be disfranchised. This was effected, it was supposed, by the laws of May 31, 1 85 1, by which the residence required as a qualifica- tion for suffrage was raised from six months to three years. As it turned out, those who lost their votes were not the few thousands of floating workmen at whom the law was aimed, but practically all manual laborers in a body — some 3,000,000 out of a voting population of 10,000,000. It was the general wish, as well as the desire of Louis Napoleon, that he should be reelected at the end of his term. There was no other man sufficiently strong with the nation at large to command public confidence. But when the Assembly was asked to revise the constitution so as to eliminate the disqualifying clause, the necessary three fourths vote could not be secured. Thus the president had two grounds for his indict- ment of the National Assembly before the French nation. It had destroyed universal suffrage; it had refused the nation the opportunity to secure order in accordance with the public feeling. The president now proceeded to plot for a coitp d' etat. „ r * *■ ■* Coup d etat of He secured the army by flattery and cajolery. Generals Louis J J J . Napoleon, whom he could not trust were removed, and their places Dec. 2, 1851. taken by those known to be pliable. A group of obscure but determined and unprincipled men were gathered — St. Arnaud, a soldier without scruples; Maupas, a ser- vile administrator of police; Morny, an illegitimate son of Queen Hortense, and so a half brother of Louis Napoleon. These were given important trusts — St. Arnaud the war office, Maupas the prefecture of police. The blow was fixed for the "Day of Austerlitz," De- 132 Europe in the Nineteenth Century, Proclamations. The massacre. The Second Empire. cember 2, 1851. When the Assembly met in Novem- ber, the president in his message asserted the existence of a vast socialist conspiracy. Then it was demanded that the May Laws be repealed. This the Assembly refused to do, by a narrow majority. And in the early morning of December 2, the emissaries of Maupas arrested all the leading generals, deputies, and poli- ticians in Paris ; and proclamations were issued de- claring the dissolution of the Assembly and the restora- tion of universal suffrage, and calling for the judgment of the nation on the proposition for a new constitution. This was copied from the consular constitution of 1799, and included the presidency for ten years, a legislature of two houses, with executive initiative of legislation, and in general a strong government. The people were dazed by the suddenness of the blow. But resistance was made in the streets of Paris, only to be put down promptly by military force. And on December 4, when the fighting was actually ended, the troops, whether by accident or design, suddenly opened fire on the crowds of spectators in the boule- vards. Thousands of innocent people, men, women, and children, were shot down in cold blood ; and after- wards thousands more were arrested and thrown into prison or transported. The light-hearted Parisians had been inclined to laugh at Louis Napoleon ; but after December 4, 1851,. he was no longer a subject for jest. The election of December 20 returned an overwhelm- ing majority for the president's plan — about 7,400,000 affirmative votes out of 8,000,000. The next step was easy. The empire was the logical outcome of the coup d'etat, and in November, 1852, it was finally decreed by the Senate, and ratified by a Reaction in Italy and France. 133 nearly unanimous vote of the electorate ; and on the , In J ; Sl 4 Napo- J leon liad abcli- 2d of December, 1852, Louis Napoleon was proclaimed ***** in fa „ vol i u ' r l of his son. And Emperor of the French, as Napoleon III. The second the Bonapart- r i ists thus count- republic in France was ended. ed the succes- 1 sion as includ- ing the son of Permanent Results 0/1848. Maria Louisa. The revolution of 1848 was thus ended. In its great Permanent aims it seemed to have failed utterly. The Orleans resultsof l8 < 8 - monarchy had been displaced in France only to substi- tute the empire — which was in every way more danger- ous to popular liberty. German unity was not attained. Italian unity was yet a dream. Hungarian autonomy was not won. In nearly every land the free constitu- tions had been overthrown. There were, however, some solid results. Prussia and Piedmont retained their constitutions, constitutions. and thus each put itself in the forefront of the liberal aspirations of its nation. In Germany it became clear that unity could not be Germany, attained by the voluntary surrender of sovereignty on the part of the princes, or by the learned schemes of pedants. Neither was it possible while Austria re- mained a German power. In Italy it was equally plain that Austria must be Italv driven out, and that Piedmont was the only center of sound political life. Through central Europe in general one decided change remained. The last feudal burdens had been removed from the peasants. In some cases the dues The peasants, had been abolished outright ; in others they had been commuted. In either case the nobility were largely impoverished in consequence. The peasants in 1848 joined the revolt with little care for national unity or for constitutional government. 134 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. They merely wanted to get rid of the burdens on their land. An old picture represents the peasant staggering Baring-Gould, under the weight of a half dozen men who are clinging to his back. Of these the emperor exclaims, ' ' I live on taxes," the soldier, " I pay for nothing," the pastor, ' ' I am supported by tithes, ' ' the beggar, ' ' I live on what is given me," the noble, "I pay no taxes," the Jew, "I bleed them all." The peasant cries, "Dear God, help me ! I have to maintain all these."* As soon as the peasants won what they wanted, their zeal for the revolution cooled. They had no sympathy with socialism, and were suspicious that republicanism tended that way. So they cared little for the collapse of the insurrection. In the end 1848 was not a failure. It pointed the way to the reconstruction of Europe which the following generation was to witness. SUMMARY. The Italian revolution of 1848 centered in Lombardy. It was soon crushed by Austria. In France, socialistic outbreaks strengthened Louis Napo- leon's hold on the people. When the Assembly refused to amend the constitution so that he could be reelected, he executed a coup d'etat. A year later he became emperor. The revolutions of 1848 proved that Austria was prevent- ing botli Italian and German unity. The net results of the movements were the constitutions of Prussia and Piedmont and the removal of feudal burdens from the peasants. * Baring-Gould, p. 28, tells of some feudal dues which were vexatious rather than burdensome. A farm was charged with from six to ten payments — the hearth shilling, the smoke tax, the Shrove Tuesday eggs, the Walpurgis tax, the Michaelmas tax, a pfennig for a goose, etc. The total of all was about one dollar. PART III.— THE THIRD REVOLUTION-RECON- STRUCTION OF CENTRAL EUROPE. PRELIMINARY. The revolution of 1 848 was a general outburst of the character of people against privilege and despotism. It lacked defi- Revofution. nite leadership and adequate organization. The old order had both. And so the revolution failed. Further, in the confusion of insurrection, anarchistic elements at- tained a dangerous prominence. This frightened and repelled many whose sympathies were with popular rights. The third revolutionary movement took an entirely character of different shape. It proceeded in the main under the Re^Jiution forms of organized government. It had definite political purposes, and it attained them by the intelligent use of sufficient means. And it accomplished four great results. At last Germany became a united nation. This was „ J German unity. accomplished under the leadership of Prussia, and in the way which experience had shown to be the only one — the strong hand. Austria was driven out of Germany altogether. And the small states were drawn together by the force of Prussian military compulsion. The isolated and discordant states of the Germanic Confedera- tion were welded into a powerful federal empire. Italy became a united nation. And this, as in Ger- ItaIian unity many, was under the lead of the strongest. Piedmont, 135 136 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Austrian reform. France a Republic. unlike Prussia, could not accomplish the task single- handed. But by shrewd diplomacy, foreign bayonets, now French, now Prussian, were brought to the aid of Victor Emmanuel. Again the essential condition was the expulsion of Austria. And when that incubus was removed, the Italians easily threw off the yoke of their Bourbon and Hapsburg oppressors, and Italy was free. Both Germany and Italy became constitutional mon- archies. The third great change was the political regeneration of Austria. Defeated in two great wars, driven from Germany and from Italy, the empire of the Caesars was saved from dissolution only by the concession of free institutions. Hungary at last gained virtually all for which Kossuth had struggled in 1848. And in every crown land constitutional government replaced the gloomy despotism of Metternich. Finally, France, the mother of revolutions, for the third time became a republic. The empire of Napoleon collapsed ignominiously in battle with Germany. The monarchists, in the strife between Legitimist and Orlean- ist, failed utterly to agree. The republic was established by default, survived by the discord of its adversaries, and has become settled in the prudent second thought of the majority of the nation. Thus central Europe has become transformed. And by the series of steps which brought it to pass, there has been accomplished nearly all for which patriots toiled and suffered in 1848. CHAPTER XII. THE SECOND EMPIRE IN FRANCE. Fear of the red specter, the support of the Roman The Em . Catholic Church, and ruthless military violence, com- bined to raise Louis Napoleon to the imperial throne. It was evidently sound policy for him to continue to pose as the champion of order and religion. At the same time the French people must be dazzled by a brilliant policy in diplomacy and war. It would not do if there should be time to think. The first empire was at all points the model. Only, as Victor Hugo bitterly phrased it, in place of Napoleon the Great there was now Napoleon the Little. But people were slow to learn this last fact. For of the two decades in which Louis Napoleon was head success. of the French State, the .first was one of unmixed success. The empire moved smoothly enough. The powerful administrative machine of French centralized govern- ment was in the hands of the imperialists. The army, adroitly officered, and dazzled by the recollection of the military renown of the first Napoleon, was loyal to the new empire. The great commercial and landed interests saw order maintained. And, above all, the other parties were thoroughly discredited. The schism between the two royalist factions seemed hopeless. In 1851 a futile attempt at union had been made. The Count de Cham- bord, grandson of Charles X., and heir of the elder Bourbon line, was childless. It was suggested that he 137 138 Etiropc in the Nineteenth Century. Marriage of the Emperor. recognize as his heir the grandson of Louis Philippe, the Orleanists in turn waiving their claim during the lifetime of the count. But the latter refused to permit an appeal to popular vote. He was king by the grace of God, not by the will of the people. But just then divine right was quite helpless. And so the negotiation fell through. One of the first concerns of the new monarch was a suitable marriage. In his exiled estate poverty had often pinched him. He had not always been scrupulous about little matters of ordinary morals. He was not childless, although he had never derogated from the dignity of his princely blood by con- tracting a mesalliance. But now he was lifted above the sordid cares of an adventurer, and it was important that his family should be established. He was on the throne of a great nation, and to throned families he first looked for a fitting consort. But his advances were received coldly. To be sure his government was recognized. Europe was pleased to see order restored to France. Still, the new Napoleon was regarded by the old houses as an upstart, and they did not care for a family alliance with him. So many generations had passed since the time of the robbers and adventurers who were the founders of their own ancient royal lines that they felt free to look down Napoleon III. Born, 1808; President of France, 1848; Em- peror, 1852 ; dethroned, 1870 ; died, 1873. The Second Empire in France. 139 on a modern robber and adventurer who proposed to found a new reigning family. Thus rejected by his good cousins, the other mon- archs, the emperor easily turned to another policy. He was the head of a democratic empire. He would make a democratic marriage by taking a consort who had no royal blood in her veins. In Eugenie de Montijo, a Spanish lady of rare beauty whose father had been an officer under the great Napoleon, a suitable match Costumes, 1855. was found. The marriage was solemnized in January, 1853. And three years later was born an heir of the empire, Prince Napoleon Eugene. The court of Napoleon III. was planned on a scale of great splendor. At each step of his progress toward the imperial throne he had copied as closely as possible the course of his uncle. And now he did not foreet that March 16, 1856. 140 Europe in the Nineteenth Century, The parvenu court. The Crimean War. 1853- March 27, 1854. Napoleon I. had tried to dazzle and please the gay Parisians by a magnificent display. The Empress Eugenie was peculiarly adapted to such a role. Her winning grace of manner and great personal beauty soon made her the center of a gay throng which gathered about the new sovereigns. Introductions were not diffi- cult. The old aristocracy of Europe were somewhat shy of this parvenu dynasty, but their place was taken by people in ample numbers from all lands, some of whom perhaps were not of unquestioned standing at home. Americans were always received with especial cordiality. And they found the florid life of Paris under the second empire so much to their liking that it came to be a common saying, ' ' Good Americans when they die go to Paris." In one respect the supremacy of the French empress was unquestioned. She ruled fashion for the world. Napoleon had found it convenient in 1851 to. reassure Europe as to the supposed military tendencies of a Bonaparte. "The empire, " said he, " is peace. " But while he had no plans of universal conquest, he still felt the necessity of diverting the attention of the French people from his despotic rule by a successful foreign policy. The pacific methods of Louis Philippe, Napo- leon felt, had been too prosaic to win such a nation as the French. Accordingly when a quarrel between Russia and Turkey drew England into an attitude hos- tile to the tsar, Napoleon eagerly took the side of Great Britain. The dispute originally turned on very trivial matters, but one thing led to another till Russia and Turkey came to blows, and in the next year France and England declared war on Russia, and the league was joined by Sardinia. It was the object of the allies to destroy the Russian naval station at Sevastopol, and thus The Second Empire in France. 141 to make it impossible for a Russian fleet to threaten Constantinople. The siege was begun in the autumn of iSs4, but it was not until the following - autumn that the siege of ^^ & Sevastopol. last defenses were carried. The war was very destruc- tive to both sides ; but the French army won the renown which Napoleon needed, and he was now ready to make peace. It was a triumph of his diplomacy that the conference in which the great powers joined was held at Paris, so that the new emperor was the central Peace of Paris, . l8 5 6 - figure. Russia agreed that Sevastopol should be dis- mantled, and that the Black Sea should be neutralized to the war ships of all nations. Napoleon's next measure of foreign policy was aimed at Austria, and had for its object the unity of north The war with J _ J Austria, 1859. Italy. The shrewd policy of Piedmont under Cavour had ranged that little nation on the side of France and England in the war with Russia. It was the object of the Italian minister to secure French aid in expelling Austria from the peninsula. Napoleon finally agreed to give that aid, under certain secret conditions. The war must be begun by Austria. At its close Savoy and Nice must be ceded to France. The daughter of Victor Emmanuel must be given in marriage to the emperor's cousin, Prince Napoleon. In return, Lom- bardy and Venetia were to go to Sardinia. Tuscany and the papal states were to form a central Italian kingdom, and all Italy should be a federation with the pope at its head. The plan was substantially carried out. Piedmont 1859. skilfully provoked Austria to begin hostilities. A French army, led by the emperor in person, joined the Sardinians and invaded Lombardy. The Austrians were defeated in the great battles of Magenta and Solferino, and driven into Venetia. But here Napoleon 142 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. paused, although he had promised that Italy should be free to the shores of the Adriatic. The French em- peror justly distrusted further military success. He feared that even if Austria should still be defeated, Prussia would come to the rescue. And the people of central Italy had risen against their rulers, and upset Napoleon's plans by insisting on annexation to Sardinia. An armistice was made, to the overwhelming disap- pointment of Italy, and this was shortly followed by a definitive peace. Lombardy was ceded to Sardinia. Peace of It was agreed that the banished princes should be Zurich, 1859. & . r restored to their thrones, and that the confederacy under the pope should be formed. These two stipu- lations could not be carried out. Napoleon was now at the height of his power. The Prestige of military prestige of France in i8sq was somewhat like Napoleon III. . . that of Prussia since 1870. And the French emperor was credited with a genius which men would have been slow to give him before 184S. A series of commercial treaties which Napoleon nego- tiated put France practically in line with England in the Free trade. policy of free trade. And the empire was generally prosperous. The annexation of Savoy and Nice was not urged in Annexation of the summer of 1859, as Venetia remained in Austrian Nice, i860. hands. But in the following winter Napoleon consented to the annexation of the revolted states in central Italy to Piedmont, and in return demanded Savoy and Nice. They were conceded as the price of Italian unit}'. In fact their population was more French than Italian. Here ends the story of the successes of Napoleon III. Failures. After i860 there followed a decade of failures, which culminated in the overthrow of the empire. The American Civil War broke out in 1861, and The Second Empire in France. 143 Napoleon's sympathies were with the Southern States. He was inclined to recognize the independence of the Confederacy, but could not persuade the English gov- ernment to join him, and did not care to do it alone. However, the opportunity seemed too good to lose for another purpose. He had a scheme for a union of all the Latin races under the lead of France. As a pre- liminary step he sent an army into Mexico, and, having, Mexico, as he supposed, conquered that country, he induced the Archduke Maximilian of Austria to accept its throne as emperor. But the Mexicans refused to submit, and carried on a stubborn war for independence. After the United States crushed the Rebellion, Napoleon was notified that it would be advisable to withdraw his forces from Mexico. He was not prepared to under- take war against the American republic, and took his troops away accordingly. The Mexicans captured Maximilian and shot him. The whole Mexican episode was a humiliation to France. In 1863 Poland was in revolt against the tsar, and Napoleon wished England to join him in behalf of Polish independence, but the ministry refused. The next year Prussia and Austria attacked little Denmark, and now England desired the help of France to protect Poland, the integrity of Danish territory. But Napoleon, Denmark, nettled by his rebuffs from England, in turn declined. And so France had no hand in events which turned out to be so significant. Meanwhile Germany was rapidly moving toward German union, union. In 1866, Prussia and Austria fell into war over the spoil they had wrested from Denmark. Napoleon intrigued with both sides, hoping anxiously that in the turmoil he might add to French territory towards the Rhine. But events moved too rapidly for him. In six 144 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. weeks Austria was shattered. The North German Confederacy rose on the ruins of the old Bund. And France again lost prestige and gained nothing. Meanwhile the domestic situation was threatening. The Napoleonic administration was permeated with what we know as the "spoils system," and it affected France with the dry rot in all public life. And there was growing discontent with the unfortunate foreign tion of "I70! 11 * policy and the continued despotism. In 1870 the emperor yielded to the evident public wish, and granted a new constitution. The lower house was to share in the power to amend the constitution, and there was to be a ministry responsible to Parliament. The empire, as established in this new form, was endorsed by 7,000,000 votes to 1,500,000. This was in May, 1870. Two months afterwards France declared war against Fail of the em- Prussia. And in two months more Napoleon was a prisoner, and a republic was established in Paris. SUMMARY. The first decade of Louis Napoleon's rule was a success. Order was maintained, the people prospered, and the political opponents of the empire could not agree. In the Crimean War, the emperor allied himself with Eng- land, and was the central figure at the making of peace. In the Italian war with Austria, French arms were successful, and the territory of France was increased. The second decade of Louis Napoleon's rule was a failure. The Mexican episode ended in a humiliating retreat. An attempted intervention in behalf of Poland alienated Russia. The Austro-Prussian War ended before France could inter- vene and everywhere the empire lost prestige. pire CHAPTER XIII. UNITED GERMANY. The failure of the attempts at a union of the German peoples in 1848 and the year or two following made some things rather plain. The princes would never unite unless under stress of some overmastering power. Each was too jealous of his own independent authority, caring more for that than for the German nation. Neither Prussia nor Austria would yield a particle of its sovereignty to the other. Either monarch would have been willing to become German emperor. Neither would submit to become a subject of the other. Austria would not permit its German provinces to form part of a German union unless the Austrian Empire as a whole should be admitted. But the addition of 30,000,000 non-Germanic people would itself be de- structive of real national unity, and would complicate the future of the new empire with interests to which the Germans were alien. Union could be effected without the assent of the princes and without the non-German parts of Austria only in case of a general insurrection which should de- throne all the rulers. But this had failed in 1848. Further, many German nationalists were not republi- cans. And insurrection had been discredited in any event by a suspicion of socialistic influences. Germans, as a whole, wanted nationality, but not anarchy. The logic of all this was that German unity could be 146 United Germany. 147 brought to pass only under the lead of Prussia, and that implied either the dissolution of the Austrian Empire or its expulsion from Germany. And the story of the unification of the German nation is only the narrative of the orderly unfolding of political events under the im- pulse of these logical necessities. Kinff Frederick William IV. , who had so theatrically . J Prussia. put himself at the head of the German nation in 1848, and so scornfully rejected the imperial crown in 1849, went mad in 1857. His brother William became regent, and in 1861, on the death of Frederick William, suc- ceeded to the crown. The new king saw clearly the means which Prussia must use to work out her destiny, and so he sought to make material improvements in the army. But the lower house of Parliament, seeing nothing beyond taxes, refused to impose the additional burden. Then the king dismissed his ministry, and B «smarck. summoned as the head of a new cabinet, Otto von Bis- ° ct - s > l862 - marck-Schonhausen. Bismarck, as a member of the German Confederate Diet, had there learned well the lesson that the only hope of Germany lay in an anti-Austrian policy. As ambassador to Russia and to France, he was familiar with the policy and resources of those powers. In German domestic politics he was an extreme conserva- tive, having a horror of socialism and republicanism, and a hearty contempt for constitutional government. His feeling was that the people ought to submit thank- fully to those who are good enough to rule them. But German unity under Prussian leadership was his primary aspiration. With such ideas Bismarck solved the king's difficul- ties easily. He merely disregarded the Parliament, and raised the money arbitrarily. It was at this time that Bismarck. Prince Otto von Bismarck-Schonhausen, born 1815. Prussian Ambassador to Russia, 1853, and to France, 1862. Prime Minister of Prussia, 1862. Chancellor of the German Empire, 1871. Resigned, 1890. United Germany. 149 he announced the significant doctrine that German re- generation could come only by a policy of ' ' blood and "Blood and iron." And the reformed Prussian army was to be the instrument. This was in 1862. Two years later the opportunity Schleswig . came for the new instrument to be used. King Fred- Hoistein. erick VII. of Denmark was the last of the direct male line who was at the same time king of Denmark and duke of Schleswig and Hoistein. The union of the duchies with the Danish crown was simply personal, and as the Salic law applied to their succession, which was not the case in Denmark, it was clear that on the death of Frederick this union would be dissolved. The duchies were largely German and were eager to be detached from Denmark. But the Danes naturally de- sired to preserve the integrity of their dominions, and had been able in 1848 to repel the German attack and to put down insurrection. And the five great . , • 1 • 1 • c Treaty of powers had united in 1852 to guarantee the union 01 London, 1852. Schleswig and Hoistein with Denmark under Prince Christian of Gliicksburg as successor to Frederick. But constant bickering followed. The Duke of Augusten- burg, who had renounced his claims to the ducal succes- sion in consideration of a money payment, had not secured the assent of his family to the arrangement, and the German Diet was not a party to the treaty of London. This left open a loophole for dissension. And when Frederick VII. died, in November, 1863, one of the first acts of the new king, Christian VIII., was to promulgate a new constitution which closely incorporated Schleswig with the Danish monarchy. This led to an explosion of German national sentiment, and in Decem- ber the troops of Saxony and Hanover, obeying the mandate of the German Diet, took possession of Hoistein. 150 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. But Bismarck had profound plans of his own. He intended that Prussian influence should be dominant in the duchies, and that the dispute should be a beginning of a series of moves which should end in forcing Austria out of Germany. But now he needed the aid of that power, and so by skilful diplomacy he secured an agree- ment with the Austrian emperor for joint action. The two powers then demanded of Christian VIII. the abro- gation of the obnoxious constitution, and on his refusal February, 1S64. the allied armies invaded Schleswig. The Danes made a gallant resistance, but were overpowered by their strong adversaries. The other signatory powers to the treaty of London were willing to negotiate in aid of Denmark, but not to fight. And so, finally, the Danish king was compelled to sign a treaty ceding unreservedly all his rights in Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg to Treatv of Vien- . . ._..., ° , na, Oct. 30, 1864. the sovereigns of Austria and Prussia jointly. The Saxons and Hanoverians were then compelled to leave Holstein, and the two duchies were in the hands of the conquerors. Bismarck's first move had been made. The next move required still more wily diplomacy than the first. The duchies must be attached as directly as possible to Prussia, and Austria must be forced out of German affairs altogether. And this implied war. So Bismarck set to work to secure allies. Napoleon was persuaded to promise neutrality — doubtless with an un- derstanding that France should be recompensed in Bel- Aiiiance with g mm or on tne Rhine. Italy finally agreed to join in an Italy, April, attack on Austria, in return for Venetia. And eood 1864. & King William was finally convinced that war was inevitable. The two powers failed to agree in respect to the disposal of the two duchies, and Bismarck then opened the question of a revision of the Germanic Fed- eration. Hostilities could not long be averted, and United Germany. 151 Battle of Konig- gratz, July 3. were precipitated by the Prussian seizure of Holstein. The minor German states then armed, at the order of war? the Diet, against Prussia. And war began. It did not last long. Hanover and Hesse-Cassel June) lS66 . were conquered at the first assault, and the main army of Prussia invaded Bohemia. The Austrians were de- feated from the outset, and on the fatal field of Konig- gnitz their main army was shattered to frag- ments. The war was ended in ten days after the Prussians had crossed the bor- der. The Italians, mean- while, had attacked Austria f r o m the south, but with very different success from that which had at- tended their allies. At Custozza the Italian army was de- feated, and at Lissa the fleet met a similar fate. It might have gone hard with them but for the Prussian successes. Still, the Italians had done their part by keeping a large Austrian force in Italy. The terms of peace were an ample justification of Peace of Prague, Bismarck's policy. Hanover, Hesse-Cassel, and Nas- sau, with Frankfort and Schleswig-Holstein, were an- 152 Europe in the Nineteenth Century End of the Ger- manic Confed- eration. Aug. 24, 1866. The North Ger- man Federa- tion. nexed to Prussia. Thus that kingdom gained nearly 30,000 square miles and nearly 5,000,000 subjects, with the still more important advantage of continuous ter- ritory. Venetia went to Italy. The states north of the Main were free to form a confederation under the lead of Prussia. And Austria retired from German affairs altogether, besides paying a war indemnity of $15,000,000. The day after the Peace of Prague was signed, the Germanic Confederation was formally dissolved. Formed by the reactionary powers at Vienna in 18 14, it had been intended to pre- vent a real German union. It was now gladly put away by all true German patriots, and a bet- ter and closer union took its place. The new North German Federation was a federal union with constitutional gov- ernment. The lower house of the leo-islature was William I., German Emperor. 111 Born, 1797. King of Prussia, 1861. Emperor of elected by Univer- Germany, 1871. Died, 1888. 1 rr t-i sal suffrage. I he upper house, the federal council, consisted of representa- tives from the states in proportion to population. Prussia had seventeen out of forty-three. The king of Prussia United Germany. 153 was president of the Federation, with the general control of foreign affairs, sharing with the legislature the power of declaring war and making peace. Here, then, was a real German national government, with a democratic legislature and a strong executive. It only remained to add the rest of the German states in order to make German unity no longer a dream, but a fact. The days of confusion were past. The new structure had taken definite form. Shortly after the Peace of Prague, the South German J . South Ger- states (Bavaria, Baden, and Wurtemberg) made secret many, treaties of alliance with the North German Confedera- tion, and in 1867 they were admitted to the Zollverein. This course was the natural result of the policy of Napo- leon, which had been directed to the acquisition of German territory for France. The national spirit was awakened in all Germany by this French scheme of annexation. The old Napoleonic policy of playing Prussia against Austria and maintaining a French pro- tectorate over a group of small German states was now obsolete. Meanwhile in Prussia, Bismarck, by his brilliant suc- 1 j i.- • t, r • 1 Strength of cess, had won over his enemies. By an act of indem- Bismarck, nity the legislature absolved him for his unconstitutional course with regard to taxes. And there now arose a new political party, the National Liberals, who still favored constitutional government, but adopted the national German policy of Bismarck. The various schemes of Napoleon for the aggrandize- ment of France proved futile. From a weak neighbor, poieon's dipio- Italy, he had succeeded in extorting territory. But the French frontier was not restored to the Rhine; Belgium was not annexed. The German upheaval had given France no gain, and France had no friends. Russia macy. 154 Eiirope in the Nineteenth Century. remembered 1854 an d 1863. Denmark had not for- gotten 1864. Italy was bitter at the thought of Savoy and Nice. England distrusted her late ally. Austria owed to France the loss of her Italian provinces. More- over, a new and strong nation had arisen on the south of the Alps, and now a giant suddenly appeared across the Rhine. Thus France relatively sank in the scale. Stung by his failures, Napoleon was ready for any opportunity to attack the new Germany. The Napo- leon dynasty must regain prestige. The opportunity came. In 1868 Spain had dismissed its Bourbon queen regnant, and since then had been The war whh trying to form a settled government. Finally it was suggested that the crown be offered to Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, a very distant relative of the Prussian royal house. The news of his acceptance of the candidature aroused a storm of indignation in Paris. The king of Prussia was called on by the French government to order Leopold to withdraw. This course was declined ; but nevertheless in a few days the prince withdrew. It would seem that this should have ended the matter. But the French government, carried away by popular clamor, now insisted that King William should give a guarantee against a renewal of the candidacy. This was promptly refused, and France July 14, 1870. immediately declared war. Napoleon expected to form an alliance with Austria and Italy. As a preliminary, his troops must first penetrate south Germany and insure the neutrality of those states. But here came the collapse. The French military administration was rotten and inefficient. The troops could not be mobilized in time, and so nothing was done by way of invasion. Meanwhile the Prussian armies were gathered with tremendous energy, and by United Germany. 155 Sedan, Sept. z, 1870. August the tables were turned. The magnificent military machine which had been manufactured by Bismarck and Moltke, and which had been tried in two wars, was now hurled against France. The impact was irresistible. In battle after battle the French armies were broken and driven back. Outgeneraled, out- fought, cut to pieces, the French armies were crushed and scattered. Bazaine was shut up in Metz. Napo- leon himself, with MacMahon's army, was defeated and surrounded at Se- dan, near the Bel- gian frontier, and on the 2d of Septem- ber was compelled to surrender. When news of Sedan reached Paris, the imperial government was at once overturned, and replaced by a "Government of National Defense." The most desperate and heroic exertions were made to roll back the tide of in- vasion, but the odds were too heavy. Before the end of October Bazaine surrendered Metz with the last great army of France, and three months later Paris yielded to October 27, 1870. its besiegers. A National Assembly was elected in February, and peace was made with heavy loss. Alsace Moltke. Count Helmuth Kail Bernard von Moltke, born, 1800. Subaltern in Danish army. Entered Prussian army. Chief of staff in war of 1866 and in war of 1870. Chief Marshal of the German Empire, 1871. Died, 1891. 