V-^-V V^V V™*> V*» £* -5* v* .%/* T ^°° ^0 ~ C$ ♦ \/ V^V V T ^*\^" V^^** 00 * w ..v i* ^ <*. # ... ♦° » ^ • J J55xtw k *- O * ^A* •- 0° -^1' °o -«* * ». BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE jFotmDatton l£tetotg Series BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE FROM 1814 TO THE GREAT WAR BY WILLIAM GLOVER YONKERS-ON-HUDSON : : : NEW YORK WORLD BOOK COMPANY 1922 WORLD BOOK COMPANY THE HOUSE OF APPLIED KNOWLEDGE Established 1905 by Caspar W. Hodgson YoNKERS-ON-HuDSON, NEW YORK 2126 Prairie Avenue, Chicago y The publishers' aim in Foundation History Series is to present a set of easy textbooks which will give the leading movements of history in concise yet readable form for use in grades below the high school. The fol- lowing list will from time to time receive important additions. FOUNDATION HISTORY SERIES By Henry W. Elson and Cornelia E. MacMuUan THE STORY OF OUR COUNTRY: Book I Cloth, viii + 216 pages Illustrated. From the period of discovery to end of the Revolutionary War. THE STORY OF OUR COUNTRY: Book II Cloth, viii + 283 pages. Illustrated. From the end of the Revolutionary War to the election of President Wilson. THE STORY OF THE OLD WORLD Cloth, viii + 248 pages. Illustrated. An account of those periods or events in European history that have direct and easily traceable bearing upon the development of the American republic. By J. B. Neicman BEGINNERS' ANCIENT HISTORY Cloth. 176 pages. Illustrated. From earliest times to about A. D. 1000. BEGINNERS' MODERN HISTORY Cloth. 160 pages. Illustrated. From about a. D. 1000 to the end of the Great War. By William Glover BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE Cloth. 232 pages. Illustrated. From 181k to the Great War. S4o 3 ■ •« ^3 COPYRIGHT IN GREAT BRITAIN All rights reserved PRINTED IN U. 8. A. GBHME— 1 r PREFACE IS Egypt in Europe or in Asia? Why do such a patri- otic people as the Russians cling to an alien religion, that of the Greek Church? Where and what is Poland? Is it really true that a great many of the inhabitants of Austria cannot speak the Austrian language? What is the good of learning the names, capitals, and boundaries of the ever-changing Balkan States? Are German bands typical examples of' German musical Kultur? Before the Great War sent us to our maps and our books of history, questions such as these were by no means uncommon, even in highly respectable society; for up to that time we were more interested in the towns, cities, and regions of our own country than in those of Europe. Now, however, we have opened our eyes and see that to take an interest in the nations of Europe is really quite worth while. Whether we like it or not, we must live on terms of relationship with our neighbors, even though large bodies of water separate us from them. So, though possibly late in the day, we have come to study the ways of other nations with a view to understanding the char- acters and conditions of the people who compose them. In this little book the author has tried to give what he believes is needed for pupils in the upper classes in grammar schools or the lower classes in high schools — a 5 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE plain, simple, straightforward narrative of European events, consecutive as far as possible, with some side lights on motives, manners, and customs, a few conclu- sions which perhaps deserve to be driven home, and one or two reflections that may tend to stimulate further thought. W. G. CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 An Introduction which should not be Skipped II A Great Opportunity III The Use that was made of it — I IV The Use that was made of it — II V The Swing of the Pendulum — Forward VI The Swing of the Pendulum — Backward VII * The Troubles of 1S30 VIII The French Revolution of 1848 IX The German Revolutions of 1848 X The Austrian Revolutions of 1848 XI The Italian Revolutions of 1848 XII Napoleon III XIII The Crimean War XIV The Unification of Italy XV Bismarck's Threefold Plan. Stage I : Beginnings of Prussian Expansion XVI Bismarck's Threefold Plan. Stage II : The Expulsion of Austria XVII Bismarck's Threefold Plan. Stage III : Mistakes of Napoleon XVIII Bismarck's Threefold Plan. Stage III : The Franco-Prussian War and the Consolidation of Germany PAQB 9 14 19 24 31 36 41 50 59 64 71 77 82 91 100 105 111 117 7 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE CHAPTER PA0E XIX After the Franco-Prussian War 125 XX The Eastern Question 132 XXI The Russo-Turkish War and the Treaty of Berlin 137 XXII Later Balkan Developments 143 XXIII The Triple Alliance 152 XXIV The Triple Entente 157 XXV The Far East 164 XXVI Britain in Egypt 171 XXVII The Partition of Africa 180 XXVIII The Great War of 1914-1918 : What led to it 187 XXIX The Great War of 1914-1918 : Its Course — I 194 XXX The Great War of 1914-1918 : Its Course— II 207 XXXI The Peace Conference 222 MAPS Europe after the Congress of Vienna in 1814 29 Race Map of Austria-Hungary, etc., in ]848 65 South-Eastern Europe, 1920 85 Italy, 1920 97 Germany after 1871 123 The Far East 165 Egypt 173 Africa, 1920 185 Middle Europe before the Great Wab 195 The Gallipoli Peninsula 201 The Pan-German Plan 203 8 A BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE CHAPTER I AN INTRODUCTION WHICH SHOULD NOT BE SKIPPED WHAT is meant by ' modern ' European history ? To that question different people would doubtless give different answers. We, however, in this little book, will take the term * modern ' to indicate the period between 1815 and 1915. In one sense, it is of course impossible to write a satisfactory history of any particular period — just as it is impossible to write a satisfactory history of a parti- cular day in a man's life. For the day has its roots in the many days that have gone before ; and the period, too, has its roots in the many periods that have gone before ; and so both day and period lose much of their meaning if we treat them as mere fragments of the present and ignore their relations with the past. To take an illustration, we might liken history to a web of cloth, the weaving of which began at the Creation and will end only with the end of the world. Periods are like little pieces snipped out of the web ; and each thread in the piece snipped out runs right back to the beginning, and will only end with the end, of all things. But the web is by no means uniform. Indeed, Time, the great weaver, now and then changes his pattern in 9 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE most sudden and startling fashion — so sudden and so startling that he seems to be trying his hand upon an entirely new and different material. One of these abrupt breaks in continuity occurred in 1815, and of this fact we take advantage. But we must be careful to bear in mind that the break is not, after all, complete ; for, in spite of great changes, our period is inseparably joined to the past; and so from time to time we must look back to note some of the past causes that have combined to produce present effects. With this warning we may now proceed to our story. Europe in the Melting-pot. — In the closing months of the year 1814 it appeared as though the star of the great Napoleon had set; for the Terror of Europe had been banished to the island of Elba. But what was to come next ? Certainly no more fighting ; on that point everybody was agreed ; for by this time the nations of Europe were thoroughly and heartily sick of the long and terrible wars that had cost them so much blood and treasure. Moreover, there was no call for fighting, as not only was the arch-enemy, whose genius had raised and inspired mighty armies, now in captivity, but the mighty armies with which he had hoped to realize his dream of world-empire lay shattered and broken. With Napoleon in exile, and the power of France crushed, peace was possible ; and the nations determined to have it. But on what terms ? Iron will take the shape of any mould into which it is run in a liquid state. Napoleon had broken the Con- tinent into what we may compare to a heap of scrap- iron ; and this was now, as it were, to be flung into the melting-pot of a great Congress that should decide the fate of many nations. Into what mould would liquid Europe be run ? Into one that was based on natural lines, and was therefore strong and shapely ? Or into one that was based on artificial distinctions, and was therefore weak and ugly ? In the former case, the 10 AN INTRODUCTION settlement of European affairs might be expected to be lasting and peaceful ; in the latter, change and trouble would probably soon ensue. On November 1, 1814, representatives of the Powers met at Vienna, and proceeded to reconstruct Napoleon's Europe. It was a great task ; and if the representatives had all been great men — men of far-seeing wisdom, filled with noble unselfishness, and resolute in the carry- ing out of their great intentions — how well that task might have been performed ! Here was a Continent ripe and ready for the great experiment. For hundreds of years it had, as it were, been ground down under the iron heel of Authority. " Obey your rulers, your sovereigns by divine right ; obey the ministers whom they, in their good pleasure, think proper to appoint ; and submit without a murmur to the form of government they see fit to institute." That was the code which, hitherto, comparatively few people had dreamt of disputing. Then had come the French Revolution, with its gospel of liberty, equality, fraternity, and the right of the people to rule themselves and make their own laws. The Age of Authority was proclaimed to be dead, or at least dying ; and its place had been taken by the new- born Age of Reason. But, unfortunately, the Age of Reason, like other children of tender years, did not always act reasonably. It pulled down a great deal better than it built up. Many bad features of French life were destroyed, but, alas ! many good ones too; and in place of the bad old social order, with its tyranny and oppression by kings and nobles, there did not come the hoped-for condition of gentleness and justice. More- over, the weapon of militarism, even though wielded by a Napoleon, with an intellect of the very highest type, had failed to impose the ideals of the Revolution upon nations not yet ripe for them. The Ideals of the French Revolution. — But though the 11 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE Revolution had failed, as yet, to embody its ideals in a permanent and successful form, the ideals which had inspired it were by no means dead ; indeed, they were very much alive, and a great deal more widespread than many of the absolute rulers liked ; and it soon became clear that the peoples would never again be contented with what had formerly satisfied them. "Two things," they said, " we must have : a recognition of the claims of nationality, and a recognition of the claims of demo- cracy." It would have been much better if they had gone a step further, and demanded a recognition of the claims of federation. I will say a few words about each of these three terms. First, take nationality. What do you mean by that ? In the eighteenth century it meant no more than the common tie which bound together a people in allegiance to their sovereign. As the sun is the centre of the solar system, and holds all the planets in their places by the power of gravitation, so the sovereign was supposed to be the centre of the State, which he held together by the bond of loyalty to himself. Indeed, some people went so far as to say, " Where my king is, there is my country"; and for them a country with the king in exile was like a land with the sun in eclipse. Nowa- days, however, nationality, as we understand it, is something very different from that. How shall we define it ? I do not think we can do better than speak of a nation as a people that (1) belongs to one race, (2) speaks one language, (3) has common sympathies, (4) has common material interests. When all these conditions are found together, the nation is really and truly one ; and the fewer the number of conditions present, the less firmly does the nation hold together. Race, language, sympathies, and material interests : these four, we may safely say, are the four chief bonds of national unity, and it would be difficult to say which is the strongest. 12 AN INTRODUCTION Second, take democracy, that is, the government of the people by the people — a state of affairs that, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, was almost un- known outside Britain. Sovereigns, and the ministers whom they appointed, did all the governing, and had the chief influence in making the laws ; while the people were so much putty to be moulded as the king and his ministers thought fit. With the coming of the French Revolution the idea of democracy took a firm and gradually tightening grip, not only upon France, but also upon many other European countries. Third, federation. This is a union of governments in which several States, while independent of each other in home affairs, combine for purposes common to all. The United States of America is a good instance of a federal government ; each State manages its own internal business, but all combine in affairs of common interest, such as dealings with foreign Powers and the defence of the whole country. QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. An abrupt break in European history occurred in 1815. Comment on this statement. 2. Why was Europe, on the fall of Napoleon, ripe for reconstruction ? 3. What were the chief ideas which lay at the roots of the French Revolution ? 4. What are the chief distinguishing marks of nationality ? 5. Explain the term ' democracy.' 6. Say what is meant by ' federation.' Give as many examples as you can of the federal form of government. 13 CHAPTER II A GREAT OPPORTUNITY NOW had the representatives of the Powers who met in 1814 at the Congress of Vienna been wise, unselfish, far-seeing men, what a fine settlement of European affairs they might have made ! — one, too, that, though it might not have pleased everybody just at first, would in the long run have proved more and more satisfactory ; for, being made on natural lines, and based upon powerful and widespread ideas, it would probably have lasted peacefully not only until now, but also far into the future. The Problems of Settlement. — The task of settlement would not have been easy ; on the contrary, it would have been very difficult indeed ; but it might have been performed if only the right people had been there to perform it. " Here," these wise, unselfish, far-seeing representa- tives — our dream-folk, we will call them — might have said, " Here is the Continent of Europe in a condition just fit and ready for treatment. How shall we treat it ? " Well, our first step shall be to divide it into States ; and in doing this we have determined to be guided by no other considerations than those of race, language, sympathies, and material interests. Districts of the same race, speaking the same language, and having common sympathies and material interests, shall be put 14 A GREAT OPPORTUNITY into one and the same State ; and if we are uncertain as to the rightful placing of any particular district — in which the people are divided on our four essential points — the matter shall be decided by a plebiscite, that is, by a vote of the whole people concerned. On one point, however, you may take it for granted that we have quite made up our minds : we will not give a slice of territory to any czar, emperor, king, or sove- reign of any kind, simply because he wants it with the object of increasing his own importance and that of the country over which he rules. " Next we will lay down the principle of democratic control, which means that the people shall not only make the laws under which they are to live, but shall also choose the machinery by which the laws are to be enforced ; in other words, each State shall no longer be regarded as the private property of dynasty, sovereign, or aristocracy, but as the possession of the people themselves. " But here we will sound a note of warning. The changes should not be too drastic ; they should be gradual, so as to avoid unnecessary confusion ; and each should be preceded by an educational campaign, in which the people are taught the meaning of the new rights and duties upon which they are about to enter. Some States, being better prepared for the coming con- ditions, will naturally adopt democratic control more rapidly than others. The rate of progress will thus vary; but everywhere it must be borne in mind what is the general end to be attained. " Lastly, for the whole of the Continent we will have a great Federal Government, to which delegates from each State shall be summoned ; and this central Federal Government shall deal with international affairs, that is, with the relations of the individual States to each other." A plan of this kind would not, of course, have given 15 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE us a Continental paradise ; for that we shall never have until we can change the character of individuals, and people Europe with men and women of goodwill, kind hearts, and sound minds in sound bodies. But, if ably carried out, it might have been one step in the direc- tion of making paradise possible ; and, in any case, it would have saved many terrible wars. We might have expected from it the following results : 1. A Europe divided into a number of States, large and small, each compact, and thoroughly welded together. 2. Each would have been left free to develop on its own national lines, according, in each case, to the will of the people concerned. This, in itself, would have been a distinct world-gain. For, just as we believe that each individual person has some good gift which nobody but he possesses, and which, therefore, nobody but he can contribute to the welfare of the society in which he lives, so we believe that each individual State has some good gift which nobody but it possesses, and which, therefore, nobody but it can contribute to the welfare of the world. But for the perfecting of this good gift, it is necessary that both man and State shall be left free to develop on their own particular lines. To take a case in point, German, Russian, French, Belgian, and British culture each has a special mission to perform ; and it would be a distinct loss to the world if the will of some great Power were to impose its own culture upon one of its neighbours, and thus stamp out the special contribution which that neighbour might have made to the world's advancement. 3. The welfare of the States as a federated whole would have been put under the guardianship of the central Federal Government. No State, no matter how powerful it might be, would then be permitted to infringe upon the liberties of even the very weakest; and the relations of each State to its neighbours, as well 16 A GREAT OPPORTUNITY as to the extra-European countries, would be regulated by a code of international law. The Enforcement of International Laws. — But sup- pose, some one may say, that a particular State should refuse to obey the ruling of the International Board — what then ? Well, there would be two distinct ways of dealing with the offender. You might " send him to Coventry " ; and if every other State in the Federation refused to trade with him, the economic pressure would probably very soon bring him to his senses and make him hand in his submission. If this method did not succeed — though I do not see how it could fail if properly applied— you might try the second, viz., that of direct compulsion. In the present state of civilization, there is no doubt that behind all government there must be force, downright actual physical force ; so that those who refuse to obey the law can be compelled to do so. And the Central Federal Government would, as a matter of course, have at its disposal a body of ' compellers ' — call it an International Army, an International Police, or any other name you will ; but remember that its function is to enforce the decisions of the Central Federal Government. This im- portant body would deal with international offenders; and as each State, being now free from the fear of aggression on the part of its neighbours, would have little or no need of a State army — and indeed would not be permitted to have more than quite a small one — the International Army would not necessarily be very large in order to maintain international discipline. But all this, perhaps you say, is a dream. Un- doubtedly you are right ; it is a mere dream of things that might have been in the year 1815 ; and, moreover, there would have been many difficulties in the way of its fulfilment. But difficulties have a way of disap- pearing when resolutely faced ; and the dreams of to-day are sometimes the realities of to-morrow. B 17 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. When, and for what purpose, did the Congress of Vienna meet ? 2. What three steps should have been taken in order to place the peace of Europe on firm foundations ? 3. Name three consequences to which these three steps would probably have led. 4. Name and explain two ways of dealing with States which rebel against the rulings of a Central Federal Government. 16 CHAPTER III THE USE THAT WAS MADE OF IT— I WE now turn from dream to reality. The European Congress met at Vienna ; and, though the deliberations were interrupted by the escape of Napoleon from Elba, the Congress resumed its sittings at the end of the wonder- ful ' hundred days.' Vienna seemed full of famous personages. There were the two emperors, Francis II of Austria and Alexander I of Russia; there were the kings of Prussia, Wurtemberg, Bavaria, and Denmark ; there were numbers of German dukes and princes ; and there were representatives from most of the other coun- tries of Europe — Castlereagh for Great Britain, Metter- nich for Austria, Talleyrand for France, and Consalvi for the Pope. And very fine times these famous people must have had ; for the Austrian capital was ablaze with splendid balls and magnificent banquets, so that dancing and feasting seemed to be the chief business that had called them together. In the intervals of pleasure, however, they found time to meet together in order to settle the affairs of the nations — after a fashion; and, says a close observer : " All Europe was then at play round a large green table ; kingdoms were the stakes ; and a diplo- matic shake of the dice might win a hundred thousand or a million heads." The Failure of the Vienna Settlement. — Now the members of the Congress, as a body, professed to have 19 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE intentions that were really splendid. They stated that their objects were " the reconstruction of the moral order," " the regeneration of the political system of Europe," " an enduring peace founded on a just redistri- bution of political forces." That is to say, Europe was to be new-born to an order of morality and justice that should give abiding peace. What programme could have been finer than that ? Unhappily, however, the programme was very badly carried out ; so badly, indeed, that the history of the nineteenth century is largely made up of a long series of attempts to break up the Vienna settle- ment ; and a period which opened up with a vision of the brotherhood of man, closed on the terrible reality of a jumble of States armed to the teeth, and each guarding its own exclusive privileges as jealously as a greedy dog guards a bone. How was it that such a deplorable failure came to pass ? Chiefly, no doubt, because the members of the Congress, though they had brilliant men amongst them, were not great enough for the task they had undertaken. They were not great enough in knowledge ; for they did not understand the spirit of the age, and had not fully and freely grasped the new ideas that were to do so much toward moulding the future of societies and States. And they were not great enough in disinterestedness, most of them being zealous for the welfare of the State they represented, and caring little for the .welfare of others. In other words, they were not a body of men who combined deep wisdom with world-wide sympathies. Moreover, it must not be forgotten that they were, after all, a company of diplomatists, and, as such, keen at outwitting each other and snatching an advantage, subtle in plot and counterplot, given to secrecy and intrigue. Consequently they could have had little sympathy with the sounding phrases of their published program ; and, doubtless, many of them regarded such utterances as addressed, so to speak, to the gallery, 20 THE USE THAT WAS MADE OF IT and intended only to " tranquillize the peoples, and give to the solemn reunion an air of dignity and grandeur." With ideas such as these, the Congress set to work to reshape the destiny of Europe ; but before telling in detail how they did, or tried to do, this, it will be well if we make a brief survey of early Euro- pean history. A Resume' of Earlier History.— Going back a long, long way, we learn that in the year 27 B.C. the first emperor of Rome was Augustus. In the beginning the Roman Empire was a heathen one, and was ruled from Rome as a centre. About a.d. 323, however, the then emperor, Constantine, became a Christian ; and in the course of the fourth and fifth centuries the Roman Empire came to adopt the Christian faith ; that is to say, Christianity became the acknowledged State religion. Constantine, moreover, removed his capital to the old Greek city of Byzantium, now known as Con- stantinople, the city of Constantine. Through the sixth, seventh, and eighth centuries there was only one Roman Empire, with its seat at Con- stantinpole, and only one Christian form of State reli- gion ; but then came a religious dispute which led to a great split, after which there were two Empires, an Eastern and a Western. The former was ruled by an emperor residing at Constantinople ; its religion was that form of Christianity professed by the Greek Church ; and the head of that religion was the Patriarch of Constantinople. The latter was ruled by an emperor residing at Rome ; its religion was that form of Chris- tianity professed by the Roman Church ; and the head of that religion was the Pope of Rome. We need say little about the Eastern Empire. It was overthrown in a.d. 1453, when the Turks captured Con- stantinople, and when the Greek scholars and teachers hitherto residing there were scattered far and wide, and, 21 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE carrying their culture with them, laid the foundation for a great revival of learning in Western Europe. Thus the Eastern Empire fell ; but not so the religion ; for the Eastern or Greek Church still flourishes in Russia and Eastern Europe. The Western, or Holy Roman, Empire, with its special form of Christianity, lasted much longer, and during its existence did much to mould the nations of Europe into their present form. The first emperor was the Teutonic prince Charles the Great, who began his reign in a.d. 800, and the last was Francis II of Austria, who abdicated in 1806 ; all of them were of German blood ; and all endeavoured to consolidate a great part of Europe round Germany as a nucleus. When Francis II resigned, he did so chiefly, perhaps, because he found that the attempt at consolidation had utterly failed, and now seemed quite hopeless; for, instead of ruling over one great, united State, he found himself merely the nominal head of a large number of States over which he had little or no real control. The German States. — At the time of the Congress of Vienna, then, there was no German Empire, but only a number of separate and independent German States — over three hundred before the Napoleonic wars, but thirty-nine afterward. The largest of these were Prussia and Austria ; then came Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, and Wurtemberg ; the rest were small States, such as Hesse, Weimar, etc. There was great rivalry between Prussia and Austria as to which should be the leader of this German group ; and there was great jealousy and distrust of each other among the whole of the thirty-nine. Though all of them doubtless felt that it would be advantageous if they could be united under one common government, they were unwilling to sacrifice their complete independence and their special privileges for the common good. One step, however, they took toward national unity. Each of the thirty- 22 THE USE THAT WAS MADE OF IT nine sent delegates to a central parliament, or Diet, at Frankfort, and this loose confederation was called the Bund ; but as the Diet had little real power beyond the power of making speeches, the Bund was not much of a bond of union after all. It is well to note, too, that the members of the Diet represented, and were ap- pointed by, not the people of the respective States, but the rulers. QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. To what extent were the different States represented at the Vienna Congress ? Name a few of the represen- tatives, and give brief notes on the character of each. 2. Write a short theme on " Diplomacy and Diploma- tists." 3. What do you understand by the term ' national selfishness ' ? Illustrate your answer by reference to the Vienna Congress. 4. When, and why, did the Roman Emperors remove the seat of government from Rome to Constantinople ? 5. What led to the division of the Roman Empire into two parts ? 6. Say what you know about the Eastern Empire. 7. When, and why, did the Western Empire come to an end ? 8. What were the political divisions of Germany in 1815? 23 CHAPTER IV THE USE THAT WAS MADE OF IT— II HAVING now, as it were, cleared the ground, we will proceed to see how the Congress of Vienna dealt with the three great nineteenth- century notions of nationality, democracy, and federation. First take the case of nationality. Since revolution in France had led to such terrible con- fusion, not only in France itself but also in the rest of Europe, it was now determined that, as far as possible, the work of revolution should be undone ; and, to that end, the sovereigns whom Napoleon had deposed and despoiled, or, failing them, their next heirs, should be restored to the pre-revolutionary thrones. This principle was called ' legitimacy/ and the legitimate monarchs were to be given back their kingdoms. Various territorial changes, however, were made, of which the following were the most important : Territorial Changes in 1814. — 1. Prussia continued her career of expansion. Starting in the seventeenth century with the little Electorate of Brandenburg, a district round Berlin, the ruling family of Hohen- zollern inherited the Duchy of Prussia ; upon which they changed their title from Elector of Brandenburg to King of Prussia. Later, Prussia annexed Silesia, Pomerania, and part of Poland ; and that was its fullest extent at the time of Napoleon's fall. From the very first, the policy of the Hohenzollerns seems to have been to rule despotically as kings by divine right, and 24 THE USE THAT WAS MADE OF IT to organize thoroughly the civil life of their subjects. Military power, wielded by aggressive sovereigns, was the secret of Prussia's territorial expansion ; and civil organization was the secret of her undoubted internal prosperity. If you look at the map, you will see that up to this point Prussia had been an East German Power. By the award of the Vienna Congress, however, she received a large district situated on the Rhine ; and these new lands, viz., the Westphalian and the Rhine Provinces, made her a Western Power too, and also gave her a frontier touching France. She wanted Alsace-Lorraine as well, and was very much dissatisfied when the Con- gress refused her demands ; indeed, she kept on wanting, until, as a result of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the Alsace-Lorraine plum dropped, as it were, into the German mouth. But of this we shall speak later. Various other changes were made among the German States, but these we need not particularize. The Elec- torate of Hanover was made into a kingdom and was ruled by the kings of England until the accession of Victoria in 1837, when a son of George III succeeded to the crown as next male heir. 2. Austria gained Lombardy and Venice — far and away the richest provinces in the Italian peninsula — as well as Galicia, some valleys in the Eastern Alps, the Dalmatian coastland, and a few islands in the Adriatic Sea. Thus what was really only a German State to begin with stretched out its hands and now governed, in addition to the Magyars of Hungary, also the Poles of Galicia, the Slavs of Dalmatia, and the Italians of Lombardy and Venice. 3. Russia received Finland and a part of Poland. 4. In Italy — which was then not one kingdom but many — several changes were made. In the first place, Piedmont, increased by the little republic of Genoa, was restored to the kingdom of Sardinia ; note this well, 25 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE for Sardinia, as we shall see later, was to be the means of uniting the whole peninsula under one government as it exists to-day. Lombardy and Venice, as we have already learned, were ceded to Austria, and as several other Italian States were ruled by princes of Austrian blood, it is evident that Austrian influence there must have been very great. The Pope got back the States of the Church — a wide strip of territory stretching in a north-easterly direction right across to the Adriatic; and in the south, the Kingdom of Naples, known also as the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, was given back to its Bourbon king. Of course the Italians were angry that their country should be so much under the thumb of foreigners ; and they longed, too, for national unity in place of so many petty States. But the time for attaining freedom and unity was not yet at hand ; and the Italians had to wait — often very impatiently — for the good time coming. 5. England retained Ceylon, Malta, the Cape of Good Hope, Trinidad, Mauritius, St Lucia, and Tobago. She further received Heligoland and the protectorate of the Ionian Islands. Heligoland she subsequently gave up to Germany in return for rights over the island of Zanzibar on the African coast of the Indian Ocean. 6. Holland was made into an hereditary kingdom under the House of Orange ; and, in order that she might be better able to check any possible encroach- ments on the part of her neighbours, she was given Belgium — the former Austrian Netherlands. Britain was especially set upon effecting this arrangement ; for the mouths of the Rhine, Meuse, and Scheldt form a series of harbours opposite the Thames ; and these, if held and fortified by one of the great European Powers, would have been, as Napoleon had phrased it, so many pistols pointed at the heart of Albion. As the people of Holland and Belgium, however, differ in language, race, and religion, their union did not last very long. 26 THE USE THAT WAS MADE OF IT 7. Norway was taken from Denmark — as a punish- ment for the latter's support of Napoleon — and united with Sweden ; though each country kept its own parlia- ment, and managed its own internal affairs. This change gave great dissatisfaction to Norway ; but it remained in operation till 1905, when the kingdoms were finally divided, a Danish prince being chosen king of Norway. Denmark was, of course, much weakened by her loss, as now she retained only the peninsula of Jutland and the islands at the entrance to the Baltic ; though the King of Denmark was still duke of the two German provinces of Schleswig and Holstein in the isthmus joining Jutland to the mainland. 8. France kept pretty nearly the same boundaries as she had possessed before the Revolution, but she lost some of her colonies. 9. Spain and Portugal once more became indepen- dent kingdoms ; but as they were unable to retain their great possessions in South America, they eventually came to be classed as second-rate Powers. 10. Switzerland became a federal republic of cantons, some speaking French, some German, and one Italian. 11. The Turks continued to rule over the Balkan Peninsula, with its mainly Christian population of various races. Their European empire extended from Cape Matapan northward to the rivers Save and Pruth, and its northern boundaries touched the south of Austria and Russia. Only at one point, in the north- western highlands, did a branch of the Slav race main- tain its independence under the Prince of Montenegro. So much for the territorial changes. They were, as you see, arbitrary, made on no other lines than the desire for ' legitimacy ' and the will of the arbiters. The people of the various countries were not consulted ; indeed they were pretty completely ignored ; and little or no weight was given to considerations of race, lan- guage, sympathies, and material interests. In other 27 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE words, nationality — destined to be one of the chief factors in the moulding of nineteenth-century Europe — was treated as a thing of little moment. What about the second great factor ? What about democracy ? That, too, received scant favor — indeed no favor at all, but rather disfavor. If the legiti- mate sovereigns represented at the Congress of Vienna were unanimous on any point, it was on that of main- taining their own privileges and those of the Court and the nobility. The people must be repressed, ' kept in their places,' and made to bow in deep humility before their social superiors. As for the revolutionary idea of the people governing themselves and making their own laws, that was absurd, and must be resolutely stamped out. The Holy Alliance. — With the third idea, however, viz., that of the federation, the case was somewhat different. The Czar Alexander I proposed that the Powers should combine to secure a permanent peace based on " the sacred principles of the Christian reli- gion," the principles of justice, charity, and peace. Princes, for the future, were to look upon each other as brothers, and to regard their subjects as little children ; and the nations were thus to be joined together in one glorious league of Christian brotherhood. Prussia and Austria agreed to fall in with the Czar's scheme, and so this peculiar kind of federation, the Holy Alliance of Russia, Prussia, and Austria, came into being. Britain, however, refused to join ; for her statesmen con- sidered that the King of Prussia, the Emperor of Austria, and the Czar of Russia ought not to be entrusted with the vast powers such an alliance would give them. The three were autocrats, absolute monarchs, believers in the doctrine that the " divine right of kings " was one of the " sacred principles of the Christian religion"; and so it was only to be expected that they would use the power of their union for the 28 29 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE purpose of crushing movements toward greater demo- cratic liberty that might spring up in any of the European States. Doubtless the British statesmen were right in refusing to join such an undesirable kind of federation as the Holy Alliance. Nationality, democracy, federation : if we glance back at the contents of this chapter we see that the treatment which these three great principles received at the hands of the Congress of Vienna gave little promise of a permanent European peace. QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. Explain the principle of ' legitimacy,' and its applica- tion by the Vienna Congress. 2. What was the extent of Prussia before and after the Vienna Congress ? 3. Give two principles which underlay the policy of the Hohenzollerns. 4. Enumerate the territorial changes made by the Vienna Congress as regards (a) Germany, (b) Austria, (c) Russia, (d) Italy, (e) England, (/) Holland, (g) Norway, and (h) Turkey. 5. How did the Vienna Congress deal with the ideas of nationality, democracy, and federation ? 