156 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Peace of Frank- an d Lorraine were annexed to Germany, and a war 1871'. indemnity of five milliards of francs ($1,000,000,000) was paid by the conquered nation. In the meantime, German unity had been made com- Tne German plete. The enthusiasm of national spirit brought all Germany, south as well as north, shoulder to shoulder to resist invasion. And in the joy of victory the jealousies which had sufficed to keep Germany asunder were broken down. Treaties were made successively with the south German states by which the north German union was enlarged to include all. And then the imperial dignity was tendered to the Prussian king. The German federal empire was established, and on the 1 8th of January, 1871, in the stately hall of mirrors of the old palace of Versailles, King William was formally proclaimed German Emperor. The policy of "blood and iron" was justified by its fruits. Austria had been expelled from Germany ; Prussia had been extended and had overmastering power ; and now the very attack which had been in- tended to undo the work of 1866 had, in fact, made that work complete. It was the fire of French battle and the blood of French defeat which cemented the German imperial federation in solid union. SUMMARY. Germany could be united only by the division or the ex- pulsion of Austria. This required force, "blood and iron." The joint possession of Schleswig-Holstein by Prussia and Austria offered an opportunity for a breach of which Bis- marck took advantage and Austria was expelled from Ger- many. France had lost prestige. In the attempt to regain it, Louis Napoleon and his dynasty were overthrown, France was crushed, and her misfortunes afforded the opportunity for the establishment of the German Empire. March, 1849. CHAPTER XIV. UNITED ITALY. Up to the end of the revolution of 1848 the story of attempts at Italian unity records almost uniform failure. These attempts had been incoherent and spasmodic. Their form in the main had been conspiracy and insur- rection. And war against Austria was a hopeless attack on a stronger power. But with the accession of Victor Emmanuel on the fatal field of Novara begins a new phase of the history. This time it shows how the Italians set out to get liberty and nationality, and succeeded. And the new policy was statesmanship. It had been proved that the Italians could easily enough dethrone their despots at home, but alone they were no match for the armies of Austria. And so these same Austria Austrians were an incubus alike on Germany and on Italy. Neither nation could be regenerated until Austria was expelled. And to expel Austria, Italy must have allies. But just as Prussia was the vital center of German nationality, so Sardinia was the only free and strong embodiment of Italian aspiration. The problem, then, which faced Sardinian statesmen was twofold: First, to make it plain to all Italian Liberals that Sardinia could be trusted; and in the second place, to make such combinations with foreign powers as would lead to an alliance strong enough to get rid of the Austrians. These objects were realized by the firm policy of 157 The Problem. 158 Europe in the Nineteenth Century Constitutional Government. Victor Emmanuel and his great statesman, Count Ca- vour. Cavour was the Bismarck of Italy. His soul was so absorbed in the great end to be attained that the means were almost a matter of indifference. He was a thorough opportunist, always ready to take what he could get, to be satisfied with part when the whole was unattainable. And he was keen and wily to a fault. Of very different tex- ture was Mazzini, the father of ' ' Young It- aly," and the tireless "" writer and plotter for republicanism and union. He was an Cavour. enthusiast who knew [Reproduced from Harper's Magazine, by permission. Copyright, 1S7/.] nothing and cared Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, born, 1810. f u- „ £__. ov „ or J Educated for the armv. Member of Sar- notning lor exped- dinian Legislature. 1852-61, Prime Minis- • Anrl rarihalHi ter A Moderate Liberal and opportunist, iciicy. ruiu Vjdnuaiui, Died, June 6, 1861. the brilliant revolution- ary leader, was a soldier, simple and honest. It has been said that Mazzini was the prophet of the revolution, Garibaldi its knight-errant, and Cavour its statesman. The efforts of the Sardinian movement for unity fall into two periods: the period of preparation, from 1849 to 1859; the period of realization, from 1859 to 1870. When Victor Emmanuel received the crown, one of his first declarations was that he must maintain the insti- tutions his father had granted. The Austrians tried to tempt him to abrogate the constitution, but he was true to his people; and even when sorely tried afterwards by United Italy 159 the workings of popular government, he still patiently persisted as a constitutional king. The Italians learned in time that there was one ruler in the peninsula who could keep his word, and whose instincts were not des- potic and reactionary. The Roman Catholic Church has a peculiar position in Italy. As Rome is the seat of the papacy, the influ- ence of the clergy has been very strong in political institutions. And to relax this grasp of the Church on the State has evidently been a prime essential in the establishment of modern political ideas. The Sardin- ian government did not shrink from the task. The Siccardi laws of 1850 abol- ished ecclesiastical jurisdictions and privileges, and in 1854 a beginning was made of sup- pressing the monas- teries. When the western powers became em- broiled with Russia, Cavour succeeded in carrying Sardinia into the struggle as an ally of France and England. The little Italian state would have found it rather difficult to show that it had any immediate interest in the Eastern Question. But two objects were gained. Mazzini. [Reproduced from Harper's Magazine, by per- mission. Copyright, 1876.] Guiseppe Mazzini, born, 1808. Joined Carbonari, 1830. Organized " Young Italy," 1831. Lived in England from 1842. Rome, 1849. Author, conspirator. Died, 1872. Church and State. The Crimean War. i6o Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Conference at Paris, 1856. The Sardinian troops acquired valuable experience; and Sardinia won the good will of the two great powers. When the war was ended, a general European confer- ence was held at Paris in 1856, and there for the first time the Italian question was presented by Italian states- men. As the ally of France and England, Sardinia had to receive courteous treatment. Cavour did not then succeed in obtaining any definite action. But he brought the claims of his country clearly and publicly before Europe. The next step was to secure an alliance against Austria. England would not interfere, so Cavour set out to win Napo- leon. The emperor was inclined to aid Italy, partly from early associations, partly from the de- sire to play an important part in international politics. He made hard terms. He would help drive the Austrians from Lombardy and Venetia. But if new territory was to be gained for Sardinia, France must be compensated by the annexation of Savoy and Nice, and the parvenu dynasty must be recognized by a marriage of Prince Napoleon, the emperor's cousin, with the daughter of Victor Emmanuel. Each was a bitter sacrifice. Savoy was the ancestral land of the Sardinian royal house. And there was no prouder family in Europe. But it must be Victor Emmanuel. Born, 1820. Ascended throne of Sardinia, 1849. King of Italy, 1861. Died, 1878. United Italy. 161 done, and so the alliance of France was secured. A further condition was that the war must be defensive on the part of Sardinia. This Cavour accomplished by adroitly aggravating Austria, meanwhile ostentatiously arming, until irritated beyond endurance the imperial armies invaded Sardinian soil. Then the French war with Aus- tria, iosg. promptly moved into Italy, Napoleon leading in person. The Italians were on fire with enthusiasm. The Sar- dinian troops at Montebello and Palestro gave a good account of themselves, and at the great battles of Ma- genta and Solferino the allies defeated the Austrians and June 4 ami 24. drove them out of Lombardy. At the first shot of the war, the people of central ' r r Central Italy. Italy were ablaze. In Parma, Modena, Tuscany, and Bologna, insurrection broke out. The despots were for the last time turned adrift, and the people demanded immediate union with Sardinia. This was more than Napoleon had bargained for. He was willing to give some additional territory to Victor Emmanuel. But the idea of a strong state south of the Alps was not at all relished by French politicians. And now it seemed that the demon of revolution was fairly unchained. Moreover, the Austrians were now in- trenched within the strong fortresses of the quadrilateral, and further French victories were by no means sure. And Prussia was ready to come to the aid of Austria if matters should go much further. Under these circumstances, Napoleon stopped the ... July 11. march of his armies, and negotiated a truce with the Austrian emperor, who was also in the field. The pre- liminaries then agreed upon were afterwards ratified with- out material modification, at the formal treaty of Zurich. Peace of Zurich, J _ Nov. 10, 1859. Sardinia received Lombardy. Austria retained Venetia. The duchies in central Italy were to restore their ex- l62 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Italian Union Proceeds. The Duchies. April 2, i860. pelled governments, but no force was to be used from without to effect this end; and, if possible, a federation of all Italy was to be made under the presidency of the pope. Napoleon had promised that Italy should be free to the Adriatic. As he had not carried out his pledge, he was not able at the moment to claim any annex- ation of territory for France. Deep and bitter was the disappointment of Italy. The vision of the promised land had suddenly vanished. The Austrians were yet in the peninsula. Italian unity was still in the future, and Cavour flung down his office in disgust. But, after all, the great obstacles had been put out of the way, and the mere logic of events now rapidly con- summated the work. The duchies refused to restore their rulers, and insisted on union with Sardinia. Victor Emmanuel had been politic in dealing with their demand for annexation, merely sending commissioners to manage affairs provisionally, and putting off any final decision. And while Napoleon's negotiations with Austria at Zurich were pending, it was doubly necessary to take no decided step. The duchies armed to resist interven- tion, and quietly persisted in their determination on union. Napoleon wavered. The plan of federation under the pope proved hopeless. The scheme of a kingdom in central Italy for Prince Napoleon was equally idle. The emperor was hardly ready to march his army against his late ally in behalf of the pope. And finally Cavour, who returned to power in January, i860, induced him to consent to the annexations, sol- acing France with Savoy and Nice. An election was held, and Tuscany, Parma, Modena, the Romagna, all voted emphatically for annexation to Sardinia, and in April the new Parliament met at Turin. A similar vote in Savoy and Nice, partly from national predilection United Italy 163 and partly from French and Sardinian pressure, accepted the inevitable transfer to France. A long" step had now been taken towards national union. Venetia was still Austrian. The pope had yet Rome and the southern part of his states. Naples and Sicily were still subject to a tyrannical Spanish Bourbon. Francis II., indeed, was thoroughly true to the tradi- tions of his race — in other words, he was a malignant ■enemy of all Italian aspiration. He plot- ted for a reaction in the papal states and in the duchies, in which his armies should aid. But this notable plan did not succeed. "Man- ifest destiny ' ' was plainly impending over southern Italy, as well as northern. Cavour would have preferred delay. It would have been a great advantage to consolidate the ter- ritory already won and accustom it to the orderly work- ings of free govern- ment before at- tempting to assimi- late the ignorant masses of the south. But Italian politics was in a condition of unstable equilibrium. There were t^ ^ Sfti JSJajk,, V 1 ^HBI / / / 3r" i y Garibaldi. Guiseppe Garibaldi, born, 1807. In navy. Ex- iled, 1834. South America, 1836-48. Insur- rection of 1848. Rome, 1849. New York, 1850. Took part in war of 1859. Sicily, i860. War of 1866. Aided France in 1870. Died, 1882. Manifest Des- tiny. 164 Europe in the Nineteenth Ce?itury. plots for a Muratist revolution in Naples, which would have brought France there as well as to Rome. Delay- was dangerous, and so Cavour was induced to consent that the south should be won as the duchies had been. It would not do for Sardinia to participate openly. Expedition of Garibaldi organized an expedition on his own responsi- Garibaldi, Mav ° . . 5. i860. bility, slipped away from Genoa in the night, was not seen by the Sardinian navy, and landed in Sicily. The island was in arms at once, and by the end of July was wholly in Garibaldi's hands. Two months later Naples was overrun, and the king was shut up with his army at Gaeta. The gallant soldier of the revolution was now made dictator. And for a time the situation was critical. Garibaldi had no administrative ability at all, and the " party of action," who had no concern for expediency but were determined to march at once on Rome, were in the ascendant. It was now time for Sardinia to act. In spite of the threats of Napoleon, the troops of Victor Emmanuel entered the papal territory, re- duced it to submission, and pushed on into Naples. Garibaldi yielded to the king, and the union of Naples and Sicily with Sardinia was easily brought about. The last stronghold of King Francis fell in the spring of 1 86 1, and the last of the Bourbons passed away from Italy. The Kingdom In January, 1861, elections were held for a Parliament Feb. i8,'iS6i. of united Italy, and in the next month Victor Emmanuel, King of Italy, met this first National Legislature in the Carignano palace at Turin. The liberal constitution which Charles Albert had granted to Sardinia in 1848 was the constitution of the new kingdom. And Cavour, as prime minister, set out vigorously on the immense task of organizing orderly government in all these lands which had so long been misgoverned. But his health United Italy 16.S gave way, and in June, in the midst of his triumphs and Death of labors, he died. Victor Emmanuel patiently followed the path of a constitutional king. To organize finance, a national army and navy, and to regulate the relations of Church and State, was a herculean task. And, be- sides this, Rome and Venetia, the one garrisoned by France and the other by Austria, made obvious the in- completeness of Italian unity. But Italy had not long to wait. In 1866 Prussia needed an ally against Austria. The compact was made, and in the brief war in the summer of that year, which first showed plainly the power of the new Prussian army, Venetia was won and was added to the Italian kingdom. The Italian army and navy were not victorious, but their diversion sufficed to give the Prussians the preponder- ance of force in Bohemia. Four years later France was in the throes of her deadly struggle with Germany. Every soldier was needed at home, and so the garrison of Rome was recalled. Victor Emmanuel was ready to act. Napo- Conquest of Venetia, 1866. Occupation of Rome, Septem- ber 20, 1870. 1 66 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. The capital had been removed from Turin to Florence. The law of the papal guaran- tees is printed •in full in Probyn, p. 272. Italian unity completed. leon surrendered at Sedan on September 2. September 8, the Italian army was set in motion for Rome. The papal troops yielded, and without bloodshed the Eternal City passed into the hands of the Italian nation. A popular vote ratified the act of the army, and in Decem- ber the Italian Parliament met for the last time in Flor- ence. Besides arranging for a transfer of the seat of government to the natural capital of the peninsula, this Parliament defined the relations of the kingdom to the pope. Pius IX. refused to admit that the loss of his temporal power was lawful, and declined any accommo- dation. The acts of May, 1871, however, took him under the protection of Italy, recognized his spiritual authority, and provided for a papal revenue from the Italian treasury of 3,225,000 lire ($645,000). These acts are not yet accepted by the pope, and the papal revenue lies untouched in the Italian treasury. Thus was completed the task of Italian unity. Italy is no longer a mere geographical expression. It is a nation, bound together by common blood, common language, and common institutions. Free government is teaching the people self-control. Despotism no longer makes living a humiliation. The Italian people are in- spired with a just pride in the story of the arduous and heroic struggle for freedom and union. Cavour, Maz- zini, Garibaldi, and Victor Emmanuel, are the national heroes. They created a new nation. SUMMARY. Italy was united by the statesmanship of Cavour. A French alliance made the expulsion of Austria possible. In 1859 she lost all her Italian states except Venice. Garibaldi won Naples from the Bourbons. By an alliance with Prussia in 1866, Italy won Venice. When Napoleon fell, Victor Emmanuel occupied Rome. CHAPTER XY. REFORMED AUSTRIA. Austria, under Metternich, was in the iorefront of a contrast. European conservatism and absolutism. Now it is one of the most liberal countries on the Continent. Its constitution is more advanced than that of Germany, and nearly as free as that of Italy. France and Germany have a population practically homogeneous. The Austro- Hungarian monarchy is the home of a tangle of races, a Babel of speech, a chaos of re- ligions. Before dis- cussing the transition from the ideas of Metternich t o the modern po- litical institu- tions of Austria, it may be well to spend a little time in considering its complex social conditions. As at present organized, the dual monarchy com- prises the empire of Austria and the kingdom of Hun- gary, with a total population of about 41,000,000. The three main races are the Germans, about 10,000,- 000; the Slavs, nearly 20,000,000; and the Magyars (Hungarians), 7,000,000. Besides these there are about 167 Nuremberg 0>p J£^j fc>T C^co^,.' *-K£b«g\ Schemoitz yVv>wr , \l / o Bofia 168 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. 2,000,000 Roumanians, very many Jews, about half a million Italians, a number of Gypsies, and others. The Germans are found in all parts of the mon- archy, but are especially numerous in the west. The Slavs form a broken ring from Bohemia right around to the Adriatic. They comprise the Bohemians (Cekhs), Moravians, Poles, Ruthenians, Slovenes, Serbs, Croats, and others — all speaking Slavic dialects. The Magyars, about 7,000,000 strong, are a non- Aryan people, akin to the Tatars and the Turks. They claim to be de- scended from the Huns of Attila. They are, as was said by a Slavic orator in 1848, " an island in an ocean of Slavism." And they have strong race prejudices against both Slavs and Germans. Latin was the tongue used in their Diet until 1844, since which time a vigorous agitation has been going on to Magyarize Hungary. Transylvania is a typical province in which this eastern ethnic confusion is most conspicuous. Its people are Roumanians, Magyars, Germans, Gypsies, Jews, Ar- menians, Bulgarians, Ruthenians, Greeks. The Italians are found mostly in the Tyrol, in Trieste, and the vicinity. The Austrian portion of the dual monarchy has been known since the Thirty Years' War (1618-48) as sharing with southern Europe in devotion to the Roman Catholic Church. Still, the Austrian sovereigns have Religion. resisted the temporal authority of the pope, have in- sisted on taxing church property, have kept in their own hands the nomination of prelates, and have limited by law the publication of papal bulls within the empire. By the statutes of 1867 and 1868, religious liberty is Austr^under guaranteed, including the independence of Church and Mettemich, State, and full libertv of faith and conscience. Civil and p. 80. J political rights are independent of religion. Any church Reformed Austria. 169 will be recognized by law, and will have the manage- ment of its own affairs, if in its structure and working there is nothing illegal or immoral. Besides the Roman Catholic Church, six religious bodies are now (1898) recognized, including the Old Catholics, the Oriental Greek Church, Evangelicals, Armenians, and Jews. However, about four fifths of the popu- lation are Roman Catholics, the pro- portion in some crown lands rising to 90 and 98 per cent. Substantially the same provisions of law prevail in Hungary. In that kingdom about half the people are Ro- man Catholics, the rest being largely of Protestant or Greek churches. As now politically organized, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy is a dual federation, with a single government for common pur- poses, and separate governments for local purposes. The common government comprises the crown, the min- istry, and the delegations (the parliament). "His imperial and royal apostolic majesty," the emperor of Austria and king of Hungary, is no longer an absolute monarch, but is a modern constitutional sovereign. The dignity is hereditary in the House of Hapsburg. At Vienna, Francis Joseph is emperor. Francis Joseph. Born, August 18, 1830. Ascended Austrian throne, 1848. Crowned King of Hungary, 1867. The Constitu. tion. The Crown. 170 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. The Ministry The delega- tions. The Austrian legislature. At Buda-Pesth he is king. He exercises authority only with the cooperation and consent of the legislatures and through the ministry. In the ministry there are, for the common purposes of the dual monarchy, three departments — foreign affairs, war, and finance. The ministers are responsible to the common legislature. The "delegations" consist of sixty members from each of the two legislatures, that of Austria and that of Hungary. Each sixty contains forty from the lower house and twenty from the upper house. They are appointed for one year, and meet alternately at Vienna and at Buda-Pesth. The two delegations meet sep- arately, and exchange communications in writing. If after three such interchanges they are not agreed, the entire one hundred twenty meet in joint session and decide by a majority vote. The Austrian legislature (reichsrath) has two houses. In the upper house are certain nobles as hereditary members, a few prelates as official members, and a num- ber of life members nominated by the emperor on the ground of distinction in art or science, or from great service to the State. The lower house is formed in a very complex way. There are three hundred fifty-three members chosen, some directly and some indirectly, by citizens not less than twenty-four years old and possessed of certain small property or personal qualifications. There are four classes of constituencies. The first class comprises the peasants and small landholders in the rural districts. Each five hundred inhabitants choose an elector, and the electors choose a representative. There are one hundred thirty-one rural representatives. The second class in- cludes the towns, with 1 1 6 members. Then the cham- Reformed Austria. 171 bers of commerce in the cities and large towns have twenty-one members, and the large landholders have eighty-five members. In this last class, women in pos- session of their own property may vote. This system of class representation will doubtless soon be replaced by a uniform plan of universal suffrage. The crown in Austria administers government through a responsible ministry of eight departments. In each of the Austrian crown lands (provinces, cor- responding to the states of our Union) there is a local Diet (like our state legislature) entrusted with a large measure of authority. The Hungarian Legislature is also one of two houses. The The upper house is not very different in structure from ^vefnment. that of Austria. The lower house has four hundred fifty-three members chosen directly by male citizens twenty years of age and having a small property or personal qualification. There is in Hungary a respon- sible ministry of nine departments. Transylvania is organically united with Hungary. Croatia and Slavonia are united with Hungary for cer- tain common purposes, but retain separate local Diets with large powers. It will thus be seen that Hungary has thorough national autonomy, and that in the whole monarchy there is constitutional government based very nearly on universal suffrage. These constitutional and national ideas are precisely Reaction after what the revolutionists demanded in 1848. The over- x 4 ' throw of that revolution restored the empire to its condition under Metternich. The constitution granted to Hungary in 1848 was declared forfeited. The consti- tution promised to Austria in 1849 was never in force, and in 1852 it was formally abrogated. Absolute govern- 172 Europe in the Nineteenth Century Loss of Lombardy, 1859. Reform attempted. Magyar oppo- sition. The crown yields, 1867. JuneS, 1867. merit was restored, and a determined attempt was made to Germanize the whole empire. The only result of the revolution seemed to be that the peasants were freed from their feudal burdens. But in 1859 the Austrian army was overthrown by France and Sardinia, and Lombardy was lost. Large numbers of Magyars served in the Italian army, and the treasury was practically bankrupt. After peace was made, the government, seeing at last the absolute necessity of popular support, set out to organize reforms. A Parliament was formed for the entire empire, and provincial Diets were organized, while the old constitution was restored to Hungary. But the Magyars were not satisfied. Their Parliament was subject to that at Vienna, and thus the Hungarian autonomy was very incomplete. Accordingly, under the lead of Deak, the Magyars declined to accept the constitution, and conducted a peaceable but effective opposition by refusing to pay taxes or to take part in the Parliament. Then came the collapse of the empire at Koniggratz in 1866. The empire was perilously near dissolution, and it was only saved by complete surrender to the pop- ular demands on the part of the imperial government. Deak made a treaty which included the present dual system, and in accordance with it Francis Joseph was crowned at Buda-Pesth in 1867, as king of Hungary. A full amnesty was granted to all who had participated in any revolutionary movements. Oblivion of the past and popular freedom for the future were plainly the only hope of the empire. The demands of the Magyars were complicated by the counter-demands of the Slavs, over whom the former claimed authority. In 1868 these disputes were settled Reformed Austria. 173 by uniting Transylvania organically to Hungary, and by federating with that kingdom Croatia and Slavonia, as above explained (p. 171).* Since 1866 Austria- Hungary has been expelled from Germany. Its interests, therefore, are mainly in the east. It is vitally concerned in the disposal to be made of the lands now or formerly belonging: to the Turk- The eastern J . . interests of ish Empire. These lands are largelv inhabited by Slavs, Austria- 1 1 r a • 11 Hungary. and so the race elements 01 Austria are keenly con- cerned. Slav and Magyar, Slav and German, German and Magyar, are mutually jealous and antagonistic. The extension of territory in the east would increase the proportion of Slavs in the empire. On the other hand, it would, of course, increase the population and power of the monarchy. In 1876 there were Slavic revolts against Turkey, fol- lowed in 1877 by the war in behalf of the Slavs, waged Bosnia and by Russia against the sultan. In that war the Magyars sympathized with their kinsmen, the Turks, while the Austrian Slavs favored the Russians. At the Congress of Berlin, in 1878, a general settlement of the Balkan peninsula was effected. Several free Slavic states were formed, and the provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina were put under the direction of Austria- Hungary. They were occupied by that power in 1879. The Austrians have given honest and intelligent administration to the two provinces. Peace and law and secure commerce are assured for them, and they have prospered accordingly. Another important step in international politics was the alliance with Germany, formed in 1879, supple- The Triple mented soon after by the alliance with Italy. Austria had nothing to gain and much to fear from a general Euro- Herzegovina. Alliance. * Kossuth, living quietly in exile at Turin, declined to accept the amnesty or to recognize a Hapsburg as king of Hungary. 174 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Pan-Slavism. pean war. Its race conditions and new constitutional institutions were in a state of unstable equilibrium. Nothing seemed so essential as time and peace. Ac- cordingly, the league with the other two powers is pri- marily a league of peace. If France should be able to find allies against Germany, it would be very likely that a general convulsion would follow. But while the three central powers hold together, a French war will be un- likely. The main internal question which seems fraught with danger to the empire is centered at Prague. The Cekhs are by no means satisfied with their political status, but insist on the autonomy of the ancient kingdom of Bo- hemia, as a logical result from the precedent set in the case of Hungary. The emperor is in fact king of Bohemia, although the kingdom is merged in the Aus- trian Empire. The main difficulty in the case is the commingling of races, as Bohemia has about fifty per cent more Cekhs than Germans. The Germans have been the dominant race, and the feeling against them is bitter. On the other hand, they know that if Bo- hemia were a separate kingdom they would be quite swamped in the sea of Cekhs. The party known as the ' ' Young Cekhs ' ' has used every effort to rouse national feeling, and so violent has been the temper displayed that near the end of 1893, Prague was put under mar- tial law. Another idea which may menace the perpetuity of the empire is that of Pan-Slavism. The Slav race is politi- cally disunited. The great Russian nation is, of course, the leading portion. The Poles are divided, partly in Russia, partly in Austria, partly in Prussia. Many other Slavic peoples are in the Austro- Hungarian do- minions, and more yet are in the Balkan peninsula, Reformed Austria. 175 partly as independent nations, partly subject to Turkey. The idea of Slav union is one which appeals to the imagination, and which of late years has won much in- terest. In 1868 a Slavic Congress was held at Moscow, with the object of drawing together the disunited por- tions. An unforeseen obstacle appeared there in the mutually unintelligible Slav dialects. A Pan-Slavic union would mean the predominance of Russia, or a great federation of the Slavic lands. But the Slavs are a very democratic people, and exceedingly fond of liberty. For that reason they are not disposed to yield to Russian absolutism. And Pan-Slavism in any form would mean the disruption of Austria. So the idea seems at present a visionary one. Still, it is in the line of 'the political union and independence of nationalities which has characterized the century. It may be an achievement of the twentieth century ; but if realized it will involve profound rearrangements of the The future present social and political condition of eastern Europe. The dual monarchy has in general aligned itself with modern political thought, but it is yet in a condition of unstable equilibrium. Both its strength and its weak- ness lie in its conglomerate race structure. Strength, because separation would make each little portion an in- significant power. Weakness, because the tendency is for discord to paralyze action. The future of Austria- Hungary is one of the problems of European politics. SUMMARY. Austria is a medley of languages, races, and religions. Politically Austria-Hungary is a dual federation, each part of which is a constitutional monarchy. Austria after 1866 yielded to the demands of Hungary. The Triple Alliance is primarily a league of peace. Austria is threatened with disruption by race strife. CHAPTER XVI. FRANCE AS IT IS. The empire of Napoleon III. collapsed at Sedan. The Govern- When news of this disaster reached Paris, the imperial mentofNa- l tienai Defense, government, together with the national legislature, simply disappeared. The republic was tumultuously pro- claimed, and a pro- visional - government of national defense at once organized. It was this government which energetically struggled against the invaders, raising army after army, and defending Paris till famine conquered it. When at last further resistance was hope- less, an armistice was lHIERS. Louis Adolphe Thiers, born, 1797. Lawyer and made with the Ger- journalist. Author of " History of the French , , Revolution" and "The Consulate and Em- mans, and elections pire." Prime Minister under Louis Philippe. 1 1 1 r ,, , President of the French Republic, 1871-3. Held tor a National Died, 1877. . , . . Assembly. I his The National Assembly. Feb. 12, 1847. body convened at Bordeaux, and, laying aside the question of the future form of government, organized for the time being by choosing Thiers head of the 176 France as It Is. 177 State. The old man made the best terms possible with the Germans. Alsace and eastern Lorraine France had to lose. German garrisons remained in France until the war indemnity ($1,000,000,000) was paid. Three years were given for this, but so vigorous were the efforts of the French people that the last German soldier withdrew in September, 1873. But when the war with Germany was ended, peace The H6tel de Ville, Paris. was not yet restored. The mob of Paris, including the National Guards, rose against the National Assembly which Thiers had convened at Versailles. The capital fell into the hands of these revolutionists, who at once organized under the authority of the Commune of Paris. The national government brought up the regular army to restore order, and the second siege of Paris was more horrible and destructive than the first. Prisoners were massacred by wholesale on both sides, and when the The Commune. i 7 8 Europe in the Nineteenth Cenhny. Thiers Presi- dent. Aug. 31, 1871. communists were finally overcome, they left the palaces of the great city in flames. The Tuileries and the Hotel de Ville were consumed, and the Louvre, with its priceless treasures of art, was barely saved. The com- munists were given no quarter, and the frightful days of the spring of 1871 in Paris made a third lesson to France of the horrors of anarchy. The Reign of Terror of 1793, and the insurrection of the Red Republicans in June, 1848, inspired two generations with a profound dread of mob rule. The present generation of Frenchmen will not forget the Commune. The soul of the government of national defense was Leon Gambetta, and after the new Na- tional Assembly assumed power he appeared as the leader of a definite Republican party. The Assembly con- tained a majority of monarchists, but no one of the three pretenders, Orleanist, Legitimist, Bonapartist, could command a majority. In August, 1 87 1, Thiers was elected president of the republic. Originally an Orleanist, he became convinced that the republic was the only safe compromise. But his fidelity to this belief led to his overthrow in the spring of 1873, Gambetta. Leon Michel Gambetta, born, 1838. Deputy, 1870. Republican and opportunist. Pre- mier, 1881. Died, 1882. France as It Is. 179 and Marshal MacMahon, an avowed Royalist, was chosen in his place. There was a promising scheme of a union between the two Royalist wings, which would have placed the Count de Chambord, the heir of Charles X., on the throne. But he was a true Bourbon, and refused to give up the white flag of his ancestors even to gain a crown. These scruples, logical but out of date, made a restoration impossible, and so the Royalist Assem- bly made a temporary settlement by electing Mac- Mahon president for seven years. A further concession of the monarchical factions of the Assembly in 1875 definitely organized the republic in a series of con- stitutional laws. It was still the hope of each fac- tion that events might restore its chief to power. But the National Assembly, marshal MacMahon. elected in the winter of Bo ™> June 13, 180S. Entered army. 1825. Became Marshal of France, 187I for the purpose Of l8 59- Governor-general of Algeria, ' f f 1864-70. President, 1873-79. Died, putting an end to the war, October 17, 1893. had clung too long to power. The nation was growing uneasy. It seemed necessary that there should be a new election. Still, the Conservatives proposed to MacMahon President. May, 1873. Nov. 19, 1873. 180 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. The Executive. The Senate. Constitution of retain all the power possible. It was determined that the new legislature should have two houses. And in the Senate seventy-five of the three hundred members were elected for life by the National Assembly from its own number, vacancies to be filled by the Senate itself. The president was to be elected by a joint session of the two branches of the legislature, to hold office for seven years. He was to govern by a cabinet respon- sible to the legislature. The remaining members of the Senate were chosen by indirect suffrage, the electoral college in each depart- ment of the republic consisting of the deputies from that department, the department council, the district councilors, and delegates sent from the municipal councils. These senators had the term of office fixed at nine years, and one third was to be renewed each three years. By an amendment of 1884, no more life mem- bers were to be chosen. Each department has a num- ber of senators determined by population. The lower house is the Chamber of Deputies. The five hundred eighty-four members are chosen, one for each district in France, including the colonies, by direct vote and universal suffrage. The term is four years and all are elected at once. Money bills, in imitation of English and American practice, may originate only in the lower house. The legislature may eject a ministry by defeating a ministerial measure, or by a vote of "want of confi- dence." This is the English method of cabinet gov- ernment, and in further imitation of that method the president may, but only with the assent of the Senate, dissolve the Chamber of Deputies and hold a new election. The constitution of 1875, it will be seen, relates The Chamber of Deputies. Cabinet government. France as It Is. merely to the organization and powers of the legisla- ture and the executive. Other French political institu- tions have remained unchanged through all the vicissi- tudes since the time of the first empire. The most obvious fact is the extreme centralization of Centralization, administration. Local self-government in the American sense hardly exists in France. The republic is divided into eighty- seven departments, | Departments, approximately equal in size, and named from rivers and mountains. These take the place of the historic provinces, Normandy, Tou- raine, and the like, which were all abolished in 1792. The departments correspond roughly to the states of the American Union. Each department is divided into dis- tricts (arro?idissements), each district into cantons, and each canton is a group of communes. The commune is the only one of these divisions which The Commune is ancient. The others are the artificial product of the first republic in the interest of uniformity and equality. The 36,121 communes vary in area and in population within very wide limits; 17,181 have each less than Eugenie. Eugenie Marie de Montijo, born at Granada, in Spain, 1826. Her father was an officer of Napoleon I. Her mother was of a Scotch family. Married to Napoleon III., 1853. Regent, July, 1870. Fled to England after ■ the overthrow of theempire, September, 1870. Subdivisions of the Depart- ments. 