80 CHAPTER V THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM— FORWARD HAVE you ever considered the fact that nothing in the whole universe is ever abso- lutely still ? The stars move in their courses, and the planets swing round the sun; and what is true of these great bodies is equally true of the materials of which they are composed. Take, for instance, this piece of granite cropping out from the mountain-side. It seems still enough, does it not ? And yet it, too, is moving; not only as a whole, with the earth of which it forms a part ; in addition to that, every little molecule of felspar, mica, and quartz is, were our eyes but sharp enough to detect the process, vibrating like a pendulum or the prongs of a tuning- fork. And if the law of movement is general in regard to inanimate nature, it is equally true of living things, of men and nations. This history treats of nations, and nations are never still ; they change their character and conditions from time to time, and — I want you to note this very carefully — these changes are like vibra- tions, a swinging backward and forward. In other words, national progress never continues uniformly and always in a straight line, and after a period of reform it is safe to prophesy a period of reaction. Let us hope that reforms may triumph' in the end ; anyhow, they have always reaction to reckon with. Now the period that preceded the Congress of Vienna was a time of attempted reform, when the spirit of 31 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE reform was, so to speak, awake and stirring in France, and just yawning after a long sleep in other parts of the Continent. In like manner, the period that fol- lowed was a time of reaction. The two movements we might term the forward and backward swing of the historical pendulum ; and before telling the tale of the latter, the time of reaction, it may be well to consider briefly the story of the former, the time of reform. The Spirit of Reform. — The year 1789 will always be remembered as the date of the terrible and wonderful French Revolution. Now revolutions do not come of their own accord and spring out of nothing; there are always causes for them, and there were very powerful forces at work to produce the French Revolution of 1789. At that time the bulk of the French people were very much downtrodden and oppressed. The king, the nobles, yes, and numbers of the higher clergy too, took the common people's money by way of taxes and other impositions, and lived in prodigal luxury ; while at the same time many of the common people had to deprive themselves even of the common necessaries of life in order to supply the demands of the so-called upper classes. Indeed, the families of thousands of French peasants had to go supperless to bed, and rise to a scanty breakfast of crusts, because the money to buy them sufficient simple food had been taken to provide rich banquets for the great lords of Church and State. And, not content with taking away the people's money, these arrogant upper classes took away their liberties as well, so that a poor man scarce dared to call his soul his own. The king and the nobles took away liberty of action and exacted rigid obedience in deeds ; and the clergy took away liberty of thought and exacted rigid obedience in belief. Of course there were nobles who did not oppress their dependants, but, on the contrary, took a genuine 32 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM— FORWARD interest in them and tried to make them happy ; and there were earnest, hard-working parish priests, poor themselves, who received little from others, and whose character and conduct were beyond reproach. But these cases only serve to bring out in bold relief the whole system of government which made it possible for the evils of which we have just spoken to be so widely prevalent as they undoubtedly were. But we are told that even a worm will turn; and in 1789 the French people turned— not in ones and twos, not in small sections, but in a great mass — and declared that they would bear their bitter burdens no longer. Led and inspired by the writings and speeches of many celebrated authors, philosophers, and orators, they proclaimed that henceforth France should be a kingdom of Reason, a realm where the poor man should have equal rights with the rich, and where the clergy should no longer be allowed to fetter the judgment of the laity. Now these great ideas of the rule of reason, the rights of man, the brotherhood of humanity, were really very powerful forces. Would it surprise you if I said that a great idea is vastly more powerful than the strongest machine that was ever made, or ever will be made ? Yet, believe me, this is quite true ; for machinery, after all, can only move matter; while ideas, with faith behind them, but not otherwise, move the spirit ; and spiritual forces could, if they only had free, fair play, make a new and better world of men and women. Well, the great ideas at the root of the French Revolu- tion were taken up with enthusiastic faith, and so they speedily swept away many of the abuses under which France had long groaned. Unfortunately, however, many good things were swept away along with the bad ones ; and many evil deeds were done by those who professed to be guided by good principles. Just how it was that this came about is a story too long to tell you here. Perhaps I can best C 33 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE sum the matter up by saying that the educated men, the philosophers, the thinkers, who had planned a new freedom for France, were overpowered and carried away by the uneducated mob that still smarted from past sufferings. Now the unthinking passion of a mob is a terrible sight ; and the mob of Paris, led by men whose motives were not always pure, did many deplor- able acts. In this manner they attempted to build the new State on foundations of revenge and cruelty — a wretched mistake that was sure to defeat its own ends. But, all the same, the revolutionaries, though they often acted with a judgment that was both cruel and bad, believed most earnestly in the great ideas for which the Revolution stood. You have seen some dull, lifeless kind of man suddenly roused from his apathy by a fit of anger. Think of pre-Revolutionary France as that dull, lifeless man ; and think of how the great ideas of the Revolution roused the nation, transformed its very appearance, and gave it tremendous added power. Napoleon Bonaparte. — At this point there comes into the picture a wonderful personage, Napoleon Bonaparte. If anyone were to ask what were Napoleon's chief claims to greatness, the answer might fill many pages ; for the performances of this man of magic were both numerous and remarkable. Though his achievements as a soldier overshadowed those of a more peaceful character, it must not be forgotten that he gave to France a code of laws, the famous Code Napoleon, which entitles him to rank as a lawgiver with the Roman emperor Justinian. But of course it is as a soldier that he is chiefly remembered ; and here he had the genius not only to see a magnificent oppor- tunity, but to seize it also. He got a firm hold on what we may term this strong, idea-inspired New France, and used it for His own ends, which were those of world-wide dominion. 34 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM— FORWARD It must be remembered, too, that though Napoleon contrived to get more of his own way than perhaps any other ruler of his century, yet both in France and out of it he was at first regarded as the champion of liberty, equality, fraternity ; and his soldiers, in their career of conquest, looked upon themselves as mes- sengers carrying the good news of these things to nations that were still governed by absolute kings. In this manner, though the power of the great dictator was finally shattered, the doctrines of the Revolution remained strong and active throughout the length and breadth of Europe. QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. Explain what is meant by " the forward and back- ward swing of the historical pendulum." 2. Name some of the causes that led to the French Revolution of 1789. Did it keep its ideals pure ? If not, why not ? 3. Say what you know about Napoleon Bonaparte as a lawgiver. 4. What was the main secret of Napoleon's power in France ? 85 CHAPTER VI THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM— BACKWARD FROM the preceding chapter it will be seen that the ' legitimate ' sovereigns, restored by the Congress of Vienna, were soon to find that the spirit of their subjects had changed very con- siderably ; the people were no longer willing to submit to their rulers with the old slavish obedience. Now the citizens of every State have, or ought to have, and to exercise, two separate and distinct functions, their rights and their duties. Hitherto the latter had been heavy and the former light; but from 1815 onward this began to cause more and more dissatisfaction, and the nations cried out for less duties and more rights ; per- haps we should not be far wrong if we said that there then arose a danger — which possibly exists to-day — that people should think too much of what they ought to have and too little of what they ought to do. But the absolute rulers were by no means willing to give up their former powers ; and, in effect, they said to their subjects, " We possess the rights; to you belong the duties." In this manner they did their best to put back the clock, and act as though there had been no French Revolution, and no new ideas had recently been born. For some time the people submitted to the old demands, though they grumbled a great deal, and their obedience was by no means so ready as it once had been. The fact is, they were so thoroughly tired of 36 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM— BACKWARD wars, quarrels, and disturbances of all kinds that they were willing to ' lie low ' for the sake of the rest which a much-needed peace would give them. Just as a spirited horse, when quite jaded and worn out, will submit to the whip without bolting, or kicking over the traces, so the jaded and worn-out nations of Europe submitted once more to the exactions of their absolute rulers. But just as the spirited horse, when its strength and courage have been restored by rest and good food, will endure the whip no longer, so the European nations, after refreshing themselves by a period of peace, began to rise against their old masters, and endeavor to overthrow the settlement made by the Congress of Vienna. Reaction. — One of the first nations to make its pro- test was Spain, where the Bourbon monarch Ferdinand VII had been restored to his throne. On his return, this unwise ruler, instead of making gradually the changes he wished to bring about, took up the work in a very quick and dramatic fashion. At one sweep he abolished the reforms that Napoleon had instituted during the French occupation of the Spanish Penin- sula — reforms which gave the common people much more freedom than they had been accustomed to enjoy ; and, not content with taking away his subjects' liber- ties, he began to persecute the patriots, and to restore the excessive powers of the clergy. When the Spaniards had borne these arbitrary doings until their patience was exhausted, they rose in revolt, and, in 1820, com- pelled the King to give them back the reformed Con- stitution as Napoleon had left it. In Naples, too, another King Ferdinand passed through pretty much the same experience as the Ferdi- nand of Spain ; and, like him, after trying, as it were, to ride the high horse, was compelled to dismount and submit to the will of the people. Do you think that the other European Powers had 37 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE any right to interfere with the home affairs of Spain and Naples ? Evidently they believed they had. You remember the Holy Alliance — Russia, Austria, and Prussia ? The sovereigns of these three countries, well- nigh absolute in their own realms, were unwilling to allow liberal government — that is, a government in which the people had a large share — anywhere else. " Absolute monarchs should stand by each other " : that was a principle on which they were all agreed ; they resolved to act upon it now, and to stand by the two would-be-absolute Ferdinands. So Prince Metter- nich, the Austrian prime minister, called a European Congress at Troppeau in 1820, and again at Laibach in 1821 ; and, backed by the other members of the Holy Alliance, he carried a resolution to the effect that revolutions must be repressed, and that a beginning should be made with the revolution in Naples. To Austria was entrusted the task of bringing little Naples to order ; and the Austrian army was so large that it did its task with great ease, and speedily restored King Ferdinand to place and power. Delighted with his success in Naples, Metternich now turned his attention to Spain ; and at the Congress of Verona, in 1822, France, now under Louis XVIII, was instructed to put down the liberal patriots of Spain. As a result Ferdinand regained his throne. He cele- brated his triumph by a series of cruel reprisals. But the absolute rulers of Europe were not destined to have everything quite their own way. One of the most absolute of them was the Sultan of Turkey ; and he, at this time, held, as part of his dominions, the historic land of Greece. In 1821 the Greeks suddenly rose against their Turkish masters, and claimed inde- pendence. Roused to ferocity, the Sultan not only allowed, but actually encouraged, his troops to commit many terrible atrocities ; and twenty thousand Greeks were barbarously murdered in the island of Chios. To 38 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM— BACKWARD crown all, the Turks put to death the Patriarch of Constantinople, the head of the Greek Church ; a crime which shocked the conscience of Christendom, and roused the Slavs to desperation. But, as so often happens in warfare, atrocities on one side led to atrocities on the other. In this respect one cannot but admit that the Greeks often showed them- selves very barbarous and unscrupulous, and very quick to return evil for evil. What excuse can be offered for such conduct ? If, under the influence of righteous anger, a man commits a crime, his anger does not justify his crime, though it may serve to palliate it. But what shall we say about war-lords who make reprisal — and reprisal, moreover, for deeds which they know very well have never occurred at all — their cold, deliberate, calculating policy, and murder the innocent as a matter of what they have the audacity to term ' principle ' ? Popular Sympathy with Oppressed Nationalities. — To return, however, to our story, the people of Europe sympathized deeply with the Greeks as the original sufferers, and were all on fire to help them in their struggle against the Turkish tyrant; indeed, volunteers, among whom we may mention the poet Byron, poured into Greece from all parts of the Continent ; money, too, was readily subscribed. But though the people helped freely and generously enough, for some time the governments refused to intervene; and the Sultan, call- ing to his aid his vassal, Mehemet Ali of Egypt, seemed very likely to crush the revolt. Eventually, in 1825, Britain, France, and Russia decided to take action, and, as the Sultan refused to accept the advice they offered, the combined French and British fleets sailed to the Bay of Navarino, where the Turkish warships were then at anchor. The allies had no distinct instructions to give battle ; indeed, it is probable that no battle was intended, but merely a 39 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE ' demonstration in force.' " See how strong we are, and beware of flouting the counsel we give you " : such was the message the allied fleets sought to impress upon the Sultan ; and they thought he would perhaps give way before such powerful persuasion. But an unexpected dispute arose, and shots were exchanged ; with the result that a general engagement took place (1827), and the Turkish fleet was completely destroyed. This, however, did not end the war, and in 1828 the Czar Nicholas, who had succeeded Alexander I, invaded the Turkish Danubian Provinces, and, by the treaty of Adrianople, compelled the Sultan to recognize the independence of Greece, and also to appoint Christian governors to Serbia, Wallachia, and Moldavia. But the Czar was not permitted by the other European Powers to arrange terms with Turkey exactly as he wished ; and it was not until 1830 that the matters in dispute were finally settled at a congress held in London. Prince Otto of Bavaria became the first king of the free monarchy of Greece. QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. Why did the ' legitimate ' monarchs have more difficulty in maintaining their autocratic rule after the year 1815? 2. Give an account of the protests made by Spain and Naples against autocratic rule. 3. How were these protests dealt with ? 4. Say what you know about the rise and progress of the Greek Revolution of 1821. 5. State the circumstances which led to the naval battle of Navarino. 40 CHAPTER VII THE TROUBLES OF 1830 THE independence of Greece was the first great victory of nationalism since the Congress of Vienna ; that is to say, the Greeks, believing themselves to be a separate and distinct nation, had succeeded in splitting away from the mix- ture of nations that formed the Turkish Empire, and in forming for themselves an independent kingdom. It was also a step toward democracy, the government of the people by the people ; for whereas the rule of the Sultan had been absolute, that of King Otto was limited by the rights of his subjects as written down in the Charter, or Constitution. Of this the King must not override a single provision ; whereas the Sultan had no Constitution to bind him. Limiting Autocracy. — But Greece was not alone in her determination to be free. The Greek revolution was followed, in 1830, by another in France ; but here it was the spirit of democracy that was concerned rather than that of nationalism. We have seen how, in 1815, the European Powers placed Louis XVIII on the French throne. At the same time, however, they insisted that he must make no attempt to rule abso- lutely, but should give his people a Constitution; though perhaps some of them would not have been so keen on this point had they not felt certain that France, the home of revolution, would no longer tolerate a king with no limit to his powers. 41 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE The Charter of Louis XVIII guaranteed the four great constitutional rights, viz. : (1) Equality before the law ; the same law for the rich as for the poor, for the noble as for the peasant. (2) Personal freedom ; nobody to be unjustly im- prisoned or unjustly tried. (3) Freedom of conscience, or religious liberty; every man to be allowed to choose his own belief or non- belief. (4) Freedom of the Press ; no restrictions to be placed upon the expression of opinion in books and news- papers. At the same time two legislative chambers were established, the lower consisting of Deputies and the higher of Peers. In these chambers the king alone, through his ministers, could bring forward new laws ; and the king had the right of veto. Only a small num- ber of the population — about 100,000 — had votes. Though the extremists, that is to say, the republi- cans on one side and the friends of absolutism on the other, were by no means satisfied with their new Con- stitution, it proved acceptable to the great bulk of the moderates, and it worked fairly well. Unfortunately, however, the opening of Louis's reign was marked by a violent persecution of the Bonapartists. This move- ment, encouraged and engineered by the emigres, or nobles who had now returned from exile, was known as the ' White Terror.' It spread over Southern France, and was marked by cruelties as black as those of the Revolution of 1798. The emigres would have liked the King to exercise still greater severities toward those who had so recently upset the monarchy, and they wished him to take back to himself the sovereign's old absolute power. But Louis was much more sensible and moderate than they were. The troubles of their exile had taught them no good lessons, and they had returned to their country as foolish, haughty, and over- 42 THE TROUBLES OF 1830 bearing as they went away ; whereas Louis, who, like Charles II of England, had no desire to go on his travels again, had learnt that if he wished to keep his throne he must try to conciliate his people. He managed, therefore, after the first outburst of the ' White Terror,' to keep his nobles in check, and as long as he did so things worked pretty smoothly. In 1824, however, Louis died, and was succeeded by his brother Charles X, a man of no tact and little common sense, who combined in his own character most of the worst vices of the absolutist party. He was king, he said, not by the will of the people, but by divine right ; and under no circumstances whatever had the people the right to depose him. Encouraged in his pretensions by the nobles, or court party, he made it his steady policy to favor the latter at the expense of the common people ; and by bribery and threats he induced the Chambers to pass various laws which, though they pleased the Court, were very unpopular in the country. Among these may be mentioned a measure giving one billion francs to the nobles in order to compensate them for the losses they had sustained in the troubles of 1798. As no compensation was offered to the farmers, the merchants, the manufac- turers, the tradesmen, the workmen, or, indeed, to anybody but the nobles, it was felt that this measure was nothing but a bit of gross favoritism, and accord- ingly it was widely resented. By and by, however, the Chambers rebelled, and refused to follow the King to the lengths he wished them to go in a legislation of reaction. But, refusing to take warning that he was rapidly wearing out the nation's patience, Charles, in 1830, dissolved the Deputies ; and, as he could now get no further constitutional laws, he began to substitute for them decrees of his own. In the July of 1830 he issued four of these decrees or ordinances. The first suspended the liberty of the 43 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE Press ; the second dissolved the Chambers ; the third summoned a new Parliament ; and the fourth limited the list of voters to people who, for the most part, would be likely to support the sovereign through thick and thin. The July ordinances were met by a storm of indig- nant protest, and dangerous riots took place in Paris. A number of moderate men now came together and agreed that Charles X should be deposed, and that the crown should be offered to Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, a member of the Bourbon family, but not in the direct line of succession to the throne. The offer was duly accepted. Perhaps no better choice could have been made ; for the new king, a man of simple tastes and good life, was quite willing that his should be a limited monarchy, and that France should have her great desire, viz., " a popular throne surrounded by wholly republican institutions." The Constitution was amended in such a manner as to take away further power from the Crown, and it seemed as though France would settle down into a constitutional monarchy modelled after the British plan. News of the events that had just occurred in France soon spread, and roused the hopes of discontented nations elsewhere. The first of these to take action was Belgium. This little country, " the cockpit of Europe," had had a very troubled past. At one time it had belonged to Spain ; at another to Austria ; then it had been occupied by Napoleon ; and finally, without itself having been given a voice in the matter, it had, at the Congress of Vienna, been incorporated with Holland. From the very first this union had been unpopular with the Belgians. True, they belonged to the same race as the Dutch ; but the two languages were dif- ferent ; so were the religions, Holland being Protestant and Belgium Roman Catholic ; then, too, the interests 44 THE TROUBLES OF 1830 of Holland were largely commercial — sea-trade with foreign countries — while those of Belgium were con- cerned chiefly with agriculture and manufactures. Perhaps the causes of disagreement might have been gradually smoothed away had the King of Holland been a man of broad-mindedness and tact. But, unfortu- nately, William of Orange was greatly lacking in these desirable qualities. He set himself to discourage Roman Catholicism in Belgium, tried to make Dutch the common language, and, according to the Belgians, looked upon Dutch affairs as much more important than theirs. Moreover, there were four million Belgians to two million Dutch, and the former could send no more members to the common parliament than the latter. Taking one consideration with another, the Belgians believed they were no longer justified in sub- mitting to what they regarded as an attempt to Hollandize their native land. So they claimed a separate administration, and, when William refused the demand, they followed the example of France, and revolted. Naturally they were anxious as to what the European Powers would say and do at this attempt to upset the Vienna settlement. How did these Powers take the matter ? France, the home of revolution, as a thing of course, countenanced the revolution in Belgium ; and, after some hesitation, so did Britain. The Czar Nicholas wished to interfere, and proposed to send to the help of the Dutch an army of 60,00 men; but, before these could be despatched, an insurrection in Poland gave him his hands full. Prussia had internal troubles of her own ; so had Austria ; and neither of the two could spare time and men and money for the purpose of coercing Belgium. Left thus to themselves, the two parties in the dis- pute set to work to settle the matter by force of arms, and probably Holland would have won had not France stepped in with an invading army. Britain, too, took 45 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE a hand, blockaded the Dutch coast, and laid an embargo on Dutch shipping. In this manner Holland was forced to give way, and Belgium was formed into a limited monarchy, with Leopold of Saxe-Coburg as the first king; he reigned from 1831 to 1865. The Great Powers, viz., Britain, France, Russia, Prussia, and Austria, recognized the independence of the new king- dom, and guaranteed its neutrality — a matter of which the formalities were finally completed in the May of 1832. Autocracy Triumphant. — What about the two Cen- tral European Powers ? What about Germany and Austria ? How did revolutionary movements affect them ? Neither enjoyed national unity, but each con- sisted of a number of separate States hanging together very loosely ; and neither enjoyed constitutional free- dom. In both these respects there was bound to come a change in the direction of national unity and demo- cratic liberty; but the time for any great change was not yet ripe. For centuries the German people had been bred in the habit of submission to their rulers, and it would doubtless be difficult to break this ancient and ingrained custom, and to induce the folk to rise against their rulers ; in other words, the Germans had a long way to go before they could be a true democracy. As for national unity, that, too, was out of the question so long as each petty State held so tightly and so jealously to its own petty rights and petty privileges. Revolutionary stirrings, however, were by no means wanting, and by the close of the year 1830 many of the smaller States had granted more or less liberal' Consti- tutions to their subjects. It was only Austria and Prussia that still clung firmly to the antiquated system of absolute government. In Italy, too, there were many mutterings and growlings of discontent, especially in the central part of the peninsula, the Papal States. How do you sup- 46 THE TROUBLES OF 1830 pose these latter were governed ? In an absolute manner, and by the clergy ; for the Pope was not only the absolute head of the Church, he was the absolute head of the government also. Imagine an archbishop, in addition to regulating the affairs of the churches under his jurisdiction, also giving laws to counties and States, and appointing clergy to see that his laws were duly carried out. It was some such condition of affairs that existed in the Papal States in 1830, and many Italians objected strongly to the arrangement. More than once, indeed, they ventured to rebel; but as Austria, with her feet firmly planted in Italy, always took the part of the Pope in his disputes with his sub- jects, it followed that the latter had very little chance of establishing their claims. But the troubles in other parts of the Continent were trifling compared with the disturbances which took place in Poland. At the Congress of Vienna a large part of this country had been handed over to Russia, and the Czar Alexander had agreed to give his new subjects a Constitution. This promise he kept, so that Poland had now its own government and its own army ; but of course the Poles could not do quite as they liked, for, after all, Alexander was their sovereign ; and he meant to be a sovereign in reality, not a mere figure- head. Now the Poles were a very proud race, with a parti- cularly fine record behind them ; and, remembering that they had been a flourishing nation long before their present masters, they did not like the idea of submitting to people upon whom they had once looked down. So, like a wild horse when it is first harnessed, they chafed under the restrictions upon their freedom that Alexander thought fit to impose ; and, instead of trying to con- ciliate him, began to obstruct, and even conspire against, his rule. Alexander, to do him justice, had started with very good feelings and intentions toward 47 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE his new subjects; nay, he had even gone so far as to encourage them to hope that, some day, he might restore the provinces taken away from them in the par- titions of 1772 and 1795. When, however, he found that they did not return his good feeling, but, on the contrary, were only watching for an opportunity to revolt, he changed his tactics, and began to deprive the would-be revolters of the means for making revolt effec- tive. From 1820 onward he took away much of the freedom he had originally granted; and when he died his successor, Nicholas I, carried on this policy with still greater severity. The success of the French Revolution of 1830 stirred the Poles to action, and they took up arms. Let us, however, be quite clear as to who really did take up arms. In Poland there were two distinct classes of people, with a wide gulf of prejudice and class-feeling between them. There was the aristocracy of land- owners, and there was the peasantry; and the former oppressed the latter perhaps more than Russia oppressed Poland. It was chiefly the aristocracy who revolted ; and, as the peasants took very little part in the fight- ing, the movement can scarcely be described as national. If the other European countries did not interfere, the Polish insurrection was doomed ; for what could an army of forty thousand do against the mighty hosts of Russia ? And the other countries did not interfere. The people of England, and, more especially, of France, sympathized with the Poles, and would have liked to help them, but the governments refused to be drawn into the struggle ; though possibly the insurgents had counted on help, if not from England, at least from France. The Russian army marched in. Sanguinary fighting took place. By disunion and treachery among themselves the Poles threw away any ghost of a chance they might possibly have had; and their cause was speedily crushed. 48 THE TROUBLES OF 1830 Nicholas, a much more stern and relentless man than Alexander, determined to make anything like a Polish insurrection forever impossible. Accordingly he abolished Poland as a nation, and made it a mere Russian province ; he endeavoured to stamp out the Polish religion, Roman Catholicism, and to substitute for it the State religion of Russia, viz., that of the Greek Church ; and he tried to replace the language of the Poles by the Russian tongue. But all his efforts failed to kill the spirit of Polish nationality. QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. What were the chief provisions of the Charter of Louis XVIII ? 2. What was the * White Terror ' ? 3. Give an account of the reign of Charles X. Contrast the character of this monarch with that of his successor, Louis Philippe. 4. Name the causes of, and narrate the events which led to, the separation of Holland from Belgium in 1831. 5. Say what you know about the political conditions of Germany, Austria, and Italy in 1830. 6. Describe the Polish Revolution of 1830. 49 CHAPTER VIII THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848 FROM 1815 to 1848 there were no great inter- national disputes to record. But though during the whole of this long period the different nations kept the peace with their neighbours, many of them — as we saw in 1830, and as we shall see again in 1848 — had plenty of quarrels and fights at home. The Congress of Vienna had settled both their boundaries and their form of government, and in neither case had the settlement proved satisfactory ; for, as we have already seen, the boundaries had been laid down on arbitrary lines, and the government, as then constituted, was of an absolute character. True national boundaries and real democratic control — it was the desire for these things that lay at the root of most of the national troubles. Even had the people of the Continent remained in exactly the same condition of development as in 1815, dissatisfaction would have been bound to arise, for the seeds of it had already been sown ; but, during the pro- gress of the nineteenth century, this condition changed in a wonderful manner. The thirty years of peace that followed the Napoleonic wars had produced remarkable effects. Material prosperity had increased by leaps and bounds ; industrial inventions and extensions of com- merce had multiplied the wealth of the nations ; and the development had been quite as great in the depart- ments of knowledge and thought ; so that what might 50 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848 possibly have been tolerated in 1815 had become well- nigh unendurable in 1848. Indeed, like lusty boys, the nations, as it were, had outgrown their suits, and were now crying out for new and larger garments. French Political Parties. — In this chapter we will take the case of France, a country which, having once more experimented with revolution in 1830, was anxious to see how its Orleanist government would succeed. And the Orleanist government had a difficult task before it ; for there were in France four distinct parties with very conflicting claims. There were : 1. The Bonapartists, who looked back with pride on the military glories of the Empire, and longed for the return of the Napoleonic dynasty. In 1840, when the remains of the great soldier were brought from St Helena and buried with much pomp at Paris, the enthusiasm that was then displayed showed that the Bonapartists were still a strong power in the land. 2. The Bourbonists, or Legitimists, who wished for the return of the Bourbon line of kings. 3. The Republicans, who wanted to do away with royalty altogether. Many, though not all, of the repub- licans were socialists. Now the socialists were not only many ; they were very active also ; and as we are told that " the nimble ninepence goes farther than the slow shilling," so the nimble socialists went farther, that is to say, gained more influence than perhaps their actual numbers warranted. What was it that they wanted ? Well, they wanted many things, but they did not all want the same things ; for there were, and are, in their body many sections, or schools, so that the word ' socialist ' covers a wide diversity of opinion. One thing, however, they all had in common : they all believed that the State ought to take a greater share in the management of the business of daily life, and that it should control many trades and professions previously in the hands of private enterprise. 51 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE 4. The Orleanists, the party of Louis Philippe. Now the Orleanists, for the most part, belonged to the well-to-do middle classes, or bourgeoisie, and, as they had been mainly instrumental in placing Louis Philippe on the throne, he began by making it his prime duty to please them. It would have been nobler on his part, as well as better for him in the long run, if he had worked for the welfare of France as a whole, instead of labouring for the good of his own party. There were many reforms he might have made — reforms which would have gained for him the goodwill of the working classes, who of course formed the bulk of the nation. These, however, he refused to touch. Looking upon himself as the representative of the capitalist middle classes, he did little or nothing to ameliorate the condition of the poor. Revolt of the French Lower Classes. — And the poor were rapidly becoming a force to be reckoned with. On the stage of life their absolute rulers had, as it were, long kept them in the back row; now they were determined to come more to the front. The French were no longer a scattered, ignorant, agricultural people ; for the growth of manufactures had drawn large numbers into the towns and cities ; and the workmen read, thought, talked, came together in clubs, and formed themselves into trades unions and political societies. This change from a population of sluggish- minded peasants to one that was largely composed of quick-witted artisans, eager to learn and ready of speech, had one very important result. Wage-earners now felt, rightly or wrongly, that their interests were often opposed to those of their employers. Indeed, the conflict between capital and labor — a conflict which we should all be so glad to see satisfactorily settled and done with — had fairly and squarely begun. Louis Philippe was certainly not the man to make a satis- factory settlement. He was too one-sided, too pre- 52 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848 judiced, for that. All his sympathies were with the bourgeoisie ; and, resolutely setting his face against the claims of the industrial population, he made the latter his enemy. As time passed, too, he lost the liking of many of his immediate supporters ; for, instead of being content to rule as a constitutional king, whose rights were limited by charter, he more and more took into his own hands powers to which the Constitution did not entitle him. In other words, he tried to establish once more the old absolutist practice of the personal rule of the king, with its consequent ignoring of the will of the people; and this the bourgeoisie did not mean to permit. Had the ill-advised monarch taken to heart the lessons of recent French history, he would not have blundered so badly. Downfall of the Monarchy. — Up to the year 1847, however, most people believed that Louis Philippe was firmly and securely seated on the throne of France, and few would have ventured to predict his speedy down- fall. A tree, fair and flourishing to the casual observer, may yet be so honeycombed by the dry rot of a long series of years that the next tempest will bring it crashing to the ground. The power of Louis Philippe might well be compared to just such a tree. It was certainly supported by a majority of the Deputies, and the government was not very scrupulous about the means it used for maintaining that majority. But the majority of the Deputies did not represent a majority of the people ; for, out of a population of 30,000,000, there were now only 200,000 voters, and these were all men of some property. In 1848 the tree of Louis Philippe's power fell before the storm of a popular outburst. It happened in this way : The Orleanist Deputies were divided into two sections, which we may term the section of the moderates and the section of the pro- gressives. The former of these was led by Guizot and 53 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE the latter by Thiers ; both the party chiefs were men of literary distinction, and both were friends of the Orleanist dynasty, but they fell out over the question of the franchise. Thiers sympathized with the poorer classes in their claims to be allowed to vote ; Guizot opposed these claims. At this time Guizot was prime minister ; so Thiers, being out of office, set to work to stir up public opinion in favor of his views; and, as part of their plan of campaign, he and his friends arranged to hold a Reform Banquet on February 22, 1848. The government, however, forbade this banquet, and so it did not come off. Hearing of the govern- ment's high-handed proceeding, the Paris mob marched through the streets, crying " Long live reform ! Down with Guizot ! " Now thoroughly alarmed, the King dismissed Guizot, and expressed himself as ready to meet the wishes of the people and to give them the votes they asked for. But matters had gone too far for a peaceful settlement. Some of the mob had been killed ; and their friends, putting the dead bodies on carts, dragged them through the streets, proclaiming that the government was deceiving the people, and meant, not to conciliate them, but to call out soldiers to shoot them down. The popular cry now changed from " Long live reform ! " to " Long live the Republic ! ' : Armed rioters paraded the streets ; the Palais Royal was attacked, and even the Palace of the Tuileries was threatened. The King now signed an act of abdication in favor of his grand- son the Count of Paris ; then he went away and took refuge in England, as Charles X had done eighteen years before. Had the Deputies, with their clear majority of moderates, acted like men of courage, the monarchy might have been saved. They could have met and proclaimed the Count of Paris as king, when the crisis might have been tided over. Instead of this, however, 54 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848 they fled before a rabble that broke into the parliamen- tary hall. And the same rabble, taking the affairs of the nation into its own hands, declared for a republic and appointed a provisional government, of which the poet Lamartine was the leading spirit. Rash Experiments. — The Republicans had thus gained their point, and the monarchy was now a thing of the past. But they were by no means a unanimous body. As we have already seen, there were two distinct sec- tions amongst them, viz., the orthodox Republicans and the socialists. The former merely wished that the government should change from a monarchy to a republic ; but the latter added to this a desire for a great alteration in social conditions, and their representatives pressed their program upon the provisional govern- ment to such good effect that it agreed to the principle of ' the right to work.' On the very next day a decree was passed for the immediate establishment of national workshops, where those who could not, or would not, find employment elsewhere might be taken into the ser- vice of the State. But the provisional government was of course only a temporary makeshift. Presently the elections for a National Assembly were held ; when, though the voting took place on the basis of universal suffrage, the socialists, very much to their surprise, found themselves in an insignificant minority, the bulk of the new Deputies turning out to be men of comparatively moderate views. The socialists, quite unlike good sportsmen, took their defeat badly, and, instead of accepting the verdict of the elections, made an attempt — which deserved to fail, and did fail — to turn out the National Assembly and establish a second provisional government, with them- selves as the chief power. Now however deeply we may condemn this uncon- stitutional violence, we must all of us confess that the 55 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE socialistic idea of the right to work, with its practical application in the form of national workshops, has something very alluring about it. If a man wants to work, it seems only right that a suitable opportunity of working should be furnished him; and if private enterprise fails to furnish such an opportunity, is it not the duty of the State to do so ? Undoubtedly there is something to be said on both sides — there usually is. As a bit of pure theory, however, State intervention claims consideration; the difficulty lies in the practical application — the apparent inability of government officials to manage business concerns other than waste- fully. Some day — who knows ? — it may be that national workshops will prove the remedy for the hard- ships and cruelties of unemployment. Anyhow, the matter is worthy of grave and serious consideration, and I commend it to your careful thought. Meantime, let me tell you the story of how the French experiment of 1848 failed. You have heard the expression " Rush the thing through ! " Well, the French scheme of national work- shops appears to have been rushed through, and I think that was one of the chief causes of its failure. Rushing is all very well in a game of football ; but the most care- ful and deliberate of planning is necessary in the case of any great social change, and this care and deliberation the social change of 1848 certainly did not get. A hundred thousand men who were out of work came together from all parts of France; and when they arrived at Paris they found that no suitable provision had been made for giving them work to do. At first they were put to purposeless diggings and refillings in the Champ de Mars, and paid at the rate of two francs a day; and, when these wasted labors were finished, and nothing more remained to be done, the huge army lived in idleness on a government pension of a franc a day per man. 56 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION OF 1848 Now these so-called laborers were naturally indig- nant at the way in which they had been treated ; more- over, many of them were armed ; and so, instead of there being in Paris a body of men doing useful work for a reasonable wage, and living in decency and com- fort, as the projectors of the national workshops had intended, there was an army of idle and discontented persons ripe for any mischief to which some irrespon- sible agitator might incite them. To this dangerous state of affairs the government determined to put an end, and in June the national workshops were closed. The reply of the disbanded workmen was to barricade themselves in the eastern quarter of Paris, to demand the dissolution of the National Assembly, and to insist that the national workshops should be reopened. Terrible righting took place between the workshop army on the one side and the soldiers of the government on the other; and the insurrection was not suppressed until thousands of lives had been lost. Having restored peace, the Assembly now turned its attention to the task of settling the form of government. It was decided that this should be republican. A single Chamber of Deputies, elected for four years on the basis of universal suffrage, was to perform the legislative functions — to make the laws ; while a President, elected for four years also, was to be the head of the executive — to be responsible for seeing that the laws were duly carried out. When the result of the poll for a Presi- dent was declared, it was found that Louis Napoleon, son of the King of Holland and nephew of the great Bonaparte, was the successful candidate. " I accept," said he, " the candidature, because three successive elections and the unanimous decree of the National Assembly against the proscription of my family warrant me in believing that France regards the name I bear as one that may serve to consolidate society, which is shattered to its foundations." 