182 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. 500 people ; 99 have each more than 20,000. Morteau has a population of only 12, while the commune of Paris has over 2,000,000. Again, Plessix Balisson has an area of 20 acres, and Aries has 254,540 acres. The administrative head of each department is a The Prefect. prefect, corresponding in a general way to the governor of one of our states. He is not elected by the people, how- ever, but is ap- pointed by the head of the State, i. e. , at present by the president of the republic. The pre- fect is directly de- pendent on the minister of the in- terior. Each department has a sort of legis- lature, the council general, elected by M. Grew. . , „ Born, August 15, 1807 (?). President of National Universal SUttrage. Assembly, 1848-49; of Chamber of Deputies, "PVi^it- n r\ w e- r c orp 1876 and 1877-78. President, 1879. Reelected, x llcu F uwclil dl c 1885. Resigned, 1887. Died, September 9, 1891. y er y limited re- lating mostly to such matters as schools, public works, charities, and the like. Nearly all laws and regulations come from Paris. The arrondissement, in like manner, has a sub-prefect and a district council. Their functions are still more restricted. The canton is not an administrative unit at all, and is little more than an election district for the department France as It Is. 183 and arrondissement councils. Each canton has one representative in each council. The commune manages its local affairs by a com- munal council, ranging in number from ten to thirty-six, chosen by universal suffrage. The council elects the mayor. But all acts of mayor and council are subject to the absolute veto of the prefect of the department. In communes of over 40,000, the organi- zation of the police must be approved by the president of the republic. In Paris the national treasury provides nearly a third of the cost of the police. The organi- zation of the com- mune of Paris is exceptional in many ways. The police system, for instance, is under the direct control of the minister of the interior, exercised through a special prefect of police. The French method of managing the relations of Church and State is based on the Concordat between Napoleon I. and the pope. There is entire liberty of conscience, but freedom of public worship is limited by the law which restricts the right of meetings and associ- ations. The general principle is that the State will recognize and will support any religion which has at Sadi-Carnot. Born, 1837. Engineer. National Assembly, 1S71. President, 1887. Assassinated, June 24, 1894. Church and State. 1 84 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Education and war. least 100,000 adherents. The churches at present recognized are the Roman Catholics, who comprise more than three fourths of the nation, the Protestants, and the Jews. At the time of the first revolution the Church lands were seized and sold by the State. The Concordat provided that the title to these lands should not be disturbed, and in return that the State should guarantee the clergy their salaries. They are, in fact, paid from the public funds, as are the clergy of the other recognized churches. The head of the State appoints the bishops, and they appoint the inferior clergy, subject to the approval of the head of the state. The cathedrals are the property of the nation, a rrd the parish churches be- long to the com- munes. Since the German war the most strenu- ous efforts have been made to extend primary education and to perfect the organization of the army and navy. All children between six and thirteen years of age are obliged to attend school. In the public schools tuition is free. For public defense Jules Ferry. Born, April 5, 1832. Prime Minister and 1883-85. Elected president of the Senate, 1893. Died, March 17, 1893. France as It Is. 185 the Prussian method of universal compulsory service has been introduced. The breakdown of the army in 1870 and the resulting disasters stung France to the quick. The military organization since then has re- ceived the most . painstaking atten- tion, until now the French army will probably compare fa v or ably at all points with that of Germany. At the same time an elaborate system of fortifications will make it no easy task to pene- trate to the in- terior of France again. The en- tire available trained war force is about 2,500,000 men. The definitive third republic dates from the beginning of 1876. The elections made The Third the majority of the Senate monarchists, and a large majority of the Chamber of Deputies Republicans. The next three years were filled with the political antagonisms created by this discordant situation, and by the monarchical and ultramontane views of the president. In 1877 a ministry was formed in strict accord with these views, although the Republicans had Casimir-Perier. Born, November8, 1847. Elected president, 1S94. Resigned, 1895. i86 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. June, 1877. Dec. 14, 1877. Grevy President. Jan. 30, 1879. The Cultur- kampf. 1880. a majority of two hundred in the lower house. A vigorous policy was adopted of changing administrative officers not in sympathy with the administration ; what we should call a "clean sweep." Fifty of the eighty- seven prefects were transferred or removed, and minor officials shared the same fate. The Chamber of Deputies was then dissolved, the Senate assenting by a majority of twenty. The electoral campaign was fiercely fought, Gambetta leading the Republican opposition, and the president issuing an electoral address urging the choice of the candidates whom he should designate. The result was a large majority for the Republicans. The president persisted in keeping a Royalist cabinet, but as the Chamber refused to vote the supplies, a dead- lock was caused, which at last brought the obstinate marshal to terms. A Republican cabinet took office, and proceeded to undo the work of their predecessors so far as practicable. This time there was a "clean sweep" of Royalist and Bonapartist officeholders. In the beginning of 1879 the Republicans secured a ma- jority in the Senate, and before the month was ended MacMahon resigned the presidency. Jules Grevy, speaker of the house, was elected to succeed him. Thiers had died during the canvass. Marshal MacMahon might at one time have secured himself in power by a cotip a" Hat, but he was an honest man, and refused to use those means which so often have been the curse of French politics. The National Assembly of 1875, and the adminis- tration of MacMahon, had been practically dominated by ultramontane influences. The Republican adminis- tration set out to reverse this policy. Under authority of existing laws the Jesuits were expelled from France, and public supervision of education vigorously enforced. France as It Is. 187 ' ' The property of religious orders was subjected to tax- ation, education made compulsory, and religion prac- tically excluded from the schools." The election of 1881 returned an overwhelming Republican majority to the Chamber of Deputies, and Gambetta, who had been the leader of the party from the first, became prime minister. He found an active opposition, and soon resigned. Since his death the Republicans have had no one great leader. However, the republic has con- tinued, and, on the whole, has gained strength. France has ac- quired new colo- nies, Tunis in 1 88 1, Madagas- car in 1885, and since then more territory in Ton- quin. The Bon- apartists and the Royalists have no leader whose name weighs greatly. In 1886 all princes of houses which have reigned were expelled from France. Even the administrative scandals which led to the resignation of l88 ? President GreVy, soon after the beginning of his second Muller, 625. Death of Gam- betta, Dec. 31, 1882. Francois Felix Faure. Born, January 30, 1841. Vice-president of the Cham- ber of Deputies, 1894. President, 1S95 — . 1 88 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. term, did not shake it. M. Sadi-Carnot, grandson of Carnot under the revolutionary war minister, was chosen to succeed GreVy, for the term ending in 1894. At that time Carnot was reelected for the full term of seven years. A short time after the election, however, the president was assassinated by an Italian fanatic. M. Casimir- Perier was then (June 27, 1894) chosen to the presi- dency, but after a few months he became so disgusted with the virulence of faction that he abruptly resigned his office. The National Assembly then (January 12, 1895) elected M. Francois Felix Faure president. The greatest blow to French republican institutions has been the frightful corruption among public men in connection with the Panama Canal fiasco. But even this has been weathered. France meanwhile has been quietly strengthening her army and navy, and in the friendship of Russia since 1891 has apparently a counter- poise in the Triple Alliance. While Louis Napoleon was emperor he imitated the English free trade system. But the republic has re- turned to a protective tariff, in common with most of the Continent. The third republic has lasted longer now than any other form of government which France has had since 1789. And continued peace, prosperity, and growing national strength may give it permanence. War is its greatest danger. A highly successful war would be quite sure to arouse so much enthusiasm for the victorious general as to make it easy for him to fol- low in the footsteps of the Bonapartists, and attain supreme power by the overthrow of the republic. On the other hand, a disastrous war would bring such odium on republican institutions that some sort of monarchical restoration would be inevitable. So it would seem that peace is the main hope of popular government. France as It Is. 189 Louis Napoleon said, at the opening of his reign, " The empire is peace." With much more truth might Pres- ident Faure to-day say, " The republic is peace." SUMMARY. The National Assembly, formed when the Empire col- lapsed, governed France until 1875, when a constitution, pro- viding for a republic with cabinet government and centralized administration, was adopted. France supports any religion having at least 100,000 ad- herents. The Third Republic has lasted longer than any French gov- ernment since 17S9, and seems firmly established. CHAPTER XVII. THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE. The Dreibund. The Peace League. German Constitution. Napoleon III. went to war with Prussia in 1870, in order to undo the work of German consolidation which 1866 had seen wrought, and, by military glory, such as he had won in 1859, to insure his dynasty in France. The issue of the conflict was the German Empire and the French Republic. And to-day. the French desire to wipe out the disgrace of defeat is balked by a solid alliance of the three central powers — Germany, Austria- Hungary, Italy. For several years after the Franco-German War Rus- sia, Germany, and Austria- Hungary acted in close con- cert. But the course of Germany at the Berlin Congress of 1878 alienated Russia. Thereafter Bismarck suc- ceeded in forming a close league with Austria- Hungary and Italy. His aim was to check France, to preserve Italy, to limit Russian aggression in the east. The soul of the Triple Alliance is the German Empire. The other allies, however, sorely need peace, and have nothing to gain and much to fear from a general Euro- pean war. The league, therefore, is first of all a league of peace. The German Empire is a federal union of twenty-five states which formerly were wholly independent. Four, Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria, and Wiirtemberg, are king- doms. Three, Hamburg, Bremen, and Lubeck, are re- publics. The rest are constitutional monarchies, ranking as grand duchies, duchies, and principalities. 190 The Emperor. The Triple Alliance. 191 The federal legislature has two houses, the Council of State (Bundesratk) and the Diet {Reichstag). The The Legis- former represents the states, like our Senate. Its fifty- eight members, however, are distributed somewhat according to population, Prussia having seventeen. The councilors are appointed by the respective govern- ments, and are merely their ambassadors. The Diet represents the people. Its five hundred ninety-seven members are elected by universal suffrage for a term of five years. The executive power is vested in the emperor, the imperial title being bestowed on the king of Prussia. The emperor can make peace and treaties in general, and, with the assent of the Council, can declare war. He also has the right, with the assent of the Council, to prorogue or dissolve the Diet. His general adminis- trative functions are performed through a ministry of ten departments, at the head of which is the imperial chancellor. Unlike France and England, the German ministry is not responsible to the legislature, but is dependent only on the crown. The constitution can be amended by act of the legis- lature, but no amendment is valid if there are fourteen adverse votes in the Council. It should be added that the South German states retain some special privileges which cannot be taken from them without their assent. German government is highly centralized, and the ad- Paternal ministration supervises the individual in a great variety of ways which we should regard as decidedly vexatious. An acute observer says : "In a military empire every man is a soldier, and everything concerning him is subjected to military supervision. The State looks after his mind, his bowels, and his soul ; it must accredit the The Ministry. Amendments. Government. 192 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Baring-Gould, 308. The army. doctors or trainers for all three. The State so far bends to circumstances as to allow men to be Poles, Prussians, or Saxons, by blood, and to be Catholics, or Protestants, or Jews, by profession, just as it acknowl- edges three arms, infantry, cavalry, and artillery. As every male infant is an embryo soldier, and every female babe a prospective mother of soldiers, they must be registered by State functionaries, educated by State functionaries, married by State functionaries, and shov- eled out of the world by State functionaries. No man is a free agent, for every man is a soldier. He must be drilled by State corporals on week days, and preached to by State chaplains on Sundays. The State takes charge of his digestion and his conscience." German unity was won by "blood and iron," and it must be maintained in the same way. So the State is an armed camp. Every man must be a soldier and must serve in the ranks for a definite term of years. And to the same end the government keeps rigid disci- pline even in civil life. There can be no public meeting without the consent and supervision of the police. And the press is subject to close censorship. On the other hand, it should be said that Prussian administration is proverbially honest, frugal, and efficient.. Education is marvelously effective, and the highest pro- fessional skill is secured for public and private service. The German army has, since 1870, been the standard of the military profession for the world. The universal service makes a nation of trained soldiers, and the most profound scientific knowledge is incessantly at work to maintain and improve the efficiency of the tremendous fighting machine. The peace footing of the active army is about a half million men, while three times that number could be put under arms at once in case of war. The Triple Alliance. 193 The annual cost falls but little short of $100,000,000. One reason for the giant strides which Germany has Education, taken in the present century is the pains which have been devoted to education. Primary schooling is com- pulsory, and teachers are trained as carefully as physi- cians or civil engineers. The secondary schools and universities are numerous and thorough. Indeed, the inspiration which the higher education in America has received of late years is largely due to the contact of American students with German university methods. As is the case in France, the relation of Church and church and State is very close. The American plan of entire sepa- Heidklberg. ration of the two does not exist anywhere in Europe. The methods vary in the different German states, but as a general fact it may be said that the Church is supervised and its clergy are paid by the State. North Germany is largely Protestant, and South Germany as largely Roman Catholic. The Jesuits, together with convents and religious orders in general, are forbidden. The religious status of the different German lands is i 9 4 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. 1618-48. Baring-Gould, 335-6- Whitman, 72. The Cultur- kampf. practically that which was fixed by the Thirty Years' War. That horrible convulsion, which destroyed two thirds of the German population, ended in a compro- mise which recognized the principle that the religion of the prince should prevail in his state — cuj'us regio, ejus religio. That fixed the religion allowed by law so that there has been little change to this day. A religious map of Germany now would be a fairly good political map for 1648. To be sure, there has occasionally been some incon- venience in applying the principle. Whenever it has happened that a change of dynasty has implied a change of religion in the prince, the State has had to follow. The Rhenish Palatinate, for instance, changed religions no less than ten times in a century. In other cases it was the prince who found it easier to alter his princi- ples. "Count Schaffgotsch wrote to Frederick the Great apologizing for having changed his religion. He ex- plained that the acquisition of the estate of Schlacken- werth was conditioned on his becoming a Catholic. Frederick dryly replied : ' I have taken cognizance of your lordship's action, to which I have no objection. Many roads lead to heaven. Your lordship has struck out on the road by Schlackenvverth. Bon voyage. ' ' The beginning of the French war of 1870 coincided with the proclamation of the dogma of infallibility of the pope. The Jesuits in Germany opposed the forma- tion of the empire, dreading the predominance of a great Protestant power like Prussia. And the dogma of in- fallibility seemed to threaten the allegiance of German Catholics to the temporal power. Accordingly the Prussian State interfered to protect ecclesiastics from the penalties inflicted by their bishops for declining to accept the new dogma, and a series of measures followed, The Triple Alliance. 195 aimed at the influence of the pope in Prussian and German affairs. In 1872 the Jesuits were expelled from The May Laws, the empire, and in May, 1873, Prussia enacted laws calculated to secure the State against control by the Roman Catholic Church. This legislation was bitterly opposed by the ultramontanes, and in 1875 the pope justified the Protestant view of the daneer from the Papaiencycii- J ° cal, Feb., 1875. The Houses ok Parliament, Berlin. dogma of infallibility by declaring invalid the German Church laws and forbidding Catholics to obey them. The conflict between the new German ideas and the pope raged furiously for several years. As bishoprics and other Church places fell vacant Prussia would not allow them to be filled, until by 1880 eight of the twelve Prus- sian sees and more than a thousand parishes had no incumbents. But Bismarck had other policies which he held even more important than the supremacy of the State over a foreign Church. In 1879 he had formulated a new financial policy which included a protective tariff, and 196 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. this could be carried only with the help of the ultra- montane votes in the Diet. So a compromise was effected, by the terms of which the Church laws were softened in their effect. The vigorous Parliamentary opposition of the Roman Catholics, led by so acute a politician as Windhorst, succeeded in baffling even the iron chancellor. Meanwhile another religious quarrel had broken out, The anti-Jewish this time complicated with race and economic motives. movement. r The Jews had been granted civil rights by the Prussian constitution of 1850, and the empire, in 1871, had guar- anteed them full civil and political equality. These rights they supplemented by their characteristic industry and ability until their position in Germany was one of peculiar strength. The press has fallen largely into their hands, and the same is true of banking capital. Many Germans prominent in literature, art, and politics have been Jews — Lassalle, Lasker, Mendelssohn, Heine, Auerbach, Rubinstein. Envy and fear combined to give life to an anti-Jewish party which for several years, 1879-81, carried on an active crusade against the hated race. The results were small politically, though in social matters the Jews were very generally ostracized. They do not seem to have suffered materially by this revival of medievalism. Another enemy quite as formidable as the ultramon- tanes, Bismarck found in the socialists. So long as the Socialism. ... . communistic doctrines of Lassalle were merely academic, they seemed rather attractive than dangerous to inquir- ing minds. But when a financial crisis came to Germany these socialistic theories assumed a threatening form. The first effect of the French war was an inflation of business in every direction, and this was made greater by the expenditure of the French indemnity. But the The Triple Alliance. 197 lies in the fort- ress of Spandau as a war fund. 1878. destruction of life and property which war entails must, in the end, react on economic conditions, and the period Qfthisinden 1 nity the sum of inflation was naturally followed by a period of depres- of 120,000,000 ■> J r I marks in gold sion. The financial crisis brought on much suffering, and at this time socialistic doctrines flourished. It soon appeared that these doctrines, if carried out, would re- sult in the subversion of order in society, and when the logical result of the teachings of socialistic extremists appeared in attempts to assassinate the emperor, the government took alarm. Repressive measures were enacted at the demand of Bismarck, restricting the right of printing and circulating incendiary papers or books, and the right of making incendiary speeches. Such measures were enacted for a short period, and were re- newed from time to time for intervals of two or three years. The last repressive laws expired in 1890. We Americans are very jealous of the freedom of speech and of the press. But it is to be remembered that in Chicago men were hanged for speeches and writings which tended to induce murder. The princi- ple is the same which guided Bismarck. After the war with France came to an end, two heavy tasks confronted the German imperial government. One was to consolidate the new empire. The other was to insure it against external violence. This second was a grave matter, as the empire had been created by "blood and iron," and two great nations, Austria and France, had been overthrown and humiliated so that Germany might be united. If the animosities engendered by de- feat should lead to hostile combinations, not only would the new empire be in danger, but no one could tell what far-reaching European complications would result. It was Bismarck's first object, then, to divide the enemies of Germany and so far as possible to disarm Tasks of the new empire. 198 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. The three emperors. The Triple Alliance. enmity. He was successful in the first instance with Austria. The overwhelming defeat of France prevented both Austria and Italy from taking the field against Germany in 1870, and at the same time so strengthened the new empire that it was plainly apparent that it would be hopeless for Austria to attempt a reaction. Under these circumstances it was possible to restore good re- lations between the two countries, and in 1872 Bismarck succeeding in effecting an understanding with Russia as well, so that the three empires were virtually in alliance. The Italian kingdom was strongly predisposed to friend- ship with Germany. The point of difficulty in the peninsula was the status of the pope, and Germany by its aggressive course toward the papal claims had, by the mere logic of facts, put itself on the side of Victor Emmanuel against the pope's demand for the restora- tion of the temporal power. Thus France had no friend in any movement of attack on Germany. The alliance of the great central powers and Russia was broken by the events of the Berlin Congress of 1878. At that memorable gathering the fruits of Russian victory over Turkey were largely divided among other powers, Austria especially, succeeding both in restricting the extension of Russian influence and in adding to her own territory. Russia in conse- quence of this was detached from the central powers. And in 1879 Germany effected a close alliance with Austria, which two years later received the adhesion of Italy. The course of France in seizing Tunis, together with other causes, had made a breach between France and Italy, so that it was natural for that kingdom to attach itself to the great powers north of it. The Triple Alliance is a solid league in behalf of peace. None of the three powers is aggressive. All 77/J un e, 1832. twenty-two. And so the Reform Bill of 1832 became a law. The act was not revolutionary. It merely sought The Act. to cut off the more flagrant abuses. Fifty-six Eng- lish boroughs, returning one hundred eleven mem- bers, were disfranchised outright. Thirty-two other boroughs lost each one member. Thus there was a total loss of one hundred forty-three. This was dis- tributed by giving twenty-two towns and cities two members each, and nineteen one each. The number of county members was increased from ninety-four to one hundred fifty-nine. That made a net loss in England of eighteen seats, which was divided among Wales, Ire- land, and Scotland. The suffrage was materially extended. In the counties there were added to the forty shilling freeholders several classes of landholders, both owners and leaseholders. 214 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Reconstruction of Parties. 6. Walpole, Historv of Eng- knd, I'll., 135. In the boroughs, the old franchises were nearly all swept away, and every man owning or renting a house worth ^ioa year was given a vote. This reform, it will be seen, was only partial. Many boroughs were left which should not have been repre- sented. And the qualification for suffrage was altogether too high. Elections were still conducted viva voce, so that there was yet ample room for intimidation and bribery. On the whole, the result of the Reform Act of 1832 was, that political power was transferred from the upper to the middle classes. In this connection it may be well to quote a remark of Tocqueville. He says that government of the middle classes appears to be the most economical, though per- haps not the most enlightened, and certainly not the most generous of free governments. The first Parliament chosen under the Reform Act met in January, 1833. With it dates a reconstruction of Eng- lish political parties. The ideas and methods of Tories and Whigs alike had become obsolete. There was no longer question that reforms were to be brought about. The Rad- icals desired to use the new Parliamentary machinery to attain certain ends. " In their judgment Church Estab- lishments, Church Rates, Tithes, Offices, Pensions, Poor Laws, Close Corporations, Slavery, Corn Laws, Game Laws, were so many ninepins which it was their urgent duty to knock down. A new Reform Bill, the Ballot, Popular Municipalities, and Free Labor, were a few of the devices which they desired to set up." But there were decided differences of opinion as to the relative urgency of various measures proposed, and as to the haste with which reform should be effected. The most of the Tories and some of the old Whigs were for The Beginning of Reform. 215 deliberation. Peel declared that ' ' he was for reforming Waipole, His- , „ . , c 1^1 tory of England, every institution that really required reform, but he was III., 134. for doing it gradually, dispassionately, and deliberately, in order that the reform might be lasting. ' ' Those who favored this policy took the new name of Conservatives, while the reformers of all shades now and Liberals, called themselves Liberals. In the new Parliament there were one hundred seventy-two of the former and four hundred eighty-six of the latter. One of the Con- servative members who took his seat for the first time was William E. Gladstone. The reforms which seemed to the Radicals so pressing were not all realized by the first Liberal Parliament. But some things were accomplished. When the Reform Bill was passed, African slavery yet . 1 • tm 1 • • Abolition of prevailed in many of the English colonies. The decision slavery, 1834. of Lord Mansfield, in 1772, had determined that the soil of England could hold no slave. And the efforts of Wilberforce and his colleagues sufficed, in 1807, to enact a law forbidding the slave trade after the beginning of the following year — the same year which witnessed the end of the foreign slave trade in the United States l8 ° 8 - of America. But repeated efforts to free the three quarters of a million of slaves in the British colonies had failed. The Liberal government by 1833, how- ever, succeeded in carrying an act abolishing slavery in all the British possessions, to date from August 1, 1834. The planters were paid the value of their slaves, and a seven years' period of apprenticeship was allowed in order to make the transition to the system of free labor. The system of caring for the poor did honor to the heart rather than to the head of British legislators and . The Poor Law, administrators. It was most cunningly designed to 1834. offer a premium on indolence and vice and to discourage 216 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. independent labor. The public bounty was carelessly* and lavishly distributed, and the effect had been to pauperize the great mass of manual laborers, to expose to pauper competition those who preferred independence, and to burden the treasury with an annual charge of ^7,000,000. In 1834 the Liberals carried an act re- forming the whole system. A central poor law board was constituted for general supervision. The extrava- gant and pernicious method of "outdoor relief" was abolished, save in cases of sickness. Similar revisions made it no longer easy and profitable to be a pauper. The public purse was saved ^3,000,000 a year. There was nothing- more pitiable in the England of the The Factory . , , r ... _ , ° . . , Act. great reform year than the condition 01 children in the factories. The great industrial revolution which followed the introduction of machines had made it possible for many processes to be done quite as well by children as by grown people, and of course at a fraction of the cost. So inexorable economic forces swept little ones by thou- sands into the factories. Children of five, six, and seven years toiled twelve or thirteen hours a day. Thus, in the very time of greatest growth they were stunted in body and soiled in mind. Some efforts had been made at improvement. ' ' Twenty-five years of legislation had at last resulted in decreeing that the labor of a little child of nine who had the comparatively good fortune to * " The poor man declined to support his father in his old age or his child in its infancy. That office was the duty of the parish. The mother refused to nurse her daughter; the daughter objected to nurse her mother in illness unless her services were paid by the parish. A working man in Cambridge- shire, whose wife was in prison for theft, complained that he had no one to tend his house and children; the magistrates admitted the claim, and ordered him us. a week from the parish. In every other class of life a prudent man avoided marriage till he could afford it. The poor man was bribed to marry- by the parish. Unhappily the parish bribe encouraged him to select the most depraved of the village beauties. A girl usually received 2s. a week for each illegitimate child, either from the reputed father or from the parish. A girl with three or four illegitimate children had, therefore, a small fortune, and was eagerly sought after."— Walpole, History of England, III., 234. The Beginning of Reform. 217 be employed in a cotton factory should not exceed sixty- nine hours in one week. ' ' The Factory Act passed by the Liberal Parliament, in 1833, provided that children under thirteen years of age should not labor more than eight hours a day, and young persons between thirteen and eighteen, not more than sixty-nine hours a week. These and other reforms were due to the Liberal movement. But the new party was too fast for the Conservative and too slow for the Radical. And so its hold on power was loosened, and a Conservative min- istry displaced it. Since then the two parties have alternated in the ministry, the Liberals, on the whole, averaging about three years to the Conservatives' one. In 1837 the king died, and was succeeded by his niece, Victoria, a girl of seventeen. She was married Queen victoria, two years later to a German prince, Albert of Saxe- Coburg-Gotha. The womanly virtues of Queen Vic- toria have given the throne a luster through her long reign which it had lacked since the days of William of Orange. And the Prince Consort was always an es- timable gentleman and a prudent counselor. The reform of 1832, as has been said, put power in the hands of the middle classes. The artisans, the so- The Chartists, called "laboring" class, were dissatisfied. There soon began an agitation for a democratic constitution — a ' ' Peo- ple' s Charter, ' ' as they called it. The aim was the enfran- chisement of the masses. The immediate points demanded in the great petition of 1839 were six in number — the ballot, universal suffrage, equal electoral districts, an annual election of Parliament, abolition of the prop- erty qualification for members, a salary for members. These seem reasonable enough to Americans. But the movement for their adoption in the decade from 1838 to 1848 was unsuccessful. Its methods were agitation and 218 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. violence. The Chartists soon became associated in the public mind with revolutionists and socialists. Their demands accordingly were discredited. And when the year 1848 brought revolution and turmoil to the whole Continent, the people of England became thoroughly convinced that Chartism in England was virtually iden- tical with the Red Republicanism which had drenched the streets of Paris in blood. And so the cause of popular enfranchisement was set back another decade. In 1857 the task was resumed. But now it was taken up by the great Liberal party, and their methods were those of constitutional political action. Under their influence, directly or indirectly, the work was carried on until now it has very nearly reached a triumphant conclusion. SUMMARY. The English "reform" acts of this century were intended to make the government more representative. In 1827 Roman Catholics were made eligible to Parliament. The Reform Act of 1832, thrice passed by the Commons, was carried through the Lords by the threat of the king to create enough Liberal peers to enact it. The Reform Act of 1832 redistributed the seats in the House of Commons and materially extended the franchise. The result was that political power was transferred from the upper to the middle classes. After 1832 there was a reconstruction of political parties. In 1834 slavery was abolished in all British possessions, and the system of poor relief was reformed. The Chartists demanded the ballot, universal suffrage, equal electoral districts, annual Parliamentary elections, abolition of property qualification for members, and salaries for members. Adopting violence as their means of agitation, they became associated with revolutionists and socialists and were de- feated. CHAPTER XX. THE PROGRESS OF REFORM. Parliamentary reform in the second half of the century has gone on rather steadily in the direction of democracy. The Conservatives have vied with the Liberals in adopting - such measures- — not because the Conservatives are essentially a party of reform, but because reform was necessary to retaining power. In 1859 a Conservative bill failed, and in i860 and again in 1866 the Liberals attempted in vain to carry a bill. In 1867 the Conservatives were in office, and Disraeli introduced a measure which was carried. He intended of 1867. to make no change which would diminish the balance of classes, but in Parliament his bill was greatly simplified. It was in effect merely an extension of the Act of 1832, but was by no means so carefully drawn. More small boroughs were disfranchised, there was a further assign- ment of representatives to populous places, and the franchise was extended by lowering the property qualifi- cation. The next reform related to contested elections. Par- liament had extorted from the crown, after a long struggle, the exclusive right to judge in such cases. This English principle was imitated in the Constitution of the United States, and in that of all the states of the American Union. The result here, as in England, has been that election contests have been decided on party grounds, rather than on the merits of the question. So scandalous did this abuse become that, in 1770, 219 220 Europe in the Nineteenth Century Contested elections left to the courts, 1868. Secret ballot, 1872. Act for the pre- vention of cor- rupt practices, 1883. the House of Commons substituted an Elections Com- mittee with full power in place of the House. But partisanship was still the determining factor, and in 1868 the great improvement was made of referring all election disputes to courts of law. These contests are now quietly decided, just as are any other lawsuits, on legal grounds. It is high time that we in the United States followed so sensible an example. A viva voce ballot was a direct premium on intimida- tion and bribery. We long since learned that here, although our inefficient ballot laws were no great gain. Advancing democracy requires that the voter shall be protected from coercion, and that the public shall be protected against a corrupted vote. These necessities more than counterbalance the supposed advantage from the preponderance given to wealth and education by an open ballot. And in 1872, the Liberal administration of Mr. Gladstone was able to carry a ballot act. It is an elaborate measure, being substantially on the lines now familiar to us as the ' ' Australian system. ' ' Its merit is, in a word, that it insures practical secrecy in voting. Notwithstanding the secret ballot, it was found that elections were very expensive. Votes were still bought. To be sure, there was nothing like the open corruption of the last century. But a pure ballot is essential when the ballot has so vast importance in government. Mr. Gladstone's second ministry, in 1883, enacted a drastic law for the prevention of corrupt practices. A maxi- mum sum is set, beyond which a candidate's expenses must not go. The legitimate objects of these expenses are minutely regulated. Conveying voters to the polls in vehicles is forbidden. Bribery, treating, and undue influence are misdemeanors punishable with a year's The Progress of Reform. 