57 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. Name, and state the nature of, the chief political parties in France in the reign of Louis Philippe. 2. " The poor were rapidly becoming a force to be reckoned with." Explain this. 3. Narrate the circumstances which led to the fall of Louis Philippe and the Orleanist Government. 4. What was, and now is, the main doctrine of the socialists ? 5. Describe the French experiment with national work- shops, and say why it failed. 58 CHAPTER IX THE GERMAN REVOLUTIONS OF 1848 WE are to picture Europe as existing for many years in a condition of unrest ; for the people were no longer content to be like dumb, driven cattle ; on the contrary, they longed and strove for the right to shape their own destinies, and the destinies of the nation in which they lived. Poets, prose-writers, and public speakers had everywhere kept alive and active the spirit of national- ism and that of democracy; and by 1848 it seemed as though the popular demands, long repressed by rulers and their governments, must burst the bounds and take effective action. Scientists tell us that if water be kept perfectly still it is possible to reduce its temperature below freezing- point without the formation of ice ; but if a pebble be dropped into the water forthwith the whole body of liquid is transformed into a solid block of ice. We may call this a physical revolution. Well, the peoples of Europe had long been kept very still by their absolute sovereigns ; but a great change had been taking place in their character and condition all the time ; and it only needed the drop of a pebble to effect a revolution both social and political. That pebble was the French Revo- lution of 1848. Encouraged by the success of this, other revolutions, or would-be revolutions, broke out in different parts of the Continent. There were republi- can agitations in Spain and Belgium, Chartist dis- 59 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE Jurbances in England, an insurrection in Ireland, and a great uprising among the people of Germany and Austria. At Vienna and Berlin, the capitals respectively of Austria and Prussia, this movement proved so strong that it succeeded in abolishing absolutism, and estab- lishing constitutional monarchy instead; and the example of the two leading Teutonic States was speedily followed by most of the others. The Frankfurt Parliament. — Having thus secured a measure of freedom, the people now turned their atten- tion to the question of national unity, and, in order to establish such a unity, set up a general German Parlia- ment elected by universal suffrage. This met in May at Frankfurt, and the members, for the most part, were wise, learned, or otherwise distinguished men, all anxious to see the many Teutonic States joined in one great whole. " We have got," said the German people, " a united Parliament ; we shall therefore very soon have a united Germany ; there is no doubt whatever about that." But wait a moment ! There was a great deal of doubt about it, as we shall soon see, and as the German people were soon to see. To distinguish oneself greatly in life, two chief things are necessary, viz., wisdom and force. The wisest man in the world, if he has no energy, no driving power, will not be likely to rise very high above his fellows ; the plans he makes may be quite perfect, but if he does not possess the strength to execute them they are doomed to failure. Well, the German Parliament had wisdom to make good plans, but the wisdom was not backed by force, by a strong army, or indeed by an army of any kind. For the first few months things worked very smoothly, because all the different States seemed to have made up their minds to obey this central body of representatives. But far-seeing men saw danger ahead. What, for instance, if Prussia, or Austria, were to say : " We da 60 THE GERMAN REVOLUTIONS OF 1848 not agree with a certain law passed by the Parliament ; so we mean to ignore it, go on our own way, and do just as we please " ? In that case there would come a con- flict of wills between one party without any military power, and another with plenty of soldiers. Such a conflict was not long in taking place. The matter arose out of a dispute about Schleswig and Holstein, the two duchies occupying the southern part of the peninsula of Jutland. These were united to Denmark, though the union was not very close ; for each duchy had its own laws, and the King of Denmark was simply Duke of Schleswig and Duke of Holstein. Now just then it appeared likely that the male line of Danish sovereigns would presently die out, and in that event the crown would pass to the female line. But the law of Schleswig-Holstein did not permit of a female line of succession ; and thus it seemed probable that soon the King of Denmark would lose the two dukedoms, which would pass to somebody else. Fearing such a separa- tion, the Danes passed a new law binding the duchies to them for all time. To this the Schleswig-Holsteiners objected ; indeed they resented it so strongly that they revolted, threw off their allegiance to Denmark, and proclaimed their independence. Moreover, being many of them Ger- mans, they appealed to the German Parliament for help ; and this body ordered Prussia and others of the North German States to drive the Danes out of Schleswig and Holstein. The task was an easy one, and soon accom- plished. Presently, however, the King of Prussia, without consulting anybody or anything but his own convenience, made peace with the Danes, and practi- cally delivered over to them the revolted duch'ies. But the struggle went on until a conference of the European Powers, held at London in 1850, decided that Schleswig and Holstein, much to their disgust, should be per- manently attached to the Danish Crown. 61 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE The German Parliament was naturally indignant at Prussia's high-handed and unauthorized line of action ; but, as it had no army, and the King of Prussia possessed a very efficient one, it was obliged to give way. Other States soon followed Prussia's example, and ignored all authority but that of their own will ; until by the end of 1848 it was clear to everybody that the idea of German unity was, as yet, merely a dream. And with the unity went much of the freedom ; for many of the State rulers went back on their word, and took to themselves once more a great deal of the power they had granted to the people. But though it had so far proved a dismal failure, the discredited Assembly of representatives did not quite give up hope. On the contrary, it gallantly set to work to form a complete Constitution for a united Germany of the future, and, having accomplished this to its own satisfaction, looked about for what we may term a key- stone to the constitutional arch, that is to say, an emperor. Who should be emperor of the forthcoming Germany ? The choice lay between the two greatest German princes, the Emperor of Austria and the King of Prussia ; and, after long and heated debate, the decision went in favor of the latter. He, however, declined the honor — partly, perhaps, because he had leanings toward absolutism, and partly because he knew very well that, if he accepted, Austria would be furious, and would possibly make war upon him. Without an emperor, an empire was of course impos- sible, and so the scheme of a united German Empire fell through. What would the Parliament do next ? As it had failed in the two chief things it had undertaken, viz., to give to the German people a general constitu- tion and imperial unity, it acknowledged its failure, and quietly dissolved itself. Its place was taken by the antiquated Bund, with its Assembly, or Diet, com- posed not of representatives elected by the people, but 62 THE GERMAN REVOLUTIONS OF 1848 of delegates from the various governments. The Diet duly met, talked as much as ever, but did nothing to unify Germany or to give the German folk more freedom. Now all this was very disappointing to the patriots who had hoped so much from the popular outburst of 1848, and many of them were quite rilled with despair. Would their native land, they asked themselves, ever come to be a united whole governed by representatives of the people ? Or would it continue for all time to exist under the personal rule of its many petty sove- reigns ? The wiser among the patriots believed they would stand more chance of attaining the end for which they longed and strove if they could succeed in obtain- ing the help of the governments. Hitherto the struggle had been that of the people against the governments. If only the governments themselves would take up the task, instead of opposing it, as they had done, then Germany might eventually become united and free. Later we shall see that the governments did take up the task. But we will keep that story for its proper place. QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. What was the general effect in other European countries of the French Revolution of 1848 ? 2. Name the countries where revolutionary agitation took place. 3. What was the constitution of the general German Parliament that met at Frankfurt in 1848 ? Name its vital defect. 4. Describe the dispute concerning Schleswig and Holstein. 5. What was the Bund ? How did it differ from the general German Parliament? 63 CHAPTER X THE AUSTRIAN REVOLUTIONS OF 1848 A S the Germans of Prussia, and also of the /% smaller States, had revolted, so also did the / % Germans of Vienna ; and their example was -^- -^* speedily followed by the other Austrian peoples, so that it seemed as though the empire of many races was about to fall to pieces. An empire of many races it was in very truth. Magyars, Poles, Ruthenians, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Czechs, Germans, and Italians : all these different peoples, with their different languages, religions, manners, and customs, were bound together under the absolute rule of the Austrian Emperor. For the sake of simplification, however, it will be well if we give to the Poles, Ruthenians, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Slovaks, and Czechs the common name of Slavs ; so that, roughly speaking, we may say that Austria was an empire of Magyars, Germans, Slavs, and Italians. The Magyars were the people of Hungary, the Germans the people of Austria proper, the Slavs the people of the outlying districts, and the Italians the people of Lombardy and Venice. At the same time, however, we must remem- ber that there was no strict line of demarcation between the different nationalities, for these everywhere over- lapped each other. Especially was this true of the Slavs, many thousands of whom lived in Hungary and Austria proper. Now the year 1848 was remarkable for the fact that it 64 65 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE witnessed revolutions among each of the four groups which we have just enumerated, viz., the Germans, the Magyars, the Slavs, and the Italians. Of the revolu- tion in Italy we shall treat in the next chapter. Here we concern ourselves with those that took place among the Germans, the Magyars, and the Slavs. Racial Selfishness. — It is certain that if there was one country in Europe — Russia perhaps excepted — that needed a revolution, and needed it badly, that country was Austria, for it could not be disputed that she was very much behind the times. The common people had just about as much freedom as the serfs of the Middle Ages; and the feudal system, which was here, so to speak, in full blast, gave them over, bound hand and foot, to the will of their social superiors. The people at the bottom ; trampling upon them the nobles ; and trampling upon everybody, when it pleased him to do so, and when he considered the proceeding safe, the absolute emperor ! Such an unfair arrangement surely deserved to be upset. Under the guidance and support of the famous diplomatist and statesman Prince Metternich, a man of European reputation, it had long stood, apparently on firm foundations ; but now there ensued a general effort to bring about its overthrow. Had the whole of the Austrian peoples acted to- gether, and worked for one and the same object, they would probably have attained what they wished for — ■ as France had done so recently. If, for instance, they had all said : " We are out for a constitutional govern- ment, with equal rights for Germans, Magyars, and Slavs," they would have been strong enough to enforce their demands. But instead of acting and working together, each race strove for its own ends, each was honeycombed with racial selfishness, and each put the welfare of itself before that of the empire as a whole. And, to make matters worse, not only were Germans, 66 THE AUSTRIAN REVOLUTIONS OF 1848 Magyars, and Slavs disunited ; they were also antago- nistic ; each wanted certain things which the others regarded as their own ; and each was angry with the others for trying, as it were, to snatch away its rights. Take first the Germans. There is no doubt that at this time they were the predominant race — not, it is true, in actual numbers, but in power and influence ; for not only were the ruling sovereigns, the Habsburgs, Germans, but Germans held most of the government offices and controlled the government policy. This influential position they were not willing to lose ; and so, though the democracy of Austria proper wished for a constitutional government, they objected to giving to Magyars and Slavs the political rights to which they themselves aspired. " If we were to do this," they argued, " then the Magyars and Slavs, who greatly outnumber us, would also be able to outvote us in our parliamentary assemblies, and thus deprive us of the power we at present enjoy. By all means let us keep our place of pre-eminence over the inferior races." But the races in question objected to be considered as inferior ; they were indignant with the arrogant Teutons who wished to treat them as inferiors ; and so, in homely phrase, " they got their backs up." Under these circumstances, one can scarce wonder that the Magyars and the Slavs, being so much out of sympathy with what they believed to be the unreason- able German claims, made up their minds to separate entirely from so highly ' superior ' a people. In other words, they determined that they would each have, not only a constitutional government, but also a government quite independent of German Austria. That is to say, the Magyars would have an independent Hungarian kingdom based on constitutional lines ; and the Slavs would have an independent Slav kingdom, based on constitutional lines too. 67 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE But there were still more complications in a situation already sufficiently complicated. Not only did the Magyars and the Slavs range themselves against the Germans, they also ranged themselves against each other; for Magyar despised Slav, and Slav disliked Magyar, and just as the Magyars were not willing to give equal political rights to the Slavs residing in Hun- gary, so the Slavs were not willing to give equal political rights to the Magyars residing in the proposed new Slav kingdom. Here, then, were four opposing parties, viz., the abso- lute Emperor Ferdinand I, the Germans, the Magyars, and the Slavs. That Ferdinand, a weak and incapable ruler, came out victor in the end, and was able to main- tain his absolute grip on his dissatisfied subjects, was chiefly due to three causes : 1. The fidelity of his army. 2. The divisions among his enemies; for by siding first with one, then with another, and then with the third, and so getting each in turn to help him against the rest, he was able eventually to defeat the schemes of all. 3. The intervention of the Czar of Russia, that great pillar of absolutism in Europe, who came to his aid at a very critical moment, and turned what might easily have been a defeat into a triumph. A Check to Democracy. — It is not necessary to treat at any length of the struggle between the Emperor and his people. The revolution in Austria began at Vienna, where the populace demanded the dismissal of the reactionary Metternich, who fled and took refuge in England, leaving the government in the hands of the mob. Ferdinand then granted freedom to the Press, and promised a liberal Constitution. For a time the revolution was successful, and democratic rule ensued. Eventually, however, the Hungarians came to the Emperor's rescue, the insurgents were defeated, and, 68 THE AUSTRIAN REVOLUTIONS OF 1848 so far as the German democracy was concerned, the Austrian absolutist monarchy was saved. The centre of the Slav agitation was Bohemia. Thither, however, was despatched Prince Windisch- gratz, with a contingent of the imperial army; and he, leading his troops to Prague, the capital of the province, speedily bombarded it into submission. With the fall of Prague the malcontents lost heart ; Slav Congress, National Committee, democratic clubs, and all the ambitious projects of the Slav nationalists burst like pricked bubbles ; and once more Bohemia lay prostrate at the feet of the Emperor. In Hungary the task of subjection proved much more difficult ; for, although the Magyars had for centuries submitted to the rule of the Hapsburgs, they were still a proud, high-spirited race, and, inspired by the writings and speeches of the patriotic journalist and orator Louis Kossuth, they now made a bold bid for freedom and independence. In the war that ensued, the imperial army of 100,000 men began by sweeping all opposition before it, and it seemed as though the Hungarian rising was about to be crushed in the bud. Presently, however, the tide turned, and the Magyars, in spite of the hostility of the southern Slavs, began to make headway. Indeed, they might eventually have succeeded in their national designs had it not been for the interposition of Russia. The Czar Nicholas, view- ing with alarm the progress of the democratic move- ment at his very gates, and fearing that the spirit of revolt might spread to his subjects in Russian Poland, stepped in to the assistance of his brother Emperor, at whose disposal he placed an expeditionary force of close upon 200,000 men. Attacked by Russia from the east and Austria from the west, Hungary fell, and the Austrian yoke was once more fastened upon her unwilling shoulders. In this manner absolutism triumphed in the Austrian 69 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE dominions, and freedom and nationality lay, as it were, in the dust. Once again Austria had become a great consolidated Power — now ruled by her young Emperor Francis Joseph, in whose favor his uncle Ferdinand I had recently abdicated. QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. " Austria, the empire of many races." Explain this expression fully. 2. What was the social condition of Austria in 1848 ? 3. Say what you know about Metternich, Prince Windischgratz, Kossuth, Ferdinand I, and Francis Joseph. 4. What were the three chief causes which enabled Ferdinand I to triumph over the revolutionary parties ? 5. Why did the Austrian Revolution fail? 70 CHAPTER XI THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS OF 1848 IN this wonderful year of revolutions, 1848, there was of course no kingdom of Italy. On the con- trary, from the Alps to the southernmost point of Sicily, the country was divided into a number of separate States, most of which were independent. The chief of these States were Lombardy, Venetia, and Piedmont, in the north ; south of these the Grand Duchy of Tuscany ; across the middle of the peninsula, the Papal States ; while the south comprised the King- dom of the Two Sicilies, that is, the southern end of the peninsula and the island of Sicily. Lombardy and Venice were owned by Austria ; but Austrian influence did not end here, for several other States either were ruled by Austrian tools or were more or less under the Austrian thumb. Piedmont formed part of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was at that time governed by Charles Albert, a representative of the House of Savoy, the oldest ruling family in the Italian peninsula. Tuscany was independent, under its own Grand Duke. The Papal States were under the autho- rity of the Pope ; while the Two Sicilies were governed by a Bourbon king. The Ideals of Mazzini. — Now' just as Kossuth had been working for freedom and nationality in Hungary, so a far greater man than he, viz., Mazzini, had been working for freedom and nationality in Italy. And Mazzini's influence was not confined to Italy; indeed, 71 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE it extended widely over Europe ; for the great agitator was in touch with the revolutionaries throughout most of the Continent. But Mazzini had wider projects than many of the men of his time. He believed firmly in nationality, and labored hard to secure the nationali- zation of his own native land. But he did not stop here. He believed no less firmly that nationality was only one step, though a necessary one, to cosmopolitanism ; and he looked forward to the time when all the nations of the world should be welded together in the bonds of brotherly fellowship, in one united family. According to Mazzini, the order of world-develop- ment would perhaps be somewhat as follows : 1. Individual Selfishness — each man working purely and simply to gain his own ends. 2. Family Selfishness — each man working for the good of his family. 3. Tribal Selfishness — each man working for the good of his tribe. 4. National Selfishness, or Patriotism — each man working for the good of his country. 5. World Selfishness, or Cosmopolitanism — each man working for the good of humanity. Although our first savage ancestors were individually selfish, and acted on the motto " Myself first, and the rest nowhere," yet our descendants, Mazzini held, would eventually become cosmopolitan, and put the welfare of humanity as the highest motive of all. In the year 1848 the spirit of National Selfishness, or Patriotism, was very much alive, and Mazzini believed it would naturally lead to Cosmopolitanism. Unfortunately, his hopes have been very slow of realization ; and nationality, so far from having proved to be a step for uniting men in a bond of universal brotherhood, has long divided Europe into a number of armed camps, with the dogs of war ever straining to spring at each others' throats. 72 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS OF 1848 But, to return to our story, Mazzini, and others of his patriotic fellow-countrymen, had fostered and kept alive the demands for freedom and national unity ; and now the news of the revolution at Vienna set on foot similar movements from the Alps right down to Sicily. The Lombards at Milan and the Venetians at Venice drove out the Austrian garrisons, and proclaimed them- selves independent ; then they appealed to the other Italian States for help against the foreign tyrant. Now a few years before this, such an appeal would have been of no avail ; for each State was then under absolute government, and one absolute ruler was not likely to help revolutionary movements against a brother despot. But the spirit of revolution had already spread to Tuscany, Rome, Naples, and other States, and it had almost everywhere triumphed, so that the required help was now readily forthcoming. But who was to be the leader of the new national movement ? In reply to this question, all eyes turned toward Charles Albert, King of Sardinia, a monarch who had already shown leanings toward liberalism ; and he did not disappoint the expectations that had been formed of him. Italian troops converged upon Lom- bardy from all parts of the peninsula, and of these Charles Albert took command. But, though a brave soldier, he did not prove to be a good general. Meeting with success at the outset, he failed to press home his advantage ; and, instead of striking further blows, and striking them hard and quickly, he wasted the precious moments in delay, and thus allowed time for hostile reinforcements to pour in from Austria. Two note- worthy battles followed, one at Custozza in the July of 1848, and another at Novara in March of the suc- ceeding year. In both these the Austrians were vic- torious ; and, after Novara, Charles Albert, rather than sign a humiliating peace, abdicated in favour of his son Victor Emmanuel II. 73 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE By the victory of Novara, Austrian fetters appeared to be once more firmly riveted upon Italy ; for Lom- bardy and Venice again lay at the mercy of the invaders from over the Alps. But the Italians, though they had failed in the immediate object for which they strove and fought, had acquired two important possessions — not material possessions, it is true, but none the less real for all that. 1. They had learnt the lesson that they must unite if they meant to be free; they must fight for one national flag. 2. They had found their natural leaders in the House of Savoy, the monarchs of Sardinia. A Set-back to Liberty. — We said just now that the revolutionary cause had been successful in most of the Italian States ; but this success proved merely tem- porary. Indeed, the victory of the Austrians was speedily followed by a great collapse of constitutional government, and the petty despots took up their old powers again. George Eliot tells us that our pet vices are apt to " steal back subtly on a soul half saved." Well, as yet the Italian States had only half saved their freedom ; and so the despots, like pet vices, stole back to their unwarrantable place of pre-eminence. Now the revolutions and reactions to which the pre- vious paragraph refers were not of an importance suffi- cient to merit special consideration — with one excep- tion, viz., the revolution and reaction that took place in the Papal States. In the year 1848 Pius IX, who had won the favor of his subjects by a number of liberal concessions, held the two offices of (1) Pope, or sovereign Pontiff, and (2) lord of the States of the Church. At the beginning of the war to drive the Austrians out of Italy he had sent a contingent of troops to aid the national cause. Presently, however, he began to reconsider his attitude. He was a prince of Italian territory, and, as such, he undoubtedly owed 74 THE ITALIAN REVOLUTIONS OF 1848 allegiance to the Italian cause ; and it was meet and right that the fighting-men from the Papal States should stand shoulder to shoulder with their fellow-countrymen from other parts of the peninsula ; that was quite fitting and proper. But on the other hand he was head of the Christian Church, and, as such, it seemed out of place for him to take sides, and to help one portion of his flock to slaughter another. How was he to reconcile such conflicting claims ? What was the poor Pope to do ? In the April of 1848 he published his famous Allocution, in which he declared that war with Austria was wholly abhorrent from the counsels of a Pope who regarded and loved with equal affection all peoples, all races, all nations. Now neutrality was all very well for a Pope ; but Pius IX was a temporal prince as well, ruling over a portion of Italian territory, and the Italian nationalists held that, in such a cause as theirs, a neutral temporal prince must be quite dead to the claims of patriotism. Consequently, the ruler of the Papal States now found his previous popularity quite dead too ; and the agita- tion against him grew so strong that he fled from Rome and took refuge in Gaeta. Rome now fell completely into the hands of the revolutionaries, who declared that by his actions the Pope had forfeited his Italian lands. In 1849 the Papal States were proclaimed to be a republic. But the new Roman republic never had the ghost of a chance to live. Roman Catholic people all over the world failed to distinguish between the Pope (1) as a temporal sovereign of Italian territory, and (2) as the head of a universal Church ; and they looked upon an offence against the former as an outrage upon the latter. They were therefore ready, if called upon, to organize another crusade for the purpose of delivering the Holy Father from his republican enemies. Louis Napoleon, the newly-elected President of 75 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE France, glad of the opportunity to please his Roman Catholic subjects, marched to the Pope's assistance. General Garibaldi, who had been made commander-in- chief of the Roman forces, put up a gallant fight, but was quite overpowered by the numbers brought against him. In July 1849 the French captured Rome ; papal rule was once more established ; and the Pope returned to the Vatican. QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. Give brief notes on the following : Mazzini, Garibaldi, Pius IX, Charles Albert, Victor Emmanuel II. 2. What were the chief political divisions of the Italian Peninsula in 1848 ? 3. Explain the circumstances that led up to the battles of Custozza and Novara, and state the political conse- quences of the Italian defeats. 4. How did Pope Pius IX come to lose his popularity in Italy ? 5. Describe the rise, progress, and final fate of the attempt to form the Papal States into a republic. 76 CHAPTER XII NAPOLEON III IN Chapter VIII you were told how the Paris revolu- tion of 1848 resulted in the election, as President of the French Republic, of Louis Napoleon, son of the King of Holland and nephew of Napoleon I. A very curious character was this same Louis Napoleon ; so strange and enigmatic were now and then his actions, that his contemporaries scarce knew what to make of him, and sometimes spoke of him as " the man of mystery " ; even at the present day, when much more material for forming a judgment has come to light, there is a great deal in his conduct that still puzzles us. One thing about him, however, is quite certain ; on that everybody is agreed : he believed that fate had in store for him a great future, and through long years of obscurity and exile from his native land he held firm to the conviction that destiny would some day call him to the throne of France. The Coup d'Etat. — In this respect he may be termed a man of one idea, and men of one idea are always, in their degree, personages to be reckoned with ; for they have a habit, as the saying goes, of ' getting there,' of reaching heights which men of far more brilliant parts but of a multiplicity of aims can never hope to scale. To succeed, one must usually concentrate, and nobody could accuse Louis Napoleon of want of concentration ; for his mind was obsessed by the idea of sitting upon the throne of France, and his energies were bent upon 77 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE the task of getting there. Lord Beaconsfield tells us that " everything comes to him who can afford to wait"; though this is only a half-truth, for working is at least as necessary as waiting, and if I want a fresh supply of firewood on a cold winter's night, it will certainly not come to me, no matter how long I may wait in my comfortable arm-chair. Well, patient waiting, and steady working, had brought Louis Napoleon to the presidential seat, and a cold, cal- culating opportunism was to take him higher still. It will be remembered that, under the Constitution of 1848, he had been elected by universal suffrage as Pre- sident for four years. In this office his powers were very great, for not only was he the head of that part of the Government whose duty it is to see that the laws are duly carried out- — the Executive ; he was also the head of that part of the Government whose duty it is to defend the country — the army. As head of the Execu- tive, he was the brain of the whole body of administra- tion ; for local self-government was almost unknown in France, and the President, sitting at the centre of a thousand and one radiating threads of influence, con- trolled the affairs of the whole nation. As head of the army, where the Napoleonic tradition was still supreme, he held in his hands a powerful means of enforcing his will. But from the Presidency to the Imperial Throne was a long way ; moreover, the path was beset with difficulty and danger, so that he who would walk it must walk warily. Recognizing the fact that he had far to go, Louis Napoleon wasted no time, but at once set out. His first step — and a very important one — was a systematic attempt to convince his country that it could not do without him ; and here he was eminently success- ful. At that time affairs in France were in a very unsettled state ; the nation was far from being united ; and there seemed to be no guarantee that either pro- 78 NAPOLEON III perty or life would long remain secure ; in other words, it appeared as though the government was not strong enough to tame and subdue the revolutionary forces that were still busily at work. But the nation, weary of so many upheavals, desired above all things a settled peace ; and this peace Napoleon diligently proclaimed that he, and he alone, could supply. He was, he said, the representative of the Napoleonic idea, the friend of order, the enemy of chaos, the very emblem of strength ; and he, and none but he, could give the people the rest and peace they so sorely needed. A sick man, reading the advertisement of a quack medicine, and meeting with the same advertisement in every paper and on every billboard, by and by pur- chases a bottle of the specific. Constant repetition of the same idea has brought a gradual conviction that the idea is probably true, and the man at length half believes, half hopes, that the stuff will cure him. In a similar manner, France, sick of continual turmoil, and hearing Napoleon's never-ending advertisements of him- self and what he could do, at length half believed, half hoped, that the statements were true. This, it may be, explains the fact that in his struggles with the existing constitutional Chambers these maintained a friendly spirit ; though they did not go far enough in their sup- port to satisfy him. It was the constitutional Chambers, friendly though they had shown themselves, that chiefly stood in his way ; and accordingly he set himself to undermine their popularity, so that, when the time seemed ripe for over- turning them, he might have popular support to back him. Acting upon this policy — when, as a result of radical and socialistic disturbances in the June of 1851, the Chambers proceeded to a wholesale punishment of the rebels — Napoleon, in the teeth of a recently-passed vote, amnestied 1500 of them. And when the Chambers, thinking to curb the power of the radical and 79 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE socialistic elements, passed a law to exclude from the franchise some three million of the poorer classes of voters, he, Napoleon, proceeded to oppose this, and by so doing seemed to constitute himself the champion of the poor. " I am a far better friend to the working classes than the constitutional Chambers have proved themselves ; and if ever it comes to a choice between me and the Chambers, I hope the working classes will see clearly on which side their bread is buttered." Such was the message which Napoleon intended that his actions should carry to the people concerned. Unfortu- nately, there is good cause for doubting his sincerity, and for believing that his advocacy of the claims of the poor was merely a bid to secure their support, a sprat, as it were, of presidential help to catch the mackerel of popular favor. But the people took his assurances for gospel, and the mackerel was securely hooked ; that was all Napoleon required. The army too — already friendly to him on account of the great name he bore — he took every opportunity to conciliate, and even allowed the soldiers to address him as Emperor. On December 1, 1851, all seemed ready for the coup d'etat which Napoleon contemplated. In the dead of night he had seventy-eight of the leading Deputies arrested, and on the following morning he issued broad- cast a proclamation justifying himself to the nation. When the remnant of the Chambers assembled to im- peach him, they were dispersed by the soldiers. Some fighting took place in the streets of Paris, but in a few days all resistance was at an end. By the program laid down in Napoleon's proclama- tion, the President was to be elected for ten years; he was to be assisted by a ministry responsible to him- self alone ; there was to be a Council of State for the preparation of the laws ; there were also to be a Legisla- tive Chamber and a Senate. The latter was to be com- posed of nominees of the President, dismissable at his 80 NAPOLEON III will. As for the Legislative Chamber, though it was to be elected by universal suffrage, yet the President had the right of nominating what candidates he pleased ; and, in any case, the Deputies could not initiate legis- lation. To all intents and purposes, this Constitution was a despotism ; yet such was the temper of the French people, and so well had Napoleon played his cards, that when the matter was put to the decision of the masses 7,500,000 voted for it, and only 640,000 against it. Under circumstances such as these, it could be no surprise that, within a year, the Empire should be established in name, as well as in fact, and this by the almost unanimous voice of the people. But it was a surprise that, shortly afterward, Napoleon was able to announce that, with a few insignificant exceptions, his title had been recognized by all foreign States. Maybe that recognition would not have been so readily obtained, had not the European Powers been too busy with their own concerns to be able to find time and means for interfering in the affairs of France. QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. Write a short essay on the character of Napoleon III. 2. What were the powers conferred upon Napoleon III by the Constitution of 1848? 3. What was Napoleon's ultimate ambition? What preliminary steps did he take toward attaining his end ? 4. Describe the coup d'etat of December 1851. 81 CHAPTER XIII THE CRIMEAN WAR IN the May of 1850 there began in the East a dis- pute which was fated to involve in tragic war several of the great Powers. There were at that time two Christian missions at Jerusalem, one belonging to the Greek Church, the other to the Latin ; and, unhappily, the priests attached to these mis- sions did not always live on terms of peace and goodwill with, as it were, their brethren across the street. Now by the ' Capitulations ' of 1740 France had obtained the right of protecting the Latin Christians — a right, however, which hitherto she had never thought it worth while to press ; and, under the terms of the treaty of Kainardji (1744), Russia claimed similar rights of protection over the Greek Christians. When, therefore, in 1850, the quarrels between the rival clergy became acute, each body appealed to what it regarded as its legally-constituted head ; that is to say, the Latin priests appealed to France, and the Greek priests appealed to the stronghold of Greek Christianity, Russia. Had the relations between the two Powers concerned, viz., France and Russia, been of a friendly nature, the dispute about the Holy Places might easily have been settled. But just as a slight difference of opinion between neighbors as, say, to their respective rights to a common coal-shed, may lead to bad language, 82 THE CRIMEAN WAR assault and battery, litigation, and even murder, so the petty dispute at Jerusalem was destined to lead to the terrible slaughter of a great war. The difference of opinion between the neighbors would probably have been settled by a little friendly chat, had these neigh- bors been really and truly friends ; and, in like manner, the Jerusalem dispute — a comparatively trivial matter after all — would probably have been settled by a little diplomatic correspondence between Paris and St Petersburg, had France and Russia been really and truly friends too. But, unfortunately, there was at that time much bad blood between them ; and so each government stood on its dignity — often by no means the best of footing — and refused to give way. Moreover, it was soon clear that Russia meant to widen the dispute, to make the issue of a much broader character ; for she pressed her claim to protect the Greek Christians not only at Jeru- salem, but also throughout all the Ottoman Empire in Europe ; and, furthermore, she demanded a formal acknowledgment of this greatly extended claim from the Porte. As the granting of such a demand would have deprived the Sultan of supreme authority over one half of his European subjects, he very naturally demurred to handing over so much of his power and prestige, and in his refusal he was backed up, heart and soul, by our Napoleon of the preceding chapter, who gave him fully to understand that, in the event of armed resistance, he might count upon the help of the French army. Perhaps Napoleon believed that a foreign war would distract the attention of his subjects from domestic politics. Here, then, was Russia, ranged against France and Turkey. For these opponents, however, the Czar Nicholas felt himself quite a match — so long as he could succeed in keeping the other European Powers out of the struggle. But this soon proved to be quite 83 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE impossible; for it speedily became evident that Nicholas's designs were of an extremely far-reaching character. Indeed, in the January of 1853, he spoke quite frankly to the British Ambassador at St Petersburg. Turkey he compared to a sick man at the point of death, and insisted upon coming to some understanding about dividing the inheritance. The arrangement he proposed was that the whole of the Balkan Peninsula should be split up into a number of Christian States under Russian protection ; while Britain, as compensation for the extension of Russian influence, should receive con- cessions in Egypt, Cyprus, and Crete. This bait, however, Britain refused, and maintained that the fate of Turkey, instead of being decided by a kind of miscellaneous grab-and-scramble, should be the subject of an international conference ; nay, she in- sisted that, by the treaty of 1840, the Powers had become the guarantors of Turkish integrity. In these contentions she was supported by Austria and Prussia. It would be tedious to follow the complicated diplo- matic negotiations that ensued. First one compromise was suggested, then another, but each and all failed to bring the disputants to an agreement ; for the attitude of Russia was uncompromising, and, when it came to the push, Turkey proved perhaps equally stubborn. To give him due credit, the Czar Nicholas was un- doubtedly right in his contention that the fate of twelve millions of Greek Christians in Turkey was a matter of the most vital import to the fifty millions of Greek Christians in Russia, and that the misgovernment and tyranny to which they were subjected demanded repara- tion and redress which the ' unspeakable Turk,' how- ever much he might promise, would never give. On the other hand, however, the Powers, though they might, and did, abominate Turkish methods and morals, had a deep distrust of Russia's ultimate intentions. 84 85 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE On May 5, 1853, a Russian ultimatum went to Constantinople, and in June the Russian army under Gortschakoff invaded the Danubian princi- palities. The Russian advance was, on the advice of Britain, not opposed by force of arms. Meanwhile, diplomatic negotiations were continued ; in these it was the Czar's chief aim to keep the other Powers neutral, when he and the Turk might thresh the matter out with no foreign intervention. The help he had given to Austria in the Hungarian War had earned, he thought, at least gratitude ; but Austria, afraid of losing her gateway of trade down the Danube, refused to give countenance to her former benefactor ; indeed throughout the war that ensued she maintained an attitude that was often on the borders of downright hostility. As for Prussia, she held severely aloof; though objecting to Russia's claims, she was unwilling to take part in a contest which Otto von Bismarck declared to be none of Prussia's business. In the October of 1853 the combined French and British fleets passed through the Dardanelles, really as a counter-demonstration to the Russian occupa- tion of the principalities, though the reason given was to protect the Sultan against a possible Mussulman rising ; and in the following January they entered the Black Sea. To Russia this seemed to amount almost to an act of war ; and accordingly, after certain diplomatic questions had been asked and answered, war was actually declared in the March of 1854. The Russians now crossed the Danube, and laid siege to the fortress of Silistria ; following which, French and British troops landed at Varna. Failing to take Silis- tria, the Russians retreated across the Danube, and were driven back until they had evacuated the whole of Moldavia and Wallachia and had crossed the Pruth 86 THE CRIMEAN WAR into their own territory. But though Russian aggression had been repelled, and that with unexpected ease, Britain and France wished to go farther, and to carry the war into the enemy's country. They argued that as long as Russia possessed a powerful fleet she would always be a menace to her Ottoman neighbor ; and as long as the Russian battleships could take refuge in the strong naval base of Sebastopol, to sweep them off the seas would be impossible. It was therefore deter- mined to attack Sebastopol, and in September the allied forces landed in the Crimean peninsula. They were opposed by a Russian army under Prince Menschi- koff, and this, after suffering a defeat at the battle of the Alma, retreated first into Sebastopol and then into the interior of the Crimea. Now was the allies' opportunity; for the defences of the city were not yet completed, and the place would probably have fallen before a prompt and resolute attack. But there was a division of counsels, and Lord Raglan, the British commander-in-chief, was persuaded by his French colleague, Marshal St Arnaud, to post- pone operations till the siege-train could be landed. This delay gave the Russian engineers under the distin- guished General Todleben time to complete their defen- sive preparations ; so that when, after a delay of three weeks, the attack was at length delivered, it proved a failure. Meanwhile, the Russian army returned from its retirement, and fought the battles of Balaclava and Inkermann. There was now nothing for it but a winter's siege. As the allies had made no preparation for this, and, moreover, as the task of supplying the troops with shelter, food, and clothing was scandalously mis- managed, the sufferings of the soldiers in such a climate of severe storms and intense cold were terrible. Generals January and February, the Czar declared, would prove his best allies; and he was right in that 87 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE they greatly thinned the ranks of his enemies. But he was wrong in that they also thinned the ranks of his own army ; for the Russian supplies had to be brought across never-ending leagues of savage and dreary steppes, so that the transport roads were soon lined with the bones of Russian dead. At this juncture the Czar Nicholas died, and his suc- cessor, Alexander II, opened negotiations for peace. These, however, fell through, and the war — in which Sardinia now joined by sending a contingent of 15,000 men to the aid of the allies — dragged on until, on September 9, Sebastopol fell. Even then hostili- ties continued for a few weeks longer; but were ended, in the March of 1856, by the Treaty of Paris. This enjoined : 1. That the Black Sea should be neutralized, and no warships whatever allowed upon it. This applied to all the countries on its shores; and, under this rule, the said countries were forbidden to construct either naval stations or arsenals on the Black Sea coast. 2. That there should be free navigation of the Danube under the supervision of a European Commission, and that Russia should withdraw from that part of Bess- arabia which gave her command of the mouths of the river. 3. That Turkey should be admitted into the Concert of Europe, and that the other Powers should guarantee her integrity. As, by this provision, Russia conse- quently gave up her claim to interfere in the home affairs of the Ottoman Government, the Sultan, in return, made a " formal declaration of his generous intentions toward his Christian subjects." In this manner, the allies seemed to have gained everything, and more than everything, for which they had contended. Yet of these apparent gains some did not prove lasting ; while others were gains in name rather 88 THE CRIMEAN WAR than in reality. Only fifteen years later, Bismarck gave his consent to Russian violation of the neutrality of the Black Sea, in return for Russian neutrality during the siege of Paris. As for Turkey, though she had been officially recognized as one of the European Powers, the recognition was largely a matter of form ; while the promise of the Sultan to respect the rights of his Chris- tian subjects was, like pie-crust, soon broken ; and the Ottoman Government continued unreformed and tyrannical. But though the Czar had failed in his project of par- titioning Turkey-in-Europe into a number of Christian States under his own protection, indirectly the Crimean War led to one step in this direction. Napoleon III had suggested that Moldavia and Wallachia should be united into one State under a prince elected by them- selves ; and, in 1857, the two principalities in question voted, almost unanimously, in favor of such an arrangement. Though Britain — opposed to anything like dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire — and Austria — afraid of the effect upon her own Rumanian subjects in Transylvania — both objected to the scheme, it was quietly put into operation in 1862 ; and, four years later, Prince Charles of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was elected prince of the newly-constituted Rumanian State. As such he was duly recognized by the Euro- pean Powers. QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. What was the trivial dispute in which the Crimean War originated ? 2. " The Czar Nicholas's designs soon proved to be of a far-reaching character." Comment on this statement. 3. How did France and England come to be involved in the Crimean War ? 89 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE 4. Describe the military operations of the war from the invasion of the Danubian principalities to the fall of Sebastopol. 5. Name the chief provisions of the Treaty of Paris, 1856. 6. When, and how, did Rumania first become a recog- nized State ? 90 CHAPTER XIV THE UNIFICATION OF ITALY HAVE you ever noticed a large crystal on which many smaller ones have firmly cemented themselves, the whole forming one united mass ? Well, ever since the revolu- tionary wars of 1848 the Italians had held fast to the belief that Sardinia was destined, as it were, to be the large central crystal upon which the smaller ones — the other Italian States — would firmly cement themselves, the whole forming one united kingdom ; in other words, they believed that to Sardinia would be entrusted the task of unifying the land they loved so well. The future course of events shows that these anticipations were a correct forecast of what actually occurred. Fortunately for the Italian patriots, they had in Victor Emmanuel, the Sardinian king, a monarch who not only agreed with their views on national unity, but who also possessed the courage and enterprise so neces- sary to one who would turn a vision into solid reality. Fortunately, too, Victor Emmanuel had, as it were at his very elbow, a most gifted adviser in the person of Count Cavour. Cavour and Mazzini — it is these two great men that Italy has largely to thank for the fact that she is now no longer a jumble of separate States, but one united realm ; and, of the two, it is perhaps difficult to say which played the greater part in the drama of Italian unification — Mazzini, the agitator, the impassioned advocate, the prophet, the man of 91 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE universal aims, the seer of impracticable Utopias, or Cavour, the astute diplomatist, the reader of men and motives, the practical politician, somewhat narrow it may be in outlook, but thoroughly efficient in all he undertook. Problems of Unification. — How to unify Italy : that was the problem to which Victor Emmanuel and Cavour directed their attention. Formerly, it had been thought that the best way of doing this was to form a federa- tion of the different States under one common govern- ment — like the United States of America to-day. Now, however, as we have already seen, the general opinion had long been that the unification should begin from Sardinia as centre. But how should the process be started ? Of course Austria — inasmuch as she not only held Lombardy and Venetia, but also exercised an overbearing influence in other Italian States— was the chief obstacle ; and, so long as she retained her footing in the peninsula, all hope of Italian unity was out of the question. Austria, said Cavour, must go. But saying and doing are two quite different things. Nobody expected that Austria would go of her own accord ; so who was to make her go ? Obviously, without help from outside it would be useless for Sardinia to dream of expelling so powerful an interloper ; so Cavour looked cautiously round to see if he could find a suitable ally. Such an ally he secured in the person of Napoleon III, who, eager to follow in the footsteps of his famous uncle, was glad of the opportunity of giving the French another taste of the food they loved so well, viz., so- called military glory. In 1858 an agreement, known as the Compact of Plombieres, was entered into between France and Sardinia. These States, however, were both unwilling to take the risk of beginning the war; for, had they been the aggressors, they might have had to fight not only Austria but other Powers as well. 92 THE UNIFICATION OF ITALY Fortunately for them, however, Austria was not so circumspect, and soon played into their hands. Guess- ing the contents of the Compact of Plombieres, she summoned Sardinia to disarm ; and then, without giving her time to do so, invaded Sardinian territory. War was now formally declared between France and Sardinia on one side and Austria on the other; and, at first, everything went in favor of Austria, who had on the spot a much larger army than her opponents. Had General Giulay, the Austrian commander-in-chief, struck at once, he might have crushed the enemy at the outset ; but instead of this he delayed his attack for three weeks, and during that period French troops poured into Italy in such numbers as to turn the scales in favor of the allies. By the two great victories of Magenta and Solferino the French and Sardinians drove the Austrians out of Lombardy ; and the news set the whole peninsula ablaze, so that everywhere the people rose against their absolute rulers, and clamored to join the national cause. The Truce of Villa Franca. — There now seemed no- thing to prevent the allies from driving the Austrians not only out of Lombardy, but out of Venetia as well ; but, to the general surprise, Napoleon suddenly stayed his hand, and, without consulting the Sardinians, signed a truce with the enemy at Villa Franca on July 12, 1859. Several motives seem to have actuated him in this. Unlike Napoleon I, he was not a born soldier, and the terrible bloodshed revolted him ; then, too, his victories had once or twice come very near being defeats, and this had strongly dashed his confidence. Although he was not unwilling to expel Austria, he began to see that Italy might possibly become so strong a Power as to prove a rival to France, instead, as it were, of a kind of poor relation dependent on her for favors ; and such a prospect certainly could not please a Napoleon. Lastly, he feared the intervention of 93 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE Prussia ; for Austria, it must not be forgotten, was primarily a German Power, and already there were in the different German States stirrings of sympathy with her in her recent reverses. All things considered, Napoleon, acting on the motto that enough is as good as a feast, judged it best to be content with the glory he had already achieved, and so decided not to tempt fate further. By the terms of the Villa Franca agreement Austria was to surrender Lombardy to Napoleon, on the under- standing that he should hand that province over to Sardinia ; Venetia was to remain in Austrian hands ; and, finally, there was to be a scheme of Italian federa- tion with the Pope as head. The Beginning of Unity . — This arrangement naturally displeased the Italian patriots, who were furious with Napoleon for, they said, wrecking their plans when these seemed in a fair way of being thoroughly success- ful. By and by, however, things began to look less hopeless, and the patriots took heart ; for, in 1860, Napoleon agreed that the States of Romagna, Bologna, Modena, and Tuscany should be joined to Sardinia- Piedmont, if the result of a plebiscite showed that the people wished for such a union. The vote of the whole people gave an overwhelming majority in favor of the proposed change, which, accordingly, was duly made. This was indeed a most important step, for now Northern and Central Italy — Venetia excepted — were one. For such a valuable concession, however, the Italians had to pay Napoleon a price ; they ceded to him Savoy and Nice. So far so good ; but two further steps remained to be taken before the dream of Italian unity could be thoroughly realized ; the southern States must be incor- porated, and Venetia must be annexed. Now the southern States were two in number, viz., the Papal dominion, and what was termed the Kingdom 94 THE UNIFICATION OF ITALY of the Two Sicilies ; and the new northern kingdom at once set about the task of subduing these. The King- dom of the Two Sicilies was the first object of attack. Garibaldi's Campaigns. — Here Cavour found just the man for his purpose in Giuseppe Garibaldi, a patriot of intense enthusiasm, a man with a magnetic person- ality which attracted adherents wherever he went, and one of the most dashing and enterprising leaders an army could possibly possess. Garibaldi was not only willing, but eager, to undertake the task cut out for him ; so, though without openly fathering the adven- ture — for he feared the intervention of the Powers, and wished to come before them, not with a dubious pro- ject, but with an accomplished fact — Cavour gave Garibaldi strong hints to persevere, allowed him to obtain arms from the arsenal of the National Society at Milan, directed the port authorities at Genoa to connive at his embarkation, and instructed the Pied- montese admiral to keep between the Garibaldean ships and the Neapolitan fleet. In this policy of the accom- plished fact first, and reference to the Powers after- ward, Cavour has had both many forerunners and many followers. " Let us conquer," said Frederick the Great; "the politicians will then find plenty of justi- fication for us." In May Garibaldi landed safely at Marsala, and the campaign that followed is one of the most extra- ordinary feats of arms the world has ever seen. The invaders consisted of only a thousand red-shirted volunteers, while to oppose them they had twenty-four thousand regular Neapolitan troops ; and yet within a month the island of Sicily had been subdued. The brilliant and audacious leadership of their general, and the magnificent bravery of the red-shirts, carried every- thing before them ; though their success was greatly helped by the cowardice and incompetence of the Neapolitan command, and also by the goodwill of the 95 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE civil population, who had grown thoroughly tired of the tyrannical government of their Bourbon king, Francis II. Having thus overrun Sicily, Garibaldi now crossed the Straits of Messina, invaded the Kingdom of Naples, and in September entered the capital city. Francis fled, and was declared to be deposed. So far everything had gone as Cavour wished, and his instrument, Garibaldi, had proved even more effec- tive than could have been hoped. But now the wielder of the instrument began to have misgivings; indeed, he had doubts as to whether this particular instrument was really his at all. For Garibaldi had gone so far that he felt encouraged to go much farther than was, at this juncture, altogether prudent ; moreover, it soon became apparent that he was inclined to cast Cavour's authority to the winds, and to follow the dictates of his own impulsive will. His program now was (1) to conquer the Papal States, (2) to occupy Rome itself, and (3) to drive the Austrians out of Venetia ; and when he had accomplished all this — if he ever did — it was by no means certain that he would hand over his conquests to the new Italian kingdom. In vain did Cavour urge moderation, and argue (l)that to occupy Rome would not only offend Napoleon, the recognized protector of the Pope, but would also shock the conscience of Christendom ; and (2) that to attack Austria under present circumstances would be to commit something very like national suicide. But Garibaldi proved obdurate ; he had not a drop of diplo- matic blood in his veins; and, as a ' whole hogger,' and a relentless foe to compromise, he determined to press boldly on. Cavour now saw that if the injudicious northward march of the red-shirts was to be checked, he must act at once, and act openly. Accordingly, Sardinian troops forthwith invaded the Papal States, which they experienced little difficulty in subduing ; they took care, 96 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE however, to leave the portion of territory immediately about Rome — known as the Patrimony of St Peter — untouched. Continuing their southward course, the victorious Sardinians soon effected a junction with the army of Garibaldi, and Victor Emmanuel took command of the combined forces. Garibaldi, to whom the King's frank, soldier-like character especially appealed, was content to act in a minor capacity, and to sacrifice his own immediate ambitions to what he now considered the ultimate good of his country; and where he would never have given way to a diplomatist like Cavour, he was willing to submit to a soldier like Victor Emmanuel. Italy was now a united whole — save for Venetia in the north and Rome in the centre. In the February of 1861 the first general Italian Parliament met at Turin, the capital of Piedmont; when Victor Emmanuel, in compliance with the general wish, took the title of King of Italy. Italy a United Kingdom. — There were many hotheads who urged the new king to complete forthwith the work that had been so well begun, and to drive the Austrians out of Venetia and occupy Rome. Victor Emmanuel, however, clung to a prudent waiting policy, and in the end he got what he waited for. In the year 1866 there broke out a war between Prussia and Austria, when Italy entered into an alliance with Prussia ; and although the Italians did not play a very brilliant part in the affair — being defeated on land at Custozza and at sea off Lissa — their help proved so useful in dividing the strength of the Austrian attack that when Prussia finally crushed her rival she compelled the latter to give up Venetia to the Italian ally. There now remained an isolated Rome ; but as French troops continued to hold the city for the Pope, Victor Emmanuel would not, as yet, encourage the Roman people to join the national flag. At the commence- 98 THE UNIFICATION OF ITALY ment, however, of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Napoleon was obliged to recall his Roman garrison in order to strengthen the home forces ; and no sooner did the French troops march out than the Italians marched in. The Pope protested, but to no effect. He was allowed to reside undisturbed in the Vatican ; but the great, historic wonder-city, lost to him, became hence- forth the capital of the now complete Italian Kingdom. QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. Write brief notes on the following : Lombardy, Venetia, the Compact of Plombieres, Solferino, Sardinia- Piedmont, Custozza. 2. What do you know of Count Cavour? Contrast his character with that of Mazzini. 3. Outline the chief events in the war between Sardinia and Austria. 4. Give an account of Garibaldi's conquest of the Two Sicilies. 5. When, and how, were the Austrians expelled from Venetia ? 6. When, and how, were the Papal States finally incor- porated in the Italian Kingdom ? 99 CHAPTER XV BISMARCK'S THREEFOLD PLAN. STAGE I : BEGINNINGS OF PRUSSIAN EXPANSION THOUGH the year 1848, so far as revolutionary changes are concerned, had been more or less of a failure in Germany, it had left behind it one important result. For Prussia was no longer an absolute monarchy ; on the contrary, she had acquired a certain degree of constitutional government, and the people had now some voice in the national affairs. The Prussian king, however, the romantic and ineffective Frederick William IV, was content to let German affairs, outside his own immediate realm, remain very much at a standstill, and to leave un- touched the loose confederation of States that then existed. But in 1858 Frederick's unbalanced mind gave way, and his brother, afterward William I, ruled as regent in his stead; while, in 1861, the regent suc- ceeded to the throne on the death of his ill-fated brother. William I. — It was soon seen that the new king was a very different kind of person from his predecessor. He was no clever, fanciful dreamer, but a plain, practi- cal man, and a brave, bluff Prussian soldier. He had long looked with disfavor upon the policy of inaction which had lately kept Prussia in the background of the European Powers, and he was now determined to put an end to what he regarded as such a lamentable state of affairs. But his ambitions went much farther than 100 BEGINNINGS OF PRUSSIAN EXPANSION this, and extended not only to a strong and united Prussia, but to a strong and united Germany as well. This latter aim, however, he did not proclaim upon the housetops ; for, had his wide and far-reaching projects been made known, they would have met, at the very outset, with an opposition that might well have proved fatal. At first, therefore, he confined his attention entirely to his own kingdom of Prussia. And here it may be well to note the essential difference between the methods that have moulded modern France and those which consolidated modern Germany. In France, the constitutional changes have, for the most part, been initiated and continued by the people ; while in Ger- many they were largely started by the Government, backed by a powerful army. One of the first schemes that William I took in hand was the increase in numbers and efficiency of the instru- ment by which he meant to work his will, viz., the Prussian army ; for he believed that the national aspira- tions would never be realized by popular discussions and the paper resolutions of parliaments ; to make them effective they must be backed by organized force. But it would not be correct to say that William despised popular opinion ; on the contrary, he regarded it as a very useful, though not always clear-sighted, ally. Organized force, however, he considered to be the very backbone of national improvement. In his desire to strengthen the army he met with a most strenuous opposition from his Parliament, the Liberal majority of which, expressing themselves as averse to militarism, refused to authorize the expendi- ture of more money upon the supply, equipment, and training of soldiers. But the King was one of those rare individuals who know their own minds. What was still more, he meant to have his own way, with the consent of the Diet if possible, but if not, then with- out it. 101 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE Fortunately for the success of his plans, he had the valuable gift of being a first-rate judge of men ; and so, throughout the whole of his reign, he managed to select extremely capable instruments for the carrying out of his purposes. He never lit upon a happier choice than when he made Otto von Bismarck his prime minister. Bismarck was a man of iron will ; with a frankness, when it suited him, that was almost brutal ; keen insight into men and motives; and a conscience, to say the least of it, by no means over-scrupulous. To cap all, his nature was intensely practical ; and his judgment as to what particular thing should be done in order to bring about a particular effect was well-nigh unerring. With a man of Bismarck's calibre at hand for counsel and for practical assistance, King William might be expected to go far. He did go far; and he began by getting his own way in the matter of army reform — in spite of the Diet. With a strong Government whose decisions could be enforced by a strong army — and a Government, moreover, keenly solicitous for the wel- fare of its citizens, and with first-rate powers of organization — the material prosperity of Prussia in- creased by leaps and bounds. It was as though the King had said : " Obey me, and you shall live upon the fat of the land." This promise he duly kept; but he insisted upon the obedience. The Policy of ' Blood and Iron.' — It was not very long before the Prussians found their strong army come in useful. " The German problem," said Bismarck, " cannot be solved by parliamentary decrees, but only by blood and iron " — a speech which might very well have been made by one of our prehistoric ancestors accustomed to argue with a stone axe and to convince an opponent by knocking him on the head. But before entering upon the policy of blood and iron destined to make Prussia great and Germany a united whole, it was advisable to make sure that the other nations of 102 BEGINNINGS OF PRUSSIAN EXPANSION Europe would not interfere ; and, in this direction, a capital beginning was made with Russia. In 1863 occurred a disastrous insurrection in Poland. This was eventually suppressed, and by helping to put it down Prussia gained the goodwill of the Czar, who would thus be likely to look with a more friendly eye upon Prussia's forthcoming schemes. What were these schemes ? They were, to put the matter briefly, three in number : 1. To increase Prussian territory. 2. To oust Austria — Prussia's only formidable rival — from the German Confederation. 3. To weld the German Confederation into an Empire in which Prussian influence should be supreme. In the year 1863 this ambitious State set about the execution of the first of these designs, and she began in the following manner. At that time the two provinces of Schleswig and Holstein were under what we may term the overlord- ship of Denmark. They were not incorporated in the Danish kingdom in the same manner that an English county forms part of England ; on the contrary, each had a ruler and a government of its own, though both ruler and government were subordinated to the king and government at Copenhagen. Now in 1863 the Danish king Frederick II died, and was succeeded by Christian I; and the latter, dissatisfied with existing arrangements, determined to bind Schleswig and Hol- stein more firmly to the Danish Crown. When, how- ever, he attempted to do this, the provinces in ques- tion objected strongly. In both of them there were large numbers of Germans ; and they, not liking the idea of being cut off altogether from their brethren to the south, flatly refused to accept King Christian's plan. As a matter of course, the dispute aroused great interest among the German States, and there were con- flicting opinions as to how the matter ought to be 103 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE settled. Prussia, however, had her opinion, and meant to maintain it against all comers. Accordingly, Bis- marck persuaded Austria to join him in the policy of armed intervention ; and in January of 1864 Prussian and Austrian troops, side by side, invaded the duchies. The Danes resisted, but, as they had no possible chance against two such powerful opponents, they were com- pelled to give way. In October they ceded Schleswig and Holstein to the victors, Prussia taking the former and Austria the latter. At the same time the little duchy of Lauenburg was made over to Prussia for a payment in money. QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. Write brief notes on the following : Frederick William IV, William I, Schleswig-Holstein. 2. Sketch the character of Bismarck. 3. What were the successive steps by which Bismarck proposed to put into operation his threefold plan ? 4. Give an account of the conquest of Schleswig and Holstein. 5. Outline the policy of William I. 104 CHAPTER XVI BISMARCK'S THREEFOLD PLAN. STAGE II : THE EXPULSION OF AUSTRIA SO far Bismarck's schemes had worked out very well, and Prussia, without any really serious pro- test from the great European Powers, had gained Schleswig and Lauenburg. The next proceeding was to drive Austria out of the German Confederation. There is an old saying which tells us that two mis- tresses in one house can never agree ; because each wishes to have her own way in the management of domestic affairs, and neither is willing to give way to the other. Austria and Prussia might be compared to two mistresses in one house ; each wished to have her own way in the management of the affairs of the Ger- man Confederation, and neither was willing to give way to the other. " Out you must go ! " Though Bis- marck was much too cautious to say this to Austria openly, he meant it all the same ; for he fully intended that Prussia, not Austria, should shape the policy of the united Germany of the future. In one sense this decision may be regarded as quite reasonable, for Austria was very far indeed from being a purely German State; in fact, as we have already learnt, there were four distinct divisions in it, viz., a German Austria, a Magyar Austria, a Slav Austria, and an Italian Austria ; and it seemed a bad arrangement altogether to have the German part of the Empire included in the German Confederation while the 105 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE Magyar, Slav, and Italian parts were excluded from it. The German Austrians, however, were not willing to allow this ; they wanted not only to keep up their con- nexion with their German brethren, but also to be the ' elder brother,' that is, to have, as it were, the first voice in all family affairs ; at the same time they wished to hold and to rule the other parts of their Empire. We may thus say that they wished to be the mistress of two separate houses, the house of the German Con- federation and the house of the Austrian Empire. But how was Prussia to get rid of her rival ? That was the problem to which Bismarck now directed the energies of his powerful, unscrupulous mind. The situation was a delicate one, and required delicate handling. As yet, Prussia and Austria were, at least outwardly, firm friends, joined together in an alliance which had resulted in the invasion of the two Danish duchies and the subsequent division of the spoils. Few people, however, believed that this alliance could last ; for, underlying the surface agreement, was a smoulder- ing jealousy that might at any moment burst into devouring flame. Alluding to this jealousy, and comparing it to the cracks that sometime appear in the walls of a building, Bismarck made use of a striking expression. " We have," said he, " papered over the cracks." But papering over the cracks, though it hides, does not close them ; and soon the paper of pretence that hid, as it were, the cracks in the wall of Austro-Prussian friendship was torn away, and the gaping fissures stood disclosed ; in other words, the Austro-Prussian agreement soon came to an end. The breach of friendly relations was brought about by the conflicting interests of Prussia in Schleswig and Austria in Holstein. Prussia ruled her new possession in the Prussian manner, and Austria hers in the Austrian ; and when dissatisfaction arose in Schleswig 106 THE EXPULSION OF AUSTRIA Austria sympathized with the malcontents ; while Prussia, so to speak, returned the compliment by sym- pathizing with the hard lot of the Holsteiners. " You are aiding and abetting the rebels in Schleswig," was Prussia's complaint to Vienna. " You are aiding and abetting the rebels of Holstein," was Austria's remon- strance to Berlin. Doubtless both accusations were perfectly true ; but as neither government thought fit to confess its fault and mend its manners, the breach grew wider and wider, until at length the alliance between the two Powers came to a definite end. The War with Austria. — War now seemed inevitable. Neither of the two opponents, however, was quite ready to begin. As far as the army was concerned, Prussia was ready enough ; for, as she thoroughly believed in, and consistently acted upon, the principle that it is too late to get ready for a fight when you are face to face with the foe, she had made her preparations long before. With Austria, on the contrary, military provisions were in a lamentably backward state. But there was something to be considered besides the military situation. What would the other European Powers say to a war between Prussia and Austria ? Would they remain neutral ? Or would they take sides with one or the other of the combatants ? A good deal of correspondence took place between the various governments, and diplomatists were hard at work throughout the length and breadth of the Continent. It would take up too much time, and serve no useful purpose here, to tell of the attempts that were made to influence the attitude of Britain, France, Russia, and the rest of the nations. It is enough to say that all of these, with the exception of Italy, decided to remain neutral. The Italians, however, courted by both belli- gerents, at length threw in their lot with Prussia ; while Austria, for her part, secured the support of Bavaria, Saxony, and others of the German States. 