221 imprisonment. A candidate detected in corrupt prac- tices is disqualified from sitting in Parliament, voting, or holding any office for seven years (the legal dura- tion of Parliament), and from ever representing the constituency in which the offense was committed. The acts of 1872 and 1883 together have virtually rooted bribery out of English elections. A hundred years ago they were the most corrupt the world has ever seen. Now, there are none purer. These two acts should be on the statute books of every American state. In this same administration of Mr. Gladstone, the last step was taken in Parliamentary reform. In 1884, suffrage was made practically universal, no less than 3,000,000 votes being added to the polling lists. These were largely the agricultural laborers. In the following year the seats were redistributed. The last vestiges of the old arbitrary ap- portionments disappeared, and elec- toral districts were constituted on the American plan, according to popu- lation.* English boroughs returning one hundred thirty-two members were abol- ished. London received sixty-two members in place of the half dozen it had before the Reform Bill of 1832. The total membership of the House of Commons was made six hundred seventy. Thus was substantially completed the task which Oliver Cromwell, Earl Chatham, and the younger Pitt had tried in vain, and which the great Reform Act of 1832 merely began. The British House of Commons now represents the people of the United Reform acts of 1884 and 1885. * Of the 670 members, England and Wales have 253 for the counties, 237 for boroughs, and 5 for the universities ; Scotland has 39 for the counties, 31 for boroughs, and 2 for universities; Ireland has 85 for the counties, 16 for boroughs, and 2 for universities. Thus England has 495, Scotland 72, and Ireland 103. From Harper's Ma The Noble Peer. 222 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Reform of the Commons completed. The House of Peers. Local govern- ment. Kingdom. Before 1832 it represented a handful of rich men. It is now a modern body. The House of Lords is still a medieval institution. Twenty-six bishops of the Established Church and a few judges are members ex officiis. Eighteen Scotch and twenty-eight Irish peers are elected. The rest of the nearly six hundred peers sit by hereditary right. A quorum consists of three members. Such a legislative body seems to Americans a grotesque anachronism. And the ' ' mending or ending ' ' of the House of Peers is a problem in general governmental reform which it now seems likely that the not distant future will see solved. The reform of local government has been a matter of quite as great moment as that of Parliament itself. The aggregation of people into cities is one of the most characteristic facts of modern civilization. In our coun- try the difficulties come from the rapid and vast growth of urban population endowed with all the privileges of democracy. In England this growth has been super- imposed on a system of local government which had been developed under the obsolete conditions of medieval life. When the first reformed Parliament met, nothing could be more absurd, from a modern point of view, than the prevailing civic methods. The ancient charters vested municipal control in the hands of a small cor- porate body. This included a mayor and council, and sometimes a number of ' ' freemen ' ' in addition. Quite often the mayor and council elected their own succes- sors, thus literally forming a "close corporation." The Parliamentary franchise was sometimes vested in the freemen, more often in the governing corporation. And the mayor and council determined the admission of freemen. Besides the Parliamentary franchise, there were often other advantages which belonged to the free- The Progress of Reform. 223 men and corporation — emoluments of civic property, exemptions from tolls, and the like. And these little oligarchies were not infrequently corrupt, and not un- naturally came to regard and to use the public funds as waipole, His- their own. In one borough, for instance, which owned iii^^j^ 1 * 11 * 1 ' lands giving an income of ,£6,000 a year, it was decided to mortgage the property and to divide the proceeds outright among the freemen. In 1833 the reformed Parliament appointed a commis- sion to inquire into the subject of municipal government in England. This commission reported in 1835, and their report was made the basis of an act which made a sweeping reform. The rubbish which the city charters had gathered through the ages was swept away. Local Municipal Re- S S , . S j .. , form Act, 1835. government was vested in a mayor and council chosen directly by the people. This great act was second in importance only to the Reform Act of 1832. The latter rescued the House of Commons from an oligarchy of rich landowners. The former rescued the large boroughs from a group of cor- rupt oligarchies, and vested local affairs in the people whose interests were concerned. Rural administration continued confused and inefficient for many years more. The counties were little more than nominal divisions. A tangle of jurisdictions over- spread the country. There were various kinds of par- ishes — poor law parishes, highway parishes, ecclesiastical parishes, each administered by its own vestrymen. Parishes were grouped into unions for certain purposes. And these various parishes and unions overlapped in all manner of ways. In 1888 a Conservative government county coun- enacted a reform bill which provided a uniform system of Cl s local government. Each county has a council, elected by the people, which has general charge of all public 224 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. London. business in the county limits. A local government board, whose president is a member of the cabinet, ex- ercises a general supervision over all local governing bodies. Among the counties organized in accordance with the foregoing act is the county of London. The metropolis was not a city in the American sense at all. The ' ' city ' ' is about a square mile in the heart of the metropolitan area. It is the old original London, with a population now of not more than 50,000 actual residents. Many thousands more pour into it in the morning and leave at night. Around this ancient nucleus has gathered a pop- ulation of 4,000,000, filling the adjacent parishes of Middlesex and Kent, and overflowing into the country districts. These urban parishes, however, have never been annexed to the ' ' city, ' ' as would have been done in America, but until 1888 each was left under its simple parish organization, as if still in the country. From time to time various boards were constituted for metropolitan business — police, fire, and the like. But they were quite separate from one another, and even their areas of juris- diction did not always coincide. By the act of 1888, a county of London was created which contained the met- ropolitan area (about one hundred twenty square miles) outside the limits of the ' ' city. ' ' The London County Council has the same functions in general as have other similar bodies. The old ' ' city ' ' remains a distinct corporation, with its lord mayor and aldermen, its separate police, and its "freemen," who are the members of the thirty-nine ancient livery companies. These companies are very wealthy, having an aggregate income of about ^800, 000 per annum. Free trade. One of the most far-reaching social changes of the The "city." The Progress of Reform. 225 century has been the adoption of free trade. England shared with all other nations in the Middle Ages the ideas of commercial reprisal. The duties which were intended to restrict foreign competition were levied on a multitude of articles. The invention of machinery and the peculiar position of England during the French revolutionary wars established English manufactures on a firm footing. But the interests of agriculture were especially dear to the heart of Parliament. That body before the Reform Act represented the landowners. And the corn bills en- acted in 1815 and succeeding years were intended to protect British grain from falling to ruinous rates, owing to importation from the Continent. Importation was forbidden when the price of domestic corn (the Eng- lish term for grain) should fall to eighty shillings a quarter. Later laws reduced this minimum, and in 1842 a sliding scale of duties was adopted. The tendency was in any event to increase the price of grain, which, of course, fell as a sore burden on the laborers already suf- fering from scant work and scantier wages. And when farmers were led to believe that the price would be high, they sowed grain in such quantities that the supply was enormously increased. And this competition, of course, in turn tended to make lower prices. And so nobody was satisfied. In 1 838 a corn law league was founded, Richard Cobden and John Bright being its leading spirits. The league made an educational campaign, lasting through several years, which ended in convincing the bulk of Englishmen of the impolicy of protection. TheCorn Laws were repealed in 1846, and by 1852 the protective duties Repeal ofthe were all gone. English wealth has enormously increased under free trade. Whether the gain has gone largely into the pocket of the poor laboring man, for whose benefit the corn law repeal was urged in 1846, is not so clear. Corn Laws. 226 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Another reform which the present century has wit- nessed in England is that of the civil service. In the early part of the reign of George III., favoritism and corruption were rife in all branches of the government. Members of Parliament insisted on their share in the spoils of office, and public positions were made political plunder. But before George III. died a better spirit pre- vailed. For one thing, placeholders were forbidden to vote. In some departments a pass examination was re- quired as a condition to appointment. The final reform of the system was effected by executive action, and not l853 by act of Parliament. In 1853 the government appointed a commission to investigate the subject. This commis- sion reported in favor of the method of appointment on 1855. examination, and accordingly in 1855 a Civil Service Commission was appointed, and under its direction a limited competitive examination was made the rule for all candidates for office. This at once raised the quality of the whole service and at the same time greatly re- lieved members of Parliament from the pressure of office- seekers. The House of Commons at first opposed the reform, but a few years convinced them of its value. The method was improved and extended from year to 1870. year, and in 1870 the Commission was empowered to insist on a general competitive examination in all cases. Thus, the public service was thrown open to all English- men who were competent. Tenure is for good behavior. On a change of party in the national administration, only some forty or fifty heads of departments, who are re- garded as political officers, lose their places. The great bulk of civil servants hold their positions regardless of politics. This has proved one of the wisest of the long list of public reforms of the age. A national canvass in England now turns on policies rather than on persons. The Progress of Reform. 227 SUMMARY. The Reform Act of 1867 extended the law of 1832. Stringent laws for the protection of the ballot were enacted in 1872 and 1883. In 1884 and 1885 Gladstone completed the process of Parlia- mentary reform by making suffrage practically universal, and by abolishing the last vestige of the old system of apportion- ment. The reform of local government has been carried out through the Municipal Reform Act of 1835, which did for the cities what the act of 1832 did for England as a whole, and through the County Councils Act of 1888, which dealt with rural government and with the government of London. The protective system was abolished by a series of acts, 1846-52. The civil service since 1870 has been based upon the merit system. CHAPTER XXI. THE IRISH QUESTION. If Ireland were sunk to the bottom of the sea, or removed to the middle of the Pacific, all England would draw a sigh of relief. For the "Emerald Isle" is the most perplexing problem with which British statesmen have had to grapple since the days of Henry VIII. The primary fact to be remembered is that Ireland is conquered a conquered country. And the present tokens of con- country, quest are not a few. To begin with, the island is governed by a centralized authority wielded directly from Dublin Castle, the seat of the English lord lieutenant. To illustrate : The Irish Local Government Board controls all cor- porations and town commissioners. And the board is appointed by the "Castle." The fiscal affairs of each county are managed by a grand jury, which is selected by the sheriff. He is appointed by the "Castle." Prisons, lunatic asylums, education, are all managed by central boards appointed by the ' ' Castle. ' ' The metropolitan police of Dublin and the 13,000 rural police (the Irish constabulary) are managed each by a commissioner appointed by the "Castle." All magistrates, the board of public works, the fishery board, are appointed by the "Castle." Thus, there is little local self-government in Ireland. All is managed by the English administration. In the second place, the Protestant population is The Irish Question. 229 simply an English garrison. The bulk of the land- owners are English, dating their holdings from the confiscations of the seventeenth century. This is espe- cially true in the north and east. The Protestants form about a fifth of the population. And they were origi- nally imported to keep the Irish down. And so every- thing tends to keep alive the memory of the ferocious religious and political wars of two centuries ago. Before the Union of 1800, Ireland had a separate Parliament. However, only Protestants were eligible The Union, ' ■' & 1800. as members, and until 1793 only Protestants had the right of suffrage. And this minority legislature was taken away by the Act of Union. This was a plan of William Pitt, and he secured the assent of the Irish Parliament to its own extinction by Lecky, J England in the most lavish bribery. Peerages, offices in Church and Eighteenth State, and even money, were scattered liberally to Vo1 - vm - secure votes. And besides these vulgar means, Pitt practically promised that, if his measure should pass, Roman Catholics should be freed from the laws inca- pacitating them from officeholding.* These means won success. The separate Irish Par- liament was abolished, and in lieu of it one hundred Irish members (all Protestants) took their seats in the House of Commons at Westminster, and five spiritual and twenty-eight temporal Irish peers were added to the House of Lords. But when Pitt set out to justify the hopes he had aroused by enacting Catholic emancipation, good King George III. discovered that his coronation oath forbade, and so Pitt resigned. This was in 1801. * Under the law as it then stood, no one could hold office, either civil or military, without taking oaths abjuring the papal supremacy and cardinal Roman Catholic doctrines and expressly admitting the ecclesiastical suprem- acy of the British crown. 230 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Catholic Emancipation, 1829. The repeal movement. « Young Ireland." The « Fenians." Disestablish- ment of the Irish Church. The subject was resumed after the French wars came to an end. A vigorous agitation was kept up in Ireland, and in 1828 Daniel O'Connell, a Roman Catholic, was elected to Parliament. He was refused a seat. But in the following year the ministry yielded to the storm, and a bill was passed which allowed Roman Catholics to sit in either House of Parliament and to be eligible to all offices, civil or military, except those of Regent, Lord Chancellor, Viceroy of Ireland, and Royal Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. O'Connell had declared that Catholic emancipation would quiet all disturbance in Ireland. But no sooner had he taken his seat in Parliament than he began an agitation for the repeal of the Act of Union. He was followed by the Irish people with tremendous enthusiasm, until it appeared that his policy was merely one of con- stitutional agitation. Then his more excitable followers deserted him and formed a radical party known as "Young Ireland," whose armies were to use force if necessary. And in 1848 there was an attempt at insur- rection, though it was easily quelled. And this fiasco put an end to Irish agitation for the time. The American Civil War of 1861-65 gave employ- ment to many Irish soldiers. After peace was restored, not a few of these men engaged in hare-brained schemes of invading England, and did actually attempt to invade Canada from Vermont. But nothing came of this vis- ionary movement. Meanwhile one serious reform had been accomplished. The Episcopal Church had been established by law in Ireland since the Reformation. But while England and Scotland and Wales had very generally accepted the new doctrines of Protestantism, the people of Ireland The Irish Question. 231 clung with passionate fidelity to the Roman Catholic faith. And the Episcopal State Church was thus only another badge of the conquest. Its adherents were a small minority — only about six hundred twenty thousand out of five million people. In some parishes there were not more than a dozen attendants. In others there McCarthy, 11., 446. were a church and a parish, but no listeners at all. Sydney Smith said: "On an Irish Sabbath the bell of a neat parish church often summons to service only the parson and an occasional conforming clerk ; while two hundred yards off, a thousand Catholics are huddled }t wa ? shown • that in 150 par- tOgether in a miserable hovel, and pelted by all the ishes there was 1 not one Protes- storms of heaven." And the trouble was that the tant and in 860 parishes there whole land was taxed for the support of this minority were i eS s than Church. Not infrequently the peasant's cow was seized in distraint for tithes, and that to maintain a religion which he abhorred. And in many cases the incumbent The tithe war. of the living was a non-resident, actually never seeing the parish which reluctantly paid his stipend. Such taxes were collected with great difficulty, and the parson had to call on the police and the military to enforce his rights. But in the end there was a general strike against payment of tithes. And in 1838 the trouble was settled by an act of Parliament which remitted tithes from the peasant and converted them into a charge on the land, payable by the landlord. So the peasant in the end really had to pay, in the shape of increased rent, but there was no more difficulty in collecting. But turbulence and trouble were still the lot of Ire- Disestabiisn- land. Famine starved the peasant, he could not pay his church, 1868. rent and so was turned out of his cottage, reprisals were made on the landlord in the shape of murder and arson. In 1868 Gladstone was prime minister for the first time, and he signalized his advent to power by the 232 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. disestablishment and disendowment of the Irish Church. The former was simple enough. But disendowment was a difficult problem. Some funds were allowed to be retained by the new free Episcopal Church in Ireland. Some were granted to the parsons in compensation for the livings they had lost. Some were retained by the government, to be applied to the relief of unavoidable suffering. But Ireland was not yet pacified. The old penal laws against Roman Catholics had been repealed. Roman Catholics had been endowed with full political rights. The odious Minority Church had been over- thrown. Two grievances, however, yet inflamed Irish national spirit. Ireland did not govern itself. And the peasant who tilled the soil did not own it. The Land The land question, in truth, overshadowed everything else. And it has been one of great difficulty. The soil of Ireland belonged to a small number of owners, each having as a rule a considerable estate. Many of the landlords were absentees most of the time, depending on their rents for the income which they lavished on luxurious living out of Ireland. The land was leased in small farms, often in little patches. It was the obvious interest of the owner to get as much rent as possible, and also to evict promptly a tenant who did not pay. The little holdings were usually let from year to year, and the farmer was expected to make all the improvements needed.* In case of eviction, any such improvements were simply lost to him, as the landlord would make no compensation. The inevitable result of this system was that the tenant aimed to get out of the land as much as possible and to put into it as little as * Residences, cottages, and farm buildings are meant by " improvements." The demand for land was so great that an ejected tenant found it hard to secure another place. The Irish Question. 233 possible. No worse plan could probably be devised by human ingenuity. Wretched tillage, scanty and reluc- tant improvement, miserable cottages, a precarious liv- ing, were the common course of things. And the least bad fortune with crops meant that the margin for rent vanished, with eviction a probable result. The peas- antry universally lived on the potato. And in 1845, when that crop totally failed, there was nothing but famine before them. The tenants in Ulster were in somewhat better case The Ulster than others. A custom there prevailed of making com- pensation for improvements which the tenant made. And so long as he paid his rent he was entitled to con- tinue his holding. In 1870 Gladstone attacked the land problem. His Land Act act legalized in all Ireland the Ulster tenant right, secur- ° l87 °" ing to the farmer compensation both for eviction on any other ground than non-payment of rent, and for any investments in the way of improvements. The great thing to be desired was that the farmer should own the soil, and to that end the government offered to loan two thirds of the purchase price to any tenant who would buy. In 1881 Mr. Gladstone was again in power, and he L an l8 93- by the House of Lords. That ended the subject — per- haps permanently. The disgrace and death of Mr. Parnell caused a division in the ranks of the Irish Nationalists in Parliament, and at the next election they ceased to hold the balance of power between the parties. In 1894 Mr. Gladstone, yielding to advancing age, retired from the ministry. The Earl of Rosebery suc- ceeded him as prime minister and as leader of the Liberal party. His leadership, however, proved far from successful. In 1895 the ministry were defeated on a minor question in the House of Commons, and promptly resigned. Thus a Conservative and Liberal Unionist ministry returned to power, with the Marquis of Salisbury as premier and Mr. Chamberlain as colonial secretary. At the dissolution which soon followed a new election was held and the Liberals were over- whelmingly defeated. The Conservatives and Liberal Unionists greatly outnumbered the Liberals and Irish combined. Foreign affairs have caused great perplexity to the Salisbury administration. There has been trouble with the South African Republic, with Germany, with the United States, a dangerous war with the hill tribes in India, a revival of the Eastern Question caused by the massacres in Armenia and the insurrection of Crete, and serious rivalry with the French in Africa. War with civilized nations, however, has been avoided. In 1897 the queen closed the sixtieth year of her reign, which has been the longest in English history. The occasion was celebrated with brilliant festivities, in which a significant feature was the delegations sent to 238 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. London from the colonies. England is beyond ques- tion the greatest colonizing power which the world has ever seen. And British colonies are now a large factor in the British Empire. SUMMARY. Ireland is a conquered country and is governed by the English administration. Religious differences keep alive old animosities. Pitt secured the acceptance of the Act of Union by promising Catholic emancipation, but George III. refused to execute the agreement. In 1868 the Irish Church was disestablished. The Land Acts of 1870, 1881, and 1885 were intended to increase peasant proprietorship by making the tenancy more permanent, by providing for compensation for improvements, and by assisting the tenants to purchase their holdings. Since 1870 the demand has been for Home Rule — a program adopted by Gladstone and the Liberal party, but rejected in Parliament. PART V.-THE RECONSTRUCTION OF EASTERN EUROPE. PRELIMINARY. Eastern Europe is in strong contrast to the west. As one passes from Germany toward Constantinople, it is through a tangle of races, speaking a Babel of tongues and inspired by diverse and hostile religions. Again, in the west we have seen the growth of popular liberty and the passing of autocratic government. But over all the east for many centuries the shadow of the Turk has cast a blight. Turkish rule is as despotic as was that of Metternich, as corrupt as that of the Neapolitan Bourbons, and besides has a brutality and inefficiency peculiar to itself. This misrule has sunk the fairest lands of Europe into poverty and misery. The key to political power in eastern Europe is the city of Constantinople. The Turks yet hold it, not because of their power, but because Europe cannot agree to see any great western nation have it. And at the southern side of the eastern Mediterranean coast lies the Suez Canal, the key to Asiatic traffic. And Egypt controls the canal. The possession of Constantinople and of Egypt, and the relation of the Turks to their subject Christian races — these are the eastern questions. The Mohammedans a few centuries ago nearly overran the world. Power has now shifted to the west, and the followers of Islam will not long be permitted to stay in Europe. But who shall inherit their spoils? 239 CHAPTER XXII. The land. The people. RUSSIA. The great Christian empire of eastern Europe is Russia. It includes not merely a half of Europe, but also a third of Asia. The entire dominions of the tsar, indeed, comprise a sixth of all the land surface of the globe, being twice the area of Europe or of the United States of America. Its vast extent is indicated by the fact that the reindeer is found in northern Russia and the camel at the other extreme. The population of the empire of all the Russias is over 119,000,- 000 of people — as many as in Germany, Aus- tria, and France together, and nearly twice as many as in the United States. This vast mul- titude of people is a motley collec- tion of Oriental races. In Asia are numerous Tatars, Turcomans, and the like. The Europeans, however, some 94,000,000, are Slavs by a large majority. About two thirds of Russia. 241 them are Russians. Then there are a few million of Poles, and a sprinkling of Serbs, Bulgarians, and Cekhs. Along the Baltic shores are a few Teutons — Swedes and Germans. And in the northeast are Tatars, both Bud- dhists and Mohammedans. The Russians are a very religious people. Churches Religion abound, Moscow having no less than four hundred thirty. The intellectual movement of the present cen- tury is rationalistic — perhaps with an atheistic tendency. But this has left the ideas of the bulk of the nation quite untouched. To be sure, their religious ideas are as much superstition as anything The nation was converted from paganism in the tenth century by wholesale, and so the lower orders have never lost their notions of fetichism in connection with church ceremonies. Still, the lower middle class are great Bible readers, and are not materi- ally different from the Methodists of our own land. The national Church of Russia is a branch of that great Oriental body which we call, loosely, the Greek Church. It is a product of the great schism which in the Middle Ages divided Christendom, and which has never yet been healed. To-day the eastern branch might more properly be called Slavonic than Greek, as seventy million of its eighty million adherents are Slavs. About sixty million of them are Russians. The Oriental Church differs from the Western (Latin) Church in some vital points. In the first place is an ^"western abstruse question of the independence of the persons in Church - the Trinity. In regard to the relation of the Church to the civil power there is another material divergence. The Eastern Church has no common head corresponding to the pope, but is a series of national bodies, and has always submitted to the State. The Eastern Church steadfastly rejects the papal supremacy, holding to the The national Church. The Eastern 242 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. The Church of Russia. The popes. Schisms. entire independence of each national Church. The eastern liturgy is highly ritualistic, and in place of Latin uses the old Greek or the old Slavonic. But the Oriental liturgy allows no images, using pictures instead, and forbids all musical instruments except the human voice. As to other practices it may be added that the sacra- ment of baptism is administered only by immersion, that the clergy are married, and that the laity are encouraged to read the Bible in the vernacular. ' The Church of Russia is an established State Church under the direct rule of the tsar. He appoints all the prelates, and no action is valid without his assent. The clergy, as in the Roman Church, consist of regulars and seculars — in other words, monks and parish priests. In the east, however, while there are many monasteries, there are no monastic orders. The parish priests {popes they are called) must marry. But as the bishops must be unmarried, they are appointed from the monks. The village popes are not an enviable class. They are im- perfectly educated, always poor, and with a family to support, mostly on the paltry fees they can extort for their pious services. The peasants haggle with the popes as with the butcher or grocer. Indeed, the peas- ant's idea of the efficacy of the priestly office hardly rises above fetichism. It is practically their notion that the popes drive a wholesale and retail trade in charms. And the popes are as densely ignorant and as intensely bigoted as might be expected. The Church of Russia is honeycombed with dissent. The first great schism occurred in the seventeenth cen- tury. At that time the patriarch, happening to be a scholarly man, set out to revise the liturgy and missals. The results were received with pious horror by many, and when the reforms were enforced by Peter the Great, Alexander III. Born, March 10, 1845. Became tsar, March 13, 1S81. Died, November 1, 1894. 244 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. the "old believers," as they called themselves, cut loose from the State Church. They felt sure that Peter was the devil himself, that his ministers were imps from hell, and that it was their duty to reject every innovation thus introduced by his Satanic majesty.* But, on the whole, the " old believers" to-day are an honest and industrious people. Their main objection now is to a State Church and to Byzantine pomp in worship. Besides the "old believers," there is a swarm of other dissenting sects, rationalistic, communistic, ascetic, some of them not unlike many of our Protestant denomina- tions. They all agree in hatred of the orthodox State Church, and are all alike persecuted by it. The govern- The Russian government is the last in Europe of the state. absolute, hereditary monarchies. The tsar is the State. In him are united the entire legislative, executive, and judicial powers. These he exercises through four coun- cils, all of whose members he appoints, and all of whose acts are valid only with his assent. The Council of State is a sort of rudimentary legislature, being, how- ever, only a consultative body. The Setiate is the supreme court of the empire, and has a general super- vision over the administrative department. The Holy Sy?iod administers the State Church, and the Council of Ministers form the tsar's cabinet, the members being heads of the executive departments. The administrative system of the empire is merely a centralized despotism, tempered here and there by some scanty local self-government. And administrative * " They carried their resistance into all the details of private life. As matters of conscience, they avoided the use of tobacco, for ' the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man' (Mark vii. 15); of tea and coffee, as foreign productions ; of the potato, as the fruit with which the serpent tempted Eve." — Heard, 191-2. The "old believers" did not object to whisky, as St. Paul bade Timothy take a little wine (which is a shorter name for whisky) for his stomach's sake. Russia. 245 and judicial officers alike are not unused to bribery. The most characteristic Russian social institution is the mir, or village commune of the peasants. The Tne mir. land which they cultivate belongs to the village as a whole, and is annually allotted to heads of families. The village affairs are conducted by the peasants in a thoroughly democratic way, all decisions requiring a unanimous vote. The peasants are exceedingly ignorant. In 1888 only twenty per cent of the recruits for the army could read and write. And vodka is their worst foe, next to superstition and ignorance. The liquor stores belong to the government, which derives from them a consider- able revenue, and so is directly interested in large sales. The Russians were originally an Oriental people, more Asiatic than European. But when Peter the Great be- Peter the Great, r . . 1689-1725. came tsar he set out to Europeamze, i. e. , to westernize, his realm, in its government, in its Church, and in social customs. From him dates the entrance of Russia into the European family of nations. At the opening of the nineteenth century Alexander I. ascended the throne. He was a man of many bril- Alexander 1., J 1801-25. liant qualities, and for a number of years prided himself on his liberal ideas. He did many things in the way of political reform, giving a constitution to Poland, even talking of a constitution for Russia, and beginning plans for the emancipation of the serfs. The censorship of the press was made more lenient, there was more toler- ation for dissenters, a foundation was made for a codifi- cation of the laws, and other measures of similar char- acter were projected. About the year 181 8 Alexander, for some unexplained reason, became converted to the views of Metternich. It is said that he became aware that his army was honeycombed with secret revolution- 246 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Nicholas, 1*25-55- It is said that the private sol- d i e r s cheered the constitution under the im- pression that that was the name of the Grand Duke Constantine's wife. 1849. Alexander II., 1855-81. ary societies which were plotting even against the life of the tsar. However that may be, for the rest of his reign he was a reactionary of reactionaries, and shared in the repressive measures which put down the revolutions of 1820 in southern Europe. And nothing more was heard of a Russian constitution. At his death his younger brother, Nicholas, succeeded to the crown. The accession was marked by a military revolt which was easily quelled. The officers who had invaded France in 18 14- 15 came back imbued with liberal ideas, which they endeavored to put in force in Russia. But the common soldiers were too ignorant to share in such views, and grape-shot speedily brought the insurgents to terms. Nicholas was a stern bigot. His motto was "Aristocracy, orthodoxy, nationality," and his reign for thirty years was marked by unbending despotism, the gloomiest religious intolerance, and a steady opposition to all foreign ideas. In 1833 Poland rebelled, and when the rising was put down the Polish constitution was taken away. When Austria was in the throes of insurrection, Nicholas gladly sent a Russian army to help crush the Hungarian rebels. But in the Crimean War the resources of the empire collapsed, and Nicholas died in the consciousness that his policy had failed to create real national power. His son, Alexander II., realized that the empire must be reformed, and he set out to make the needed changes. One great element of weakness was serfage. There were in the limits of the empire nearly forty-six million of the unfree, of whom about one half were peasants on crown estates, and some twenty million were held on the estates of the great landed proprietors. None of these were chattels, but all were attached to the soil. The crown serfs were practically free already, holding the Russia. 