107 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE In the June of 1866 hostilities began ; and the cam- paign that ensued is especially interesting in that it presents the earliest example of how war may be waged under modern conditions. Prussian organization and the Prussian needle-gun had been at work in the Danish struggle of the preceding year, but on too small a scale to make it plain to the world that a great revolution had taken place in military science. Unfortunately for Austria, the revolution in military science did not extend to her ; for her soldiers were still armed with the old rnuzzle-loading rifles, and her generals had not laid their plans with the Prussian mathematical exactitude. Bismarck himself tells us that it was he who thought out the Prussian plan of campaign ; but due credit must be given to the able strategists Moltke and Roon, who worked out the details to a wonderful pitch of perfec- tion. Like some great, powerful, easy-running machine the Prussian army got to work, and without much difficulty prevented the enemy German States from combining their forces with those of the Austrians. From his office at Berlin Moltke directed the move- ments of the Prussian generals ; and, acting under his orders, they converged in three columns upon the main body of the Austrians, whom, on July 2, they succeeded in enclosing at Sadowa, in Bohemia. Each side num- bered slightly over 200,000 ; but the Prussians had a great advantage in equipment and discipline ; and the fight went so completely in their favor that when Moltke addressed King William in the words, " Your Majesty has won not only the battle, but the cam- paign," he spoke only the simple truth. It was of little consequence that the army of Prussia's Italian ally was defeated at Custozza, and her navy off Lissa ; these reverses were only of minor importance, for the strength of Austria had been broken. " On to Vienna ! " was now the cry of many of the 108 THE EXPULSION OF AUSTRIA Prussians. But Bismarck knew better than that. He was aware that a procession of Prussian troops through the streets of Vienna would be keenly resented by the proud-spirited Viennese, and above all things he did not want to arouse in them a feeling of implacable enmity. Other and far-reaching plans he had yet to execute, and in order that these should succeed he must be able, when the time came, to rely upon Austria's benevolent neutrality. So he let the vanquished down as lightly as he could, and, instead of " hitting a man when he's down," cried " Halt ! " to the march of the victorious Prussian battalions. Territorially, Austria did not suffer very heavily. But she had to give up Venetia to Italy and Holstein to Prussia. Furthermore, she had also to consent to her own final exclusion from the German Confederation. As for the German States that had sided with Austria, some of these paid dearly for attaching themselves to a losing cause. Summing up the results of the second stage of Bis- marck's Threefold Plan, we may say that these were as follows : 1. Prussia's boundaries were enlarged by the inclu- sion of Schleswig, Holstein, Lauenburg, Hanover, Hesse, a portion of Hesse-Darmstadt, and the free city of Frankfort. 2. All the States to the north of the river Main were formed into a North German Confederation, with Prussia as the acknowledged head. 3. The States to the south of the river Main were formed into a South German Confederation that was quite independent of its northern neighbour. These arrangements were confirmed in the August of 1866 by the treaty of Prague. After the defeat of Sadowa, many people were of the opinion that the Austrian Empire, a loose agglomera- tion of so many nationalities, would fall in pieces ; 109 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE but such did not prove to be the case. For centuries Austria had been governed from Vienna as centre, and the dominating influence had been German. Now, however, all this was changed. Hungary secured a government of its own, and the river Leitha was fixed as the boundary between the two halves of the Haps- burg monarchy. The Emperor Francis Joseph thus wore two crowns, viz., that of Austria and that of Hun- gary; he was, in fact, a ' dual monarch.' Under this arrangement, Austria and Hungary were quite inde- pendent of each other — except for purposes common to the interests of both, viz., foreign affairs, finance, and the army ; for these three departments they had a common ministry. In spite of the discontent of the Slavs, who wished for an Austrian Confederation, with a State or States of their own on an equality with those of German and Magyar character, the dual monarchy continued to exist in a more or less stable condition. QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. How did the war between Prussia and Austria in 1866 originate ? 2. Give an account of the campaign which ended in the battle of Sadowa. 3. State the three chief political results to Germany of the Prussian victory. 4. What political changes also took place in Austria? HO CHAPTER XVII BISMARCK'S THREEFOLD PLAN. STAGE III : MISTAKES OF NAPOLEON TO understand how the events of the story narrated in this chapter came to be possible, it is necessary to turn for a few moments to the more recent doings of Napoleon III. His strange and varied career had reached its highest point in the Italian campaign of 1856, where he had reaped a military glory that made him immensely popular in the warlike nation over which he ruled. From 1856 onward, his course was one of steady decline. In the first place, he managed to lose much of the favor which the Italians had once showered upon him as their liberator from the Austrian yoke ; for it became more and more clear to everybody that he regarded the welfare of Italy as quite secondary to that of Napoleon ; in fact he was, as it were, playing his own game, and, in the main, helping Italy in order to help himself. Then too, by continuing to pose as the guardian of the Pope, and by keeping a garrison of French troops for his protection, Napoleon was preventing the Italians from attaining their dearest wish, viz., that of assuming the temporal power at Rome, and making the city of such rich historic associations the capital of their king- dom. But if he blundered badly in his attitude toward Italy, he blundered still more badly in his Mexican policy. From France to Mexico is a very far cry. Ill HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE What was it that took Napoleon to such a distant country? Well, nobody can justly blame him for taking an interest in the affairs of this American repub- lic, inasmuch as, in the year 1861, it had decided to suspend all payments to foreign creditors for two years ; and, as many of the creditors were Frenchmen, Napoleon was quite within his rights when he protested against a step of such bad commercial morality. In his protest he was joined by England and Spain, who were anxious to protect the English and Spanish creditors — just as France was anxious to protect those of France. The three governments concerned, viz., France, Eng- land, and Spain, landed troops to enforce the claims of their fellow-countrymen, and negotiations were opened up with a view to the settlement of the difficulty. At this point, however, Napoleon showed that he meant to do something more than insist on the payment of French debts. Indeed, he proceeded to overthrow the Republic, and in 1863 set up a monarchy in its place, under the Archduke Maximilian, brother of the Emperor of Austria. But the United States of America had something to say on that matter. Acting upon the principle laid down in the Monroe Doctrine, they refused to tolerate the interference of a European Power with the internal affairs of a part of the American Con- tinent. So they protested not only against Napoleon's proceedings, but also against the presence of his troops on their side of the water; and, at the close of the American Civil War then raging, great numbers of dis- banded American soldiers flocked to join the standard of the Mexican patriots opposing the scheme of monarchy. Afraid to risk a desperate struggle so many thousands of miles from his source of supplies, Napoleon gave way, and ordered his troops to sail for France, advising Maximilian to return with them. This brave, unfortunate man, however, rather than leave in the lurch 112 MISTAKES OF NAPOLEON those who had fought for his cause, remained behind — to be betrayed, tried by court-martial, and shot. For the madness of his Mexican adventure Napoleon had to pay dearly. He paid in the loss of prestige ; he had failed, and failed miserably ; and so he was dis- credited, not only in the eyes of his own people, but in the eyes of Europe as well. But in addition to paying in this general sense of a loss of prestige, he paid also in a particular case that was of great importance to himself and France. If two boys are quarrelling over a game of marbles, then is the time for any onlooker who considers that some of the stakes ought to be his, to snatch what he can get — while the disputants are engaged in their bout of fisti- cuffs, and the young rascals, busily occupied in pummelling each other, have neither time nor hands to tackle a third party. To these two boys we might compare Prussia and Austria ; and while these were quarrelling and fighting in 1866, the French onlookers would have liked very much to snatch some territory outside the boundaries of their Empire ; they would have especially liked a slice out of Germany sufficient to extend the borders of France up to the river Rhine. But, in a game of snatching, it is the army that has to be relied on for the actual grabbing; and, unless a nation has a strong army, she had perhaps better not try what is often a very dangerous experiment. Un- fortunately for French ambitions, the flower of the national troops were away in Mexico during the Austro- Prussian dispute, and so France was not able to make of the opportunity that use which she so ardently desired. It was, moreover, particularly galling that Prussia, between whom and France there existed a deep-rooted jealousy, should have come out of the scramble with territory greatly enlarged, while France herself had gained absolutely nothing. For this state of affairs Napoleon was much blamed H 113 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE by his subjects ; and they stirred him up — if he needed stirring up, which was perhaps doubtful — to demand compensation from Prussia ; but not a foot of land would Bismarck give up. When Napoleon realized this, he said, it may be somewhat plaintively, " At all events let me have little Luxemburg." Now this Duchy of Luxemburg was in a very curious position. By the Treaty of Vienna it had been included in the German Confederation ; at the same time, how- ever, it had been placed under the sovereignty of the King of Holland ; while Prussia had been granted the right of garrisoning the fortress of Luxemburg town. Add to this the facts that the sympathies of the inhabi- tants were mostly Belgian, and that the duchy had not been included in the new German Confederation of 1866, and you get a most strange and puzzling tangle of affairs, without any natural simplicity about it, and full of artificial complications. Could the situation in any way be straightened out ? And did Napoleon's suggestion tend to straighten it ? Growing Antagonism between France and Germany. — For his own part, the King of Holland, who did not see that this mixed-medley of a possession of his did him much good, was quite willing, given the consent of the Powers, to sell his rights in it to France. But to such a course Germany had a very decided objection. Indeed the proposal raised such a storm of Teutonic indignation that many people in the Northern Con- federation called upon the Government to take up arms against the nation that had the insolence to make such a demand. For Luxemburg was regarded as the gate of Lower Germany, and if it came into the possession of France, then France would have an easy means of invading German soil. The matter, however, was finally settled in 1867 by the Treaty of London, by which Luxemburg was declared to be neutral territory under the guardianship of the Powers; while the King 114 MISTAKES OF NAPOLEON of Holland was to dismantle the fortifications, and the Prussian garrison was to be withdrawn. The Luxemburg dispute rendered still more bitter the antagonism which had long existed between France and Germany, and the press in both countries did its best — or rather its worst — to inflame this lamentable feeling. So that Frenchmen who read the German papers were filled with what they regarded as righteous indignation at seeing their country vilified ; while Ger- mans who read French papers raged at the way in which they said they were caricatured. But just as there are two sides to every coin, so there are two sides to pretty nearly every question, and at least two sides to the character of every nation. The blind refusal to see this elementary fact — a refusal which breeds a sense- less, one-sided intolerance — was shortly to bring about great trouble between France and Germany ; and for this trouble the journalists and pamphleteers, both of France and Germany, were greatly to blame. Now Bismarck, though he believed that a war with France was imminent, nay, though he ardently desired it, was in no particular hurry to begin. In the first place, he had not completed the military reorganiza- tion of the States recently annexed by Prussia ; and secondly, when the war did come, he wanted a better pretext for justifying himself in the eyes of Europe than the Luxemburg dispute could possibly afford. Such an occasion was not long in turning up. In 1870 the Spanish throne fell vacant, and the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes, offered the crown to Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, a distant rela- tive of William I of Prussia. Prince Leopold, after con- sulting with King William as head of the Hohenzollern family, decided to accept; but so furious were the French people at the idea of a Prussian prince becoming King of Spain that he eventually declined the proffered honor. Here the matter might very well have rested, 115 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE but France was not content with what had already been gained. On the contrary, she demanded from King William that he would never, under any circumstances, permit Leopold again to become a candidate for Spanish royal honours. When William did not see his way to giving such a definite promise, France, on July 14, 1870, declared war — to Bismarck's intense joy. QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. How did Napoleon III come to lose his popularity in Italy ? 2. Describe the progress, and give the results, of Napoleon's Mexican adventure. 3. What were the provisions of the Vienna Congress in respect to the Duchy of Luxemburg ? 4. Why did the Germans object to Napoleon's acquiring this duchy ? 5. What was the dispute in which the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 originated ? 11$ CHAPTER XVIII BISMARCK'S THREEFOLD PLAN. STAGE III : THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR AND THE CONSOLIDATION OF GERMANY IN the struggle that was now to ensue, Napoleon trusted that he would not be without allies, and his hopes extended in three different directions, viz., toward Italy, Austria, and the South German States. Every one of these disappointed him. In Italy, as we have already seen, his popularity had greatly declined ; and the Italians now agreed that, as they had already paid him — by the cession of Savoy and Nice — for what he had done for them, and, moreover, as in his dealings with Italy it was his custom to look to his own interests first, they were consequently under no obligations to come to his aid in his present diffi- culties. In Austria, though the defeat of 1866 still rankled, the moderation and good sense of Bismarck in softening the blow to the nation's pride now bore fruit; and the Dual Monarchy, although it would be too much to say that it was actually friendly to Prussia, was consider- ably less hostile than it might have been but for the previous action of the great Prussian minister. But even if such a thing as an alliance with France had been seriously contemplated, such an alliance would have been vetoed by the fact that there was for the time being a good understanding between Prussia and Russia; so that if Austria had attacked Prussia she 117 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE would have laid herself open to invasion by her big eastern neighbour; and to expose herself at this parti- cular juncture to such a risk would have been neither more nor less than to court national suicide. As for the South German States, though these were Roman Catholic, and so might have been expected to assist a Roman Catholic Power against one that pro- fessed Protestantism ; and though they resented what they regarded as Prussia's excessive claims and domineering policy ; yet, in spite of these considera- tions, when it came to the push they threw in their lot with their blood-brothers. The situation gave rise to a complicated correspond- ence among the European Powers, as a result of which it became evident that France and Germany would have to fight their fight and settle their disputes with no help or interference from outside. Britain, however, demanded a guarantee as to the absolute neutrality of Belgium, and this was signed in August both at Paris and Berlin ; the two belligerents pledging themselves that neither would set foot on Belgian soil. The Unreadiness of France. — The French plan of campaign was to mass the bulk of the national forces on the upper Rhine, and to invade Southern Germany ; but, when the plan came to be put in operation, it was found that there were serious obstacles to its success. In the first place, the Government had calculated upon a large army in a state of complete preparation for the task that had been assigned to it. But in both these particulars there came a speedy disappointment, a shattering of fond illusions ; for, not only did the num- ber of available troops fall far short of the estimate made by the authorities, but it was found that there still remained a thousand and one details of organiza- tion to work out before efficiency could be thoroughly attained. In other words, the war machine was much smaller than had been anticipated ; and, before it could 118 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR be driven forward with any chance of success, its works needed both mending and oiling. The Triumph of German Organization. — Then, too, there was another difficulty : there was, as it were, a lion in the path in the shape of the German army ; and this certainly did not intend to sit on its haunches and allow all the initiative to the enemy. If the French had their plan of campaign, so had the Germans. Moreover, the latter had made no miscalculations as to their numbers and preparedness. During the winter of 1869 Moltke had carefully worked out his scheme until it was perfect to the smallest detail. From the sum total of soldiers in the whole army to the number of buttons on the uniform of a Pomeranian grenadier, everything was known, and known accurately; and every inch of the routes it was proposed to take had been surveyed beforehand. Accordingly, when, on July 16, the order for mobilization went out, within eighteen days every German battalion, with transport complete, had been mustered, and stood ready at its appointed place. Without waiting for the delayed advance of the French, the Germans pressed forward. To oppose them, there were two French armies : one, under Marshal MacMahon, stationed in Alsace; the other, under Marshal Bazaine, occupying Lorraine. On August 6 the Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia came in touch with the army of MacMahon, and defeated it so heavily at Worth that it had to evacuate Alsace. The second French army now retreated toward the strong fortress of Metz, in which, after being severely handled in the murderous battle of Gravelotte, it was shut up. Half the German forces were now detailed to invest Metz and prevent the escape of Bazaine's imprisoned troops ; while the remainder marched away to meet MacMahon, who, having re- covered from the recent disaster of Worth, was coming along with the object of relieving Metz. 119 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE MacMahon's intentions were good enough, but he had not the combination of strength and skill necessary for their execution. On September 1 was fought the battle of Sedan, where, after a terrible struggle, the French were completely surrounded ; and, ringed about by the guns of a greatly superior force, they were com- pelled to lay down their arms. Napoleon, who was present with his ill-fated men, and who, to do him justice, had fought bravely, gave up his sword to the King of Prussia, and was sent as a prisoner to Germany. The victorious half of the German army then pressed on to Paris, before which it arrived about the end of September. But Paris was strongly fortified, and, moreover, was in no mood for capitulation. On hearing of the catastrophe of Sedan, the city rose against the Imperial Government that had conducted operations with such gross mismanagement. Once more France was proclaimed a republic, and there was set up a Government of National Defence, the most prominent members of which were General Trochu, Jules Favre, and Gambetta. Of the three, Gambetta soon proved to be the master-spirit. His fiery patriotism and imperious character soon carried him to the head of affairs, and he was appointed Dictator. Escaping from Paris in a balloon, Gambetta strove hard to collect the troops scattered throughout the country, and to build up new armies that might first relieve Paris and Metz and then concentrate to drive the invaders off French soil. But the task was too great ; all efforts were of no avail ; and the hastily- organized levies were no match for the seasoned and dis- ciplined enemy. To make matters worse, on October 27 Bazaine, with an army of 170,000 men and immense stores of war material, surrendered Metz ; and, as this set free the investing German forces, the position of France appeared hopeless. Realizing this, Paris, with death from starvation staring her in the face, sur- 120 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR rendered on January 21, 1871, and the war, was at an end. On February 26 was signed a treaty of peace by which France ceded to her conquerors the districts of Alsace and Eastern Lorraine, and furthermore agreed to pay a war indemnity of five milliards of francs. Consummation of German Unity. — But the gains in money and in territory, substantial though these were, may be said to have been the least of the advantages which Germany reaped from the Franco-Prussian War. Of far greater importance was the bond of brotherhood, welded in the heat of conflict, that now served to bind the different States into a unity that promised to be permanent. Prussia, Wurtemberg, Bavaria, and the rest had fought shoulder to shoulder for a common object ; and, in such a life-and-death struggle, mean and petty inter-State jealousy had been desperately wounded, if not killed outright. Why should we not always thus act together ? Such was the question that propounded itself to millions of German minds and stirred millions of German hearts. So every one of the States that had not already done so now joined the Confederation; and on January 18, 1871, in the great hall of the palace of Versailles, King William of Prussia was hailed as Emperor of Germany. The Constitution of the newly-formed Empire recog- nized twenty-five different States. But these States had by no means to give up all their former rights and privileges. On the contrary, each kept its own king, or prince, or duke, as the case might be, and its own Parliament, which exercised what we may term a kind of home rule ; and it was only in questions of imperial interest that the States took combined action. The governments of each of the twenty-five sent represen- tatives to a central upper house, the Bundesrath ; while the people elected members to a central lower chamber, the Reichstag. Between them, Bundesrath and Reichs- 121 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE tag were to make the laws; but the King of Prussia, as Emperor of Germany, head of the German Confedera- tion, and supreme director of the Prussian army, was responsible for executing the laws. It is thus plain that the authority of the Emperor, paramount throughout Germany, rested mainly upon the military power of the King of Prussia. Three further consequences of the war remain to be mentioned : 1. Before the Third French Republic could succeed in establishing itself firmly, the extreme revolutionists of Paris tried to set up a government of their own, which they called the Commune, and they actually held possession of the situation for two months. At the end of that period, however, the patriot Thiers despatched Marshal MacMahon with a considerable force against the insurgents. Terrible street-fighting took place before the Commune could be overthrown; houses and public buildings were set on fire by the defeated Com- munists ; reprisals, arrests, and executions followed ; the whole forming a very black page in the annals of a fair city. After a while, however, France settled down, and set herself bravely to the task of repairing the destruction that had been wrought by the war. Right well was the task performed, so that peace and pros- perity were not long in returning to what was, and is, essentially a thrifty and hard-working people. 2. Russia took advantage of the war by refusing to carry out the obligations imposed upon her by the Con- gress of Paris ; she announced that she no longer held herself bound by the terms of the Paris Treaty, and that she intended, if and when she desired, to construct arsenals on the shores of the Black Sea, and to sail a fleet of warships on its waters. 3. Italy acquired Rome as her capital city. The details of this acquisition have been set forth in a pre- vious chapter. 122 123 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. Napoleon III hoped to have Italy, Austria, and the South German States as allies in his war with Prussia. Why did these fail him ? 2. What was the French plan of campaign ? What were the chief obstacles to its success ? 3. Outline the course of the war up to the battle of Sedan. 4. Outline the progress of the war from the battle of Sedan to the capitulation of Paris. 5. What indemnity did the Germans obtain in territory and in money ? 6. Say what you know about the Constitution of the German Empire proclaimed at Versailles in January 1871. 7. Name three further consequences of the war, in France, Russia, and Italy respectively. 8. Write brief notes on Marshal Bazaine, Marshal Mac* Mahon, Gambetta, and Moltke. 124 CHAPTER XIX AFTER THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR THE Franco-German War of 1870 struck a deadly blow at the belief that the whole of the Continent might be welded into a Con- federated Europe, and it proclaimed the prin- ciple of nationality as triumphant over that of a European community. In other words, it asserted that a strong nation had a right to satisfy its national ambitions by force of arms and at the expense of a weaker neighbour. Well, in this case the strong nation had undoubtedly conquered, and had taken what it wanted ; it remained, however, to be seen whether the results of the conquest would be permanent. " We have," said Moltke in the Reichstag shortly after the conclusion of -peace, " earned in the late war respect, but hardly love. What we have gained by arms in six months we shall have to defend by arms for fifty years." You remember the lines : The good old rule Sufficeth them, the simple plan, That they should take who have the power, And they should keep who can. That is the ' law ' of * might is right.' It was the law of our prehistoric ancestors, but unfortunately it did not perish with them ; indeed it is, and has been, the law of thieves and robbers always and everywhere, no matter whether the thieves and robbers be individual men or individual nations. But it is well to bear in 125 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE mind that the man who takes away goods from his neighbor, against the latter's will and against his sense of justice, does not, as Moltke so truly said, earn his neighbor's gratitude ; and the nation that takes away territory or other advantage from a neighboring nation, against the latter's will and sense of justice, does not, as Moltke so truly said, earn that nation's love. On the contrary, the man deprived of his goods keeps a sharp look out for an opportunity of getting them back again ; and the nation deprived of its posses- sions keeps a sharp look out for an opportunity of getting those back too. Consequently the robber indi- vidual must always, as it were, remain on guard, and remaining on guard is an expensive process both to nerve and pocket ; and the robber nation must remain on guard too, which is also expensive both to the national nerve and the national pocket, especially the latter. So from 1870 onward Germany felt compelled to spend more and more money on her army ; and the other nations followed her example, until at length Europe might almost be termed an armed camp ; and the nerves of the nations were quivering with the anticipation of coming wars ; and the burden of the armaments fell upon the poor taxpayer, until they threatened to become so heavy as to grind him into the dust. The Spirit of France.— Now Bismarck, with all his cleverness, had been greatly mistaken in his estimate of France. He had thought (1) that the payment of the huge war indemnity would ruin the prosperity of the country for perhaps generations to come, and (2) that the destruction of her military system would be so complete as to make France a second-rate Power for a like period. Both these estimates, however, proved very wide of the mark. No one, we are told, is ever finally conquered till his spirit is broken ; and what is true of men is just as true of nations. Well, the spirit 126 AFTER THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR of the gallant French was certainly far from being broken; consequently they were far from being conquered ; indeed, if anybody had suggested to them that their greatness as a nation had passed away, they would have laughed the idea to scorn. So, acting upon the brave, indomitable motto of ' never say die,' they at once set about the work of preparing for the time when they could once more ' come up smiling ' ; and, long before the time stipulated by the Treaty of Frank- fort, they had paid the immense sum due to Germany ; also, by the year 1875, the military reorganization of the country had been such as to produce, at need, an army of over two million men. Now to pay her debts, and to reorganize her army, were tasks upon which the whole of France was united as one man ; for all were agreed that until these achieve- ments were accomplished national self-respect would be impossible. In matters of internal government, how- ever, there was much difference of opinion. Some people wanted a king, but could not agree as to who that king should be ; others wanted a republic. Even- tually, in 1875, the Republic, as at present constituted, was formally established. By what was known as the New Constitution : (1) The President was to be appointed for seven years, with power to appoint and dismiss Ministers. (2) A Senate, or Higher Chamber, was to be elected for nine years, one third renewable every three years. (3) A Chamber of Deputies was to be elected by universal suffrage and for four years. (4) The sum of 9000 francs a year was to be paid to each member of both Houses — an amount, however, largely increased a few years ago. The Spirit of Germany. — In Germany too various changes took place after the conclusion of the war. Previously each State had its own laws, and its own methods of administering them ; so that on one side of 127 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE a State boundary the punishment for a certain crime might be twice as heavy as on the other; and trial by jury might be in force in one district, while secret tribunals might be customary in another. Indeed, so great was the divergence in these matters that we are told there were as many as forty-six separate and distinct law-codes within the borders of the German Confederation. Such a state of affairs naturally led to much confusion and injustice ; and, though it was found impossible to sweep away the medley all at once, Imperial laws and methods of procedure, binding upon the whole of the Empire, were gradually substituted for the forty-six local codes and courts. In trade and commerce, too, great developments took place. An Imperial Bank, an Imperial Post-Office, and a common coinage were established ; and the railways were put, for the most part, under State control. Bis- marck would have liked every railway to be the pro- perty of the Empire ; but, as each State wished to keep the management of its own particular lines, anything like a thoroughly national scheme could not be carried out. It is, however, important to note that the Imperial Government secured rights over all German railways when these were needed for military purposes. Of course the Imperial Government, like every man and every body of men, needed money for necessary expenses ; and the money had to be obtained by means of some sort of taxation. Now there are two kinds of taxes, called respectively direct and indirect. Income-tax is a direct tax, because the man who pays has to pay direct to the Government ; he receives a paper — which he is seldom glad to see — demanding a certain sum, and this sum he, the taxpayer, must pay direct to a Government official. On the other hand, the tax on tea is an indirect tax. Note how this works out in practice. Suppose I am 128 AFTER THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR a tea merchant, and that I make a contract with a tea- grower in India, who agrees to deliver at my home port a certain quantity of his produce for twenty-five cents a pound. The tea arrives, and I pay for it. But do you suppose that without any further proceedings I am allowed to take it away from the docks ? By no means. Up steps a man in uniform, a custom house officer, and tells me, in effect, that before I can remove my tea I must pay, say, another twenty-five cents a pound. This payment is called duty, and goes to the Government. Very well, I pay the second quarter, take away my tea, and distribute it among my numerous stores — for I am in a large way of business. Into one of these stores enters a customer, and says, " A pound of tea, please." If it were not for the customs duty, I should charge the lady twenty-five cents plus my own expenses and profit ; as it is, however, I put on another twenty-five cents for the duty. So, you see, though I have already paid this quarter to the Government, I get it back again from the customer ; and it is thus the customer who pays the tax, though in a roundabout or indirect manner. You can see now that the Government charge on the tea makes tea dearer ; similarly, any customs duties, that is, duties paid on goods imported from abroad, make those goods dearer too. A country where there were no customs duties would be an entirely free trade country; and a country which imposes customs duties is, to that extent, practising the system of protection — in so far as the imported goods can be produced at home, and the home producer consequently protected. I should like, however, to make this latter point quite clear. Customs duties, as you see, bring in a revenue to the Government. But when, in imposing those duties, there is a twofold object in view, viz., not only to bring in revenue but also to protect certain trades or industries from foreign competition, such a system is termed protection. Statesmen and economists i 129 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE are still disputing as to which is the better system, free trade or protection, but it is well that you and I should at least understand the meaning of the terms. Bismarck was a Protectionist, and obtained much of the money necessary for carrying on the Imperial Government by imposing customs duties, especially on manufactured goods and agricultural produce. In this manner he gained the goodwill of the manufacturers and the farmers, who were enabled now to charge higher prices than they would have been able to obtain if there had been free competition with other countries. Of course goods which merely passed from one German State to another were not liable to customs duties ; these were paid only at the German frontier, and on articles coming from abroad. States which are thus united on the subject of foreign duties are said to belong to a Customs Union, for which the German name is ' Zollverein.' Five other matters are worthy of note : 1. The army was steadily increased, both in numbers and efficiency. 2. A long and bitter dispute, the Kultur-kampf , or fight about religion and learning, broke out between the Government and the Roman Catholic Church. 3. The Socialist movement spread very rapidly. 4. A system of State insurance against sickness, acci- dent, and old age was established. 5. And last, but very far indeed from being the least, from the year 1870 may be said to date the commence- ment of a remarkable change in the German character. Formerly, the people had been marked by simplicity of tastes and homely, pious lives, and their great men had been chiefly poets, musicians, prose-writers, philo- sophers, and persons of deep learning; now, however, they began to put a much higher value upon riches and the bodily comforts and luxuries that riches can bring ; moreover, from being gentle, humble, and peace-loving 130 AFTER THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR they gradually became rough, overbearing, and far too full of the war spirit. The change, however, was much more evident in the South than in the North ; for in the North Prussia had long been drifting away from the old German ideals. Perhaps it was her example that worked most of the mischief; for, just as leaven will change the whole appearance of the flour in which it works, so the example of Prussia may have changed the whole character of Germany as a nation. We might sum the matter up by saying that whereas, formerly, the Germans as a body had glorified spiritual riches, now they began to glorify material riches — and military success. Indeed one of their writers, Dr Rein, has some very suggestive words on this point. " We Germans," he says, " have ceased to be a nation of thinkers, of poets and dreamers ; we aim now only at the domination and exploitation of Nature." QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. " Might is right." Is this principle true in the relations of States with each other? If not, why not? 2. " Never say die." How did the French nation exemplify this motto in the time of adversity following their defeat ? 3. Outline the new French Constitution. 4. What internal changes took place in Germany after the war of 1870? 5. What do you understand by the terms direct taxation, indirect taxation, Free Trade, Protection? 6. Explain the term Zollverein. 131 CHAPTER XX THE EASTERN QUESTION THE rapid recovery of France was viewed with something akin to alarm in Germany, and many among the military party in that country clamored for another war, in which France might be crushed once for all, and before she became powerful enough to venture upon a policy of revenge for her recent humiliation. Bismarck, how- ever, refused to listen to these counsels; and perhaps the chief reason why he turned a deaf ear, was the con- viction that a second, and unprovoked, attack upon the fallen foe would not be tolerated by other Powers, especially Britain and Russia. But he took what he believed to be a far better way of rendering France harmless ; he succeeded in form- ing a great coalition from which she was expressly excluded. In Russia the Nihilists were very active ; in Germany, Socialism was rampant ; and against these and other forces of revolution it seemed well that monarchy should combine. When Bismarck put these facts, and the conclusions to be drawn from them, before the Czar and the Austrian sovereign in 1872, these agreed to join him in what was called the League _of,__ the__Xhree Emperors — an alliance into whfcTTTEalywas afterward admitted. Republican and revolutionary France was of course left out in the cold, and, as long as she remained thus isolated, she would never dare to attack 132 THE EASTERN QUESTION Germany. Such was Bismarck's artful scheme, and, for the time being, it succeeded. But the League of the Three Emperors was not destined to last for ever; indeed, a new phase of the Eastern question was soon to break it up. At first, Bismarck had been able to persuade the Czar that it was more important to combine against revolution than to quarrel over the fragments of nations in the Balkan Peninsula. " Why should we bother about squabbles in the house of our neighbors, when troubles in our own home call for all our attention?" Such was Bismarck's argument, and it was very good so far as it went ; but it did not go far enough. The Czar might very well have replied : " Yes, but what if my neigh- bors are my first cousins, and some unscrupulous ruffian is ill-treating them ? Am I justified in sitting snug at home while my blood-relations are being abominably misused ? " Balkan Affairs. — Even so absolute a monarch as the Czar of all the Russias soon found that a policy of non- interference in Balkan affairs would not be tolerated by his subjects, submissive though these usually were. They were Slavs, and the Balkan peoples were largely Slavs ; and it would be base for the former to abandon the latter to the oppression of the Turkish tyrant. Moreover, the word ' Slav ' means ' glorious.' Why should not all the Slavs in Europe combine to form a huge, glorious empire ? Why should there not be one united Pan-Slav nation ? German racial unity had become a fact ; Italian racial unity had become a fact ; why should not Slav racial unity become a fact too ? It was such thoughts as these that now filled the minds and stirred the hearts of the Russian people ; so that, even if the Czar had been unwilling to take action, he would probably have been swept away by the flood of national sentiment. Pan-Slavism, from the White Sea to the Mediterranean, was enthusiastically taken up ; 133 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE and Russian agents were found everywhere among the Slavs of the Balkan Peninsula urging them to cast off the Turkish yoke. It was perhaps chiefly this danger, viz., that of a Slav outburst, which called into existence in Turkey a new party, that of the Young Turks. The leader of the Young Turks was Midhat Pasha ; and the object of the movement was to knit closely together all the Moham- medans of Eastern Europe, Western Asia, and Egypt, and so to oppose a threatening Pan-Slavism by a defen- sive Pan-Islamism. If this could be done, then the Sultan might hope to shake off, once for all, the grip of the European Powers, and to rule his Christian sub- jects as he pleased. In 1875 a rising took place in Herzegovina, and volun- teers from Montenegro and Serbia joined the insurgents. After suffering several defeats, the Turks offered to make various reforms in their Christian provinces. The rebels, however, scoffed at these promises, which they regarded as utterly untrustworthy. Dissatisfaction spread, and it seemed as though the Balkan Peninsula would soon be ablaze. For Austria the situation was now full of peril. She had many Slav subjects ; and as these were not allowed to exercise the same political rights as the Magyars and the Germans — indeed they were very much under the thumb of the two dominant peoples — they were deeply dissatisfied with their position, and, as it were, a spark might set them aflame. Such a spark the doctrine of Pan-Slavism could easily prove, and a revolt of the Austrian Slavs would possibly mean the disruption of the Dual Monarchy. As, therefore, it was to the interests of Russia, as a Slav nation, to encourage the Slavs of the Balkans in their attempt to shake off Turkish rule, so it was to the interests of Austria to put her foot down on such an attempt as a bad example to her own Slav subjects. 134 THE EASTERN QUESTION Moreover, Austria felt herself hemmed in. North- ward, she had no chance of expansion, for Germany and Russia barred the way ; and the only possible field for acquiring fresh territory lay to the south. Very glad indeed would she have been to push southward, and to find more room for her increasing population ; more especially glad to gain a readier access to the Adriatic, and maybe the Mediterranean, for, compared with her size, her coast-line was extremely short. Now so long as the Balkan provinces were discontented and disunited, the Austrian hope of territorial expansion might some day be satisfied ; with a great Pan-Slav combination, all such ambitious designs were bound to fail. It will thus be seen that, for two reasons, Austria thought it best to set her face against Pan-Slavism, with its consequent increase of Russian influence in the Balkans. Summing up these reasons briefly, we may say that they were that (1) a realization of Slav national ambitions might, by stirring up disaffection among the Slavs of the Empire, lead to the latter's disruption, and (2) Pan-Slavism meant a permanent block to Austrian expansion. On the Balkan question, therefore, it is evident that the interests of Russia and Austria were antagonistic ; and, in the event of a dispute between these countries, it might be regarded as pretty certain that Germany would take sides with Austria — for blood is thicker than water. For a while, however, the danger of such wide international complications blew over; and in 1875 Russia, Austria, and Germany conjointly drew up the ' Andrassy Note,' which called upon Turkey not only to tolerate and recognize the Christian religion, but also to grant to the Christian population certain rights which had been hitherto denied them. Fair play in matters of religion, and fair play in matters of race : these were the two demands of the note, and surely they 135 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE were quite reasonable. Turkey promised some, though not all, of the desired concessions ; but then — as usual — she made little or no attempt to carry out the reforms to which she had pledged herself. Meanwhile, the insurrection was spreading; and, to make matters worse from a Turkish point of view, there were internal squabbles between the Sultan and the party of Young Turks. QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. What was the League of the Three Emperors ? What were the chief purposes it was intended to serve ? 2. Explain the terms Pan-Germanism, Pan-Slavism, Pan-Islamism. 3. Why were the interests of Austria and Russia in the Balkans considered to be antagonistic ? 136 CHAPTER XXI THE RUSSO-TURKISH WAR AND THE TREATY OF BERLIN BELIEVING that their opportunity of securing complete independence had now come, Serbia and Montenegro, in the summer of 1876, declared war against Turkey, but, after a few initial successes, were so heavily defeated that they asked for the intervention of the European Powers. But anything approaching efficient intervention was not as yet feasible ; for, though the Powers saw clearly enough that the state of affairs in the Sultan's Christian provinces was well-nigh intolerable, they held different opinions as to what was the proper remedy to apply. If half a dozen doctors are called in to prescribe for a sick man, and each, in consultation with the others, recommends a different medicine, what is the poor patient to do ? Who can blame him if he " throws physic to the dogs " — until the doctors can manage to agree ? The Sultan and the European Powers might be compared to the sick man and his doctors ; and the Sultan, quite naturally, refused to take his medicine. Very possibly he would have refused even had the Powers been unanimous — for he could be very stubborn when he liked. In England, though the conscience of the people had been aroused by the terrible massacre of thousands of unoffending Christians — the scandalous ' Bulgarian atrocities ' — the Government still clung to its time- 137 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE honored policy of preserving the integrity of the Otto- man Empire, and was unwilling to take part in any scheme of intervention that might have gone to the length of dismemberment. Thus, though the Powers protested, and sent their * Andrassy Note,' they did not, as a body, proceed further. But what they as a body refused to do — that is, to intervene in an active manner — one of them took boldly in hand. Failing to get a sufficient guarantee from the Porte that the suggested reforms would be carried out, and tired of fruitless and long-drawn-out negotiations, Russia, in April 1877, declared war on Turkey, in order, as the Czar said, " to obtain by force what the united efforts of the Powers had been unable to obtain by persuasion." As the result of an agreement with Rumania, the Russian army was permitted to pass through Ru- manian territory, and was thus, without opposition, enabled to take possession of the left bank of the Danube. There, however, it found itself face to face with a force of 200,000 Turks encamped on the other side of the river, and the problem of how to cross a wide, unfordable stream in the presence of such for- midable resistance was a serious one. The situation was saved by a well-conceived and ably executed feint. A considerable body of Russian troops, under General Zimmermann, marched down into the Dobrudja ; and, thinking that the crossing was to be attempted in this quarter, the main body of the Turks went off to meet it. But the bulk of the Russians, under the Grand Duke Nicholas, had remained behind ; and now, finding themselves opposed by only a few battalions, they easily crossed the Danube, and occupied Sistova. What were the Russians to do next ? As we have already seen, the main Turkish army was facing Zimmermann, and, according to the recognized autho- 138 THE RUSSO-TURKISH WAR rities on warfare, the proper course was to attack the main army first. This, however, the Grand Duke did not do ; for he had a plan which, if it could only be worked out according to his calculations, would probably bring the struggle to a quick and glorious end. Encamping on the south bank of the river, where the presence of so large a body of Russians might be expected to hold in check any westward movement of the Turks in the neighborhood of the Dobrudja, and feeling sure that his lines of communication were now safe, the Grand Duke despatched General Gourko, a brilliant cavalry leader, with instructions to dash across the Balkan Mountains and capture Con- stantinpole. Gourko succeeded in crossing the Balkans, came triumphantly into Rumelia, and found the way open for a straight swoop on Adrianople and the capital. But the way did not remain open long. In Montenegro was a second Turkish army under Suleiman Pasha ; and Suleiman, when he heard of Gourko's raid, did not let the grass grow under his feet. Embarking at Antivari, and coming round by sea, he landed at Dedea- gatch, hurried on by rail, and flung his troops across the raider's path. Gourko, defeated in several encounters, retreated, and was compelled to give up all his audacious conquests with the exception of the Shipka Pass. Meanwhile the main body of the Russians was faring badly in the north ; for the Turks were now led by a new and more active commander-in-chief, Mehemet Ali. To the Bulgarian town of Plevna the Grand Duke sent his right wing, with orders that this important centre of communications should be occupied. But when the Russians arrived they found they had been forestalled ; for Osman Pasha, with 40,000 men and 90 guns, had already entrenched himself there ; and attack after 139 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE attack, delivered with appalling loss to the assailants, quite failed to dislodge him. Had the main body of the Turks now taken a vigorous offensive, they might have succeeded in driving the Russians back across the Danube. But they omitted to seize their golden opportunity ; they hung back where they should have pressed forward ; and so they gave the Russians plenty of time to bring up reinforce- ments. Of this chance the latter took advantage, and, collect- ing at Sistova an army 300,000 strong, they prepared to reduce Plevna. As, however, they despaired of taking by assault a place which had now been made into a very strong fortress, they resolved to reduce it by famine. The command of the investing force was given to Todleben, the defender of Sebastopol ; and, as Osman Pasha was not provisioned for a long siege, hunger forced him, after an ineffectual attempt to cut his way out, to capitulate. The Russians now felt free to continue their south- ward march. Suleiman Pasha, who had superseded Mehemet Ali, hurried down with 130,000 men to bar their advance, but failed to stop the tide, and was forced to retire. On January 20 the advance-guard of the invaders reached Adrianople. Turkish resistance was completely broken. Russia had conquered. But what terms did she intend to make with the vanquished foe ? That foe was now at her mercy. Would the terms be of a drastic nature ? On that point the European Powers meant to have something to say ; and, rather than risk another war with far more formidable opponents than Turkey, Russia consented to refer the matter to the consideration of an international congress. She did this all the more readily because she believed that her attitude during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 had earned her the whole-hearted support of Germany. 140 THE RUSSO-TURKISH WAR Meanwhile, before the proposed international con- gress could be held, Russia had embodied her demands in the Treaty of San Stefano, March 3, 1878 ; but the conditions were of so far-reaching a character as to raise alarm among the governments of the Great Powers. On June 13 the Treaty of San Stefano was laid before the Congress of Berlin, -over which Bismarck presided, and there its provisions were much modified — to the bitter disappointment of Russia, who felt that her gains now were no fair price for her expenditure of blood and treasure, and who, moreover, regarded the German lack of sympathy, as manifested at the congress, as distinctly ungrateful. The chief articles of the amended treaty, which is known to history as the Treaty of Berlin, were as follows : — 17 Russia was to gain Bessarabia from Rumania, and to keep Kars and Batoum in Asia. 2. Rumania was to be compensated for the loss of Bessarabia by the cession of the Dobrudja from Bul- garia. 3. Serbia was to be territorially enlarged at the expense of Bulgaria. 4. Access to the Adriatic Sea at Antivari was to be given to Montenegro. 5. Rumania, Serbia, and Montenegro were to be independent and sovereign. 6. Bulgaria Proper was not to extend southward beyond the Balkan range. 7. The province of Eastern Rumelia was to be more or less under Turkish control. 8. Austria was to preserve order in Bosnia and Herze- govina for an indefinite period. 9. Russia was to receive a war indemnity of 200,000,000 roubles. 10. Turkey was to permit religious liberty, and to make wide reforms in government. 141 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. What reasons did Russia give for declaring war against Turkey in 1877 ? 2. How did the Russians succeed in crossing the Danube ? 3. Describe Gourko's raid. 4. Trace the progress of the war from Gourko's raid to the fall of Plevna. 5. Give the chief provisions of the Treaty of Berlin. 142 CHAPTER XXII LATER BALKAN DEVELOPMENTS IN 1879 a German prince, Alexander of Batten- berg, was elected King of Bulgaria. This honor he accepted ; but, though he received a warm wel- come at the hands of his new subjects, he soon found that his crown was likely to prove a thorny one. No man, we are told, can serve two masters ; and at this time there were two masterful powers striving for supremacy in Bulgaria. One of these acted on the motto of " Bulgaria for the Bulgars," and was led by the great patriot Stambuloff ; the other worked to make the country practically a vassal of Russia. At first Russian influence was predominant ; Russian officials filled the chief positions both in civil and military affairs ; and it seemed as though Bulgaria had escaped from the thraldom of the Turk only to fall into the grip of the Russian. Alexander began his reign by trying to please the Russian taskmaster, while, at the same time, he tried to conciliate the patriots ; of course he fell, as it were, between two stools, and lost favor with both of the opposing parties. Two years later Greece, who had been much disap- pointed that the terms of the Berlin Treaty had given her no territorial increase, was partially satisfied by the cession from Turkey of Thessaly and a portion of Epirus. In 1885 Eastern Rumelia was united to Bulgaria. The revolution, if revolution it could be called, was 143 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE quite bloodless. It was natural that the Bulgars south of the Balkans should wish to join their kinsmen to the north of that range ; and the Turks found them- selves compelled to acquiesce in the arrangement. The chief opponent to the change was the Czar. In a pre- vious chapter we have told how he fought to liberate the small Balkan States, with their Christian popula- tion and their large proportion of Slav inhabitants, from the rule of the Turk. For this work he expected the gratitude of the people for whose freedom he had labored so hard; and at first this gratitude was by no means wanting. By and by, however, the liberated nations began to suspect that their liberator had worked quite as much for his own advantage as for theirs, and so their grati- tude more or less died away. The Rumanians were indignant that they had been compelled to give up Bessarabia, for which they did not consider the acquisi- tion of the Dobrudja an equivalent; and now the Bulgars feared that their liberation was only a prelude to the overlordship of the Czar. That mighty potentate would have been quite willing to agree to the union of Bulgaria with Rumelia, if only he might have been acknowledged as a kind of Grand Duke of the conjoined provinces ; but, as the people concerned would not acquiesce, the Czar objected to the increase of an independent Power so near to his southern boundaries. His objections, however, proved of no avail ; they were overruled, and the greater Bulgaria was soon an accomplished fact. But no sooner was the fact accomplished than King Milan of Serbia put in a claim for compensation. Bul- garia, he argued, had secured a large accession of terri- tory, therefore it was only fair that Serbia should have a share of the good things going ; so he demanded that the Power which had gained so much should, in return, 144 LATER BALKAN DEVELOPMENTS and as a kind of make-weight, cede some of her own lands to the needy neighbour who had gained nothing. When Bulgaria refused to part with a square inch, Milan, in 1885, declared war. The campaign that followed was short ; a hastily assembled, ill-equipped Serbian army of 43,000 men, under the personal com- mand of Milan, crossed the frontier on November 16 and advanced on Sofia. Two days later they were met at Slivnitsa by 80,000 Bulgarians under Prince Alexander of Battenberg, seriously defeated, and compelled to fall back within their territory and entrench their positions. The onset of winter prevented further operations, and meanwhile Austria intervened and brought about an armistice. The war came to an end in March 1886, when by the Treaty of Bucarest peace was assured on the basis of the status quo ante helium ; that is to say, Bulgaria kept what she had, and Serbia got nothing. The Treaty of Bucarest was shortly followed by an extraordinary occurrence. Prince Alexander, who had so recently led his army to victory, was kidnapped by a number of his officers. Some of these had expressed themselves as dissatisfied with the rewards they had received for services rendered during the Serbian war; but the feeling was not generally shared by their com- rades ; and the malcontents would, it was believed, hardly have ventured upon such an extreme course had they not been backed by personages much more exalted than themselves. It was widely surmised that these personages were agents of Russia, and that they were executing the will, if not indeed the definite instruc- tions, of the Czar, who, finding Prince Alexander no mere puppet to be worked by Russian strings, had decided that it would be best to remove him. Be that as it may, the unfortunate Prince was captured, and sent out of the country. The abduction took place in K 145 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE August. In September, however, Alexander returned, and received an enthusiastic welcome from his subjects ; but, rather than continue to rule under the constant displeasure of the Czar, he decided to abdicate — a resolution which he at once carried into effect. He was succeeded by Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg. For some years Bulgaria now enjoyed peace and prosperity. Serbia was not so fortunate, for a series of deplorable quarrels in the royal family kept the country more or less in an uproar. In 1889 King Milan abdicated in favor of his son Alexander, a boy of thirteen, who reigned till 1903, when he was murdered. Peter Karageorgevich then ascended the throne. After the Treaty of Berlin, Turkey, so far as progress is concerned, once more went fast asleep. The Sultan, Abdul Hamid, governed as an absolute monarch; the country's finances went from bad to worse ; and cruelty and injustice were common. Of all the Sultan's sub- jects the chief sufferers were the Christians of Armenia. These had petitioned the Congress of Berlin for a Christian governor, but had been put off with a pro- mise of reforms— which, however, were never carried out. In 1894 the savage Kurds, aided and abetted by Turkish troops, butchered thousands of the ill- fated Armenians, not only the men, but women and children too. The massacres were repeated in 1896, 1897, 1900, 1901, and, in a peculiarly horrible manner, in 1915. In 1897 a war, originating in disputes between the Mohammedans and the Christians in the Turkish island of Crete, broke out between Turkey and Greece. As many of the inhabitants were Greeks, the Greeks on the mainland naturally came to the assistance of their brethren ; and, though they were heavily defeated, and obliged to pay a war indemnity of four million pounds, 146 LATER BALKAN DEVELOPMENTS Turkey eventually lost all real control of her former possession. Scarce had the war concerning Crete ended when troubles which had long been brewing came to a head in the Turkish province of Macedonia. Many of the inhabitants of this province were Greeks, Bulgars, Serbs, and Rumanians ; and the people of these parent States felt deeply the misgovernment and persecution to which the men of their race were subjected. But they did more than feel ; they acted ; they sent out emissaries to blow into a flame the spirit of disaffection among the oppressed Christians. Indeed, they would have been very glad to see a great rebellion break out forthwith ; for they held the opinion that Macedonia ought to be taken away from Turkey and parcelled out among them. Under circumstances such as these, with misgovernment and persecution on one side and sullen discontent and resentment on the other, it is little wonder that this Turkish province became a most uncomfortable place for Christians to live in. The Young Turks. — So bad did matters become that in 1903 the European Powers stepped in with a scheme of reform. This was accepted by the Sultan ; but before it could be got into working order the Ottoman Govern- ment was upset by a revolution in Constantinople. For some years past the party of Young Turks had been carrying on their own particular propaganda to improve the condition of the whole Empire ; and they had preached their doctrines not only to the civil popula- tion, but also in the army. They had gone about this very secretly, and in constant fear of their lives ; for it was dangerous work for any of his subjects to interfere with the Sultan's methods and intentions. But they had done their work well ; and, encouraged by the sup- port they had received, their leaders, in July 1908, proclaimed the Constitution of 1876, and threatened to 147 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE march on Constantinople if this were not granted them. Taken by surprise, the Sultan gave way in a panic, and allowed a Parliament to meet in the autumn. The Annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. — The dissensions among the Turks gave Austria the oppor- tunity for which she had long been waiting; and accordingly she proceeded to annex the Slav States of Bosnia and Herzegovina. These, it will be remem- bered, had been entrusted to her care in 1878, but to incorporate them entirely with herself was a direct violation of the Treaty of Berlin. Some of the Powers protested, but Austria refused to slacken her grip. As for the Serbs and Montenegrins, they were furious ; for they had hoped that some day Bosnia and Herze- govina might form part and parcel of the great Slav Empire of which they dreamed. In their consterna- tion and distress they appealed to Russia, but, weakened by the disastrous Japanese War, and torn by internal troubles, Russia was in no position to help them. The matter was finally clinched when the Ger- man Emperor gave out that, if need be, he would come to the aid of Austria, with mailed fist and in shining armor. Unwilling to risk a war with the two central military Empires, the European Powers gave way, and accepted the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina as an accomplished fact. At the same time, the complete independence of Bulgaria was recognized. Both King Ferdinand, however, and the Austrian Government made the Turks a money payment by way of compensa- tion. Meanwhile the party of Young Turks found that the reforms they had preached were going to be difficult to put into practice. Some of the old-time Mohammedans feared that a liberal constitution would prove a bad thing for the Mohammedan religion, and so their sup- port became lukewarm, if not cold; while the Commit- 148 LATER BALKAN DEVELOPMENTS tee of Union and Progress, which had organized the revolution and now controlled the government from Saloniki, offended the Macedonian races by keeping a great deal of the power in its own hands, and allowing little scope for anything like local self- government. Taking advantage of disagreements in the ranks of the reformers, the Sultan, in 1909, encouraged a counter-revolution in Constantinople, when the Young Turks fled ; but they soon returned, deposed Abdul Hamid, and placed his brother, Mohammed V, on the throne. Subsequently, however, they greatly disap- pointed the hopes of those who believed that they would inaugurate a good time coming, a time of social progress and constitutional reform. For, though they certainly ruled in a somewhat more enlightened manner, instead of directing their chief attention to reform, and trying to secure the co-operation of the different races and creeds, they mainly con- centrated their efforts on the task of building up, under German tutelage, a highly-centralized military State. In 1912 Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece formed themselves into a union known as the Balkan League, and suddenly declared war against Turkey. The Turks were beaten, and the Powers stepped in with the advice that a peace should be concluded. But to arrange satisfactory terms of peace, and to divide the Turkish spoils in such a manner as to please all the ravenous claimants, proved difficult, nay impossible ; and, to complicate matters, Rumania now demanded a portion of Bulgarian territory. No sooner, therefore, was the Turkish war well over than the victors began to quarrel among themselves ; and the series of disputes culminated in Bulgaria's attacking Serbia and Greece, who later were joined by Rumania. Bulgaria was defeated, and Balkan affairs 149 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE were, for the time being, settled in August 1913 by the Treaty of Bucarest. By the provisions of this treaty Serbia obtained Central Macedonia ; to Bulgaria was allotted part of Western Thrace ; Montenegro acquired an extension of territory ; Greece gained Epirus, Southern Macedonia, Saloniki, and some sea- board in Western Thrace ; Albania received the Adriatic coast from Scutari to Chimara ; and Rumania took from Bulgaria a strip of land between the Danube and the Black Sea. In 1913 the German Chancellor made use, in a public speech, of the following suggestive expressions : " The main point," he said, " is that into the place of European Turkey, whose State life has become passive, there have entered States which exhibit a quite extraordinary activity. . . . One thing remains beyond doubt — if it should ever come to a European conflagration, which sets Slav against German, it is thus for us a disadvan- tage that the position in the balance of forces which was occupied hitherto by European Turkey is now filled in part by Slav States." In other words, this meant that German interests in the Balkan Peninsula demanded a predominance of Turkish power rather than a number of strong and independent Christian States. QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. Give the story of Alexander of Battenberg, elected King of Bulgaria in 1879. 2. When, and why, was Eastern Rumelia united to Bulgaria? 3. State the cause, and give the result, of the war between Serbia and Bulgaria in 1835. 4. The Balkan Peninsula is inhabited by a strange jumble of races. Give details in support of this statement. 150 LATER BALKAN DEVELOPMENTS 5. Who were the Young Turks ? What was their pro- gram, and how did they carry it out ? 6. Say what you know about the annexation of the pro- vinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria. 7. What was the Balkan League? 251 CHAPTER XXIII THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE FOR many years after the conclusion of the Treaty of Berlin, the great European Powers entered upon no serious struggle for the enlarge- ment of their own homelands. Though some of them wished to expand, and in fact did so, this expansion took place, not in Europe, but in other parts of the world. Of these matters we shall treat in future chapters ; here we will deal with the manner in which the Powers sought to protect themselves and what they already possessed. You must think of Europe now as being at peace ; but it was an armed peace, one in which the nations competed as to which should have the most efficient offensive and defensive forces. Indeed, so heavily did the cost of armies and navies press upon the unfortu- nate taxpayers, and so quickly did the burdens grow, that in 1899 the Czar of Russia called together the dele- gates from the different Powers — the Hague Conference — to see if some means could not be found for putting a limit to this vast expenditure. Germany, however, refused even to consider such a suggestion, and so the matter dropped. Now not only did the nations vie with each other in the matter of armaments, but they also endeavored to strengthen their positions by the formation of alliances ; for just as armed men consider themselves safer when they go about in bands, and under the protection of 152 THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE numbers, so armed nations long believed they were more secure when they formed one of a group of allies. To understand the nature and extent of these alliances we must refer back to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. This had left bitter memories in the minds of the French people ; and Germany, rightly or wrongly, believed that France would sooner or later endeavor to seize a favorable opportunity for paying off old scores. As the former naturally desired to keep such an oppor- tunity out of France's reach, and as she was not able to interfere with the rapid way in which the French were increasing both army and navy, she tried to keep the past enemy and probable future foe in a position of isolation. " We want France," said Bismarck, in a letter to the German Ambassador at Paris, " to leave us in peace, and we have to prevent France from find- ing an ally if she does not keep the peace. As long as France has no allies, she is not dangerous to Germany." The isolation of France proved quite easy ; for, as that nation was a republic, and was regarded as the hot-bed of revolutionary ideas, it was likely to be viewed with unfriendly eyes by the great European monarchies. Accordingly, in 1872, as we have seen, the Czar and the Austrian and German Emperors entered into an agreement— though no formal treaty was signed — whereby they bound themselves to com- bine (1) for the maintenance of present boundaries, (2) for the settlement of problems arising out of the Eastern Question, and (3) for the suppression of revolu- tion in Europe. Had this League of the Three Emperors been of a strong and enduring character, such a powerful com- bination of arbitrary rulers might well have endangered the liberties of the European peoples. Happily, how- ever, for the cause of freedom, it proved neither firm nor lasting ; for not only did the Czar suspect Germany and 153 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE Austria of an intention to undermine Russian influence in the Balkans, but he also believed that Germany was contemplating another attack on France. This latter project he expressed his intention of preventing; and his plain and open statement was the beginning of a better understanding with France, who, knowing well that " a friend in need is a friend indeed," felt her heart warm when she thought of how the Czar had stood between her and those who sought to crush her. More- over, the League of the Three Emperors received another blow at the Berlin Congress, where the Russians accused Germany of favoring Austrian interests at the expense of those of Russia. Seeing that Russia was thus, as it were, drifting away, the two Central Powers now determined to draw more closely together ; and this understanding was greatly facilitated by the fact that Bismarck's refusal to press home the Prussian advantage after the war of 1866 had earned some measure of Austrian gratitude. " Do a kind turn when you can " is no bad motto to act upon, even from a selfish point of view ; and, though the great Prussian minister probably had not acted in this matter out of pure kindness of heart, he now reaped the reward of his forbearance — let his motives have been what they may; that is to say, he found Austria quite willing to meet Germany half way. And if these two military Empires joined forces, the coalition would be formidable indeed. " When Ger- many and Austria," said Bismarck, " are united, with our two million soldiers back to back, the Russians will doubtless think twice before disturbing the peace." The understanding between the two Central Powers took place in 1879, but it was not till 1888 that the treaty was publicly acknowledged, and its terms pub- lished. The agreement was to the effect that, should Russia make war either upon Germany or upon Austria, the threatened Power would be assisted by its 154 THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE ally; but should either of them be attacked by another Power — in this case obviously France — then the other might remain neutral, unless and until Russia joined in the fray. Such were the conditions of what was known as the Dual Alliance. We now come to the course of events that led Italy to throw in her lot with the Central Powers. Why should she, of all people, have taken such a step ? In the past Austria had been her bitter enemy ; it was not so very long since the Austrians had been expelled from Lombardy and Venice ; and, even now, they held, in the Trentino, Istria, and Dalmatia, territory which the Italians regarded as rightly theirs ; whereas France had been generally friendly, and had undoubtedly rendered valuable service in the Italian war of libera- tion. Why, then, should Italy ally herself with an old enemy, and leave an old friend, as it were, in the lurch ? Several causes contributed to bring about this change of front, but the chief of these was the French occupa- tion of Tunis in 1881. Italy had ambitions in the direc- tion of colonial expansion, and for some time her eye had been fixed upon Tunis as a suitable sphere for Italian enterprise. But now she had been forestalled, and she accordingly resented what she regarded as an act of poaching on preserves to which, geographically speaking, she had a better right than France. It is no great exaggeration of language to say that, in relation to Sicily, Tunis stood just across the street ; whereas the place was a long, long way from France. Why then should the French, unscrupulous Ahabs with extensive colonial fields of their own, seek to seize the Naboth's vineyard of Italy ? This was the latter's view of the matter, and her resentment at what she considered such unwarrantable conduct precipitated her into the arms of the Central Powers. In 1882 she signed a treaty of alliance with them for five years, and thus 155 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE the Dual developed into the Triple Alliance. The agreement, with some alteration of terms, was renewed from time to time. QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. With what object was the Hague Conference called together in 1899 ? 2. Why did Bismarck desire to isolate France? 3. Say what you know about the League of the Three Emperors. 4. What was the Dual Alliance ? 5. State the chief circumstances which induced Italy to join Germany and Austria in the Triple Alliance. 156 CHAPTER XXIV THE TRIPLE ENTENTE THE formation of such a formidable coalition as the Triple Alliance naturally aroused much uneasiness, and even downright alarm, among the rest of the European Powers ; for, with Germany, Austria, and Italy thus banded together, what chance could any single nation have of resisting their united will ? France and Russia in particular regarded the Triple Alliance as a menace to their interests, a threat against the national well-being. But what could they do ? What steps could they take to protect themselves ? Obviously, the best course to pursue — if that had been at all feasible — was to join hands, to combine forces, according to the example that had just been set them. Unfortunately, however, such a friendly agreement seemed, at the time, quite out of the question ; for France was republican and revolu- tionary ; while Russia was a stereotyped monarchy, and the autocratic Czar could not be expected to sympathize with the French system of government and the French progressive ideas. Indeed, the two nations might well be compared to oil and water ; they would not mix. But the parallel may be carried a little farther. Given the right methods, the two liquids may be made to mix ; and even so it proved with the two nations ; an alliance turned out to be not only possible, it became an accomplished fact. William II. — The urgent incentive to such an alliance 157 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE came when, in 1888, William II ascended the German throne. Immediately on his accession he issued to his army a proclamation in which occurred the following words : "I swear to remember that the eyes of my ancestors look down upon me from the other world, and that I shall one day have to render account to them of the glory and honor of the army." On the same day he addressed the navy ; but not until three days later did he give out his Imperial message to the people. From a sovereign who thus made his armed forces his first consideration, and who, moreover, addressed them in such terms, the surrounding nations judged they might have much to fear. The alarm was especially felt in Russia and France, and accordingly they began to hedge themselves in with measures of precaution. In the first place, the great Paris banking houses lent the Russian Government large sums of money, with the understanding that this was to be used for the building of strategic railways, the improvement of the navy, and the arming of the troops with new and improved weapons. A further step toward union was taken when, in July 1891, the French Channel Fleet visited Cronstadt and was warmly welcomed both by Czar and people ; while in 1893 a Russian squadron entered the harbor of Toulon, on which occasion the Czar, in a telegram to the French President, referred to " the bonds which unite the two countries." As yet, however, these bonds were not drawn very tight ; and it was not until 1895 that what had probably been merely a vague, though friendly, exchange of good wishes ripened into the formal Franco-Russian Entente. The terms of the treaty which now cemented the two nations were not officially published ; but it was generally understood that the main provision ran as follows : if either France or Russia were attacked by a hostile Power, the two allies were bound to unite the whole of their naval 158 THE TRIPLE ENTENTE and military forces for the purpose of repelling the aggressor. Meanwhile, how did Britain stand ? She was a mem- ber of neither of the two great combinations of Powers ; she held aloof from the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria, and Italy ; and she took no steps to join the Franco-Russian Entente. Was this attitude of ' splen- did isolation ' altogether wise and prudent ? For a long time the statesmen who guided the policy of the Island Power evidently thought that it was; they pre- ferred not to be mixed up any more than was absolutely necessary with Continental politics ; and they believed that, should they ever have the bad luck to stumble into an international tangle, they were quite able to break out of the meshes without any outside help. In- deed, had they at this time desired to take sides, they would probably have joined the Triple Alliance ; for relations with Germany and Italy were then regarded as friendly, and with Austria it did not seem likely that any great points of difference could arise ; whereas Russia, by her Asiatic conquests, was thought by many people to be a menace to India ; and French and British interests appeared to be clashing continually. The End of British Isolation. — Presently, however, there came a change in the European situation, and a fresh grouping of forces. Of these developments there were three well-marked stages, viz., (1) the reconcilia- tion of Italy with France, (2) the reconciliation of France with Britain, and (3) the reconciliation of Britain with Russia. We will take them in the order in which they stand. First, then, as to the reconciliation of France with Italy. We have seen how the latter resented the French occupation of Tunis ; and we may add here that the cause of offence led to many popular outbreaks of Italian ill-feeling toward the offenders. But time is a wonderful healer of sores ; so by and by, when the angry 159 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE passions of the moment had subsided, the old friendly feeling- — which had been wounded but not killed — between the two nations gradually revived ; and in 1896 Italy formally recognized the French position in Tunis ; while in 1901 France promised she would not oppose Italian claims in Tripoli, and Italy agreed to give France a free hand in Morocco. These evidences of the return of the mutual good- will of the past were followed in 1903 by an official visit of the King of Italy to Paris; while President Loubet returned the courtesy in 1904. Thus Italy, though she still remained a member of the coalition which France regarded as a menace to her interests, if not indeed to her very existence as a first-class Power, was now making it quite plain that in any enterprise directed against an old friend, once lost, but since happily regained, Italian support must not be counted upon by the Triple Alliance. Second, as to the reconciliation of France with Britain. The German attitude toward the latter during the Boer War had been offensive ; and there were not wanting other indications to show that Teutonic friend- ship, though it might promise much, was not to be relied upon. Under these circumstances, it was decided that France should be approached ; and in 1903 King Edward VII, who was a sincere admirer of the Repub- lic, paid his first official visit to Paris. In the same year President Loubet came to London, where he was royally entertained. Thus the way was paved toward a better understanding between the two countries. But before a better understanding could be satisfac- torily reached there remained to be settled various matters of dispute, the chief of which was undoubtedly the British occupation of Egypt— of which more will be said in Chapter XXVI. The British occupation of Egypt had been a very sore point with France ; and the French withdrawal from Fashoda, with the consequent 160 THE TRIPLE ENTENTE abandonment of all claim to the Nile Valley, had been bitterly resented. Now, however, France agreed to surrender all claims in Egypt, and not to press for a British withdrawal, on condition that Britain did not interfere with France in the latter's schemes for extend- ing her sphere of influence in Morocco. A treaty between the two countries was signed in 1904, and was warmly welcomed on both sides of the Channel. France had thus gained a new ally — of whose good offices she was shortly to stand in need. In March 1905 the German Emperor landed from his yacht at Tangier, and there made a speech to the effect that he, if need were, intended to interfere with French designs in Morocco. He then suggested that the Powers should consider the Moroccan question at a conference, and France, rather than run the risk of a war, consented. So far the result had been a triumph for Germany. The conference duly met at Algeciras in 1906, and sat for ten weeks. But the outcome was destined to be a blow to German hopes ; for France, backed by Britain and Russia, carried the day, and the German aim of finding a footing in Northern Africa was frustrated. The right of France and Spain to police Morocco was recognized. Third, as to the reconciliation of Britain with Russia. To work together for a common cause is a capital way to become good comrades ; the common support that Britain and Russia had given to France at Algeciras drew these two nations more closely together ; each began to recognize the good qualities of the other ; and each came to see that, though there were points of dis- agreement between them, there were points of agree- ment also. It was the dwelling too much upon the former, and too little upon the latter, that had hitherto kept Britain and Russia at arm's length. Now, how- ever, they resolved to revise the whole situation, and, standing as it were on the solid ground of a mutual good-fellowship, see if they could not smooth away L 161 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE the obstacles over which their relationships had so long stumbled. After a series of preliminary discussions and negotiations, they signed a treaty limiting their respec- tive spheres of influence in Persia, acknowledging the right of Britain to control the foreign policy of Afghani- stan, and denying to either country the right to inter- fere with the affairs of Tibet. In this manner the Dual Entente between France and Russia had expanded into the Triple Entente between France, Russia, and Britain. We now see how it came about that the great Euro- pean Powers ranged themselves in two mighty coalitions — on the one side the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria, and Italy, on the other the Triple Entente of France, Russia, and Britain — each bent on safeguarding the party to which it belonged. But what if there came a clash of interests between a Power, or Powers, of the Alliance and a Power, or Powers, of the Entente ? Such a clash nearly came in 1908, when Austria annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the German Emperor stepped, as it were, on the stage, with his theatrical pronouncement about " shining armor." Happily an actual collision had been averted. But would a second occasion arise, an occasion when neither side would give way ? In that case there was likely to be a war of Titans ; a war, moreover, in which the inven- tions of science and the resources of civilization would be wrested from their proper functions of bringing peace and prosperity, and misused to submerge a Continent beneath a sea of blood. QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. What was the urgent incentive that caused France and Russia to draw together ? 