247 land by the payment of fixed rents. But by the great Emancipation Act of 1861, all the serfs were turned into freemen. They were given a certain quantity of land in permanent usufruct, on payment of a fixed quit-rent, and at any time this tenure was to be changed to own- ership on payment of a certain sum. And even this the government stood ready to advance, the peasant paying it in annual installments of six per cent for forty- nine years. Three years later an attempt was made at local self- government in the organization of district legislatures (zemstvos) chosen by popular suffrage. And in the same year the legal system was revised, regular courts and trial by jury taking the place of the arbitrary system of despotism. Meanwhile a Liberal party had grown up, which aimed to assimilate Russian institutions more definitely with those of western Europe. They sought an elec- tive national parliament, a responsible ministry, freedom of the press, and the right of habeas corpzis — the mere truisms of our constitutional liberties. But in 1863 Poland again rose in the vain attempt to regain its lib- erty. The insurrection was quelled. And one result was to convince Alexander that he had gone too far, and that liberalism meant revolution. His policy of reform was ended. Then it was that the advanced section of the Russian Liberals became convinced that freedom could come only by force, and they organized with that end. Russian liberalism is largely tinged with socialistic ideas. Lavrov, for example, a prominent leader of one section, was a State socialist who would reorganize all Russia on the basis of the communistic organization of the mir. But the most radical "reformers" are the Emancipation of the serfs, 1S61. Governmental reform, 1864. The Liberal party. The Polish insurrection. Plots of revo- lution in Russia. 248 Etirope in the Nineteenth Century. The propa- ganda, 1873. Nihilists. Of these, Bakunin was a type. He was to all intents and purposes an anarchist, who desired the destruction of all existing institutions.* "Take heed," he said, "that no ark be allowed to rescue any atom of this old world, which we consecrate to destruction." By 1873 began a curious movement on the part of the ■, -.~i Nicholas II. Born, May 18, 1868. Became tsar, November 1, 1894. revolutionists — a propaganda among the peasants. The object was to teach revolution, and so all shades of socialistic and anarchistic doctrines began to be dissemi- nated among the ignorant classes. When this came to * " When you have freed your minds from the fear of a God and from that childish respect for the fiction of right, then all the remaining chains which bind you, and which are called science, civilization, property, marriage, morality, and justice, will snap asunder like threads. Let your own happi- ness be your only law." Rzcssia. 249 the knowledge of the government it was put down with a strong hand. And the revolutionists retaliated by a policy of assassination directed against government officials — even against the tsar himself. For a short time Alexander tried conciliatory measures under a Liberal minister, Loris Melikof. He was virtually a dictator, and while he plainly announced that no con- stitution would be granted, he did make many adminis- trative reforms. But this course produced little real effect, and in the spring of 1881 the "tsar liberator" was assassinated by a dynamite bomb. His son, Alex- ander III., rejected all demands for popular govern- ment, and administered Russia substantially in the spirit of Nicholas. Until his death in 1894 Alexander kept from foreign war, and continued his firm control of domestic government. Under the young tsar, Nicho- las II., there is no material change of policy. There is a war to the death between the police and the Nihilists. On the one side is the despotic energy of Metternich. Schools and universities are rigidly guarded from any Liberal ideas. The press is silenced. There is no free speech on political subjects, and Siberia is always wait- ing for suspects. On the other side is a secret band of ruthless assassins whose aim is to kill the tsar. Besides the arbitrary government, another evil in Russia is the miserable condition of the peasants. The freed serfs are densely ignorant, utterly lazy, and passionately addicted to drink. Drunkenness is almost universal among them. The government tax on whisky is a large source of income, and so temperance societies are forbidden as seditious. The police have repeatedly broken up temperance work and forced a whisky seller on a reluctant village. The land allotted to the villages is not enough for the support even of the industrious, Terrorism, 1878-81. Murder of the tsar, 1881. Alexander III. Nicholas II. The misery of the peasants. It is a common saying that " a sober peasant is one who gets drunk only on the festivals of the Church." 250 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. and so swindling money-lenders have easily made the peasants their prey. These sharks charge sixty per cent, one hundred per cent, even as high as eight hundred per cent. And as some of them are Jews, Persecution of there has arisen a furious persecution of these unhappy people. Religious bigotry has reenforced economic motives, and riot has been supplemented by govern- ment action, so that thousands of wretched Jews have been stripped of their property and cast out of the empire. The nineteenth century has not yet dawned in Russia. SUMMARY. Russia includes half of Europe and a third of Asia. Its population of 119,000,000 comprises many races, but is predominantly Slav. The established Church of Russia is the Greek Church. It has no common head like the Roman pope but is national in its organization. The tsar is the head of the Church. There are many dissenting sects. In government Russia is an absolute monarchy — the last in Europe. Russia has had some liberal monarchs, one of whom, Alexander II., freed the serfs in 1861. But reforms have not gone far. The country is still centuries behind the rest of Europe. CHAPTER XXIII. THE EMPIRE OF THE TURKS. The Turks are an anachronism in modern Europe. „„ r What the They belong in the Middle Ages, and it is a pity they Turks are. are not all there. These people are aliens to the ideas of European civ- ilization. They are aliens in race and language. They are Turanians, with no share of Aryan blood or Aryan thought. They have no inheritance in the Greek and Roman culture which has created modern life in the west. Their classic literature is in Arabic. They are Asiatic, not European. They are aliens in religion. The Mohammedan faith has from its inception been more hostile to Christianity than has any other creed. Christian missions to-day make practically no converts from Islam. And the Turks inherit a thousand years of war against the cross. They are aliens in social institutions. Polygamy and slavery, "twin relics of barbarism," are opposed to the instincts of advanced western life. But both thrive among the Turks. It is the Mohammedan natives who to-day keep alive the slave raids in the heart of Africa which Christian powers are striving to end. They are aliens in political ideas. Government with them is, as has been said of Russia, "despotism tem- pered by assassination. ' ' They simply have no concep- tion of popular sovereignty. They are aliens in progress. The very essence of 252 Etirope in the Nineteenth Century. their institutions is changelessness. Their law book is the Koran — and that cannot be amended or repealed. Their attempts at reform are only on the surface — they may wear silk hats and Parisian coats, but they are Turks underneath. Napoleon said, " Scratch a Russian and you will find a Cossack under his skin." And the modern Turk is, in fact, a medieval survival. In short, the Turks in Europe are a horde of Asiatic adventurers encamped in the fairest lands of the Conti- nent, and holding the native races practically in slavery. It must be remembered that the Turks are only about one fourth the population of their European empire. But they are the conquerors and rulers of all the rest. The Turkish government is a despotic monarchy. Its head, the sultan, is also the khalif. That is, he is not only the civil autocrat of the empire, but also the head of the orthodox Mohammedan religion everywhere. This is the theory. Practically, he is usually a tool in the hands of a corrupt ring who exploit the land for their own benefit. The rule which such a system affords is easily inferred, ish rule. j t j s arbitrary, unjust, corrupt, and at times wantonly cruel. Taxation Taxation is on the simple system of squeezing from Muiier, 505-6. j- ne individual as much as possible. The rate imposed is as much as ten per cent of the produce of the soil — sometimes twelve per cent, or fourteen per cent. But the method of collection is the good old Oriental system of farming it to speculators, and as they must make their percentage ' ' it not unfrequently comes about that one third is levied instead of one tenth." To this produce tax must be added house, land, cattle, tobacco, and pasturage taxes. Then the Christian population are not admitted to the military service, and are taxed for Nature of Turk- The Empire of the Turks. 253 the dispensation. And, moreover, any of these imposi- tions are liable to arbitrary increase at any moment. The protection of life and property is a fair gauge of good government. Tried by this test the Turkish gov- eity. and pr ° P " ernment is about as bad as anything can be. The evidence of a Christian is not good in a Mohammedan court of law, and accordingly a non-Mohammedan is at the mercy of his Turkish neighbors. The police are inefficient, at best, and at a distance of only a few miles from the large cities, brigandage is common. Laveleye mentions cases in which valuable landed estates are worthless because there is no safety. The courts are, as a rule, venal. Justice can be had in them — if paid for. The sagacious and incorruptible The courts - cadi of Oriental tales is dead long since. The weightiest legal argument to-day is the largest bribe. It is almost needless to say that public administration is both corrupt and ignorant. Large sums have repeat- Administration, edly been expended on public works without result, so much has been wasted and stolen. The soldiers, even, have often gone unpaid for months. In such case the officers are left to live on bribes, and the privates have no resource but robbery. Reforms have often been promised, but have never been carried out. They never will be. Since 1875 the nation has been bankrupt. Nearly all the ordinary revenues are pledged to pay the interest on the bonds. The remainder is actually less than that of little Belgium. And yet Turkey is a large empire with an expensive army, navy, and civil administration. Even if govern- ment were honest and efficient, the financial outlook would be gloomy. But when to bankruptcy are added chronic theft and administrative imbecility, it will be seen that the future is not hopeful. 254 Etirope in the Nineteenth Century. The subject races. The empire in 1801. Greeks. Albanians. Bulgarians. It has been said that the Turks are only a quarter of the people within the limits of what has been their terri- tory in Europe. The other three fourths are as thorough a mixture of races as exists in Austria-Hungary. When the nineteenth century opened, the Turkish rule extended to the present frontiers of Austria and Russia. Roumania, Servia, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Herze- govina, Montenegro, Greece, all were subject to the sultan. Of the various peoples who during our century have been thus under Turkish dominion, the Greeks are con- spicuous. In the Balkan peninsula, Asia Minor, and the islands, these people number about eight million, of whom only a little more than two million are in the kingdom of Greece. Claiming to be descended from the Greeks of ancient glory, and speaking a tongue as little removed from that of the age of Pericles as our speech is from the English of the Middle Ages, yet it is more than likely that the modern Greeks are largely Slavonic in blood. Still, these foreign elements have been thoroughly Hellenized in language, customs, and tradi- tions. They as a nation belong to the orthodox Greek Church, to which they are devotedly attached. The Albanian mountaineers, a hardy race whom the Turks reduced with great difficulty, are probably of old Graeco-Italic stock, purer in blood than the Greeks. At least seven tenths of them are Mohammedans, the rest being of the Greek churches. The Bulgarians are Slavs, although the Bulgars, from whom they take their name, were a Tatar race. But this handful of Turanians became as completely absorbed in the mass of the Slavonic people as the Normans of England did among the Saxons. The Bulgarians are industrious, patient, somewhat dull, peasants. They The Empire of the Turks. 255 form the common laborers of Roumelia and Macedonia, besides being the bulk of the population in Bulgaria. They are mostly of the orthodox Greek Church. The people of Servia and Montenegro belong to the Servians and same branch of the Slavic race, which is identical with the south Slavic stock of the Croats in Hungary. They are intellectually the most brilliant of all the Slavs, having a most interesting national history and literature. Their religion is that of the orthodox Greek Church. The Roumanians are a different people from the Roumanians. others. As their name implies, they call themselves Romans, and their language is a Romance tongue, bearing the same relation to Latin as Spanish or Italian. It is the national claim that they are descended from Roman military colonists whom Trojan gave settlements near the Danube. The probability is that their ances- tors were Latinized Macedonian peasants who were driven north of the river by Slavic invasions. They are mostly adherents of the orthodox Greek Church. The Jews in the old Turkish limits are very numerous. In Roumania there are no less than three hundred thou- sand of them. True to their race instincts they are a trading class — an economical, prudent, shrewd people who prosper in this world's goods. The valley of the Danube is the home of more than half of the eight hundred thousand European Gypsies. In Roumania alone there are at least three hundred thou- sand of them. In that country they were long held as slaves, only becoming free in 1864. They are nearly as puzzling an element of society there as are the negroes in some of our southern states. The history of the Balkan peninsula before the con- quest by the Turks is long and varied. It was the seat of the Greek Empire, the eastern division of the great Jews. Gypsies. The Balkan pen- insula before the Turks. 256 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Roman Empire which Caesar Augustus created, which Constantine made Christian, and which Diocletian di- vided. But this eastern portion, Oriental in customs and Greek in tongue, yet called itself always the Roman Empire, and its Greek speech was called Roman {Ro- maic). The western and strictly Latin division of the empire was subverted by the end of the fifth century, but Roman emperors continued to reign at Constanti- nople until the fatal year 1453. During those long centuries the peninsula became filled with Slav immi- grants, and these the Oriental Christian priests from the capital succeeded in con- verting to Christianity. It was a mission from the same source which carried the cross to the Russians. And so it came about that the Slavic nations are nearly all of the Greek faith, just as the Teutonic and Celtic peoples are Latin Christians. Before the Turkish conquest, two of these Slav nations founded great empires. The Bulgarians had filled the peninsula before the seventh century. In the ninth century they were converted to Christian- ity, and through their priests acquired a large degree of Byzantine culture. In the tenth century, and again in the twelfth century, Bulgarian kingdoms were founded, which waged war on equal terms with the emperor at Constantinople. The Bulgarian power was overthrown by the Turks in 1390. And for nearly five hundred years, until 1878, the Bulgarians were subject to Mohammedan masters. The Servians came down from the Car- Bulgarian National Costume The Empire of the Turks. 257 pathian Mountains in the seventh century and settled in The Ser vian what were then waste lands in the central part of the Em P ire - peninsula. They were not then a united people, but lived in independent groups under their princes for six hundred years. In 1222 these scattered bands were united into a single empire, under the rule of Stephen, the first tsar of all the Servian lands. The thirteenth and fourteenth centuries were the heroic age of the Servians. They developed brilliant political and military genius, and a poetic literature of no mean order. Their great hero was the tsar Stephen Dushan, who ascended the throne in 1333. He subjugated Macedonia, Thessaly, and Epirus, and made the Bulgarians tributary. He had a noble scheme for the union of the whole peninsula in one empire, uniting Greeks, Bulgarians, and Servians under his rule, and in 1355 set out to subjugate Con- stantinople. But he died on the march and his scheme fell through. Could it have been carried out, the Turks might have been kept out of Europe. In 1389 Lazar, the last Servian tsar, was defeated and slain by the Turks at the fatal battle of Kossovo, and the Servian Empire was subjugated. Some few Servian fugitives took refuge in Austria. A few others succeeded in maintaining a hardy independence in the mountains of Montenegro. But the mass of the nation, like the Bulgarians, fell under the Turkish yoke and only regained their liberties in our own century. The Ottoman Turks first appear in history about the The Turks. year 1240. They overran the eastern Roman Empire, conquering Servia in 1389 and Bulgaria in 1390. Finally the imperial city itself yielded to their siege, and in . , , -,_.., FallofConstan- 1453 Constantinople became the seat 01 lurkisn power, tinopie, 1453. Thus the Mohammedans gained their foothold in Europe. If Servians, Bulgarians, and Greeks could have united, 258 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. the Turks could have been kept out. But national jealousy made this union impossible. Again, if western Europe had given help, the invasion might have been repelled. But religious hatred prevented.. And to this day the Turks are kept in Constantinople by the same fact which gave them admittance — the discord and jealousy of Europe. The Turkish Empire in Europe reached its height Turkey under un der Solyman the Magnificent. He ruled over all the Solyman. J <-> Balkan peninsula, and nearly all Hungary. Roumania, Transylvania, and the neighboring lands were tributary. The Turkish dominions encircled the Black Sea. Aus- tria was in danger. The high-water mark of Turkish power is Vienna, which they besieged in 1682. They were driven away and the city saved by the army of the king of Poland. And from that time the threatening tide of Turkish invasion began to recede. But in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries Christen- dom trembled at the name of the Turks. Under Stephen Dushan the Servians seemed to promise as powerful a civilization as the Germans. That promise was shattered by the Turks, and for many years it seemed by no means sure that they would not crush the Teutonic powers also. SUMMARY. The Turks are aliens in race, language, religion, social institutions, and political ideas. The Turkish government is a monarchy, despotic, arbitrary, unjust, corrupt, and often cruel. Taxes are farmed to speculators who collect all they can. The subject races constitute three fourths the population of Turkey. The chief races are the Greeks, Albanians, Servians, Roumanians, Gypsies, and Jews. Before the Turkish conquest in 1453 there were strong Bul- garian and Servian states in the Balkans. CHAPTER XXIV. THE EXPULSION OF THE TURKS FROM EUROPE. The history of eastern Europe for the last two hun- dred years has been the story of the gradual expulsion of the Turks from the continent. Their tyranny has been grievous, the lands they have misgoverned have been impoverished and miserable. But as Europe could never , unite to rescue these victims of Oriental oppres- sion, and, at the same time, as the powers have never been willing that any one nation alone should drive out the Turks and inherit their lands, the process has been slow and spasmodic. The Turks at their best estate were fitted only for Decadence of conquest. When their victorious march westward ceased, they became fond of luxury. Thereafter their soldiers fought only for plunder. The sultans were no longer virile warriors, but were mere effeminate dawdlers in the harem. And all authority, civil and military, was re- laxed. With this growing feebleness of the empire, in- surrections became bolder, foreign attacks more formid- able and successful, until the mighty dominions of Solyman have crumbled to their present narrow bounds. After the siege of Vienna, the Germans and Hunga- rians continued to push back the invaders until, in 1699, from Germany Hungary was cleared of the Asiatic hordes, and a treaty „ & J , ' J Treaty of Car- extorted from the sultan which recognized Hungarian lowitz, 1699. independence. This was the first treaty the Turks had deigned to make with a Christian power. The rescue of the southern extremity of the great 259 26o Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Independence of Greece, 1821-30. Timavenis, II. 348. peninsula dates from the third decade of the present century. Those fair lands, the home of Greek literature and art to which our modern world owes so much, had for centuries been ground under a relentless and capri- cious despotism. The unfortunate Christians found that there was no law for them. The sons were taken from them for the Turkish army, a real ' ' tribute of blood, ' ' their property and lives were at the mercy of brutal governors. "Neither the complete submis- sion of the van- quished, n^r the payment of taxes or of the ' tribute of blood,' satiated the savage cru- elty of the Turks, s and bishops of the Church were hanged like the worst of malefac- tors in Constan- tinople; hundreds of Christians were butchered in the churches of Smyrna, hundreds of patriots were roasted to death in Attica, Eubcea, and elsewhere. No family was safe; no woman dared appear in the streets; nobody's life was secure, because a Turk was promoted in proportion to the Christians he could claim for his victims." During the eighteenth century there had been a re- nascence among the Greeks of their ancient language, and circumstances had favored their merchants in the MODERN GREECE The Expulsion of the Turks from Europe. 261 Levant with great prosperity. The revolutionary and Napoleonic wars in western Europe cut off traffic with eastern ports and left the carrying trade to the enter- prising sailors of the Greek islands. At the same time the rigor of Turkish tyranny was relaxed. But with renewed intelligence and prosperity there came an awakening of national consciousness, and there was earnest hope that in the general settlement at Vienna something might be done for the Greeks. When this hope proved groundless, a swarm of secret political societies sprang into existence in all the lands where Greeks lived, and in 1821 they began insurrec- tion. The first attempt was made in the provinces north of the Danube, Moldavia and Wallachia (the present kingdom of Roumania). This rising was easily crushed, but almost immediately revolt sprang up in the Morea and spread to the mainland on the north. The Turks were massacred everywhere, men, women, Massacre of and children being slaughtered. The sultan attacked the insurgents with troops and his fleet, but the year 1822 was signalized by victories for the patriots both on land and sea. The war dragged for years, being marked on each side by horrible atrocities. The Greeks were quite as brutal as the Turks, and whenever the pressure of invasion was relaxed, they at once fell to quarreling among themselves. At last the sultan, de- spairing of success alone, called on his vassal, Mehemet Ali, the semi-independent ruler of Egypt, for help. Mehemet sent his son Ibrahim with a fleet and army, and the Greek peninsula was overrun by the Egyptians, and fire and slaughter followed. Now at length the great powers intervened, and in 1827 England, France, and Russia called on the belligerents to cease hostilities. The Turks refused to obey, and thereupon the allied Mehemet Ali. 262 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Battle of Navarino, Oct. 20, 1827. 183O-2. Annexations. fleets attacked the fleet of Ibrahim in the harbor of Navarino and utterly destroyed it. This ended the war in Greece. Ibrahim soon afterwards, being threat- ened by a French army, withdrew to Egypt, and hos- tilities in the peninsula ceased. In the following year, Russia declared war against Turkey on other grounds, and a Russian army nearly reached Constantinople. Meanwhile the anarchy of the Greek government led to such confusion that in 1827 an outsider was called on to take the executive power. Count Capodistrias, a Greek who had been in the Russian service, was elected president. He was an able administrator and a tried patriot, but so inveterate were the local dissensions in Greece that he proved unable to cope with them, and in 1 83 1 he was murdered. In the final settlement it was agreed that Greece should be independent, although its limits were made as narrow as possible, and Prince Otho of Bavaria was chosen king. Leopold, afterwards king of Belgium, had declined the crown, feeling that the territory was far too small for success. Otho was not very well fitted to administer the turbulent and poor young kingdom, and in 1862 a revolution drove him from the throne. Prince George of Denmark took his place in the following year. The slender boundaries of 1830 have been somewhat extended since. In 1864 England ceded the Ionian Islands, a rare instance of national generosity. The rearrangements which followed the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 gave Thessaly and part of Epirus to their southern neighbor. But the Greeks do not feel that their destiny is fulfilled as long as there is a Turk in Europe. Epirus and Macedonia are naturally Greek, and Constantinople itself is the dream of many Greek patriots. The Expulsion of the Turks from Europe. 263 The little kingdom is very poor, and is cursed by an excess of politics. It is free from Turkish misrule. But whether it can prosper in sober self-government remains to be seen. The Slav subjects of the sultan have won their free- The siav dom by a series of efforts extending over many years. The little principality of Montenegro ( ' ' Tzernagora, ' ' Montenegro. the Black Mountain) is only one hundred miles long by eighty miles wide. It is a cluster of rugged mountains in whose inaccessible fastnesses a remnant of the old Servian Empire of Stephen Dushan has practically main- tained its independence to the present day. The Turks for a time compelled the mountaineers to pay tribute, but in 1703 they revolted, and since then have been quite free. In 1858 the sultan made another attempt to subdue them. But at the battle of Grahovo, in the mountain passes, the Turkish army was cut to pieces, losing seven thousand killed to only forty-seven of the Montenegrins. This ended any serious attempt at in- vasion. The freedom of Roumania has been won by the events of nearly a century. In 1774 Russia ended Roumama - a six years' war with Turkey, among other things making some stipulations for the security of the peo- ple of Roumania. They were to be ruled by their own hospodars (governors), and no Turkish garrisons were to be north of the Danube. In 1829 another Russo-Turkish war was closed by the treaty of Adrian- ople, and by its terms Roumania was made a Russian protectorate. The Peace of Paris in 1856 marked Rus- sian defeat in place of victory. Roumania was left auton- omous under Turkish suzerainty; but the Russian pro- tectorate was ended, and, to prevent the formation of an independent kingdom, the country was separated into 264 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. 1830. Bulgaria. the two provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia. This artificial separation irritated the Roumanians, and in 1859 they rebelled against it. Their national union was successful, and in 1866 they chose as their king Prince Charles of Hohenzollern, distantly related to the Prus- sian royal house. Under his wise constitutional rule the little kingdom has steadily prospered. The freedom of Servia was the fruit of the courage of the Servian people. They hoped for help from Austria and from Russia, but in vain. At last, in 1807, under a brave peasant, Kara George (Black George), the Ser- vians rebelled. For four years they fought gallantly, but the movement failed. In 1815 the revolt again broke out, this time led by another peasant, Milosch, and after nearly fifteen years of war the Turks recog- nized Servia as virtually an independent state. Tribute was to be paid to the sultan, and Turkish garrisons were maintained in certain fortresses. After this treaty Servia was at peace, except for internal quarrels. The prince was a member of the family of Kara George or Milosch, a series of revolutions putting one or the other on the throne. In 1867 the Turkish garrisons were driven out, and two years later a liberal constitution was adopted. Bulgaria lay in the heart of the Turkish Empire, and its people were the most patient and inoffensive of all the subject races. They suffered in silence until 1876. In that year the Slavs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, irri- tated beyond endurance by Turkish misrule, rose against their oppressors. This movement precipitated a feeble in- surrection among the Bulgarians. It was easily quelled, but the revenge of the Turks was frightful. A horde of bashi-bazouks (irregular cavalry) was let loose on the simple peasant folk. Murder and outrage ran riot. Men, women, and children were slaughtered in cold The Expulsion of the Turks from Europe. 265 blood by thousands, and nameless infamies were wrought in every village. The leaders in these atroci- ties were rewarded by the Turkish government. But the indignation of the civilized world blazed hotly when the truth was known. Servia and Montenegro at once declared war, and the next year Russia came to their 1877- aid. At the end of two campaigns Bulgaria was wrung from Turkey and was made a free land. Russia, almost from the beginning of its national ex- . The Russian istence, has been the enemy of Turkey. One reason advance, has been geographical. Russia has had to strive for an outlet on the sea. And Turkey on the south held all the Black Sea littoral, and still holds the only outlet from that sea. Another reason has been that of race. Russia, as the great Slav power, has felt like guarding the interests of the numerous Slavic peoples whom the sultan held in subjection. Another more powerful rea- son is the religious question. Russia holds to the orthodox Greek Church, and sympathizes keenly with brethren of that faith who are held under the Turkish yoke. And then the strategic position of Constantinople has been a powerful attraction to the land-locked em- pire of the tsars. For all these reasons the relation of Russia and Tur- key for a hundred years has been that of frequent war. Nearly every province which has shaken off the rule of the sultan has had the aid of the tsar. And not a few of those provinces are now a part of Russia. The first advance was made in the war of 1768-74. Treat of _ The Tatars north of the Black Sea became independent of the sultan. Russia acquired an outlet on the Black Sea, pushing the Turkish frontier back to the river Bug. And the Roumanian principalities were taken under Russian protectorate. And at the same time the 266 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Treaty of 1792. Treaty of 1812. Treaty of 1S29. sultan bound himself ' ' to protect the Christian religion and its churches." At the end of the next war, in 1792, the Turkish frontier was pushed back again, this time to the river Dniester. And in 1S12 it receded to the Pruth. When the Greek revolt had given evidence of its vigor and determination, and the Turks by their horrible massacres had made Europe shudder, the people of Russia were eager for war on Turkey. But Alexander I. was committed to the policy of Metternich, and so he could regard his co-religionists in Greece only as rebels. But Nicholas took a different view. He was not bound to Metternich and cared nothing for what went on in western Europe. He readily joined with France and England to stop the subjugation of Greece by Ibrahim Pasha, in 1827. And when the allies of Nicholas would go no further, in the next year he made war on Turkey alone. The summer of 1829 saw the Russian army at Adrianople, and the tsar was able to make a successful peace. His protectorate over Moldavia and Wallachia was confirmed and extended. Turkish garrisons, fortresses, and even private subjects, were excluded from the left bank of the Danube. The waters connecting the Black Sea with the Mediterranean were open to the commerce of all nations at peace with the Porte. No annexations of territory were made by Russia, but a money indemnity was given by Turkey. In the course of these transactions with the Porte, the tsar had come to regard himself as holding a sort of relation of guardianship to the Greek Christians in general, and the Slavs in particular, who lived in the Turkish Empire. And under such circumstances it was not easy to continue long on good terms with a neighbor of such quality as the sultan. A dispute between the The Expulsion of the Turks from Europe. 267 Greek and the Latin monks who had the care of the 1852-3, holy places at Jerusalem was easily fanned into an inter- national quarrel. The tsar made demands which the sultan refused. The latter was supported by France and England, and in 1854 war was formally declared, war, X \^-t. It was the aim of the allies to put an end to Russian encroachment. At vast cost of life and treasure the great arsenal of Sevastopol was destroyed. Russia was defeated, and the tsar signed a treaty of peace which renounced the protectorate over Wallachia and Mol- Treaty of 1856. davia, gave up a strip of Bessarabia and the mouth of the Danube, and neutralized the Black Sea as against the war ships of all nations. Sevastopol was perma- nently dismantled and Russia agreed not to establish a naval arsenal anywhere on its coasts. This was a decided check of the Russian advance, and was forced on that nation by a threat of a combination of the other great powers with the allies, and by the fact that the war had already shattered Russian resources. SUMMARY. For two hundred years the Turkish power in Europe has been declining. By the treaty of Carlowitz (1699) Turkey recognized the independence of Hungary. After a struggle lasting from 1821 to 1833, Greece became an independent kingdom. Several Slav states are almost independent — Montenegro since 1703, Roumania since 1856, Servia since 1830, Bulgaria since 1877. Russia has steadily advanced southward, urged on by the need of a seaport, and by religious and racial considerations. By her first advance (1774), Russia acquired a foothold on the Black Sea. In 1792 Russia advanced to the Dniester and in 1812 receded to the Pruth. In the Crimean War France and England interfered to pre- vent Russian aggression on Turkey. CHAPTER XXV. THE EASTERN QUESTION. There has long been a report current that Peter the of Peter fhe w ' Great at his death impressed it on his heirs that it was their duty to dismember the Ottoman Empire and to secure Constantinople. Whether this report is or is not well founded cannot easily be determined. But it cer- tainly has been traditional Russian policy to seek terri- torial aggrandizement at the expense of the sultan. The Tatars north of the Black Sea were for many years tributary to Turkey. Since 1774 they have been sub- jects of the tsar. Before that year the Euxine was a Turkish lake. Now the tsar owns as much of its littoral as does the sultan. And the Russian advance has followed the Asiatic shore as well as the European. The province of Transcaucasia, conquered in the present century, brings the Russian arms within striking distance of Armenia and Asia Minor. An ever present source of discord between Russia and OuesUon 8i ° US Turkey has been the condition of the Christian subjects of the Porte. Nearly all of them are of the Oriental Church, and Russia is the only great power of that faith. Naturally, then, the great eastern Christian monarchy has felt that it is the logical successor of the Greek Empire, much as, until the opening years of our own century, the Holy Roman Empire claimed to be the veritable Roman Empire of the west. And so the Russians have felt a strong sympathy for their co- religionists who were under the Mohammedan yoke, and The Eastern Question. 