2. Trace the steps by which the understanding between them was finally cemented. 162 THE TRIPLE ENTENTE 3. State the arguments for and against Britain's ' splendid isolation.' 4. By what means was the reconciliation of Italy with France effected ? 5. How did Britain come to join the alliance between France and Russia, and thus complete the Triple Entente ? 6. What are the dangers of the doctrine of the Balance of Power ? 163 CHAPTER XXV THE FAR EAST FOR the present we will turn our attention away from the internal affairs of the European States. Their boundaries had been more or less well defined, and the presence of two such imposing groups of Powers as we have spoken of in the two pre- vious chapters seemed to offer some guarantee that the position of these boundaries would not be meddled with lightly. Toy-terriers will snarl over tiny bones, with no great damage to the living-room rug; but surely it must be a big bone of contention indeed that would induce the three great hounds of the Alliance to lock in a death-grapple with the three of the Entente. Thus the closing years of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century were witness to no noteworthy changes in the home territories of the Euro- pean States. On the contrary, those States that wished to expand, rinding their way blocked on the Continent, turned their attention to far-away fields of enterprise, and sought to increase their foreign possessions. For this reason the centres of interest for the European Powers now lay in other quarters of the globe. The Rise of Japan. — Turning first to Asia, we may begin by remarking that one of the most striking features in Asiatic development has been the wonderful rise of Japan, which, from being an isolated and semi- barbarous country, has not only taken its place among 164 SIBERIA The Far East 165 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE the nations to be reckoned with, but has also, by its numerous improvements in education, justice, and army-and-navy organization, deserved to rank as a civilized State. As such it was formally recognized by Britain in 1894, and the other European Powers were not slow to follow Britain's lead. Now close to Japan lies the peninsula of Korea, which was governed both weakly and badly ; so weakly indeed, and so badly, that Japan invited the co-operation of China in carrying out a program of reforms ; and, when China refused, Japan undertook the task herself. But the Koreans did not want to be reformed ; they were unwilling to change their ways in the manner suggested by their peremptory neighbor ; and they said to that neighbor, though not in these exact words : " Our affairs are no concern of yours. We are under no obligations to please you. So leave us alone, and kindly mind your own business." But, not to be denied, Japan sent out troops to enforce her demands. China now intervened, though not on the side of the Japanese, but on that of the Koreans. Chinese and Koreans, however, together proved no match for the Japanese, and, in 1895, were compelled to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki, by which they agreed to cede certain Chinese territory, viz., the Liao-Tung peninsula and the island of Formosa. But what concern, you will perhaps say, had the European Powers with these happenings in the Far East? Well, they speedily showed that they had, or thought they ought to have, some concern in the matter; and, posing as the protectors of big, helpless China, three of them, viz., Russia, France, and Ger- many, now demanded that Japan should give up the newly-acquired peninsula of Liao-Tung. As Japan could not hope to succeed in a war with three of the great European Powers, she had to submit. But, though deeply chagrined, she was far from being down- 166 THE FAR EAST cast, and seeing further trouble ahead, set to work to strengthen her army and navy in a very thorough manner. Organization, drill, weapons, and marksman- ship were greatly improved ; and powerful battleships were ordered, and, when delivered, handled with effi- ciency. Thus, when the time came to strike — if it ever should come — Japan trusted she would be ready. The Scramble for the Pacific Trade. — Do you suppose that this intervention of the Western Powers was quite disinterested ? Do you think that, in doing what they had done, they had wished to gain no advantage what- ever for themselves ? Well, note the events that fol- lowed. Take first the case of Russia. In 1891 she had begun the great Trans-Siberian Railway, by which she proposed to link up Russia-in-Europe with an ice-free port on the Pacific Ocean. The completion of this railway — certainly one of the biggest engineering feats ever attempted by man — is an enterprise of which Russia may well be proud. True, the track passes through large districts where the country is flat and the work of construction easy; but there are others where the line winds its way up to a mountain plateau, descends into treacherous marshes, or has to be pro- tected from floods that turn whole valleys into torrents of swirling waters. In one especially difficult moun- tain section of fifty-six miles there are no less than thirty-nine tunnels, and thirteen galleries for protection against rock-slides. Now the direct route to the Pacific lies through Man- churia, a province of Northern China ; and of course Russia had no right to trespass on Chinese soil. Per- haps it was gratitude for what Russia had done- for her in the matter of the Treaty of Shimonoseki ; perhaps it was pressure put upon the Chinese Government ; what- ever the explanation may have been, the fact remains that China now gave Russia permission to carry the Trans-Siberian Railway through Manchuria. 167 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE A few years later — in 1897 — as the outcome of dis- turbances in China which resulted in the murder of two German missionaries, the Chinese were compelled by Germany to lease to her for a term of ninety-nine years the port and district of Kiao-chow. Not to be outdone, Russia demanded Port Arthur ; Britain secured Wei- hai-Wei and some land near Hong Kong ; while France extended her sphere of influence near Tonkin. So you see that though the Western Powers were quite willing to protect China from encroachments on the part of Japan, they were more than quite willing to take some of her territory themselves ; and now Germany, Russia, and Britain each had a port on the shores of the Yellow Sea — where Japan had been prevented from obtaining a footing. Why, do you suppose, were the European nations so eager to obtain these ports ? Well, they had three chief reasons : (1) Each wanted a naval base on the spot, where she could lay up stores of coal, construct docks and fortifications, and erect machinery for the repair of the ships of war that patrolled Pacific waters. (2) Each wanted a commercial centre from which her merchants might develop the fast-growing Pacific trade. (3) Each considered that the shores of the Yellow Sea furnished one of the best possible situations both for a naval base and a commercial port. Naturally the annexations made by the Western Powers were not popular in China ; and, partly from this cause, partly owing to domestic broils, a society called the Boxers endeavored to drive all foreigners — ' foreign devils ' was the name the Boxers gave them — out of the land. To put down the Boxer rising, a force of 20,000, consisting of Japanese and European troops under German leadership, started from Pekin, and very soon succeeded in the object it had undertaken. Peace 168 THE FAR EAST was made in 1901. In 1902 Japan signed a treaty of alliance with Britain. The Russo-Japanese War. — Now Russia, as we have just seen, had secured from China railway concessions in the province of Manchuria ; but, not content with purely trading privileges, she now sought to strengthen her influence by acquiring a measure of governmental control there. At the same time she began to show great activity in Korea, and to refuse to acknowledge that Japan had any right to interfere in Korean affairs. Japan protested ; Russia refused to listen ; and so in 1904 there broke out the Russo-Japanese War. To the amazement of the whole world the Japanese proved victorious ; the Russian army retreated, and the Russian fleet was annihilated. At the conclusion of peace by the Treaty of Portsmouth, Japan's claims in Korea were conceded, and she gained the Liao-Tung peninsula and the southern half of the island of Sakhalin ; while Russia agreed to evacuate Manchuria. The Japanese success had a great influence in China. A Power that could do such great deeds against so formidable a foe was surely worthy of imitation ; and so the Chinese proceeded to imitate Japan in the matter of making extensive reforms. They issued decrees against foot-binding, did away with the system of appointing government officials solely on the score of having passed a literary examination, opened schools under Japanese instructors, and sent large numbers of young men to study abroad. More than this, they dispatched a deputation to Europe in order to examine the different systems of government ; and, on its return, set about introducing a number of European methods into China. Lastly, they started a crusade against opium, and came to an agreement with the Indian authorities by which the latter pledged themselves, under certain conditions, to put a gradual end to the export of that noxious drug to China. 169 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. Give some account of the rapid rise of modern Japan. 2. What gave rise to the war between China and Japan in 1895 ? What were the immediate results of this war ? 3. Why did Russia lay down the Trans-Siberian Rail- way? Enumerate some details of its construction. 4. What territory did Britain, France, and Russia receive from China in 1897 ? 5. For what three purposes did these European Powers desire ports in Eastern Asia ? 6. What was the Boxer Rising ? 7. Write a short account of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904. 170 CHAPTER XXVI BRITAIN IN EGYPT IN this and the succeeding chapter we shall treat of the manner in which the European Powers sought to carve out great chunks of territory from the huge bulk of the African Continent; and per- haps we cannot do better than begin with the story of the British occupation of Egypt. The first important event to bring the land of the Pharaohs into the sphere of European politics was its invasion in 1798 by Napoleon I, who meant to make it a French possession, and a base from which he might set out on his gigantic project of Eastern conquest. But the British fleet cut his line of communication with his source of supplies from headquarters, and so he failed in his design. The Suez Canal. — In 1856, however, Egypt came once more to the front ; for at that date Ferdinand de Lesseps gained the consent of the Khedive, who ruled under the suzerainty of the Sultan of Turkey, to construct the Suez Canal. The undertaking was duly completed in 1869 ; but, as the concession had been granted for only ninety-nine years, the Canal was to become the property of the Egyptian Government at the expiration of that period. It had been expected that the Suez Canal would bring much wealth into the country. These hopes, however, were disappointed ; for it was found that most of the wealth went into the pockets of the shareholders. But 171 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE Egypt now found another source of prosperity. The outbreak of the American Civil War led to a blockade of the cotton-producing States ; so cotton became scarce, and accordingly the price rose. Seeing this, the Egyptian farmers began to cultivate extensively what was to many of them a strange new shrub ; and they made immense profits from the sale of their fluffy white produce. Unfortunately, neither they nor their government took care of the money they had gained, but, on the contrary, spent it in a very lavish manner. Perhaps the most imprudent and extravagant spend- thrift of all was the Khedive ; for, counting on the con- tinuance of that wonderful prosperity, not only did he spend every penny of his large income, but, worse still, he got deeply into debt. But that wonderful prosperity did not continue. At the close of the war, great stocks of cotton were sent over to Europe from the Southern States ; so that there was plenty for everybody, indeed more than the manufacturers required. Consequently the price fell ; and the profits of the Egyptian cotton-growers — compared with those they had been previously making — were now quite small. Egyptian Finance. — Thus a very difficult problem faced the Khedive. Seeing that his income had gone down with such a slump, how was he going to get money to pay his creditors ? Well, first of all he taxed his people very heavily ; and then, in 1876, he sold his shares in the Suez Canal to the British Government for £4,000,000. But these steps did not suffice to free him from his burden. Now the people who had lent him the money were chiefly Frenchmen and Englishmen ; and, alarmed at the prospect of losing their loans, they induced the Khedive to give them large powers of control over Egyptian revenue and expenditure. Their idea was that they should collect the taxes, out of which they 172 Fashodr Egypt 173 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE would pay all necessary expenses of government; from what was left over they would recoup themselves for the cash they had advanced. But would anything be left over ? On that point they felt no doubt ; for they believed that, properly managed, Egyptian finance might be made a going concern. It was in this manner that the dual control of France and Britain began. In 1879 the Khedive, who had failed miserably, abdicated. He was succeeded by his son Tewfik. But Tewfik soon found that he had inherited what was likely to prove a crown of thorns ; for troubles began to press in upon him from every side. Most unhappily, his father had left him in the hands of money-lenders, and these 'largely controlled the Egyptian finances. Now money-lenders are not always the most popular of people — especially when it comes to the question of 'paying up.' Those particular ones with whom Tewfik had to deal were not popular with him, and they were not popular with his subjects. In- deed, the latter were not long in beginning to clamor that not only foreign money-lenders but foreign mer- chants, and in fact foreigners of every description, ought to be expelled from the country. Possibly this cry of " Egypt for the Egyptians " would never have gone much farther than mere words, had it not been for dissensions in the Egyptian army, where there were two parties, one claiming that pro- motion, even to the highest rank, should be open to men of humble native birth, while the other would reserve the plums of the military profession to the lordly Turk and the proud Circassian. The head of the native party was Arabi Pasha ; and to him all those people, both military men and civilians, who hated foreigners and despised the Christian religion looked as their leader. Disturbances broke out at Alexandria, where the ' true believers ' attacked the houses of Europeans 174 BRITAIN IN EGYPT and murdered the inhabitants, and where-Arabi and his followers proceeded to arm the populace and to strengthen the forts. At that time, lying off Alexandria, was a British squadron ; and Arabi was induced to promise to discon- tinue the strengthening of the defences. Nevertheless he continued the work under cover of night, so the Admiral proceeded to bombard the forts. Arabi and his troops then left the city, where a furious outbreak of the mob resulted in the loss of hundreds of European lives and the destruction of millions of pounds' worth of property. The Withdrawal of France. — What was to be the next step ? As France refused to join in the task of repress- ing Arabi — a rebel against the authority of the Khedive — and of restoring order and seeking redress and com- pensation — thus virtually resigning her share in the Dual Control — Britain took up the work alone. A force of 10,000 men under Sir Garnet Wolseley was despatched to Egypt ; and this, strengthened by a con- tingent from India, after a series of preliminary suc- cesses scattered Arabi's army at the battle of Tel-el- Kebir. Shortly afterward Arabi was taken prisoner; the Sultan officially disavowed him ; and in 1883 he was exiled to Ceylon. Now there were many people who thought that, having vindicated the authority of the Khedive, Britain ought to withdraw from participation in Egyptian affairs. But the British Government decided otherwise ; for they argued that, having been drawn into the country by force of circumstances, it would not be fair to leave it to the anarchy which would be sure to follow an immediate abandonment. They declared, how- ever, that the occupation was but temporary, and would only last until order and prosperity had been restored, and new and better institutions established. 175 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE Trouble in the Sudan. — But a war-cloud was gather- ing in the Sudan ; and that must be dispersed before any serious attempt at reform was possible. Indeed it seemed probable that the Nile basin would soon be overrun by the savage fanatics of the back country. In that district there had appeared a man who claimed to be the Messiah or Prophet foretold by the founder of Mohammedanism ; this personage was called by his followers El Mahdi (' The Leader '). While the British were engaged in putting down the rebellion of Arabi, the Mahdi had been busy in stirring the Sudan to revolt ; and in 1883 the insurgents exterminated near El Obeid a force of Egyptian soldiers under Hicks Pasha. His British advisers now urged the Khedive to evacuate the Sudan, and to this course he agreed. But, scattered here and there in the disturbed district there were various Egyptian garrisons and residents ; and, as it would not have been honorable to leave them to be slaughtered, it was decided that an attempt should be made to get them safely away. For such a difficult and dangerous task a capable and heroic director was needed ; and it seemed as though the very man for the purpose was at hand in the person of Charles George Gordon. Unfortunately there seems to have been a misunder- standing as to what Gordon was really to do. Had he confined his attention to withdrawing the garrisons and residents, he might well have carried out his task suc- cessfully. Instead of that, however, he appears to have combined the project of evacuation with the much more ambitious one of forming in the Sudan a government which would not prove hostile to Egyptian interests. The blame for these divided counsels it would perhaps be unwise to apportion. But they led to a disastrous result. The Mahdists surrounded Khartum, where Gordon was making a last stand, and captured it two 176 BRITAIN IN EGYPT days before the vanguard of the relieving force put in an appearance. Here Gordon fell. The possession of the arsenal at Khartum was of immense importance to the half-armed hordes of the Mahdi, and the fall of the city brought many adherents to his standard. It was only the presence of British troops at Wady Haifa that prevented the valley of the Lower Nile from becoming the prey of the savage and fanatical tribesmen. But in 1885 the Mahdi received his quietus ; he was poisoned by a woman whom he had ill-treated. This, however, did not put an end to Mahdism ; for the fallen leader had an able successor in a former servant, Abdullah Taashi, who now took the place of his late master and assumed the title of Khalifa. Under the rule of the Khalifa the Sudan was given up to tyranny and oppression ; but, more than that, it was by no means unlikely that the insurgents, sooner or later, would be able to sweep away opposition and penetrate northward — perhaps to the Mediterranean. To put an end to this constant menace, it was deter- mined in 1896 to reconquer the Sudan ; and the work was entrusted to Sir Herbert Kitchener, Sirdar of the Egyptian army. First Kitchener subdued Dongola and the Khalifa's northern provinces. Then, in 1898, with a native army stiffened by British troops, he routed the Khalifa's forces outside the rebel capital, Omdurman. The Khalifa himself fled into the desert, where, a year later, he perished in a skirmish. In this manner the Khedive regained his southern territory. But when Kitchener proceeded to adminis- ter it as the Khedive's representative, he discovered at Fashoda, on the White Nile, a small French expedi- tion under Major Marchand. Marchand had come across country from French Congo, with the intention of establishing a colony on the upper reaches of the Nile. m 177 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE To this proceeding, however, Kitchener objected, and the matter was referred to the home governments. Eventually, after much correspondence and consider- able friction, the French withdrew their claim, and the Nile Valley was given up to Egypt — where British influence was now predominant. British Organization in Egypt. — Now it would be idle to deny that Britain's intervention in Egyptian affairs brought upon her much jealousy and ill-will from the European Powers ; and yet, once having intervened, it is difficult to see how she could well have withdrawn until her task of restoring order had been accomplished. Moreover, however sharply her presence in Egypt may be criticized, a candid mind is bound to acknowledge that during the term of British occupation her influence vastly bettered the condition of the country. Irriga- tion was improved ; railways, canals, and public works were laid down ; the economic position of the small landholders was rendered more secure by the establish- ment of agricultural banks ; forced labor on govern- ment enterprises was abolished ; the administration of justice was made much more satisfactory ; the death- rate was lowered, and travelling eye-hospitals reduced the terrible scourge of ophthalmia ; schools and colleges were founded ; and the army was remodelled and won- derfully improved. QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. What brought Egypt within the sphere of European politics in 1798, and again in 1856-1869 ? 2. What gave rise to the Dual Control of Egyptian affairs by France and Britain ? 3. Give an account of the insurrection of Arabi Pasha. 4. Describe the rise and progress, and state the results of the war with the Mahdi. 178 BRITAIN IN EGYPT 5. Enumerate the benefits which Egypt has received from British rule. 6. Write brief notes on the following persons : Ferdinand de Lesseps, General Gordon, Lord Kitchener, Major Marchand, Hicks Pasha. 179 CHAPTER XXVII THE PARTITION OF AFRICA WHEN new lands are opened up by European peoples, the order of events is usually some- what as follows. First come explorers, travellers, missionaries, who ascertain the nature of the country. Then follow traders, and these form settlements and establish factories where they exchange European goods for native produce. By and by, as the traders' notions of right and wrong, as well as their pecuniary interests, are often very different from those of the natives, there arise disputes, quarrels, and downright fighting, in which the European govern- ment naturally sides with its own subjects. Soldiers and warships now appear on the scene, and the end of it all is annexation ; the European country concerned has gained another foreign possession ; and one more un- civilized state has been wiped off the map. It was by a process such as this that Africa was mainly parcelled out among the European Powers. Explorers like Livingstone, Stanley, Thomson, Cameron, Lugard, and others showed that there were vast districts where wealth awaited the merchant-adventurer, where the surplus population of the crowded homelands might live in decent comfort and with plenty of elbow-room, and where the land-hunger of even the most voracious of the colonizing nations might be appeased. The merchant-adventurers, whether private individuals or public companies, and the would-be settlers were not 180 THE PARTITION OF AFRICA backward in taking up the suggested enterprise ; and so eventually there came about a mighty extension of the white man's empire. But suppose two separate Powers, each desirous of protecting its own subjects on the spot, should propose to annex one and the same district. What would be likely to happen then ? In that case complications would arise ; they have arisen many, many times ; and the conflicting claims have been settled, in a more or less friendly manner, and in a more or less permanent and satisfactory fashion, between the governments con- cerned. Indeed, these complications have been so numerous, and the questions at issue have been proved so involved, that anything like an adequate treatment of them would run not merely to a few pages, but to many volumes. Here, therefore, we must be content with a brief summary of results. In the south Britain possesses — though this, except in matters concerning Imperial affairs, is practically a self-governing State — the Dominion of South Africa, formed in 1910 by the union of Cape Colony, Natal, the Transvaal, and the Orange River Colony. The white population consists chiefly of British and Boers, but these are far outnumbered by the black races. The principal exports are gold, diamonds, wool, wines, and ostrich-feathers — shipped from Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Port Alfred, and East London. Lourenco Marquez, on Delagoa Bay, in Portuguese territory, is of importance as being the nearest seaport to the Transvaal. Close to Johannesburg, on a ridge of hills called Witwatersrand, is situated the richest goldfield in the world ; it is said to have an annual output worth about one third of that of the total gold-production from all available sources. The dis- trict round Kimberley, in Griqualand West, possesses wonderfully productive diamond mines. Within the boundaries of the Dominion, but not forming part of it, 181 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE is the mountainous district of Basutoland, ruled, like the vast stretch of country farther north, known as the Bechuanaland Protectorate, by semi-independent native chiefs. The late German Southwest Africa is administered by the Government of the Union of South Africa, and is known as the Southwest Africa Pro- tectorate. To the north of the Transvaal and Bechuanaland lies Rhodesia, extending from the Limpopo River to the shore of Lake Tanganyika. As yet the natural wealth of this promising district has scarcely been touched. At present, cattle-raising is the chief industry, but the mines of gold, silver, and coal will some day prove very valuable. The chief towns are Bulawayo and Salisbury, and the nearest southern port is Beira, over the Portuguese border. To the northeast of Rhodesia is the Nyasaland Protectorate. In East-Central Africa, Britain governs British East Africa (now known as the Kenya Colony and Protec- torate), the Uganda Protectorate, and British Somali- land. The capital is the inland town of Nairobi, and the chief seaports are Mombasa and Zanzibar. The latter, a town situated on an island of the same name, thirty miles from the African coast, was formerly ruled by a Sultan, who also governed large tracts of country on the mainland ; like the neighboring island of Pemba, it exports cloves and coconuts. For some time there was considerable friction between Britain and Germany as to which of them should occupy Zanzibar ; and it was as a return for the German acknowledgment of British suzerainty that Britain ceded to Germany the island of Heligoland. After the war of 1914-1918 the administra- tion of a large portion of German East Africa fell to Britain. This territory is now known as ' the Tangan- yika Territory.' On the west, the largest and most important British possession is Nigeria, with exports of palm-oil, rubber, 182 THE PARTITION OF AFRICA kola-nuts, ivory, and tropical woods. Then come the Gold Coast Colony, Sierra Leone, Gambia, the British Sphere of the Cameroons, and the British Sphere of Togoland. French Africa comprises, in the north, Algiers and Tunis. The chief towns are Algiers, Tunis, and Oran. These are linked up by railway, and trade in cork, wine, olives, and esparto-grass. Tunis is situated near the site of ancient Carthage ; and a few miles distant is the strong naval fortress of Bizerta. Farther south, France occupies nearly the whole of the barren and inhospitable Sahara, the basins of the Senegal and the Upper Niger, the Ivory Coast, Dahomey, the greater part of the Cameroons and Togoland, and French Congo. Germany, who took up the work of colonization much later than her great rivals, had to be content — though far from being satisfied — with Togoland, Cameroons, German East Africa, and Southwest Africa. These possessions she was forced to surrender as a result of the war of 1914-1918, and Great Britain was enabled to realize the dream of her ardent son Cecil Rhodes of an ' all-red ' route through Africa from the Cape to Cairo. Portugal possesses a part of the Guinea Coast south of the Gambia, as well as two large tracts below the equator, viz., Angola and Portuguese East Africa. Angola, through its ports of Loanda and Benguela, exports palm-oil, rubber, and coffee. Italy controls a portion of Somaliland and the coast- strip of Eritrea on the Red Sea. In 1911, however, she annexed Tripoli, thus cutting it off from the Turkish Empire. Perhaps the most important district of Central Africa, that is, from a commercial point of view, is the Belgian Congo ; for it has an export of rubber second only to that of Brazil. The chief towns are Boma, the capital, and Matadi. A railway joins the latter to Leopolds- ville, the chief river-port and trading station. 188 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE The history, too, of the Belgian Congo presents features of special interest. The district was first thoroughly explored by H. M. Stanley in the years 1874 to 1877. Failing, however, to convince his own countrymen of its great commercial value, Stanley pro- ceeded in 1878 to Brussels, and there put his knowledge at the disposal of Leopold II, King of the Belgians. But, previous to this, Leopold had fixed his eye upon Africa as a fitting field for enterprise ; and in 1876 he had called together a Geographical Congress at Brussels, where he made a speech in which the following passage occurred : " The object which unites us here to-day is one of those which deserve in the highest degree to occupy the friends of humanity. To open to civiliza- tion the only part of the globe where it has not yet penetrated, to pierce the darkness which envelops entire populations, is, I venture to say, a crusade worthy of this century of progress." Alas that such high-sounding words should have been followed by deeds so mean and sordid ! For the International Association of the Congo, formed for the purpose of founding a real, genuine Congo Free State, with a freedom guaranteed by the Powers, eventually degenerated into the despotic personal rule of one man, viz., Leopold himself; and the project for bringing the blessings of civilization to a benighted land became, primarily, an ugly scheme of money-making, where pecuniary profit came first and the well-being of the natives a very bad second indeed. Some good was undoubtedly done, but it was overshadowed by great black clouds of cruelty and wrong. In this respect, however, it is only fair to say that the Belgian Congo stands by no means alone in the history of Africa. In fact, regarding the Dark Continent as a whole — but making a few honorable exceptions — and taking Christianity as a type of what is good and alcohol as a type of what is evil, one might with truth say that 184 185 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE the gifts of Europe to Africa have been missionaries and gin — far too little missionary, and far too much gin. Leaving the Belgian Congo, with its deplorable lesson of high ideals followed by lowly achievement, we com- plete the list of territories on the mainland by saying that the only States not under European control are Abyssinia, the negro republic of Liberia, and Morocco — though the last-named certainly comes within the sphere of French influence. Of the African islands, the Madeiras and Cape Verde belong to Portugal, St Vincent, a town on the latter, being an important coaling-station. The Canaries, a well-known health-resort, are owned by Spain. In the Bight of Biafra is the Spanish island of Fernando Po ; and the British outposts of St Helena and Ascension lie far out in the South Atlantic. Madagascar flies the flag of France ; while, a little farther to the east, the Union Jack floats over Mauritius. QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. Name one customary process by which uncivilized lands have been gradually annexed by European nations. 2. State what you know about the history of the Congo. 3. Name the principal African possessions of Britain, France, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, and Germany, imme- diately before the war of 1914-1918. 4. What African States were then independent? 186 CHAPTER XXVIII THE GREAT WAR OF 1914-1918 : WHAT LED TO IT ON the 28th of June, 1914, the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, nephew of the aged Emperor of Austria, and heir to the throne, while passing, accompanied by his wife, through the streets of Sarajevo, the capital of the Austrian province of Bosnia, was fired on by an assassin. The ill-fated couple were killed. The perpetrator of such a dastardly crime, along with any accomplices he might have had, deserved signal punishment; on that point there can and could be no manner of doubt ; and, had the friends of the Archduke been content to bring the murderer, and those who had helped him, to judgment, no more need have been said on the matter ; it would have been a simple case of a court of justice and the common hangman. But it soon became clear that Austria-Hungary placed much of the responsibility for what had occurred upon the Serbian Government, which was said to have encouraged a revolutionary movement amongst the Serb inhabitants of Bosnia and Herzegovina ; a movement, moreover, of which these murders were the logical outcome. Now on this question much may be said on both sides; for there had long been ill-will between the two nations concerned, and — to alter a common proverb — when ill-will comes in at the door, gentleness and justice fly out of the window. 187 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE Take first the case of Serbia. She bore Austria a grudge because the latter, following the bad old rule of " might is right," had in 1908 snatched for herself the two Slav provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to which Serbia, as a Slav nation, thought she had a better right. So Serbia had undoubtedly worked, not only to obtain access to the sea and to free herself from economic dependence on Austria, but also with the aim of eventually incorporating Bosnia and Herzegovina in a Greater Serbia ; and, in thus working, her people and her press had often used violent language, while some of the agitators had very likely done violent deeds too. It is quite probable that many of the Serbians con- sidered this violence justified by the fact that they believed it to be directed against what they termed a robber state. On the other hand, Austria claimed that " possession is nine points of the law," that she had already greatly improved the condition of the two provinces in ques- tion, and that the inhabitants were more happy and comfortable than ever they had been before. More- over, the Austrians strongly objected to their empire being continually threatened by the intrigues of an unfriendly neighboring State. Under circumstances such as these, it can be no matter of surprise that an Austrian was a very unwel- come sight in Serbia, and that there were anti-Serbian demonstrations in Austria. The plain truth is that there were faults on both sides. Indeed, the two nations might well be compared to dogs snarling over a bone ; the big mastiff had the toothsome morsel as it were under his paws, and the little terrier was trying to get it away. Altogether this seems to be a fair and reasonable view of the whole situation. The Austrian Ultimatum to Serbia. — Judging that the murder of the Archduke afforded a suitable opportunity for putting an end, once for all, to Serbian schemes 188 WHAT LED TO THE WAR of national expansion, Austria, on July 23, 1914, sent an ultimatum to Belgrade. This contained ten demands, and Austria insisted upon their being accepted within forty-eight hours. In reply, Serbia agreed to everything, with the exception of one or two articles which would have practically abolished her independence as a kingdom, and brought her more or less under the overlordship of Austria. Even the obnoxious articles, however, she did not absolutely reject ; but, as a way out of the difficulty, she offered to submit the matter to the decision of " the International Tribunal of the Hague, or to the Great Powers which took part in the drawing up of the declaration made by the Serbian Government on March 31, 1909." * Thus, in effect, Serbia said : " We will do everything that Austria wishes, except forfeit our independence ; and even that question — our very existence as a nation — we are willing that an independent board of arbi- trators should decide." But Serbia did not stand alone. Russia, too, is a Slav nation ; and it was well known throughout Europe that if the Czar stood aside, and allowed, as it were, the little brother to be crushed, the indignant protest of his people would probably find expression in a revolu- tion. Furthermore, Russia, and Austria had long been rivals in the Balkans, where each was wishful to extend her power and influence ; and Russia believed that if she now refused to protect a threatened Balkan State, her prestige in that quarter would be discredited, and the whole group of States would be likely to conclude that her friendship was scarce worth cultivating. " A friend in need is a friend indeed " ; but if the friend is too weak or too timid to help where help is sorely needed, what, in the name of common sense, is the good of him ? Foreseeing international complications, and fearing that the blaze would spread if once the flame of war 1 White Paper, No. 39. 