269 when, in 1821, Sultan Mahmud hanged the patriarch of Constantinople in his sacred robes on Easter Sunday, the Russian people were thrilled with a horror and rage, deeper than the mere barbarity of the act aroused in western Europe. War against Turkey has been with the Russians a holy crusade, such as through many cen- turies the Spaniard waged against the Moor. For another reason the Turkish Empire has been an element of unrest in Europe. It has long been plain to 270 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. all that it is not permanent. It has taken no root. The Turks are merely encamped in Europe; and it is merely a question of time when the last of them must return across the Bosphorus. As soon as this idea was realized by the western nations, in place of the dread of the Turk which had so long- been part and parcel of European thinking, the question of the disposal to be made of the Turkish possessions became matter of live interest. And this is the Eastern Question. The Greek Empire vanished forever when the last Constantine fell in 1453. The only problem is one of partition. And the heart of it all is the disposal to be made of Constantinople. That imperial city has a site that, in strong hands, means power and wealth. What shall become of it ? Russia early formed designs of conquest, whatever may be the truth about Peter's will. The Empress Catherine added to her domains at the expense of Turkey, and she had a grand scheme for a restoration of the Greek Empire under a Russian prince. Alexander I. , at Tilsit, planned a partition of the Ottoman Empire with Napoleon, but the latter declined to see Constan- tinople in Russian hands. "Constantinople," said he, "is the empire of the world." In 1844 Nicholas visited England and made guarded suggestions to the prime minister about the Turkish lands. The Ottoman Empire, he said, was a sick man, nearly at the last extremity. He must be kept alive as long as possible, but it was wise to take in view, frankly, all contingencies. Eng- land declined to plan for a share of the inheritance, and nothing was done. In 1853 Nicholas resumed the sub- ject with the British ambassador at St. Petersburg. The sick man, he now held, was at the point of death. It The Eastern Question. 271 would be well if all the states north of the Balkans should, like Moldavia and Wallachia, be made inde- pendent, under a Russian protectorate. England might annex Egypt and Crete. But again England de- clined and, indeed, the next year went to war with Russia to save the sick man from a premature end at the hands of the would-be administrator of the estate. Another power deeply interested in the future of the Turkish dominions is Austria. That empire has been the A ^ strian inter - traditional enemy of the Turk, and at the end of the seventeenth century was the actual bulwark of Europe against Mohammedan conquest. When the tide of war rolled the other way, Austria was ready to share in the spoils. Twice, near the end of the eighteenth century, was an alliance made between Russia and Austria for the partition of Turkey; and if the plans of Tilsit had been carried out, Austria stood ready to lend a hand and to claim a share. Of course it would be a grave danger to Austria-Hun- gary to have a great power possess the lands on her southern border. Again, the Austrian Slavs are natur- ally in sympathy with their brethren in the Balkan penin- sula. And in the general break-up, Austria may well expect an extension of frontiers — perhaps so far as to have an outlet on the JEgean. England has both a financial and a political interest in , „ . . . .,.,.. English infer- tile east, lurkey has been very generous in effecting ests. loans, and the bonds are largely held in England. And the large English possessions in India make the route to that dependency matter of vital moment. So long as the path of Da Gama around the Cape of Good Hope was followed, the eastern Mediterranean was of less im- portance. But in 1869 the Suez ship canal was com- pleted, which diverted commerce to the ancient track. 272 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Revolt in Her- zegovina, 1875. Ante, p. 269. Muller, 516-7. Since then England has been keenly alive to the danger of allowing a possible hostile power to get a footing near the route to India. The stipulations of the peace of 1856 prevented Rus- sia from forming a naval force on the Black Sea. This prohibition lasted until other combinations among the powers made it possible to throw off the yoke of the treaty. In 1870 France and Germany were grappling in a death struggle. Russia promptly seized the occa- sion, and announced that she would no longer be bound by the treaty of 1856. Germany was quite willing to assent on condition of Russian neutrality. Austria had been crushed in 1866 and so was in no condition to in- terfere. France was disabled. England was not pre- pared alone to go to war with Russia, and in any event was handicapped by an unsettled dispute with another nation. During the American war between the states, 1861-65, southern cruisers were built and equipped in English ports and allowed to go to sea and destroy American shipping. This plain infraction of interna- tional law had so enraged the Americans that they would have welcomed a war between England and Russia as a convenient occasion for reprisal. England hastened to settle this American question by a treaty which led to the payment of fifteen million five hundred thousand dollars damages. But meanwhile Sevastopol was once more an arsenal and again a Russian fleet floated on the Black Sea. In 1875 the Christians in Herzegovina revolted against the Moslem tyrant. The disturbance spread to Bosnia, and in the following year there was a feeble revolt in Bulgaria. This was put down at once, and was avenged with remorseless brutality. At least twelve thousand of the hapless people were slaughtered in cold blood by the The Eastern Question. 273 savage bashi-bazouks who were turned loose among the villages. At this Servia and Montenegro declared war against Turkey. The little principalities were no match for their stronger adversary, and were thoroughly de- feated. Only a peremptory demand of Russia saved Servia from complete conquest. Then the diplomats of Europe took up the business and tried to bring the sultan to some arrangement which would insure good government for his Christian subjects. But everything failed. The Porte would consent to nothing. And in R USS0 . T urkish the spring of 1877 Russia declared war. war, 1877-8. The Turks fought with valor and skill, and held back their enemies from the passage of the Balkans until winter. But then nothing could stop the Russians. Army after army of the Turks surrendered. Gallant General Gourko, who had seized and held the Shipka Pass, now crossed into the plains. The Russian bayo- nets were in sight from the minarets of Constantinople. Then the Porte yielded. Although an English fleet lay in the Sea of Marmora ready to protect the capital, still the Turkish Empire was overthrown, and had to agree to the terms of the conqueror. The treaty between Russia and Turkey was signed at Treat of San the little village of San Stefano, on the Sea of Marmora. Sie [ a 1°' March . 3. 1078. The sultan recognized the independence of Servia, Montenegro, and Roumania, and ceded territory to the two former. Bulgaria was constituted a self-governing tributary principality, with a Christian governor chosen by the people and confirmed by the Porte, with approval of the great powers. The borders were drawn so as to include a large territory. And while the new system of government was in preparation, Bulgaria was to be occu- pied by a Russian army. Reforms were also guaran- teed in all the remaining dominions of the Porte. Land Fyffe, III., 510. 274 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. near the mouth of the Danube, and land on the Asiatic shore of the Black Sea, were ceded to Russia. Also there was to be a money indemnity. The English prime minister, Beaconsfield, looked on While Beacons- these provisions as insuring a dangerous Russian prepon- mi'niste^inis?? 6 derance in the Balkan peninsula. He vigorously insisted was e given to the ^at ^ e wno ^ e treaty should be revised by a general Empress'of in- European Congress. For a time war between Russia and England seemed impending. And Austria was also discontented. The Congress finally met at Berlin in the summer, and succeeded in making a treaty which was Empres dia. The Eastern Question . 275 accepted. Bulgaria was confined to the land between Treaty of Ber- the Balkans and the Danube. A portion of the pro- ^^ Xy I3, posed Bulgaria south of the Balkans was to be organ- ized as Eastern Roumelia, under the government of the sultan but with admin- istrative autonomy. And Macedonia, which had been in- cluded in the Greater Bulgaria of San Ste- fano, was retained by the sultan. Bosnia and Herzegovina were handed over to Austria. And sundry other cessions of ter- ritory were lessened. The Porte was ad- vised to cedeThessaly and part of Epirus to Greece — which was done in 1 88 1 . Mean- while England made a convention with Turkey by which the former power ac- quired Cyprus, on condition of giving aid in preventing any further Russian conquests in Asiatic Turkey. English jealousy of Russia thus severed Bulgaria, which was one in race and sympathy, and at the same time left under the Turkish yoke the Christians of Macedonia. The latter provision was simply a calamity for the unfortunate Macedonians. The reforms promised Beaconsfield. Leader Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield. of Conservative party. Born, 1805, of Jewish parentage. Author of "Vivian Grey" (1826) and other novels. Tory member of Parlia- ment, 1837. First speech a failure. Chan- cellor of Exchequer, 1852, 1858-9, 1866. Man- aged Conservative reform bill of 1867. Prime minister, 1868, 1874. Raised to peerage, 1876. Died, 1881. 276 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Bulgarian union, 1885. 1S85. by Turkey, of course, were not carried out, and Turk- ish misgovernment yet prevails. As to Eastern Rou- melia, a revolution in 1885 threw off the authority of the sultan, and the province was at once annexed to Bulgaria. This aroused the jealousy of Servia, which made a foolish war on Bulgaria. The latter country was com- pletely victorious, and only the inter- position of Austria kept the Bulgarian army from entering Belgrade. Bulgaria was or- ganized as a consti- tutional principality tributary to Turkey. Its legislature is elected by universal suffrage. The first prince chosen was Alexander of Batten- berg, who showed himself loyal to his people and, in the Servian war, a gal- lant and a skilful But ever since the war of 1877-8, Russian in- trigue has been busy in the peninsula. The liberators thought it a grievance that the liberated Slav states were not docile to Russian influence. On the other hand the democratic Slavs, who had now won liberty and self- VlCTORIA. Victoria Alexandrina, Queen of Great Britain and crjlflipr Ireland and Empress of India. Born, 1819. &ululcx • Succeeded her uncle, William IV., 1837. Mar- ried to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, The Eastern Question. 277 government, had no notion of becoming in any way dependent on the autocratic tsar. And in 1886 it came about that Prince Alexander was forced to abdicate be- Alexander abdi- cates, 1886. cause he would not yield to Russian ideas. The nation as a whole, however, was decidedly anti-Russian, and in 1887, without consulting the tsar or the other powers, Bulgaria elected Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg, a grandson of Louis Philippe, to the throne. He accepted the crown, although by the treaty of Berlin the assent of the chosen prince. signatory powers was necessary. That assent was not given, but on the other hand, no nation was quite ready to interfere. War in the Balkans, once begun, would end nobody knows where and when. Servia and Roumania are governed under a constitu- tion quite similar to that of Bulgaria. In all these states, Constitutions. as well as in Greece, there is a legislature of a single house, chosen by universal suffrage, and the crown administers government by a responsible ministry, after the English fashion. The mountaineers of Montenegro are less democratic, their patriarchal prince being prac- tically autocratic. Servia and Roumania have given their princes the higher dignity of king. The Balkan states are alike in being thoroughly democratic in their social life. Long subjection to the Turk has crushed ditions. out inequalities. There are no great fortunes. There is much shrewdness and not much knowledge. The governments are all trying to introduce the civilization of western Europe — and that means free schools and railroads and national debt. Education is nominally compulsory. There is an ex- tensive system of common schools, with ambitious uni- versities in the capitals. Some improvement is visible. In Servia, in 1874, only four per cent of the people could read and write. Ten years later this proportion 278 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. had risen to ten per cent. Liberty has brought order and safety for life and property. Agriculture, manu- factures, and commerce, have greatly increased. With the projects for internal improvements, however, and the organization of expensive national governments, have come loans, and these have increased to dangerous proportions. When the Greek kingdom was formed by the agree- ment of the powers in 1830, its territory was jealously limited. On the north Thessaly and Epirus were shorn from the claims of the Greeks — a deprivation which the Hellenes always felt to be a grievous wrong, and which was righted, and but partially at that, not until 1878, in the treaty of Berlin. On the south the island of Crete was left under the sultan. Crete, an island of about the shape of Cuba, though Crete. much smaller, lies only sixty miles from the mainland of Greece. The bulk of the population are Greek in blood and in religion, and shared to the full in the re- sentment of their compatriots on the mainland against Turkish tyranny. Hence when the Greek revolution broke out in 1821, the Cretans joined in the rising, and succeeded in driving the Turks to take refuge in the coast towns. But when the great powers settled mat- ters, as they did in 1830, Crete was not made a part of Greece, as should have been done, but by way of com- promise it was taken from the sultan and given to Mehemet Ali, the semi-independent ruler of Egypt. The condition of the island was somewhat more toler- able under Egyptian government than it had been under that of Turkey. In 1840, however, there was another rearrangement of eastern affairs, and the powers now had Crete given back to the Turks. This was not at all to the liking of the Cretans, and they have repeatedly George I. Born at Copenhagen, December 24, 1845. Elected king of the Hellenes, March 30, 1S63. 28o Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Insurrection of 1897. Possible so- lutions of the Eastern Ques- tion. Russian domi- nance. Austrian domi- nance. revolted, the insurrection of 1866 having wrested from the sultan a decided reform. But now they are again in revolt. Their aim is to win independence from Turkey and to be annexed to Greece. Naturally the latter kingdom sympathizes with this effort, and has sought the help of the great powers in securing it. But the powers dread a disturbance of the status quo in the east, not at all knowing how far the slightest commotion may lead. For this reason they have refused to sup- port the Greeks in their Cretan policy. In February, 1897, the Greek government sent an armed force to aid the Cretan insurrection. The powers resented this, and in turn sent a combined squadron to Crete, with orders to prevent further hostilities. Then Greece, against the advice of the governments, and apparently possessed by a national frenzy, went to war with Turkey. The cam- paign lasted only a month. The Greeks were out- numbered, out-generaled, out-fought, and routed. The Turks overran Thessaly, and perhaps might have con- quered all Greece. But at this point the powers inter- vened, and under their influence peace was made. The victors retired from Thessaly and the vanquished had to pay a heavy indemnity. There are several possible solutions of the Eastern Question. If Russia could repeat the campaign of 1877-8 un- hindered by the western powers, the tsar would doubt- less replace the sultan at Constantinople, and Russian influence would be dominant in the peninsula. But this will hardly be permitted. On the other hand, the Austrian Empire, already a conglomerate of nations, might include all the Balkans, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina. Those provinces have benefited greatly from the enlightened government The Eastern Question. 281 which Austria has introduced. But the Germans and Hungarians in the dual monarchy would object to any further extension of Slav power. And it is not likely that the other powers would consent to see Austria at the Bosphorus. The process now begun may be completed, and a cluster of small independent states may replace the once states?" wide empire of the Ottoman in Europe. The question then would be as to the division of the territory yet remaining to the sultan. Greece claims a large slice of Albania and Macedonia. Bulgaria, on the contrary, insists that the people of Macedonia are mostly Bulgars, and that the Greater Bulgaria of San Stefano ought to be realized. Austria would like at least to extend to Salonika, so as to have an outlet on the ^Egean. A much stronger and more stable state would be formed by a federation of all the independent lands in federation, the peninsula. There would thus be a free and demo- cratic Slav nation in the south as a balance for the great Slav despotism of the north. And the little Greek kingdom certainly ought to have a larger area and to include more Greeks. Such a federation would be dangerous to Austria, as it would exert a strong attraction on the Slav elements in that monarchy. But the Turk cannot stay in Europe much longer. Civilization must rule these fair lands in some form. And anything is better than Turkish misrule. SUMMARY. A chief source of discord between Russia and Turkey has been the condition of Christians in Turkey. Russians regard war with Turkey as a holy crusade. It is apparent that the Turks must leave Europe, and the 282 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. disposition of their territories constitutes the Eastern Ques- tion. Russia has long desired to acquire Constantinople. Austrian Slavs sympathize with their brethren in the Balkans, and Austria could not allow any great power to possess the lands on her southern border. English citizens hold many Turkish bonds, and the control of Constantinople by a strong power would endanger Eng- land's trade route to India. During the Franco-Prussian War, Russia absolved herself from the treaty of 1856. The treaty of San Stefano (1878) gave Russia such pre- ponderance in the Balkans that a European congress met at Berlin to settle the points at issue. The Eastern Question may be solved by Russian domi- nance, by Austrian dominance, by a system of independent states, or by a Balkan federation. A Modern War Cruiser. PART VI.-THE MINOR POWERS. PRELIMINARY. In the Middle Ages, Europe was broken up into a great number of small states. The change to modern Medieval states ° ° many and life consisted, for one thing, in fusing a number of these small, into a single nation. In that way France was formed, for example. And in our own century the union of Germany and of Italy are illustrations of the same process on a large scale. But there are still a few states which remain small in area and population as survivals from medieval condi- 1 \ , Some surviv- tions. The tiny republics of Andorra and San Marino, ais. and the duchy of Luxemburg, are among the smallest of these. Switzerland, Holland, and Belgium are them- selves little clusters of what were Middle Age units, but which, owing to a variety of circumstances, never became absorbed in the large nations. Spain and Portugal were once powers of no mean rank. But their energies were exhausted before our age Decayed states, opened, and they are now quite at one side from the currents of European life. And at the other extremity of the continent are the Scandinavians. Although cen- turies ago the sea kings roved along all the coasts, and The Northmen ' founded permanent settlements and royal dynasties in France and Britain and Sicily, in our day they, too, have been so far at one side as to have little share in the great events which absorb the attention of the world. But for all that these minor powers are well worth study. 283 CHAPTER XXVI. THE SMALL CENTRAL STATES. Switzerland. In the summer of 1291, three Alpine valleys, Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden, formed a league to resist the tyranny of the bailiffs who, in the name of their noble masters, oppressed the mountaineers. This was the germ of the Swiss confederacy. At first there was no thought of independence. But as other communities joined the confederates, the tie of allegiance to the Ger- man emperor became weaker, and at the end of the Thirty Years' War, in 1648, the confederated cantons found themselves free. These early years of Switzerland are the theme of romantic and heroic story without end. Here belongs the tale of Wil- liam Tell and the apple — a legend which, like that of George Washing- ton and the cherry tree, we mustplace among those fondly be- lieved fictions which modern science relegates to poets and ballad mongers. The confederation grew slowly by the addition of neighboring cantons, until in 1798 there were thirteen — the same number (unlucky as some would think it) 284 The Small Central States. 285 with which the United States began. These cantons were quite independent of one another, their union being merely an alliance. The confederate Diet was thus merely a meeting of ambassadors, having no power to act. Beside the thirteen allied cantons there was a group of associated and protected territories subject to one or more of the cantons. In 1798 the French, eager to propagate their own successive con- liberty, fraternity, and equality, overturned the confed- stltutIons - eration and set up the ' ' Helvetic Republic, one and in- divisible, ' ' patterned exactly after the French republic. In 1803 Napoleon again altered the form of governments to correspond with his reorganization of France. By adding some of the associated states the thirteen cantons now became nineteen. And in 181 5 the allies, at the Congress of Vienna, added three more, making the present number twenty-two. The federal compact, drawn up by the Swiss Diet at Zurich, was accepted by the Congress, and the powers now guaranteed the neu- trality of the Swiss territory. This constitution was that of a loose confederation, much like that of our own United States between 1781 and 1789. Each had the same great defect — a lack of power in the central gov- ernment. The influence of aristocratic classes was supreme at this 1 The democratic time. And one form of Swiss constitutional growth until revolt. 1848 has been the advance of democratic ideas. The struggle broke out in 1830, and in the next two decades the cantons successively modified their constitutions in a democratic sense, some peaceably, some by revolution. But in the end, civil and political rights were secured to all citizens equally. The sovereignty of the people was fully established. The other element of discord in the confederacy was 286 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. The religious the question of religion. Some cantons were Protestant, war ' and others were Roman Catholic. In 1841 the former attacked the monasteries, and a civil war resulted, in which the Catholics were beaten. Seven cantons of that faith then united for mutual support, and this led to The Sonder- tne c ^ vl ^ war °f the Sonderbund (separate league) in bund - J847. The Catholic league was overthrown. And it was then determined to form a new constitution which should prevent such confusion. The constitution of 1848, amended in 1874, was f 8 °g^ titution of patterned after that of our country. Switzerland, like the United States, is a federal republic. Each canton, like the states of our Union, has its own government. The federal legislature has two houses. The Council of States, like our Senate, has two members from each canton. The National Council represents the people, like our House of Representatives. The executive, unlike ours, is plural. It consists of a board of seven mem- bers, elected for three years by the legislature, the two houses sitting in joint session. These seven form the cabinet, each being at the head of a department, and one of them designated by the legislature as the president, is in fact only the chairman of this cabinet. So there is no president of Switzerland, in our sense. One peculiar feature of Swiss legislation is the refer- Thereferen- endum. Any bill which passes the two houses, on de- dum. J k mand of eight cantons or thirty thousand citizens, must be submitted to a vote of the people before it can be- come valid. Since this was adopted, in 1874, the people have rejected many proposed measures. These rugged mountaineers, who so long have main- Races, tained their independence, and who now have so free a republic in the heart of monarchical Europe, are not of one race. About two thirds of the three million people Education. The Small Central States. 287 are German, being in the majority in fifteen cantons. There are upwards of six hundred thousand French, controlling five cantons. One canton (the Ticino), with one hundred fifty thousand people, is Italian, and one (the Grisons), with less than forty thousand, is Ro- mansch. In the national legislature the three main languages are all used indifferently. Of its schools Switzerland is justly proud. There is a magnificent system of free education, with the best appliances and the best instructors that modern science can provide. A fair comparison of illiteracy among the European nations is afforded by the tests applied to the recruits annually drafted into the army. In 1888, only . 1 1 of one per cent of the Swiss recruits could neither read nor write. Compare this with the 80 per cent of illiter- ates among the recruits of Russia, the 38.44 per cent in Italy, 6.4 per cent in France, and even with the .22 of one per cent in Germany. The Swiss are not wealthy. They are industrious, honest, and intelligent in the highest degree. And the little republic is the natural home of courts of arbitra- tion and conferences in the interest of peace, and of international beneficence, like the Society of the Red Cross. The history of the Netherlands, like that of Switzer- Tne Nether- land, has been greatly modified by the extraordinary lands - nature of the country. Switzerland is a mass of rugged mountains. The Netherlands lie below the sea level, and so the land has to be protected by dykes. Napoleon said that Holland was only the washing of „ . . , , , . / ~ , , Holland was the rrench rivers, and so he annexed it. Others have former name, called it a sort of transition between land and sea — the inaTso-caiied. end of the earth and the beginning of the ocean — a P i e e Dutch. 6 measureless raft of mud and sand. Philip II. of Spain Europe in the Nineteenth Century. called it the country nearest to hell. Philip ought to have known. He burned his fingers there. The fact is it is an artificial country. The Dutch made it. They keep it only by incessant toil. If they should stop working at the dykes, the sea would reclaim the greater part of the Netherlands. Sometimes the ocean gets the better even of Dutch vigilance and industry, as in the thirteenth century, when the inundations opened a a project for vast chasm in North Holland and formed the Zuyder Zuyder Zee has Zee over what was then a populous and fertile district. been formed re- __. , , . . r centiy. Eighty thousand people were swept out 01 existence. Two facts in history have left their mark on the char- acter of the Dutch. One is the eighty years' war of independence against Spain. This was a struggle of unparalleled ferocity. The Dutch revolted against civil and religious tyranny such as few peoples have had to endure. They were a few half-drowned provinces of sailors and merchants, and their oppressor was then the greatest power in Europe. But they won the fight. The other characteristic fact is that the Dutch were at one time a great maritime and naval power. Two hun- dred years ago they were rivals of England on equal terms for commerce and colonies. And to-day the Netherlands are second only to Great Britain in colonial possessions. The French When the French revolutionary wars broke out there was discord among the Hollanders, of which the French availed themselves to conquer the country. It was in this war that the invaders performed the unusual exploit of taking a Dutch fleet by a charge of cavalry. It should be added that the ships were frozen in the ice. The Netherlands were made into the Batavian repub- lic, to match the Helvetic republic in the south of France. But when Napoleon became emperor he converted the Revolution. The Small Central States. 289 republic into a kingdom, and gave the crown to his brother Louis (the father of Louis Napoleon). But the crash of 1814-15 overturned all of Napoleon's client kingdoms, and the allies at the Congress of Vienna made a new kingdom, the Netherlands, by uniting Hol- land and Belgium (taking the latter from France). The crown was given to the son of the last stadtholder, as King William I. The ill-assorted union with Belgium lasted only until Bel ian revolt 1830. There was little in common between the two l83 °- countries. Holland is Protestant, Belgium almost unani- mously Roman Catholic. Holland is devoted to com- merce, Belgium to manufactures. The language of Holland is Dutch, that of Belgium French and Flemish. And under the union the Belgians felt that Holland was trying to make the whole kingdom Dutch. Accordingly they revolted in 1830, and succeeded in establishing their independence. The kingdom of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. The constitution is very liberal, and suffrage is practically universal. The eleven provinces are much like the states of our Union, or the Swiss cantons. The educational system is as thorough as in Switzer- land, and the level of intelligence is exceedingly high. In short, the Dutch are a very modern people. From the first they showed energy and genius far ahead of their times. Their war with the North Sea trained them to great feats of engineering. Their war with their Spanish oppressors gave them perforce civil and religious liberty. They cut the dykes and flooded their land rather than yield to the Spanish invaders. They cele- brated their victory at the terrible siege of Leyden by founding the university at that city, at a time when they were yet hemmed in by deadly war. And when the 290 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Spanish troops were penetrating to the heart of the re- public with fire and sword, the Dutch fleets quietly sailed with the usual cargoes on their distant trading voyages. As colonizers the Dutch have been among the most successful nations. Our own state of New York was a Dutch colony. So was Cape Colony in South Africa. And the Netherlands yet rule over nearly thirty million people in the East and West Indies. Belgium is a very different country. When the Belgium. powers intervened to prevent the Dutch from reconquer- ing it in 1830, a responsibility was incurred which was met by a general guaran- tee of the neutral- ity of the new state. And in that respect it is on the same foot- ing as Switzer- land. Belgium is an old battleground of the nations. Its soil has been soaked with the blood of countless wars. From its situation it is naturally an object of desire to France, and, indeed, for twenty years was included in the territory of that nation. The Belgian constitution makes it a liberal monarchy. The suffrage, until 1893, was very much restricted. It is the most densely populated country in Europe, and, as has been said, the people are nearly all Catholics. Out of about six million people there are only ten thousand Protestants and four thousand Jews. Still, there is full religious liberty, and the clerical control of the public schools has been greatly relaxed. The Small Central States. 291 King Leopold II. is one of the most enlightened of European monarchs. It was under his patronage and at his private expense that the Congo was occupied in 1879. In 1885 the Congo Free State was recognized by the powers, with King Leopold as its sov- ereign. By subse- quent arrangements between the king and Belgium, the latter is authorized to annex the Free State in 1 900. This great central African dominion is one of the most suc- cessful of the Euro- pean attempts at civ- ilizing the ' 'dark con- tinent." In 1893 there was a determined effort made by the laboring Leopold ii. r1n<5<5P<5 to <;prnrp r V,p King of the Belgians. Born, 1835. Cousin of Queen ciciaacB l«j =cluic tut Victoria and grandson of King Louis Philippe. adoption of universal Succeeded his father > Leopold i., 1865. suffrage. By the laws at that time existing there was a property qualification for voting, with the result that only about one in forty-six of the people had the right. In our country about one person in five is a voter. The legislature was finally induced to pass a law extending suffrage, but in a peculiar way. Universal suffrage was granted, but an additional vote was given to heads of fam- ilies and to property owners under certain conditions, in such way that the more substantial citizens should have two or three votes apiece. Voting is also made obligatory. See article ir* The North American Review, November, 1893. 292 Europe in the Nineteenth Ce?itury. SUMMARY. Switzerland is a pure democracy in the midst of mon- archies. It is the home of the referendum. Holland, reclaimed from the sea by a commercial people, is second only to England in colonial possessions. Belgium, a liberal monarchy, has universal suffrage and compulsory voting. CHAPTER XXVII. NORTHMEN AND SOUTHRONS. The student of history knows that geography has Effect of 11 r 1 • n i 1 ,,..,. geography on had a powerful influence on the development of civih- the course of t t* ..... history. zation. In Europe the great historic migrations have poured over the central plains. The coasts have suffered from pirates, and have been seized and settled by Norse sea rovers. The mountain knot of the Alps has enabled a scanty but brave people to protect their liberty in the west, just as has been the case with the Slav moun- taineers of Montenegro in the east. Similar protection has been afforded by the morasses and canals which made Venice and Holland free maritime republics. The peninsulas at the northern and southern extremi- ties of the continent illustrate, each in its own way, this same great truth. The Iberian peninsula connects (save only for a narrow strait) the continent of Africa with Europe. And the successive invasions of one continent from the other accordingly passed through the length of Spain. It was in this way that the Vandals in the fifth passed into Africa, and it was across the Strait of Gib- raltar that the Arabs came into Europe. Long before century,' a. d. these events the Iberian Celts had been subjugated by the Romans. And the Iberian peninsula was not only an outlet for these and other various races, but was an eddy in their movement. All left their traces, in blood and speech and manners. The northern peninsulas, on the other hand, lead nowhere — or at least nowhere whither any one cares to 294 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. go. And so they have been the scene of few inva- sions, and their inhabitants show relatively little mix- ture of blood. Since connection between Europe and Africa has been broken off, all these peninsulas have been secluded from the main movements of European life. Thus they have to a great degree avoided the shock of conflicting interests which has made European history so tumultu- ous. Each has in recent times been drawn only in- cidentally into the contest of nations. And so each has been suffered to work out its destiny with no great hindrance from others. There are some of the denizens of these lands who do not agree that their homes have always been by-places. Olaus Rudbeck had a theory that the Scandinavian peninsula was the seat of the Garden of Eden, and that Noah's ark landed in Sweden. This reminds one of the Dutch book which was written to prove that Adam and Eve spoke Dutch in Paradise. Both theories are patriotic. All the races of Europe are mixed. The only differ- Races. ence is in degree. The Scandinavians are among the least composite, while the Spaniards are the most com- plex of all. The Scandinavians are the northern branch of the Teutonic race. The three branches, Swedish, Nor- wegian, and Danish, have no radical difference. In speech and ideas they are very similar. In Sweden, out Population. of a population of about five million, there are about nineteen thousand Finns and six thousand Lapps, both non-Aryan races. In Norway there are about two million people, of whom some twenty thousand are Lapps and nine thousand Finns. Norway is the most sparsely settled country in Europe, having only fourteen Northmen and Southrons. 295 persons to the square mile, while Belgium has five hundred thirty-five. Denmark has about two million people, almost entirely Scandinavians. Spain has nearly twice as many people as all the Scandinavian lands — almost eighteen million. As has been said, the Spaniards are a mixed people, of Celtic, Italian, and Teutonic races. But their speech, oddly enough, is a very pure one. It is estimated that six tenths of the Spanish words are Latin, one tenth Teu- tonic, one tenth Greek and liturgical, one tenth Ameri- can or borrowed from other modern tongues, and one tenth Arabic. The language is a noble and sonorous tongue. There is in Spain an island of primitive people who are not Aryans — the Basques, some four hundred The Basques, thousand in number. They are supposed to be de- scended from the prehistoric inhabitants who were in the land before the Celts came. The Portuguese, about five million in number, are also a thoroughly mixed race. The political division of the southern peninsula is un- fortunate. There seems no sufficient reason why Spain and Portugal should not have formed one united state. Between the northern and southern peninsulas there are other contrasts than those of race and speech. In the Scandinavian lands the Lutheran Church is estab- lished by law, and there is a strong prejudice against other forms of religion, especially the Roman Catholic. In Spain and Portugal, however, the latter is the estab- lished Church. To be sure, the present constitutions guarantee religious liberty. But while the organic law does in fact secure liberty of the person, of speech, of the press, and of meeting, there is little real liberty of religion. The first Protestant service was celebrated in Madrid in 1869. But there is a strong national preju- Contrast in religion. 296 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Contrast in education. Scandinavia in 1800. Denmark and Sweden. Peace of Kiel, 1814. dice against Protestants. The intelligent classes quite generally become rationalists. But they are not Protes- tants. Education in the Scandinavian countries is free and compulsory, and the people avail themselves of it eagerly. Only one tenth of one per cent of the recruits in Sweden and Norway are unable to read and write. Spain has a comprehensive educational system on paper. But in fact the population is very ignorant. Only a fourth of the people can read and write. In Portugal this proportion is only eighteen per cent. When the nineteenth century opened, Denmark was a greater kingdom than it is to-day. It then included Norway and the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. Norway had been united to Denmark since 1380. Swe- den had Finland, which is now a part of Russia, and Swedish Pomerania, on the south shore of the Baltic. During the French wars Denmark was steadfastly loyal to Napoleon. The wanton bombardment of Co- penhagen by an English fleet in 1807 did not serve to detach the Danes from the French alliance. And so when the allies triumphed, in 18 14, Denmark had to pay the penalty. Meanwhile Sweden had chosen one of Napoleon's marshals, Charles John Bernadotte, as crown prince. And the Swedes had deserted Napoleon when the tide turned against him. But meanwhile Russia had conquered Finland. The Peace of Kiel, in 18 14, made various territorial rearrangements. Norway was given to Sweden. Pom- erania and Rugen were given to Denmark in compensa- tion. That state afterwards exchanged them for Lauen- burg. The island of Heligoland was ceded to England.* *In 1890 England transferred Heligoland to Germany, receiving in return German recognition of an English protectorate over Zanzibar. Northmen and Southrons. 297 Norway was greatly dissatisfied at being assigned so arbitrarily to Sweden, and on May 17, 18 14, a conven- tion at Eidsvold declared Norway independent. A free constitution was drawn up, and a Danish prince elected to the throne. But a Swedish army, aided by an Eng- lish fleet, put down the insurrection, and the Nor- wegians had to yield. But the Swedes accepted the constitution of Eidsvold, granting Norway autonomy in all but the crown and the depart- ment of foreign affairs. When Norwegian Declaration of Independence, May 17, 1814. Bernadotte succeeded to the throne (as Karl XIV.), he attempted to draw the union closer, but with little success. The Norwegians are a very democratic people. In 1824 they abolished all aristocratic privileges. They have also a keen sense of nationality, and so have jealously maintained their separate privileges. Norwe- gian politics have largely turned on this question of home rule. In 1884 they succeeded in taking from the crown its absolute veto of constitutional amendments. The king resisted, but when the Storthing (Parliament) tried Karl XIV. (Bernadotte), Norwegian politics. Europe in the Nineteenth Century, and convicted the ministers for obeying him, he yielded, and summoned the radical leader, Sverdrup, as head of his Norwegian cabinet. At present there is a determined attempt on the part of the Norwegians to secure a sepa- rate foreign ministry. These dissensions in the peninsula, Russia is supposed to consider with indulgence. A Russo-Norwegian alliance might, under some circum- stances, be a means of holding Sweden in check, and at the same time of giving Russia an outlet on the Atlantic. Govamment. All the Scandinavian kingdoms have liberal constitu- tions, with the English system of ministerial respon- sibility now so gen- erally adopted on the Continent. Of course the Swedish Parliament* is dis- tinct from that of Norway. Sweden is a country of more wealth than its fellow king- dom, and there is a powerful aristocracy as well. This adds to the politi- cal reasons a social reason for discord. The union seems, on the whole, rather ill assorted. Denmark held the duchies, Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg, until they were wrested from her in the war of 1864. The Danes made a gallant fight, but were over- See p. 150. powered by the superior forces of the Germans. Thus the kingdom has shrunk far within the limits of 1800. si®™...* * The Swedish Parliament until 1866 had four houses— representing the nobles, the clergy, the towns, and the peasants. There are now two houses. Northmen and Southrons. 299 Spain, when the eighteenth century ended, was under Spain the feeble rule of a Bourbon king. In 1808 he was forced to abdicate by Napoleon, who put his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, on the Spanish throne. But this ex- cited the patriotic rage of the Spanish people, who rose over the whole pen- insula against the French king and his foreign army. The insurrection was at last successful, owing partly to the wars in central Europe which drew away Napoleon, partly to the furious valor of the Spanish people, and partly to aid given by England. Meanwhile, during the war of liberation , the patriots who were fighting the king's battles drew up a constitution. This established a national Parliament, the Cortes, elected by universal suffrage. Feudal privileges and the inqui- sition were suppressed, and the press was made free. Ferdinand VII. was glad to get his throne back on any terms, and so he readily swore to observe the constitu- tion. Oscar II. King of Sweden and Norway Grandson of Bernadotte. crown, 1872. orn, 1829. Succeeded to the Constitution of 1812. 3oo Europe in the Nineteenth Century. The reaction. Revolution of 1820. Death of Ferdinand. This law did not prevail in Spain till the time of the first Bourbon king, Philip V. (1700-46). The value of a Bourbon's oaths, however, was soon discovered. In 18 14 Napoleon was overthrown. The Spanish king was safe on his throne again, and no longer needed the men who had fought and suffered to bring him back. Accordingly the constitution was abrogated, and absolute government restored. The Liberals who had dared to adopt modern ideas of free- dom were imprisoned and executed. The censorship of the press was again set up. The nobles and clergy were exempted from taxation. The monastic orders and the Jesuits were allowed to return, the inquisition was reestablished, and the Church lands, which had been sequestrated by the revolutionists, were restored. Thus there was quite a complete return to old ideas. Re- actionaries and clericals were supreme. But in 1820 the Liberals rose in insurrection. The king was terrified, and a second time swore to observe the constitution of 1S12. And the Liberals managed the government for him. But the monarchs who had formed the Holy Alliance promptly came to the assist- ance of their brother. France was delegated to execute the task, and in 1823 a French army invaded Spain and restored Ferdinand to absolute power. He at once broke his oath a second time. The constitution was again abrogated. The leaders of the insurrection were put to death with atrocious cruelty. And for the rest of this reign there was a vigorous persecution of all Liberals. In 1833 Ferdinand died. He had no sons, and by the Salic law the succession should have gone to his brother, Don Carlos. But Ferdinand provided before his death that the Salic law should be annulled and that the crown should pass to his daughter, Isabella (then only three years old), with Queen Christina as regent. Northmen and Southrons. 301 Carlos refused to abide by this arrangement, and led a revolt which lingered until 1839. It was finally put down, and Don Carlos went into banishment. From the regency of Queen Christina dates the utter corruption of Spanish administration. It was bad enough before, but under the regency there was a carnival of dishonesty and inefficiency. In 1868 the nation was thoroughly tired of the rotten Revolution of government and the disreputable court, and a revolt of the army and navy was immediately successful. The queen was sent to France, and a provisional govern- ment was established with Marshals Serrano and Prim and Admiral Topete at the head. There followed two years of negotiation for a new king, in the course of which a Hohenzollern prince was for a time under con- sideration. It was this that led to the Franco- Prussian War in 1870. In that year the choice finally fell on Prince Amadeo, Reign of second son of the king of Italy, Victor Emmanuel. Amadeo was an honest and kind-hearted king, but he found Spain a hotbed of intrigue which made his life unendurable. In 1873 he abdicated. Then the republic The republic, was proclaimed. It lasted only two years, in which space of time there were no less than four presidents. Emilio Castelar was the most prominent of these. But it ended in a military dictatorship. And the son of ex- Queen Isabella was then invited to the throne, as Alfonso XII. He was himself a thorough Liberal, and Aifonsoxn. not merely accepted the Liberal constitution, but ex- plicitly declared that he would reign only so long as the Spanish nation wanted him. It was his ambition to be "the first republican in Europe." Alfonso died in 1886, and was succeeded by his posthumous son, Alfonso XIII. 302 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Portugal. The government has continued as a liberal monarchy, with a responsible ministry and a lower house of the legislature chosen by universal suffrage. Castelar is yet sure that the republic will come in time, but, as he says, "by evolution, not by revolu- tion. ' ' His program is to educate the people, and then let them decide for themselves. Napoleon drove the House of Bra- ganza from the Portuguese throne, and the royal family took refuge in Bra- zil. After the fall of Napoleon, Portugal was ruled from Rio Janeiro until 1821. The king then re- turned to Lisbon, and the reactionary policy prevailed in Portugal as in the Born, 1832. Orator, journalist, author, professor. , r -r> President of the Spanish republic, 1873-4. re = L ul c* u 1 u 1 J c . After a temporary triumph of liberalism in 1834, the reactionaries were again supreme, and held power until 1852. In that year a free constitution was adopted, quite similar to the one now in force in Spain. The suffrage is limited to heads of families, or others who have at least one hundred dollars' income and can read and write. Spain and Portugal have sadly degenerated since the Emilio Castelar. Northmen and Southrons. 303 Spanish characteristics. time of Columbus. Then Portugal was taking the lead Decadence of .... , „ . r . the two in maritime discovery, and Spain was one or the great nations, powers. The two nations claimed all the New World, and the pope, in 1493, divided it between them. But to-day both are weak, isolated, and decayed. Ages of despotism, civil and spiritual, have done their work. The Spaniards are a temperate people — perhaps as a necessity of their climate. The proverbial taciturnity of the nation is a myth. They are rather careless of com- forts, but fond of luxuries. They have not yet learned sufficient regard for the sanctity of law. There is a common saying, ' ' Laws are made to be broken, not to be obeyed. ' ' And civil administra- tion is not very honest or efficient. Personal quarrels are apt to be fero- cious. General Narvaez, appoint- ed first minister of young Queen Isa- bella in 1843, was asked on his deathbed to forgive his enemies. He said, naively, that he did not know of any who were left — he thought he had killed them all. Under these conditions the process of improvement must be slow. And Spain is not a rich country. Its great colonial possessions are nearly all gone. Cuba and Porto Rico, the Philippine Islands, a few stations on the Moorish coast, yet remain, and Morocco, Spain expects to inherit. The posts on the African coast are held partly with that view. 304 Etir'ope in the Nineteenth Century. Portugal has still considerable colonial possessions in Africa, and some in Asia. But the energy of the fifteenth century has gone. SUMMARY. The history of the peninsular states of northern and southern Europe has been largely influenced by their geo- graphical position. These states are strongly contrasted in race, politics, and religion. After the restoration of the Bourbons in Spain, their failure to keep their pledges led to the insurrection of 1820, which was suppressed by the Holy Alliance. A republic established in 1873 lasted two years, and the Bourbons were then recalled. PART VII-TODAY. PRELIMINARY. The political and social problems of the last decade of the nineteenth century are such as arise from the natural unfolding of society since the French Revolu- tion. The very extensive invention and use of machines, together with the mastery of natural forces, has multi- plied the power to produce commodities beyond the wildest dreams of past ages. Persons, property, and intelligence are now transferred from place to place with great speed and at extremely low cost. Knowledge has become diffused among the masses. Wealth has been created in enormous volumes. All these physical achievements have been the means of rearranging popu- lation on a large scale. Many millions of the working classes have been able to leave the Old World and have founded homes in the New. The various powers of Europe have taken possession of barbaric lands, so that Asia, Africa, and Oceanica are now almost wholly in European hands. And all these facts have materially altered the conditions of life. The masses have learned to unite for the attainment of common ends. The very prosperity of modern industrial enterprises has in turn generated its own forms of poverty and crime. The overthrow or transformation of so many institutions has led to a critical state of mind. What next? is the habitual question of society. And progress is a series of answers. CHAPTER XXVIII. PROGRESS OF THE WORLD. The latter half of the eighteenth century was memo- rable for a series of inventions which multiplied many inventions of r J the eighteenth fold the efficiency of manufacturing. The nineteenth century, century has gained control of certain natural forces, which, applied to machines, have again greatly extended their power, and, applied to transportation, have made it so speedy and cheap that the products of human labor are now put easily and abundantly in reach of the world. The material progress of the age has no better expo- nent than may be seen in the history of three substances — cotton, iron, and coal. The one is plucked from a plant an"^! 1 ™"' which grows freely in many parts of the world, the other is a constituent of the rocks, the third is the fossil remains of ancient vegetation which for ages uncounted has been crushed under the earth. These three things, under the stress of human intelligence, have transformed the world. Cotton, or ' ' tree wool," as Herodotus called it twenty- Cotton, four centuries ago and as the Germans call it to-day, has been known and used somewhere in the world as long as there is any record of anything. In India the origin of its culture and use is lost in the past, and in China it dates back many centuries. Europe, however, until late in the Middle Ages, was ignorant of it in any form, people being clothed in woolen, linen, and silk. After the revival of commerce, caused by the discovery of a I497 . route to India around the Cape of Good Hope, the cotton thread and cloth made in India were imported 307 3o8 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Woolen manu- facture. Domestic cotton manu- facture. into Europe, and gradually made their way into rather common use. The manufacture of wool had been in the hands of every family, carding, spinning, and weaving being ordinary household avocations. The distaff, indeed, was for so many centuries an implement distinctively feminine as to have become imbedded in literature as a synonym for woman. And to this day an unmarried girl is described as a " spinster. ' ' Many an attic in America still holds among its lumber the spinning-wheel which was so busy an implement in the days of our grandmothers. The processes are the same now as then. The wool has first to be combed out until its fibers lie straight and parallel. This is called "carding." Then portions of it are spun together into continuous yarn or thread — the spinning twisting the fibers so as to make it com- pact and strong. Then a series of these threads lying parallel — the "warp" — is interwoven with another series at right angles — the ' ( woof " or " weft. ' ' And the product is a piece of cloth as long as the warp and as wide as the frame on which it is made. When cotton wool began to be imported from India, these familiar processes were applied to it. But it was found that at first people in Europe could not make cotton thread strong enough for the warp, and so they used linen or wool for that purpose. Thus the product was a mixture. The manufacture was not carried on in factories, as is the case now. The weaver did his work in his own home, his wife and daughters spinning the yarn which he used. But weaving was a quicker process than carding and spinning, and so the weaver found it very hard to get enough yarn to keep him busy. This difficulty was Progress of the World. 309 frame.' obviated by the successive inventions of three men, Hargreaves, Arkwright, and Crompton. Hargreaves was a poor weaver who devised the idea of connecting a series of upright spindles with a single wheel, and enabling one spinster to do the work of eight the old way. His machine he called the spinning "Jenny," The"jenny. after his wife. Arkwright, who began life as a barber's apprentice, contrived a machine which passed the cotton through rollers, thus making the thread much smaller and stronger than had been possible before, and en- abling it to be used as warp. As his power was afforded by a water wheel, his machine was called a water frame. The "water A young weaver, Crompton, combined the merits of both devices in what, from its origin doubtless, was called the "mule." The cotton passed through rollers and was received by a series of movable spindles, which alternately approached and receded from the rollers. Thus the yarn was given the requisite tenuity, and, being spun at the same time, was made very strong. ' ' Before Crompton' s time it was thought impossible to spin eighty hanks to the pound. The mule has spun three hundred fifty hanks to the pound. The natives of India could spin a pound of cotton into a thread one hundred nine- teen miles long. The English succeeded in spinning the same thread to a length of one hundred sixty miles." Thus the first difficulty was solved. The spinster had not only caught up with the weaver, but had gone far beyond. More yarn was at hand now than could be woven, and it was so fine and strong that it could be used as warp, so that goods could be made all cotton. The weaving was now developed to keep pace with the spinning by the invention of the power loom. The Rev. Edmund Cartwright was a clergyman, who knew nothing of machinery. But his attention being called to Walpole, I., 62. The power loom, 1787. 310 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. the need, he set his wits to work and soon contrived the loom which did for weaving what the mule had done for spinning. Thereafter the only limit to the power of production was the capital to provide machinery and to pay for wages and raw material. Two other inventions which accompanied these may be mentioned. The process of bleaching cloth in the Bleaching by sun was often a task of weeks. In 178 s a French chlorine, 1785. ' ^ chemist, Berthollet, hit on the process of applying chlorine, then recently discovered, to this purpose. At once the time needed was reduced to a few hours. At about the same time a Scotchman, Bell, succeeded in an invention for printing calico. "Prints," or "cal- Printing calico, ico " (a name derived from Calicut, in India), had been imported from Hindustan. The first printing on cloth in Europe was from flat wooden blocks, and was a very slow and clumsy process. Bell invented the copper cylinder engraved with the desired pattern. By its revolution the cloth was printed rapidly and accurately. It only remained to assure an ample supply of raw The cotton gin. cotton. This was effected in 1793 by the invention of the cotton gin. The southern states of the American Union raised cotton, but it was nearly worthless because of the difficulty of separating the seed from the wool. Eli Whitney, a New England Yankee, invented a gin which did the work with entire success. At once the sea islands of Carolina and Georgia teemed with heavy crops of the best cotton in the world. And Europe was emancipated from Indian cloth, Indian yarn, and Indian raw cotton as well. About two thirds of all the cotton spindles in Europe are in the British Islands. And their product is enor- mous. In the middle of the eighteenth century, less than three million pounds of cotton wool were imported Progress of the World. 3 1 1 into Great Britain. Now the annual importation is about one billion five hundred million pounds. And the manufacturer to-day can afford to sell for a penny what a hundred years ago he could not have sold for less than a shilling. The use of iron has so greatly extended in this century iron, as to give quite another character to modern construc- tion. And the form in which it is now most common is that known as steel — which is merely iron with a small percentage of carbon. Steel is much stronger and more rigid than cast or wrought iron. It is used in building machines, in constructing railroads, in the framework of large buildings, and now steel ships are displacing those made of wood. Ours is quite literally an age of steel. More than a third of the iron ore produced in the world is the product of British mines, although Germany and France also afford a large supply. Iron ore, until long in the eighteenth century, was smelted by wood as fuel. This caused so alarming a consumption of the English forests that in the reign of Queen Elizabeth a statute was enacted to restrict the extension of iron furnaces. A solution was found in the eighteenth cen- tury by using coal as fuel — either directly or in the form i 735 . of coke. As the British coal beds seemed limitless CoaL (supplying to-day about a half of the entire world's consumption), there was no longer any trouble in securing the means of smelting. And there resulted a great impetus to the manufacture and use of iron. Coal pits and iron mines and furnaces were opened in great numbers. Population increased in the north of England where all this work was going on, and by the opening of the nineteenth century the transformation was made. Great Britain was a manufacturing rather than a commercial nation. 312 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. The safety lamp, 1815. The hot blast, 1828. The steam hammer, 1842. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Art. " Ham- mer," XI., p. 426. Bessemer steel. Among the many inventions of the nineteenth cen- tury, several have had a great influence on the produc- tion of coal and iron. Coal mining was accompanied by great danger from the explosion of " fire damp," a gas readily ignited by contact with the miner's lamp. In 18 1 5 Sir Humphry Davy perfected his safety lamp. The simple device of covering the flame with wire gauze was found to be a complete protection. Not only were lives protected, but many dangerous mines became per- fectly safe to work. And thus the quantity of accessible coal was greatly increased. About 1828 Neilson first used the hot blast. A blast of cold air driven through molten iron had been em- ployed to burn out impurities. The hot blast generated a more intense heat and did the work more effectually with great economy of fuel and time. The increased use of iron in industry led, in 1842, to the invention of the steam hammer, by James Nasmyth. " By the simple device of attaching the hammer head to the lower end of the rod of a piston working in an inverted steam cylinder, he produced a machine capable of being made to deliver its blows with a force to which no limit has yet been found, and yet so perfectly under control as to be able to crack a hazelnut without injuring the kernel. To the introduction of this invaluable tool is due more than to any other single cause the power which we now possess of producing the forgings of iron and steel which are demanded by the arts of modern times ; and in one or other of its many forms it is now to be met with in every workshop in which heavy work is carried on." And a change in the industrial world as momentous as any which preceded was effected by the new processes of producing steel which make that article so cheap as Progress of the World. 313 The steam engine. to supersede iron for nearly all important construction. Of that we shall speak later. The use of iron and coal has been increased incalcu- lably by the invention of steam machinery. Coal is the essential fuel in generating steam, and iron and steel are needed in vast quantities not only for steam engines but for rails and shipbuilding. Thus each new device of human ingenuity reacts on others to stimulate and vary their uses. Steam is the motive power which has made the material progress of the nineteenth century so marvelous. But without abundant coal and iron, steam would have been of little value. And without steam and its countless applications, coal and iron would have had a sluggish demand. Machines are only devices to transfer or to save power. They are a great convenience. But the force of muscle, whether of men or other animals, is somewhat limited, and from an early period other powers have been sought to do the work which expanding civilization demands. Wind and water have long been harnessed to human desire. But both are capricious. The wind bloweth where — and when — it listeth. And in time of drought the mill wheel is still. Steam was known long before it was used as power. In the seventeenth century there were vague speculations as to its possibilities. Early in the eighteenth a rude engine had been devised and was employed to drive a pump which kept water from a mine. James Watt, a Scotchman, was the first one, Watt's engine, however, to contrive an engine for the use of steam power which was efficient and economical. This was in 1769. From this time the use of the new force ex- tended rapidly, and, by the close of the century, mills and factories of all sorts were running by steam power. Thus, when the nineteenth century opened, the capital 1769. 3H Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Transportation. Roman roads. Walpole, His- tory of England, I., 84. For the seventeenth century, see Macaulay's History of Eng- land, Chap. III. discoveries which have transformed the world had been made. Machinery had been invented which could man- ufacture cloth in limitless quantities. A power had been found which could run all the spindles for which there might be demand. A fuel was at hand which would cheaply generate steam to any extent. And iron could be provided readily for all uses. Our century has made its vast material progress by the vigorous employment of these means of production, and by their readaptation and improvement. The greatest new application of steam machinery was to the uses of transportation. It was obviously of little moment to increase the power of producing commodities unless it should be possible to bring them within the reach of large numbers of people. From the earliest times water transit had been found the easiest, and so, for purposes of traffic, men had collected along the banks of rivers or on the harbors of the sea. Here cities had grown up — London, Paris, Hamburg, Antwerp, Venice. And shipping, propelled by wind and oar, had been the means of vigorous industrial life throughout the Mediterranean basin and along the coasts and rivers of western Europe. The Romans understood the importance of land tran- sit, and to that end had covered their empire with a magnificent system of rock-ballasted highways. But as the Roman power decayed, their public works were neglected, and the roads of the Middle Ages were as rude as society in general. In England "in the eigh- teenth century the best roads were little better than bridle tracks, obstructed with mud at one season of the year, and with deep and dangerous ruts at another." Towards the middle of the century, attention was di- rected to the loss of time, money, and convenience re- Progress of the World. 315 suiting from this state of things, and much was done in the way of road building. Telford and Macadam made their names famous by their success in constructing ex- cellent highways. During the years from 1802 to 1820 Telford was employed by the government to remedy the roads in Wales and Scotland. And in that period he built nine hundred twenty miles of road and twelve hun- dred bridges. The improved roads gave a great impulse to travel, and the system of stage coaches was reorgan- ized. " In April, 1820, Sir Walter Scott traveled from London to Scotland at the rate of ten miles an hour ; but the feat was so extraordinary that it was thought proper to chronicle it in the Annual Register." In 18 1 2, thirteen hundred fifty-five stage coaches were assessed in England, and by 1825 the number was more than doubled. Meanwhile artificial waterways had been constructed on a large scale. The Dutch had been pioneers in this, readily turning sea into land or land into sea as suited their convenience. The French, in the seventeenth century, had constructed a canal to connect the Bay of Biscay with the Mediterranean. And in the latter part of the eighteenth century England carried out a great system of inland navigation. Thus, when the nineteenth century opened, there was already an intelligent interest in problems of transpor- tation, and much had been done to improve existing methods. Telford, Macadam. Walpole, I., 89. Canals. SUMMARY. The material progress of the century centers about three substances — cotton, iron, and coal. Spinning and weaving machines, the cotton gin, the safety lamp, the steam hammer, the Bessemer process, and the steam engine are the agents of modern industrial life. Fulton's steamboat, 1807. Ocean steamers. CHAPTER XXIX. progress of the world {Continued). But at the very time when roads and canals were bringing Europe nearer together, experiments were making which were to revolutionize society more effect- ively than any political upheaval. The first successful use of a boat propelled by steam was on the Hudson River in 1807. Robert Fulton had previously attempted the same thing on the Seine with- out success, and in 1802 a steam tug had been put on a British canal, but had been laid aside because of the danger to the banks caused by the wash of the wheels. Fulton's invention was offered to the French govern- ment a few years before its success was demonstrated on the Hudson, but was declined on the ground that it was impracticable. Had Napoleon been able to use steam transports for his army at Boulogne in 1805 the in- vasion of England would not have been impossible, and the entire course of history since might have been very different. The use of steamboats advanced slowly, being first directed wholly to inland navigation. It was not till 18 1 9 that a steam vessel crossed the Atlantic* In 1838 two steamers, the Sirius and the Great Western, \ made the voyage successfully, and thereafter regular voyages were made. But for a long time steam vessels * This was the Savannah. But steam was used merely as an auxiliary to the sails, and the passage consumed twenty-five days. t The Great Western brought a paper printed in London, in which was a mathematical demonstration of the impossibility of the voyage. 316 Progress of the World. 317 were not very valuable for transporting freight. The machinery was heavy and bulky, the consumption of coal enormous. Speaking roughly, it might be said that a ship of the old type, of a capacity of three thou- sand tons, might sail on so long a voyage as to require two thousand two hundred tons of coal — thus leaving room for only eight hundred tons of freight. Since about 1875 improvements in machinery have gone so far that those figures are now practically reversed. The new compound engines are so economical of coal that it Weils, Recent 11 r -i Economic has been estimated that ' ' half a sheet of note paper will changes, develop sufficient power, when burned in connection with the triple expansion engine, to carry a ton a mile in an Atlantic steamer." Of course freight rates have fallen in proportion. Distance, it must be remembered, is, for business purposes, not measured in miles, but in time, money, and comfort. In an old-fashioned sailing ship the time required to cross the Atlantic was four to six weeks. The modern ocean greyhound does the same voyage in less than a week. For articles in which considerable value is contained in not excessive bulk, the cost of transportation is much less than in the old sailing ship. And the comfort of a modern voyage is incom- parably greater than on a sailing packet. Steamboats had been plying for some years before steam was successfully applied to land transit. The first efforts were directed to make a steam wagon for an StMm ,„„„„. D *-J O Led III Wdj^OllS. ordinary road. As early as 1802 a steam coach was patented in England, and great things were expected from it. But it resulted in nothing. And another similar device in 1829 also failed. The Duke of Well- ington, indeed, expressed himself emphatically against the practicability of the new motor. Meanwhile another line of experiment was being 3i! Europe i?i the Nineteenth Century. steam railways, made in the hope of constructing a steam locomotive George ste- to draw cars on a railway. George Stephenson suc- phenson, 1812. . . . , - ceeded in constructing such a locomotive, and for some years it was used to haul coal at a colliery. In 1825 the Stockton and Darlington Railway was opened, with steam locomotives of Stephenson's construction as the motive power. This obscure line attracted little atten- tion, however, and it was not until four years later that Europe awoke to the knowledge of what this new inven- The Liverpool tion meant. In 1829 the Liverpool and Manchester and Manchester ... . Railway, 1829. Railway was opened. The directors had seriously con- First Railway Passenger Train, Liverpool and Manchester Railway. sidered operating it with horses, but Stephenson induced them to offer a reward for the best locomotive engine possible, so as to give the new power a fair test. The "Rocket," Stephenson's engine, easily won the prize. And the steam railway was a settled thing. From that time the construction of steam railways went on very generally. It was settled that the traction of wheeled carriages on iron rails by a steam motor was economically practicable. Still, it was some years before the new means of land Recent railroad transit received a great impetus. In 1840 there were in operation less than five thousand miles of railway in the world, of which only two thousand one hundred thirty development. Prog?rss of the World. 3 1 9 were in Europe. Construction was expensive and im- perfect. The organization and management of railroads and the adjustment of commerce to the new methods took time and experience to make completely efficient. There are now over three hundred thousand miles of railway in the world. The colossal systems are managed with an expertness as thorough as the working of a steam engine itself. And all business is now done on the basis of rapid and cheap transportation. Indeed, time and cost of transit have been steadily reduced as the mileage of railways has increased. An essential factor in perfecting" the management of The electric 1 . & ,, . telegraph. extensive systems or transportation, as well as in recon- structing and coordinating production and exchange throughout the world, has been the electric telegraph. The rapid communication of intelligence through great distances has long been a subject for human ingenuity. For many ages some prearranged ideas, like news of an invasion, were conveyed by means of signal fires or smokes on hilltops. A later device, just preceding the Ear ] y present method, was the semaphore. Its arms, erected on tele & ra P s - hills at distances as great as the glass could cover, were moved into various positions to correspond with the let- ters of the alphabet. In this way a long message could be carried with considerable rapidity, provided there was no mist to interfere. A similar system has been elaborated in great detail for military purposes in the field, and is sus- ceptible of varied and flexible use. The name telegraph was devised for the semaphores, and thus was employed some years before the system of Morse was invented. The progress of knowledge as to the nature and uses Electr , c of electricity was slow. A series of discoveries disclosed tele s ra P h y- means of generating a current of electricity in a wire, and the effect of such a current in deflecting a magnetic 320 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Results on transportation and commerce. Wells, Recent Economic Changes, p. 32, note. needle. As the wire could be made of any desired length, it was soon seen that this new electro-magnetic science would afford the means of communication be- tween distant points. The practical application was made by Morse in the United States in 1837, and in that year a line was successfully operated along the Great Western Railway in England. Wires strung on poles were soon followed by wires wound in cables which could be suspended under water. In 1851 a cable opened permanent telegraphic communication between France and England, and in 1858 the Atlantic itself was crossed. Now cables and overland wires bind together the civilized world. The morning paper in London contains the happenings of the day before in Australia and India, in South America and California. The successful operation of long railway systems would hardly be possible but for the telegraph, which brings every station directly under the control of the superintendent. And the effect of the new means of communication on the world's commerce has been equally striking. No longer is it necessary for great stores of any commodity to be laid up by some middle- man. Dealers can order as they need directly from the source of production. And with information at hand daily from every point of the world, prices are no longer subject to so unforeseen fluctuations, and the element of chance in commerce is largely reduced.* * An incident is related of a well-known writer on economic questions, which well illustrates the degree to which the world has been drawn together by steam and electricity. " In the winter of 1S84 the writer journeyed from New York to Washington with an eminent Boston merchant engaged in the Cal- cutta trade. Calling upon the merchant the same evening, after arrival in Washington, he said : ' Here is something that may interest you. Just be- fore leaving State Street, in Boston, yesterday forenoon, I telegraphed to my agent in Calcutta : "If you c;m buy hides and gunny bags at price, and find a vessel ready to charter, buy and ship." When I arrived here (Wash- ington) this afternoon (4 p. in.) I found awaiting me this telegram from my partner in Boston, covering another from Calcutta, received in answer to my dispatch of the previous day, which read as follows: "Hides and gunny bags purchased, vessel chartered, and loading begun." ' " Progress of the World. 321 Another great achievement of modern science has produced far-reaching changes in the world's commerce. The Suez In 1S69 the Suez Canal was finished, and at once the whole current of Oriental traffic was diverted to the new channel. Before the close of the fifteenth century Euro- pean trade with India and China was by the overland route and the Mediterranean Sea. As the Mohamme- dans occupied the lands from Egypt to Constantinople, thus being squarely interposed across the route of com- merce, the eastern trade was quite at their mercy and was greatly hampered by their fanaticism. In 1498 Vasco da Gama found the route around the southern extremity of Africa, and from that time to 1869, Euro- pean ships, safe from Turkish exactions, were compelled to spend six to eight months in the tedious navigation to India and back. England naturally became the center of this traffic, and so there grew up in that country a vast system of warehousing Oriental goods, of distribu- ting them, and of banking and exchange. The opening results. of the Suez Canal at once changed the eastern trade to its old channels. The time to Calcutta and back was made in steamers in less than thirty days. The need of laying up great stores of Indian goods in England at once disappeared. Importers in Austria, in Italy, in France, now order directly from the Asiatic marts. And a large volume of English commerce and banking has disappeared. The great improvements in machinery, and especially in steam vessels and railroads, which have so transformed commerce in the last quarter of a century, have been made possible by nothing more than the invention of making steel of uniform excellence and at low cost. Steel consists of iron and a small but rather definite per- centage of carbon. As the latter is found in iron ore, Steel. 322 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. The Bessemer process, 1856. Interdepend- ence of inventions. the old method of steel manufacture consisted in burn- ing out enough carbon to make the percentage what was desired. But as it was difficult to ascertain the exact amount of carbon in the ore, and still more diffi- cult to stop the combustion at just the right point, the result was uncertain and expensive. The essential idea in the invention of Sir Henry Bessemer was simply to burn out all the carbon in the oar, and then to mix with the pure iron while yet molten the exact percentage needed. This process has been so im- proved that now steel has become about as cheap as iron. And as it is vastly stronger and more durable, it has replaced iron for nearly all structural purposes. The frames of great buildings, ships, the rails on which our loaded trains run, all are of steel. It is since 1878 that steel ships have replaced those of wood or iron. And so far has the process gone that it seems that the nineteenth century will end as the age of steel. It will be seen that these discoveries which have so transformed society in our century are mutually inter- dependent. Until machinery was devised which made it possible to produce commodities in quantities practi- cally unlimited, the old means of transportation and exchange were ample. But the flood of manufactures poured on the world from the new factories called at once for wider markets, and these could only be reached by reducing the cost and the dreary delay of transit. But the rapid conveyance of goods made it almost imperative that there should be a means of still more rapid communication. And each reacting on the other to stimulate it to the highest degree, called for a material which should be at once cheap and strong to endure the rush and wear of modern industry. Progress of the World. 323 Steam, electricity, and steel are the tools of the nine- teenth century.* SUMMARY. The first steamboat was used on the Hudson in 1807. After 1838 regular ocean voyages were made by steam vessels. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was opened in 1S29. The electric telegraph has been an important factor in the development of transportation systems. The Suez Canal has changed the lines of commerce with the east. The great inventions of the century are mutually interde- pendent. * The inventions above detailed are only some of the more conspicuous of those which mark our age. Mr. Wells gives a list of those which are due to the last half century, and whose full development belongs to a period still more recent. "The mechanical reapers, mowing and seeding machines; the Bessemer process and the steel rail (1857); the submarine and transoceanic telegraph cables (1S66); photography and all its adjuncts; electroplating and the electrotype; the steam hammer, repeating and breech-loading firearms, and rifled and steel cannon; gun cotton and dynamite; the industrial use of India rubber and gutta-percha ; the steam excavator and steam drill ; the sewing machine; the practical use of the electric light; the application of dynamo electricity as a motor for machinery; the steam fire engine; the telephone, microphone, spectroscope, and the process of spectral analysis ; the polariscope ; the compound steam engine; the centrifugal process of refining sugar; the rotary printing press; hydraulic lifts, cranes, and eleva- tors; the "regenerative" furnace, iron and steel ships, pressed glass, wire rope, petroleum and its derivatives, and aniline dyes ; the industrial use of the metal nickel, cotton-seed oil, artificial butter, stearine candles, natural gas, cheap postage, and the postage stamp. Electricity, which a very few years ago was regarded as something wholly immaterial, has now acquired a sufficiently objective existence to admit of being manufactured and sold the same as pig iron or leather. In short, to one whose present memory and life experiences do not extend over a period of time more extensive than what is represented by a generation, the recital of the economic experiences and industrial conditions of the generation next preceding is very much akin to a recurrence to ancient history." — Recent Economic Changes, p. 64. CHAPTER XXX. QUESTIONS OF THE DAY. The military situation. The armv. The navy. The most obvious and serious thing in the present European situation is the military question. Each nation is a great armed camp. The entire able-bodied male population is trained for war. The most scientific weapons are at hand in great profusion, and there is a constant rivalry to provide something more deadly still. At the same time there are reasons for jealousy and collisions of interest likely at any time to lead to hostilities. The Prussian system of universal compulsory military service has been generally adopted on the Continent. Each young man on reaching a certain age, usually twenty years, is liable to a definite period (two or three years) of service in the active army, and then to a somewhat longer period (four years in Germany) in the reserve. Thereafter he belongs to the militia, which is only called out on emergency. The lack of money, with some other considerations, somewhat reduces the number who are actually drafted into the active army, so that not more than about two thirds of those who annually reach the age of twenty really serve. Still, the force constantly under arms in the great nations averages about a half million. And in case of great danger five or six times that number of trained men could readily be mobilized. The navy, too, is kept at the highest point of efficiency. New battle-ships and cruisers are built annually. The harbors and the land 324 Questions of the Day. 325 frontiers are defended by elaborate fortifications plenti- fully mounted with the heaviest and most improved artillery. And the railroad and telegraph make war a matter of weeks instead of years. The Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy) keep under arms constantly in the army over a million of men. France has 560,000, Russia 835,000. England has the most powerful navy, consisting of nearly 500 vessels of all classes. France is second, having over 400. Italy, Ger- many, and Russia are not far behind. The Franco- Prus- sian War of 1870 was fought with breech -loading rifles. But the weap- ons of that day are long since obsolete, and the armies are now provided with magazine guns and The new . t 11 -i weapons. smokeless powder, thus being able to throw bullets with greater rapidity, further, and with more force than ever before. New explosives of high power are used in the shells of the artillery, and machine guns pour bullets in showers. That international relations are at high tension is very The danger . j points. plain. The two danger points are Alsace-Lorraine and Constantinople. William II., German Emperor. 326 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. The crushing defeat of France, in 1870, left a bitter G I rraan^ nd desire for revenge. And the humiliation was made utter by the annexation of Alsace and eastern Lorraine to Germany. The statues which represent those de- partments in the Place de la Concorde, at Paris, are yet hung with funeral wreaths. And no prudence of statesmanship would probably avail to keep France from war with Germany if a favorable opportunity should come. The keen policy of Bismarck, continued by his successors, for a long time kept France practi- cally isolated in European politics, while Germany has had and still has powerful allies. The last few years, however, have seen a cordiality between France and Russia which has ripened into an alliance. How far the terms of this agreement extend is not made public. But at least France is no longer isolated. The Balkan peninsula is yet in a state of unstable equilibrium. There will be uncertainty and danger in the east as long as the Turks retain any foothold in Europe. It is clear that some day they must go back to Asia, and then something must be done with Con- Constantinopie. stantinople. The fate of that strategic city, and the mutual relations of the lands in the peninsula, are matters of great importance to Russia, to England, to Austria- Hungary, as well as to the small powers imme- diately concerned, such as Greece and Bulgaria. Every- body dreads any collision in the Balkans, for no one can tell how far the flames of war might spread. It is difficult to see how war can long be avoided. When it comes it will apparently be so fearfully de- structive as to make future wars much less likely. No triumph of statesmanship would be greater than to reduce the armaments of Europe below the danger point and to provide international courts of arbitration Cost of wars. Questions of the Day. 327 which should take the place of international hostilities. Courts of law now make private war practically im- possible. It will be a great advance of civilization when the standing army shall be as obsolete as the medieval knight in- his panoply of combat. Meanwhile, the expense of the present system is Cost of arm i es . crushing. Millions of men are kept constantly out of productive employment. And the military establish- ments cost huge sums annually in taxes. This is the cost in peace. War destroys life and property with fearful rapidity. It is estimated that the European wars since the middle of the nineteenth cen- tury have cost the lives of 2,500,000 men, and no less than $12,000,000,000 in money. Men will learn some day that international wars are as senseless as Corsican vendettas. International disputes are not the only source of danger to the stability of European institutions. Grow- ing intelligence and the modern means of transmitting knowledge and opinions have generated among the poor a keen consciousness of what they lack and of what means of happiness other classes possess. This gives rise to investigation into the fundamental princi- ples of social organization — and investigation leads to skepticism. Some schools of social philosophy h'ave been created which attack the right of individuals to own property. This doctrine takes various forms. One view holds that there should be no private prop- erty in land. This is the theory which Henry George so ingeniously developed. Another class maintains that all means of production should belong to society as a whole. And the particular form known as State socialism would make the State the owner, and its government the administrator, not of land alone, but Socialism. 325 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. of factories, railroads, telegraphs, and warehouses, as well. state socialism. There is undoubtedly a tendency, of late years, for the government to act as the agent of society in many things which conduce to the general welfare. The pos- tal service is an example. In Italy, Germany, and other nations, the railroads and telegraphs are largely owned by the State. Switzerland and Sweden have a govern- ment monopoly of the liquor traffic. In France the sale of tobacco, gunpowder, and matches belongs exclusively to the State. A Prussian law of 1891 for the pensioning of superannuated workingmen is also a form of State socialism. But these are merely tendencies. And it by no means follows that in the end the State will wholly monopolize all means of production. At any rate, so long as the agitation of socialistic theorists extends no further than to exposition and argument, society is in no danger. However, there is an extreme school of socialists who hold that the present industrial system is radically wrong — that "property is robbery" — and that the only way of effecting an adequate social reconstruction is by forci- ble revolution. To these people government of any kind is merely tyranny, and all the institutions of society are fit only for destruction. And these fanatics are armed with the forces of modern science. High explosives are cheap and easily made, and the dynamite bomb is the means of their war on society. These anarchists have The Nihilists exploded their infernal missives in a theater at Barce- lona, in the French Chamber of Deputies, and in the Church of the Madeleine. It was such terrorists that assassinated Alexander II., of Russia, in 1881, and Pres- ident Carnot, of France, in 1894. They are a grave menace to order and the security of life and property. Anarchy. Questions of the Day. 329 Socialistic theories find the readier acceptance be- cause of the dense multitudes of poor in the midst of our modern social life. The conditions of labor have been greatly altered by the economic revolution of the cen- The questions ° J J of labor and tury, and not always for the better. The laborer has poverty. largely lost personality since he has ceased to do his work in his own home, and is now dealt with in the mass. There has been a creation of wealth without , , , , The wealth of parallel since the new inventions have so increased the England has . . , . . . about tripled possibilities of human power and skill. Population has since the cen- r 1 tury opened. increased to a large extent. The tendency has been for people to drift to the cities, where the new industrial life affords more and more possibilities. London has grown from 837,000 in 1801 to over 6,000,000 in 1897 > Paris from 547,000 in 1800 to 2,500,000 ; Berlin from 331,000 in 1840 to over 1,500,000. On the whole, the laboring classes are in better case now than they were a hundred years since. But with increasing intelligence they are more keenly conscious of the discrepancy between their mode of life and that of the wealthy. They feel, sometimes rather blindly, that they have not their share in the world's gain in wealth and comfort. They have learned to combine for what they consider their own interests. And the convulsions of industry caused by the startling changes in the new economic methods produce great suffering among those whose means of subsistence are just on the margin. All these things make a ferment among those who do not succeed in the struggle of life. And all forms of social- ism are correspondingly recruited. The democratic tendency in modern states has put the rT . J r _ Universal elective franchise in the hands of large classes which in suffrage. previous ages have had no voice in government. Uni- versal suffrage is the law in France, and, substantially, 33° Europe in the Nineteenth Century. Hereditary legislatures. Land tenures. in all other constitutional countries. Austria has a com- plicated system of voting by classes. But during the winter of 1893-4, Count Taafe's ministry fell in the attempt to make the qualification simpler. Some two or three million additional voters would have resulted from the adoption of his measure. The change cannot be long delayed. In Belgium the relatively high prop- erty qualification was done away in 1893. And while an attempt was made to preserve weight for education and wealth, by giving two or three votes each to some classes of people, yet on the whole the suffrage was made democratic. While universal suffrage thus creates the lower house of each national legislature, there still remains an aristo- cratic upper house in nearly every state. England is now very democratic in many ways, but the absurdity of an hereditary House of Lords, of which it needs but three for a quorum, yet prevails at Westminster. How to amend the British constitution so as to eliminate this antique survival, and yet preserve the government from the danger of an omnipotent, unicameral Parliament, is one of the gravest problems of British statesmanship. The feudal land tenures have undergone many changes in modern society. In France, the rule is that the soil is owned in small parcels by the actual cultivator. There are 2,000,000 properties, each of less than twelve acres. In Germany and Austria, the revolution of 1848 put the land to a great extent in the hands of the peasants. But in many other places great estates pre- vail, and farmers are mere tenants. This is notably the case in the British Islands. In England, one fourth of the land is held by 1,200 owners, averaging 16,200 acres each ; another fourth belongs to 6,200 owners, with an average of 3,150 acres; a third quarter has 50,770 Questions of the Day. 331 owners, averaging 380 acres ; and the remaining fourth is held by 261,830 owners, with an average of 70 acres. Roughly speaking, 600 peers hold a fifth of the English land. The same fact is even more obvious in its conse- quences in Ireland, where absenteeism so largely pre- vails. It seems likely that the system of entail, which permits so large estates, will be abrogated in the near future. Agrarian discontent is based on actual suffering, and this comes to a considerable extent from the anti- quated land system. National autonomy has been won in this century in National many parts of Europe. Germany, Italy, Hungary, Greece, Servia, Bulgaria, Roumania, are now free and self-governing. Poland remains dismembered, and its future seems hopeless. Ireland, while hardly likely to attempt secession from the British Empire, is struggling desperately for Home Rule. Norway is engaged in a similar contest, demanding perfect equality with its sister kingdom of Sweden, or the rupture of the tie which holds the dual Scandinavian monarchy. Bohemia as- pires to the rehabilitation of the old Cekhish kingdom, aiming to enlarge the number of constituents in the Austro-Hungarian federation. And if Bohemia suc- ceeds, the other Slavic lands of Francis Joseph will hardly be content with their present dependent status. Thus it will be observed that the principle of nation- ality, which served to unify Italy and Germany, is a dis- Disruptive ruptive force in the Turkish Empire, in Austria, Norway, Sweden, and Great Britain. It may be added that the development of independent nationalities, so character- Race jealousies, istic of this century, has not been an unmixed blessing. Race struggles have led to race antagonisms, which are now the bane of European international relations. German despises Hun, Hun and Slav hate each other, 332 Europe in the Nineteenth Century Slav and Hun and Frenchman all hate German. And out of this hatred, quite as much as out of clashing interests, comes the dread of a gigantic war. Switzer- land has proved that people of different race, speech, and religious faith can live under one government at peace with one another. Mutual justice and forbearance are all that are needed. The first great social convulsion that followed the re- A Modern Locomotive. Religion. vival of learning was over questions of religion. These wars were ended on the continent of Europe in 1648, and the revolution of 1688 practically ended them in England. But yet in many forms the religious question is a vital and a disturbing one to-day. In Italy the papacy is an imperhim in imperio. The discord be- tween pope and king endangers the safety of free insti- tutions. And Italy cannot be regarded as on a per- Questions of the Day. 333 manent basis until the question of the pope is put at rest. In Great Britain the established Church remains as a part of the organized State, although in neither England, Scotland, nor Wales does it count a majority of the people among its adherents. And throughout Europe the clergy yet maintain close relations with the Education and lower schools. Democracy means universal elementary education in mere self-protection. But Europe has not yet learned the American idea of free, unsectarian edu- cation for all at the cost of the state. These are some of the questions of the day. They are sufficiently grave. Europe has made marvelous prog- ress since Louis XVI. summoned the States-General in 1789. The whole structure of society is revolutionized. The divine right of the people has displaced the divine right of kings. In central and southern Europe power- ful nations exist where a hundred years ago there were mere fragments. The Turk is barely clinging to the shore of the Bosphorus. Steam and electricity have created a new world of manufactures and commerce. Science has delved deep into the mysteries of nature. The last decade of the century looks out on life with more intelligent eyes than the first. But it sees serious evils with which society must grapple. The nineteenth century has provided the tools of civilization in rich abundance. It will be the task of the twentieth century to wield those tools in the structure of a better social fabric. SUMMARY. Every European nation is an armed camp. The Triple Alliance has standing armies aggregating more than 1,000,000 men. The two danger points in international politics are Alsace- Lorraine and Constantinople. 334 Europe in the Nineteenth Century. France wants only a suitable opportunity to seek revenge for 1870. There will be uncertainty and danger in the Balkans as long as the Turk remains in Europe. Increase of knowledge among the poor has bred socialism, which, in an extreme form, becomes anarchy. Everywhere there is a tendency toward universal suffrage, which is hard to reconcile with an hereditary upper house. Feudal land tenures have been much modified. The principle of nationality is a disruptive tendency in Turkey, Austria, Norway, Sweden, and Great Britain. In Italy the religious question remains unsettled, and in Great Britain the established Church is a political issue. BIBLIOGRAPHY. Note. — There has been no attempt to make this ex- haustive. Only those books are cited which are accessi- ble, which are in the English language, and which are, on the whole, reliable. Others are omitted which may- have all these qualities. But it is believed that those below will make a good working library for the general student. I. General Works. Fyffe, C. A. : History of Modem Europe. 3 Vols. 1891. M uller, W. : Political History of Recent Times. Translated by John P. Peters. McCarthy : History of Our Own Times. 2 Vols. Ploetz : Epitome of History. Translated by W. H. Tillinghast. Ramsay: Europe. In Stanford's Compendium of Geography and Travel. Statesman's Year- Book. Issued annually. Appleton : Annual Cyclopedia. Hadley : Railroad Transportation. Wells, D. A. : Recent Economic Changes. II. The French Revolution. Alison, Sir A. : History of Europe. From a High Tory point of view. Carlyle, T. : History of the French Revolution. Lanfrey : History of Napoleon. 4 Vols. Lowell, E. J. : The Eve of the French Revolution. Morris : The French Revolution. Epoch Series. Michelet, J. : History of the French Revolution. 33^ Bibliography. Sybel, H. von: History of the French Revolution. The best in English. Thiers, A. : History of the French Revolution. Thiers, A.: History of the Consulate and Empire. III. France Since 1815. Lebon and Pelet : France As r It Is. De Maupas : The Coup a" Flat. Kinglake : The Invasion of the Crimea. Vol. I. Simon : The Government of Thiers. IV. Italy. Probyn : Italy, 1815 to 1890. Dicey : Life of Victor Emmanuel. Bent : Life of Garibaldi. Bent : San Marino. Mazzini : Life and Writiiigs. V. Austria-Hungary. Whitman : Austria- Hungary. De Worms : The Austro- Hungarian Empire. Deak, F. : Memoirs. Vambery : The Story of Hungary. (Story of the Nation Series.) Metternich : Memoirs. Malleson : Life of Metternich. Hozier : The Seven Weeks' War. VI. Germany. Seeley : Life of Stein. Busch : Our Chancellor. Lowe : Prince Bismarck. Whitman : Imperial Germany. Baring-Gould : Germany, Past and Present. Malleson : The Refotinding of the German Empire. Bibliography. 337 VII. Russia. Rambaud : History of Russia. 3 Vols. Wallace : Russia. A good descriptive book. Heard : The Russian Church and Russian Dissent. Tikhomirov : Russia, Political and Social. Stepniak : The Russian Peasantry. VIII. Turkey and the Eastern Question. Lane-Poole : Turkey. Latham : Russian and Turk. Laveleye : The Balkan Peninsula. Freeman : The Ottoman Power in Europe. Ranke : Servia and the Servian Revolution. Samuelson : Roumania, Past and Present. Clark : The Races of European Turkey. Timayenis : History of Greece. IX. Great Britain. Escott : England. Bright: History of England. Vols. III. and IV. Walpole: History of England. (From 181 5.) 6 Vols. Molesworth : History of England. 3 Vols. Ward : Reign of Queen Victoria. 2 Vols. McCarthy: The Epoch of Reform. (Epoch Series.) Imperial Parliament Series. 8 Small Vols. English Citizen Series. 13 Small Vols. Dean : Short History of Ireland. Lecky : England in the Eighteenth Century. Vols. VII. and VIII. Seeley : The Expayision of England. Cotton and Payne : Colonies and Dependencies. Cox, H. : History of the Reform Bills of 1866-j. McCarthy: England Under Gladstone. (1880-5.) Payne, E. J. : European Colonies. Lowe : Imperial Federation. 338 Bibliography. Feilden : Short Constitutional History of England. Morley : Life of Cobden. Kebbel : Life of Beaconsfield. Emerson : Life of Gladstone. X. Small Central States. Adams and Cunningham : The Swiss Confederation. Grattan : History of the Netherlands. Rogers : Story of Holland. XI. Scandinavian and Iberian Peninsulas. Otte : Scandinavian History. Otte : Denmark and Iceland. Boyesen : The Story of Norway. Harrison: History of Spam. Webster : Spain. Crawfurd : Portugal, Old and New. INDEX. Albanians, 254. Alexander I., 52, 55, 74, 84, 245, 266. Alexander II., 246, 249. Alexander III., 243, 249. Alfonso XII., 301. Alfonso XIII., 301. Alsace-Lorraine, 156, 325. Amadeo, 301. Amiens, treaty of, 47. Anarchy, 328. Arkvvright, 309. Austerlitz, battle of, 51. Austria, 27, 35, 41, 46, 50, 51, 52, 54, 55 ^ 56, 67, 74, 77, 80, 81, 82,83,85, 102, 108, 109, Ch. IX., 141, 150, 160, 161, Ch. XV., 271,280. Baden, 49, 153. Bakunin, 248. Ballot, English, 220. Bank of France, 65. Basques, 295. Bastille, 33. Bavaria, 49, 51, 52, 56, 153. Bazaine, 155. Beaconsfield, 274, 275. Belgium, 41, 58, 66, 78, 91, 92, 289. Berlin, treaty of, 275. Bernadotte, 62, 297. Bessemer process, 312, 322. Bismarck, 147, 150, 153, 195, 199. Blanc, Louis, 97. Bliicher, 5S. Bohemia, m, 174. Bonaparte,.Joseph, 52, 54. Bonaparte, Louis, 52, 289. Bonaparte, Louis Napoleon, 98, 99, 100, 128, 130, 137, 153, 154, 161, 162, 164, 1 89. Bonaparte, Napoleon, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, Ch. III., 61, 93, 98. Borodino, battle of, 55. Boroughs, 205, 206, 207. Bosnia, 173, 272, 275, 2S0. Boulogne, 49, 51. Boycott, 235. Bulgaria, 254, 256, 264, 272, 275, 276, 277. Calico, 310. Campo Formio, treaty of, 41. Canals, 315. Capodistrias, 262. Carbonari, the, 124. Carlos, 300. Carlowitz, treaty of, 259. Carnot, 3S, 41. Carnot, Sadi, 183, 1S8, 328. Cartvvright, 309. Casimir-Perier, 1S5, 188. Castelar, 301, 302. Castlereagh, 73. Catholic emancipation, 230. Cavaignac, 97, 98, 100. Cavour, 158, 162. Chambord, Count de, 137, 179. Charles IV. of Spain, 53. Charles X., 87, 88. Charles Albert, 113, 126, 128. Chartists, the, 217. Christian VIII. of Denmark, 108, 149. Christina, 300, 301. Church, French, 23, 48, 49, 63, 65. Church of Ireland, disestablishment of, 230, 231. Civil service reform, 226. Coal, 307, 311. Codes, French, 47, 48, 65, 66. Committee of Public Safety, 37, 38, 39, 40. Commune, the, 177, i8r, 183. Concordat, the, 48. Confederation of the Rhine, 52, 57, 66. Congress of Vienna, Ch. V. Constantinople, 256, 257, 270, 325, 326. Consul, First, 46, 47, 48. Continental System, the, 53. Convention, French, 36, 40. Corn Laws, 225. 34° Index. Corrupt practices at elections, 220. Corvee, 24. Cotton, 307. Cotton gin, 310. Council of Ancients, 40, 43. Council of Five Hundred, 40, 43. Council of State, 46. County councils, 223. Crete, 237, 278. Crimea, 140, 267. Crompton, 309. Culturkampf, 1S6, 194. Custozza, 127. Davy, Sir Humphry, 312. Deak, 172. Denmark, 19, 57, 107, 109, 144, Ch. XXVII. Diet, the old Germanic, 26. Directory, the, 41, 42, 43. Dumouriez, 37. Dushan, Stephen, 257. Eastern Question, the, 270, 280. Education, 193. Egypt, 42, 43. Elba, 57, 5 8. Election contests, English, 219. Emancipation of serfs, 247. England, 20, 29, 37, 47, 49, 61,68,78, 238, 271,275. Eugenie, 139, 140, 181. Factory Act, the, 216. Faure, Francois Felix, 187, 188, 189. Fenians, the, 230. Ferdinand, Prince of Bulgaria, 277. Ferdinand VII. of Spain, 84, 85, 299. Ferry, Jules, 184. Feudalism, 21, 28, 33, 67. France, 20, 49, 74, 85, Ch. XVI., 199. Franchise in France, 95. Francis, Emperor, 72. Francis Joseph, 116, 169, 172. Frankfort, 104. Frederick VII. of Denmark, 107, 107, 149. Frederick William II., 107. Frederick William III., 52, 72, 75. Free trade, 224. Fulton, Robert, 316. Gambetta, 178, 1S6. Garibaldi, 129, 158, 163, 164. Genoa, 78. George IV., 211. George, King of Greece, 262, 279. Germany, 26, 28, 46, 49, 52, Ch. VIII.,. 67. 68, 75, 83, 133, Ch. XIII., 156, 190. Girondists, the, 34, 36, 37. Gladstone, 215, 231, 233, 234, 236, 237. Gorgey, 116. Gourko, 273. Greece, 254, 260, 261, 262, 275. Grevy, 182, 186. Grey, Earl, 212. Guizot, 91, 96. Gypsies, 255. Hapsburgs, the, 27. Hardenberg, 72. Hargreaves, 309. Herzegovina, 173, 272, 275, 280. Hohenlinden, 46. Holland, 29, 49, 52, 55, 78. Holy Alliance, the, 84. Holy Roman Empire, the, 19, 26, 52. Home Rule, 234, 236, 237. House of Commons, 205. Humboldt, 72. Hungary, no, 113, 116, 171, 172. Ibrahim Pasha, 261. Ireland, Ch. XXI. Iron, 307, 311. Italy, 29, 41, 46, 49, 52, 55, 66, 68, 78, 83,. 92, 112, Ch. X., Ch. XI., 133, 150, 151, Ch. XIV. Jacobins, the, 34, 37, 38, 40. Jellacic, 114, 116. Jena, battle of, 52. Jews, 196, 250, 255. Josephine, 50, 54, 98. Kiel, Peace of, 296. Koniggratz, battle of, 151. Kossovo, battle of, 257. Kossuth, in, 116. Lafayette, 37. Land in France, 63. Land, Irish, 232, 233, 234, 235. Land tenures, 330. Lazar, 257. Legion of Honor, 65. Legislative Assembly, 34, 46. Leipzig, battle of, 56. Leopold II., 291. Local government, 222. Lombardy, 112, 127, 142. Index. 341 London, 224. Louis XVI., 31, 35, 3 6 , 37- Louis XVIII., 57- 59, 86, 87. Louis Philippe, 89, 90, 92. Luneville, treaty of, 46, 49. Macadam, 315. Mack, 51. MacMahon, 155, 186. Malta, 49. Manin, 128. Mantua, 46. Marengo, battle of, 46. Maria Louisa, 55. Marie Antoinette, 35, 38. Massena, 62. Maupas, 131. Maximilian, Archduke, 143. May Laws, French, 131. May Laws, German, 195. Mazzini, 115, 129, 158, 159. Mehemet Ali, 92, 261, 278. Melikof, 249. Metternich, 72, 80. Metz, 155. Mexico, 143. Milan, 112, 113, 127. Military system, 324. Moltke, 155. Montenegro, 255, 263, 273. Moore, Sir John, 54. Moravia, 51. Moreau, 46. Moray, 131. Moscow, 55. Murat, 62. Naples, 85, 126, 164. Napoleon, Prince, 142. Nasmyth, 312. National Assembly, Bohemian, 112 National Assembly, French, 32, 33 47, 48, 97, 9 8 > J 32, J 55, 176, 180. National Assembly, German, 104, 106, 107. National debt, English, 204. Nelson, 42. Netherlands, the, 78, 287. Nicholas, 116, 246, 266, 270. Nicholas II., 248, 249. Nihilists, 248, 249, 328. Nile, battle of the, 42. Noblesse, French, 21, 59. North German Federation, 152. Norway, 19, Ch. XXVII., 297. Novara, battle of, 128. O'Connell, 230. Oscar II., 299. Otho, King of Greece, 262. Oudinot, 12S, 129. Panama Canal, 188. Pan-Slavism, 174. Paris, 57. Paris, Peace of, 141. Parnell, 234, 237. Parties, English, 214. Peasants, French, 22, 63. Peers, House of, 222. Peter the Great, 245, 26S. Pitt, William, 229. Pius IX., 125, 12S, 166. Poland, 52, 74, 75, 144, 247- Poor Law, English, 215. Portugal, 54, 74, 295, Ch. XXVII. , 302. Prague, 56, 112. Prague, Peace of, 151. Prussia, 28, 35, 39, 52, 55, 56, 67, 74. 77, 102, 109, 133, 147- Radetzky, 112, 115, 127. Railways, 318. Referendum, the, 286. Reform, Parliamentary, 210, 212, 213, 219, 221. Reign of Terror, 39. Religion, Russian, 241. Revolutionary Tribunal, French, 37, 39, 4°- Rhine, the, 41, 46. Roads, 314. Robespierre, 39, 4°- Rome, 128, 165, 166. Rosebery, 236, 237. Roumania, 255, 261, 263, 273, 277. I05 , Russia, 50, 55, 56, 74, 78, "6, Mi, 19°, 199, Ch. XX., 265, Ch. XXV., 280. Sadi-Carnot, 183, 188, 328. Salisbury, Marquis of, 235, 237. San Marino, 120. San Stefano, treaty of, 273. Sardinia, 78, 83, 160. Savoy, 66, 143. Saxony, 74, 75- Schleswig-Holstein, 107, 108, 149, 150. 342 Index. Schwarzenberg, 115. Sedan, 155. Servia, 255, 256, 257, 264, 273, 276, 2S1. Sevastopol, 141. Sicily, 164. Slavery, abolition of, 215. Slavs, 113, 114. Socialism, 93, 97, 196, 327. Sonderbund, the, 286. Spain, 37, 39, 53, 57, 74, 84, 154, Ch. XXVII. St. Arnaud, 131. St. Helena, 58, 93. States-General, French, 31, Steamboats, 316. Steam engine, 313. Steel, 312, 321. Stein, 75. Stephenson, 318. Suez Canal, 271, 321. Suffrage, English, 208. Sweden, 56, 74, 78, Ch. XXVII. Switzerland, 49, 78, 284. Taille, the, 24. Talleyrand, 73, 75. Taxation, Turkish, 252. Telegraph, electric, 319. Telford, 315. Tennis court, oath in the, 32. Thiers, 91,93,96, 100, 176, 178. Third estate, French, 23, 32. Tithe war, the, 231. Tribunate, the, 46. Triple Alliance, 173, Ch. XVII. Tuileries, sack of, 35. Turkey, 19, 140, Ch. XXIII., 257, Ch. XXIV., Ch. XXV. Ulm, 51. Ulster custom, 233. Union, Irish, 229, 230. University of France, 65. Yarennes, 34. Venice, 41, 112, 128, 165. Versailles, 32. Victor Emmanuel, 128, 129, 158, 160, 164, 165. Victoria, 217, 276. Vienna, 41, 46, 51, 54, no, in, 115. Vienna, Congress of, 79, 101. Voltaire, 24. Wagram, battle of, 54. Waterloo, battle of, 58, 61. Watt, 313. Wellington, 57, 58, 61, 73, 211, 212. William I., Emperor, 147, 150, 152, 154^ 156. William II., Emperor, 325. William IV. of England, 211. Windhorst, 196. Windischgratz, 112, 113, 115, 116. Wool, 30S. Workshops, national, in France, 97. Wurtemberg, 49, 51, 52, 109, 153. " Young Ireland," 230. Zollverein, the, 103. Zurich, Peace of, 142, 161. JUL