189 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE were lit, the British Foreign Minister, Sir Edward Grey, proposed that Britain, Germany, Italy, and France should intervene in order to find a method of satisfying Austria without destroying Serbian independence. Russia consented to the proposal, and France and Italy agreed to join the Conference. Germany refused; though she must have known that if Austria persisted in her high-handed action a great international war would be likely to result. The proposal of Sir Edward Grey, and the manner in which it was received, afford a fair indication of the attitude of at least four of the Great Powers. Had the Conference taken place, neither Russia nor Austria would have dared to override its rulings. German Militarism. — It is difficult to believe that Austria would have persisted in her exorbitant demands — thus venturing upon a certain war with Russia and Serbia combined — had she not been sure of German support. Indeed, the truth is that Austria was merely the catspaw of Germany, and during the crisis acted by inspiration from the Kaiser's government, which had decided upon war. Since 1870 the German spirit had steadily grown more militant, until the nation had come to believe that it had a mission to impose its Kultur upon the whole world. During the tense days which preceded the outbreak the mobilization of the German army was in full swing. For a long time previously preparations had been pro- ceeding quietly, and the army chiefs had now only to perfect their plans. Faced with the menace of German and Austrian mobilization, what could Russia do but take a similar course ? The German Government seized upon this as a pretext for the war they wanted. Ignoring their own activity, they demanded that Russian mobilization should cease. At that moment Austria was exhibiting 190 WHAT LED TO THE WAR signs that she might be induced to reconsider her demands upon Serbia, and the German ultimatum to Russia undoubtedly was intended to precipitate the conflict. On July 31 Germany declared war on Russia and her ally, France. On the succeeding day the Czar telegraphed to King George V as follows : " In this solemn hour I wish to assure you once more that I have done all in my power to avert war." Comment- ing upon this, the British Grey Book says : " It is right to say that His Majesty's Government believe this to be a true statement of the attitude both of Russia and France throughout this crisis. On the other hand, with every wish to be fair and just, it will be admitted that the response of Germany and Austria gave no evidence of a sincere desire to save the peace of Europe." So far, then, two members of the Alliance, viz., Germany and Austria, were ranged against two mem- bers of the Entente, Russia and France. As yet Italy remained neutral ; for, though bound by her treaties with Germany and Austria to come to their aid if they were attacked by France or Russia, she now held that Germany and Austria were the real aggressors, not Russia and France. The Neutrality of Belgium. — As yet, too, Britain also remained neutral ; and, to keep her so, Germany declared that if British neutrality were preserved she, Germany, would promise not to take French territory in Europe, and that the ' integrity ' of Belgium would be restored after the war if Belgium did not resist the passage of German troops through her territory to Paris. No guarantee, however, was given as to (1) the ' integrity ' of Belgium if she did resist, (2) the taking of French colonies, and the setting up of German naval bases all over the world, and (3) the crushing of France under the iron heel of Germany, and the extortion of a huge war indemnity. 191 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE Britain refused what Mr Asquith, the Prime Minister, characterized as "an infamous proposal," for by the Treaty of 1839, to which Germany and France were also parties, Britain was in honor bound to uphold the neutrality of Belgium. Accordingly, when Germany, in defiance of her treaty obligations, invaded Belgium, a British ultimatum went to Berlin on August 4; and at 11 p.m. on that day Britain and Germany were at war. This chapter may fittingly conclude by extracts taken from two speeches, one delivered on August 4, 1914, by the German Chancellor in the Reichstag, the other by the British Prime Minister in the House of Commons two days later. The former runs thus : " We are now in a state of necessity, and necessity knows no law. . . . We were compelled to override the just protest of the Luxem- burg and Belgian Governments. The wrong, I speak openly, we are committing we will endeavor to make good as soon as our military goal has been reached." In the latter, Mr Asquith says : " What would have been the position of Great Britain to-day ... if we had assented to this infamous proposal ? Yes, and what are we to get in return for the betrayal of our friends and the dishonor of our obligations ? What are we to get in return ? A promise, nothing more ; a promise as to what Germany would do in certain eventualities ; a promise, be it observed — I am sorry to have to say it, but it must be put on record — given by a Power which was at that very moment announcing its intention to violate its own treaty and inviting us to do the same. I can only say, if we had dallied or tem- porized, we, as a Government, should have covered ourselves with dishonor, and we should have betrayed the interests of our country, of which we are trustees." 192 WHAT LED TO THE WAR QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. Previous to 1914 a state of ill-will existed between Austria and Serbia. Give the causes of this. 2. What led to the ultimatum sent to Serbia by Austria on July 23, 1914? Give the Serbian reply. 3. What was Sir Edward Grey's proposition regarding the points at issue, and how was it received ? 4. Give the successive steps by which Russia, Germany, France, and Britain became involved in the war. Why did Italy for the time remain neutral ? 193 CHAPTER XXIX THE GREAT WAR OF 1914-1918: ITS COURSE— I ON August 1, 1914, German troops invaded the Duchy of Luxemburg, which, however, after protesting against this breach of neutrality, decided to make no armed resistance. On the following day Germany sent an ultimatum to Belgium, demanding a free and unimpeded passage through her territories. This Belgium refused ; she would fight rather than submit to such an illegal claim. Ignoring Belgium's attitude, German forces now poured across the frontier, and were opposed by Belgian troops. The Austro-German plan of campaign appears to have been : (1) to post on the east armies strong enough to hold the Russians, for the time being, in check ; (2) to sweep, in the meanwhile, rapidly through Belgium, and overwhelm the French before their military prepara- tions had been completed ; the route through Belgium was chosen because it was considered that this afforded the easiest and surest way of access to France ; (3) leaving a guard large enough to overawe the defeated French — say 500,000 men — to concentrate upon and overthrow Russia. But to make this plan thoroughly successful two things were necessary, viz., (1) Belgian resistance must be of so slight a character as to delay the German progress scarcely at all ; for here time was of prime importance, as it was essential that the German attack should be pressed home, in accordance with their war- 194 ■> 4 c ^ > & al < j z# o cm CO- 2 c (d c c r in c c CM ni r c ex w 195 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE maxim " Hit first, hit hard, and hit often," before the French military preparations were completed ; (2) the Austro-Germans on the east must be strong enough to hold Russia in check. On both points, as we shall see in the course of our story, the Austro-Germans had made serious miscalculations ; they were wrong in the facts on which they based their judgments, and they were wrong in their deductions. On August 6 the Germans attacked the fortified Belgian town of Liege, which, however, did not prove the easy prey that had been anticipated ; it held out bravely for nine days, and so gave the French what they sorely needed — time for hurrying on their prepara- tions. On August 15 Japan, who was bound by treaty obligations to Britain, and who resented Germany's attitude toward her in the Far East, sent an ultimatum to Berlin demanding the withdrawal of German ships of war from the Pacific station, and also the evacuation of Kiao-chow. As Germany refused these demands, Japan declared war, and, in conjunction with British forces, bombarded and blockaded the German fortified naval base of Tsingtau. With the fall of Tsingtau on November 7, Germany lost a cherished possession upon which large sums of money and much engineering skill had been lavished. On August 16 the landing of the British Expedi- tionary Force in Northern France was safely completed ; and, on the same date, the Russians announced that, so for from being held in check in their own country, they had invaded East Prussia, where they had taken two towns. Having captured Liege, the Germans were free to continue their onward course. A portion of the army turned toward Brussels, which was entered on August 20. Then, rapidly extending the area of their opera- tions, the Germans overran a great part of Belgium. 196 THE COURSE OF THE WAR— I Soon they appeared before Antwerp, and found it defended by the Belgian army assisted by a British naval brigade. On October 9 they broke through the cordon of forts, and occupied the city itself. Most of the garrison, however, succeeded in making its escape. Meanwhile, the main body of the Germans marched off to the south — their heavy guns shattering the forts that would have delayed their progress— until they came in touch with the Entente Allies. But these proved quite unable to check the career of the invading hosts, who pressed on vigorously, driving the Allies before them. The British retreat from Mons will long be remembered as one of the most trying ordeals to which an army has ever been subjected ; but, though assailed by overwhelming numbers and a great superiority of guns and ammunition ; and though suffer- ing severely from fatigue, privations, and lack of neces- sary rest and sleep, the Allies gave ground, day after day, and night after night, in good order. The retreat never became a rout, and the gallant troops, like a steel spring that is bent but not broken, waited for the moment of recoil. That moment soon came ; for it was not destined that the Germans should repeat their easy triumph of 1870. True, Paris was so seriously threatened that, on September 3, the French Government left for Bordeaux, but as events turned out they might safely have stayed where they were. The First Battle of the Marne.— On September 7 the retreat came to an end, and the bent steel straightened itself. Making a determined stand on the river Marne, and with the aid of a French army which had meantime been gathering in the neighborhood of Paris, and which was rushed into action in taxicabs from the metropolis, Joffre turned the tables upon the enemy and broke through their line. It was one of the decisive battles 197 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE of the war, and the Germans were hurled back to the line of the Aisne with heavy losses in prisoners and guns. The first phase of the war thus ended with a serious check to the German plans, and Paris was saved. Here I will ask you to note that, so far, we have con- fined our attention to the attack by way of Belgium. We have done this because the Belgian campaign was the most important of all the German operations, the hinge, as it were, upon which everything turned, the one vital movement. At the same time, however, we must remember that other German armies were advancing farther to the east, and that these were at all points faced by the French. Up to the end of the German retreat from the Marne, fighting had everywhere been largely in the open field, but now it developed into a system of trench-warfare ; so that from Switzerland right across to the shores of the North Sea the belligerents opposed each other in two long and irregular lines. Such excellent cover did the trenches afford, and so ingenious and effective were the devices for defending them, that one thing soon became abundantly clear : the side that would attempt to break through must be prepared for very heavy losses. Attempts were made — notably by the Germans to reach Calais — but, at the close of the year 1915, no very substantial territorial gains had been made either by German or Entente forces. The Russian Diversion. — Meanwhile, on the eastern front affairs took more than one dramatic turn. For some time the Russians, who had mobilized much more quickly than the Germans anticipated, were able to carry all before them on their right wing, and their advance into East Prussia caused great consternation throughout Germany. Presently, however, reinforce- ments from the west were hurried across country, and the Russians were driven back over their own boundary 198 THE COURSE OF THE WAR— I line. They had succeeded in their grand object, which was to relieve the pressure upon the western front, and their vigorous offensive contributed to foil the German designs upon Paris and the Channel ports. Farther south, they proved to be far more formidable foes, and, after a series of victories over the Austrians, succeeded in penetrating as far as the strong fortress of Przemysl, which they captured on March 22, 1915. Then they attempted to cross the Carpathian Moun- tains, with the aim of making a descent upon the Hungarian Plain. Possibly, too, their presence so near to the Silesian frontier was meant as a prelude to an attack upon Germany in that quarter. Early in April, however, large bodies of German troops were sent to the aid of the Austrians, and Field- Marshal von Hindenburg took command of the com- bined forces. The eastern campaign now proved curiously like that on the west. Under the pressure of numbers, more and larger guns, and an immense superiority in stores of ammunition, the Russians gave way. But so skilfully were they handled by the Grand Duke Nicholas, and so bravely and stubbornly did they fight a succession of rear-guard actions, that both the crushing and the enveloping movements at which Hin- denburg aimed failed, and the Russian army, heavily though it suffered, was not dispersed, was not sur- rounded, but remained an effective fighting force. On August 4 the Austro-Germans captured Warsaw, the capital of Russian Poland, and, pressing onward, took town after town, and fortress after fortress. But they had failed in their main objective : they had not destrpyed the Russian army. Moreover, under circum- stances such as these, and with every mile of progress taking them farther and farther away from their own splendid system of strategic railways, they could not well hope to penetrate far into the mighty interior of the enemy's country. So by and by they came to a 199 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE halt; and, as in the west, so in the east, trench war- fare became the order of the day. The eastern trenches, however, were by no means so complete and elaborate as those on the west ; so that both the Russian and the Austro-German troops were able to make considerable incursions into enemy territory, there was more freedom of movement, and there was more field-fighting. Turkey enters the War. — But the war had not been waged very long before it became evident that the area of operations, large though it now was, would become much larger still. The Kaiser's eyes had been turned eastward, where a vast Asiatic empire seemed to beckon to him. The scheme for a railway from Berlin to Bagdad, financed by Germany, had all but even- tuated, and only a link remained to be added. To safe- guard this Middle-European ' corridor ' the goodwill of Turkey was essential, and consequently every effort had been made to secure this. The Sultan, ever ready to play one Power against another, had turned a willing ear, and one of the consequences of the new friendship was that the Turkish army was now officered by Ger- mans, in whose hands it had again become a respectable military machine. Presently the actions of Turkey grew so suspicious, not to say unfriendly, that on November 5, 1914, Britain declared war upon her. Early in the February of 1915 the Turks made a raid on the Suez Canal, but were easily beaten off. On February 25 the combined French and English Mediterranean fleets attacked the forts lining the Dar- danelles, with the object of forcing a passage to Con- stantinople. As they could not, however, manage to break a way through, Allied troops were dispatched, on April 25, to the Gallipoli Peninsula, in the hope that, where the navy alone had failed, army and navy together might succeed. Great expectations were formed of the Gallipoli adventure, but they were 200 AEGEAN The Gallipoli Peninsula 201 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE doomed to disappointment. To an invading force the configuration of the country offered great obstacles; while the Turks, under German tutelage, had strongly fortified their defensive positions ; moreover, all the supplies had to come by sea, there was great scarcity of water, and the sanitary conditions proved most un- healthy. Consequently, in spite of the most heroic endeavors — in which the contingents from Australia and New Zealand conducted themselves with con- spicuous intrepidity and dash — the Allies concluded that the expedition did not make headway sufficient to justify the great expenditure of lives which the under- taking had involved and was still involving; in short, it was decided that the game was not worth the candle. On December 19 the troops, guns, and stores were withdrawn without loss from Anzac and Suvla Bay, and the southern end of the peninsula was evacuated shortly afterward. Italy throws in her Lot with the Allies. — On May 23 Italy, too, found herself drawn into the huge war- whirlpool ; for, believing that she could best satisfy her national aspirations by entering into alliance with the Powers of the Entente, she declared war upon Austria, and forthwith invaded territory which she believed to be rightly hers, and which Austria had refused to give up. She fought bravely and well ; but, handicapped by the mountainous nature of the district in which she had to operate, and faced by determined opposition, she was not, up to the close of 1915, able to carry her campaign to a successful issue — though she made con- siderable progress. And now, to change the metaphor of the preceding chapter, let us consider the fate of the spark from which this stupendous war-flame spread ; let us turn to Serbia. Hitherto she had resisted all attempts to subdue her; and not only had she flung back the Austrian armies which had twice crossed her frontier, 202 The Pan-German Plan Showing ' Middle Europe,' and Germany's main route to the East (the Berlin to Bagdad Railway) as it was in January 1918. Bulgaria surrendered to the Allies, September 1918. 203 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE but she had, for some time, been able to maintain a footing on Austrian soil. But now a much more trying experience awaited her; for German troops appeared on the scene and joined those of Austria. The com- bined forces began the third Serbian invasion on October 9, 1915, and, three days later, they reoccupied the capital, Belgrade. Retreating southward, the Serbians prepared to defend themselves among their mountains, fully resolved to dispute every inch of the enemy's way. Possibly — for they are born fighters, and they were now inspired by their recent successes against the Austrians — the Serbians would have been able to hold their own in spite of the German reinforcements, had it not been that Bulgaria chose this moment for joining the ranks of the Central Powers. Thus the sorely harassed defenders had now to fight on two fronts — a northern, where they were opposed by the Austro- Germans, and a southern, where they were attacked by the Bulgarians. Against such desperate odds any- thing like a successful resistance was impossible ; so the Serbians, driven back, and still back, were compelled, all that was left of them, to cross the boundaries of their native land, and take refuge, some in the highlands of Montenegro, some in Albania, and some in Macedonia. With the conquest of Serbia and Montenegro, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, and Turkey were now linked up in one continuous line, so that there was through com- munication from Berlin to Constantinople. But where, in the meantime, were Serbia's allies, the Great Powers of the Entente ? A large Russian force was said to be concentrated on the Rumanian border, with the aim of attacking Bulgaria ; but between this force and its objective there interposed the territory of a neutral State, so, for the present, the way of the Russians was barred. In the South, on October 5, a contingent of French 204 THE COURSE OF THE WAR -I and British troops, at the invitation of M. Venizelos, the Greek Premier, landed at Saloniki. The Premier's idea undoubtedly was that Greece, which was under treaty obligations to Serbia, should join the latter in fighting what was, on the enemy's part, an unmistak- able war of aggression, and that the French and British should assist. King Constantine, however, was strongly under German influence, and he refused to sanction this policy. M. Venizelos resigned, and Greece announced that she was determined to maintain an attitude of neutrality. She entered a formal protest against the presence of the Allies on Greek soil, but made no attempt to interfere with their movements. Marching northward, the Allies made a brave attempt to come to Serbia's rescue ; but, as the Greeks had refused to join them, their numbers proved far too small for such a serious undertaking. Eventually they withdrew into Greece, where they fortified themselves in the neighborhood of Saloniki. Such is a brief summary of the military events up to the close of the year 1915. Fighting, however, occurred also in Egypt — which, on December 17, 1914, was com- pletely detached from the Ottoman Empire, and taken over as a British Protectorate, with Prince Hussein Kamel Pasha as Sultan — in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia, Persia, the Colonies, and elsewhere. But these, after all, may be regarded as only minor operations. QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. What was the Austro-German plan of campaign, and what two conditions were necessary to its success ? 2. Trace the course of the German invasion up to the first battle of the Marne. 3. Give an account of the Russian advance and subse- quent retreat. 205 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE 4. For what main reason had the Kaiser cultivated the friendship of Turkey ? 5. Describe the Gallipoli adventure. 6. Follow the course of Serbian affairs up to the end of 1915. 7. What was at that time the situation of Greece? 20ft CHAPTER XXX THE GREAT WAR OF 1914-1918 : ITS COURSE— II jk T the end of the preceding chapter we left /% the war situation somewhat as follows. In / % the middle of Europe stood the solid block of ■*- -^* the Central Powers, viz., Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, and Turkey ; and Serbia having been overrun, there was through communication from Berlin to Con- stantinople. Blockading the Central Powers, though not completely encircling them, were France, Britain, and the remnants of the Belgian army on the west ; Russia on the east; on the south the Italians and an Entente expeditionary force stationed in and around Saloniki. While last, but not least, the Entente fleets, of which the British navy formed the backbone, had closed the gates of the sea. We will take these respec- tive frontiers one by one. Of the two forces blockading the south, that which was stationed in and about Saloniki remained for a long time comparatively inactive; for the Bulgars, with a considerable stiffening of German troops, occupied on the heights a commanding position from which it did not appear that they could be completely dislodged except at a greater cost of lives than the Entente were willing to pay. But the directors of Entente strategy claimed that, though the Saloniki expeditionary force had, in a mili- tary sense, disappointed the expectations of its advo- cates, it had, in a political respect, done good service. 207 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE King Constantine of Greece had from the very first shown strong German leanings, and had it not been for the near presence of the Saloniki army he would probably either have joined Germany outright, or winked at the formation of German submarine bases among the islands of the Greek archipelago — a circum- stance which might well have meant disaster to the Entente's predominance in the Mediterranean. Con- stantine remained neutral, it is true, but the good faith of his neutrality was so profoundly distrusted by the Allies that in order to protect themselves against possible treachery they demanded from the Greeks substantial guarantees. These, under pressure, were grudgingly granted. Between growing pressure from outside and the militant opinions favorable to the Allies from within the nation, the position of Con- stantine became impossible, and on June 12, 1917, he abdicated. This proceeding was followed by the elimination of much pro-German influence from the Government and Court, and Greek troops were soon found fighting side by side with the Saloniki force. More than a year passed, however, before the situation underwent any substantial change ; then, in September 1918, there began a new Macedonian offensive, and it was found that conditions had greatly changed. The morale of the Bulgars had suffered during their long defensive operations ; their supplies of food, clothing, and ammunition were scanty ; they could now rely no longer on a strong backing from Germany — who required all her fighting forces on the western front. The new offensive met with dramatic success; the Bulgars were heavily defeated and retreated in great disorder. On September 29 their army and their Government unconditionally surrendered. It was a fatal blow to Germany, and from that moment her leaders abandoned hope. The second force blockading the southern frontier of 208 THE COURSE OF THE WAR— II the Central Powers was the army of Italy. At inter- vals the Italians launched three big offensives ; one on August 6, 1916 ; a second on November 1 of the same year; and a third on May 14, 1917. But, although considerable progress was made, the results proved to be of no decisive character, and the Austrian front remained unbroken. In the October of 1917, however, there came a sudden turn in fortune's wheel. Concentrating a great mass of artillery and large bodies of troops, the Austrians, stiffened by several German divisions, made a heavy attack at Caporetto, broke clean through the Italian defence, took immense numbers of prisoners and guns, and finally came down into the Venetian plain. Re- tiring in confusion, the Italians rapidly gave ground ; and it seemed as though the peninsula lay at the mercy of the invaders. But all was not yet lost. All is never lost unless the spirit be broken; and, though crushed and disorganized, the Italians did not give up hope. Bravely they turned at bay on the line of the Piave, where they prepared to make a firm stand. Meanwhile, the western command had observed with alarm the rapid Austrian advance. Large bodies of French and British troops were rushed to the Piave, and soon stood shoulder to shoulder with the Italians. Between them the Allies now fought the enemy to a standstill ; the formidable Austrian offensive lost its momentum ; and again the opposing forces faced each other on a front that, though it swayed here and there, in the main stood stable and unyielding. Austria Finally Defeated. — Thus matters continued until, in the October of 1918, the Italians launched their great counter-offensive, and the conditions proved curiously similar to those of the final attack made by the Saloniki contingent on the Bulgars. Loss of morale, deficiency in stores, lack of German support, all contri- o 209 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE buted largely to the signal success of the Italians. The Austrians were flung back, leaving behind them prisoners whose numbers ran into six figures. As a fighting force, the vast Austrian army had ceased to exist, and on November 3 they signed an armistice, the conditions of which amounted to a virtual surrender. The armistice was followed by the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire into a number of indepen- dent States. The Collapse of Russia. — On the eastern frontier, at the close of 1915, the Austro-Germans had succeeded in penetrating deep into Russian territory. By and by, however, the Russian army found itself able to make a stand. Trench warfare ensued for some months, until, on June 4, 1916, the Russians once more attacked under General Brusiloff. This was Russia's last attempt at serious offensive operations, and, after obtaining initial success, it collapsed. The war-spirit, both in the Russian army and among the Russian people, was rapidly breaking down. Great dissatisfaction was felt throughout the country, not only as to the manner in which military operations had been conducted, but also as to the methods by which civil and political affairs were administered. Russia was drifting fast toward a state of revolution, and in March 1917 there was a vast upheaval. The Czar abdicated, and a revolutionary government was set up which for some time longer endeavored, though without much success, to carry on the war. In September a republic was proclaimed; this, after considerable disturbances throughout the length and breadth of the land, fell into the hands of the extreme party. In December the army and the general staff surrendered to the Bolshevists, as the extremists are called. No sooner had the army capitulated than the Bol- shevists signed an armistice with the Austro-Germans, and in February 1918 they announced that Russia was 210 THE COURSE OF THE WAR— II no longer in a state of war. With an army rendered powerless by a complete collapse of discipline, Russia was now no longer in a condition to offer resistance, and, taking advantage of the powerlessness of that unhappy country, the Germans began to penetrate more deeply into the interior. In March 1918 so strong was their position that they were able to dictate to Russia the severe, grasping, and humiliating Peace of Brest- Litovsk. As happened in the case of Austria-Hungary, the huge Russian Empire now split up into a number of independent States. In July 1918 the unfortunate ex-Czar and his family were brutally murdered. Rumania and Turkey. — Now though the contest between Russia and the Austro-Germans may be regarded as the chief factor in the results on the eastern frontier, four others remain to be men- tioned briefly. 1. On August 27, 1916, Rumania, who wished to extend her boundaries so as to include the Rumanian districts at that time under Hungarian rule, and who believed that now was the time to satisfy her national aspirations, decided to join the Powers of the Entente ; and accordingly on that date she entered the war. Pursuing a policy of rash enterprise, she invaded Hun- gary, and at first all went well with her. But the enemy, bringing up strong reinforcements, quickly drove her back, and then pressed forward into the Rumanian plain. Help from Russia — on which the Rumanians had based their hopes of a triumphant issue — proved quite inadequate ; and in December the Austro-Germans captured Bucarest. The war, how- ever, still lingered on ; but eventually Rumania was compelled to sign peace by the Treaty of Bucarest, the terms of which meant rich spoils to the victors and poverty and despair to the vanquished. 2. As the outlying portions of the Asiatic territory 211 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE of Turkey were peculiarly open to attack from the north, the Russians, in April 1917, crossed the Black Sea and occupied the port of Trebizond. Then, striking southward, they succeeded in capturing the inland fortress of Erzinjan ; and, extending their opera- tions still farther to the south, they won a series of victories over the Turks. With the outbreak, however, of the Russian revolution, the Armenian enterprise languished ; Russian troops were withdrawn ; and by the end of April 1918 the Turks once more found themselves in possession of their seaboard towns. 3. A second vulnerable spot in Turkey's Asiatic Empire lay at the head of the Persian Gulf; and accordingly, at the end of 1914. forces of British and Indian troops occupied Basra. These forces, following the Tigris valley, advanced into Mesopotamia — where they met with varying fortunes. By the end of Sep- tember 1915 they had reached and taken Kut-el-Amara ; but in April 1916 they lost it again — when the whole garrison was forced by starvation to capitulate. In February 1917 Kut-el-Amara was recaptured ; and in March Bagdad, one of the wonder-cities of the East, fell into British hands. Such were the outstanding features of the Mesopotamian campaign — which even- tually succeeded in shattering Turkish predominance in the Euphrates and Tigris valleys. 4. After their ambitious attempt, at the beginning of 1915, to capture the Suez Canal, and thus sever com- munications between Britain and India, the Turks were able to act only on the defensive ; and they were driven northward through Palestine, closely followed by British and Colonial troops assisted by a contingent from India. It was not, however, until the December of 1917 that Jerusalem fell — to be followed three months later by the capture of Jericho. For some time after this no very striking event occurred in the Palestine campaign. But in September 1918 a fresh British 212 THE COURSE OF THE WAR— II advance took place, Damascus and Aleppo were taken, and the main body of the Turkish army was finally cut off and compelled to lay down its arms. It was probably this disaster that broke the back of Turkey's fast waning resistance. Recognizing her hopeless position, in October she asked for and obtained an armistice. We now come to the western frontier, which proved to be the decisive field of operations, the theatre of war where the fight was fought to a finish. Before the brilliance of this stupendous struggle, all others that were then taking place pale like the moon at sunrise. Some of the minor enterprises, indeed, have been spoken of as ' mere side-shows.' But their success contributed to that of the main enterprise ; while, on the other hand, undoubtedly the main operations made success in the ' side-shows ' possible. The Attempt on Verdun.— In Chapter XXIX we left the Entente facing the Central Powers in a trench war stretching from Switzerland to the North Sea. In the April of 1916, however, the Germans made a deter- mined attempt to break through, selecting as their point of attack the strong fortress of Verdun. If they suc- ceeded, not only would the loss of Verdun be a great blow to French prestige, but the rupture of the line at that spot would open up the road to Paris. They did not succeed. The chronicle of the Verdun enterprise abounds in terrible stories of assault and counter- assault in which the losses on each side were extremely heavy ; but the Germans, refusing to acknowledge their plan as impossible of execution, persevered day after day and month after month right up to the close of December — at the end of which period they found them- selves no nearer attaining their objective than on the day when they initiated it. Battered almost out of recognition, Verdun stood firm. Perhaps one reason why the Germans were so reluc- 213 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE tant to abandon what has been termed ' the Verdun gamble ' was that they believed their chances of gaining a final victory in the war to be growing less from day to day ; and, unless they could strike a decisive blow soon, they might never have the opportunity of striking it at all. For, on May 24, 1916, the British Parliament, abandoning for the time past usages and traditions, passed a Conscription Bill — which meant that the British army, from being a force of, at most, a few hundred thousands, would, if the war continued, even- tually expand into millions of effectives. Moreover, the expansion in the output of guns and ammunition kept pace with that of the army which was to use them ; and all the great industrial resources of Britain were enlisted in the service of the Ministry of Munitions. Now while the Germans were attempting to break through the French lines at Verdun, the Entente were also busy in attempting to break through the German lines between Verdun and the North Sea ; and these attempts, too, proved both costly and indecisive. It seemed, therefore, that the formidable fortifications behind which each side had sheltered itself would turn out to be impregnable, and that the struggle would develop into a war of attrition. The War Underseas. — But this Germany did not want; and, thinking by this means completely to isolate the Island Kingdom from all communication with the outside world, she announced, on January 31, 1917, that she intended to enter upon an unrestricted submarine warfare. This intention she duly carried into execution, and thus, besides a vast number of ships of the Allies, including hospital ships, she sent many merchant vessels belonging to neutral States — together with crews and passengers — to the bottom of the sea. In all, some 15,000 British seamen lost their lives during the course of the war underseas. German 214 THE COURSE OF THE WAR— II ' frightfulness ' did not avail to keep a single British vessel off the high seas while it had the power to ride the wave. Germany's campaign underseas was a boomerang which eventually recoiled with decisive effect. The naval blockade of Germany by the British had several times threatened to involve the latter in disputes with the United States, for America has always been jealous of interference with her commerce on the high seas, and the blockade necessitated the overhauling of ships bound for adjacent neutral ports, since American cotton and other goods were leaking into Germany, through Holland in particular. The friction between the two great Anglo-Saxon nations might have developed but for the greater outrage to international law involved in the indiscriminate sinking of neutral vessels by the Germans. America protested in vain, and the situation at length was so intolerable that on April 6, 1917, she declared war on Germany. Here it may be pointed out that the Germans had perpetrated three grave errors of judgment. (1) They had counted upon America refusing to fight ; (2) they had counted upon their sub- marines preventing the landing of American troops on European soil if America decided to fight ; and (3) they had counted upon these troops, even if they did land, arriving both too late and in small numbers. All these expectations were disappointed ; for (1) the Americans entered with spirit into the war ; (2) their troops crossed the Atlantic with very little interference from the Ger- man submarines ; and (3) they arrived in time to be effective in the latter phases of the war, and in numbers sufficient to tip the balance of strength most effectually in favor of the Entente. In less than eighteen months they held forty miles of the western front, and at the end of July 1918 they took an important part in the second battle of the Marne. Eventually America suc- ceeded in concentrating more than two million men in 215 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE France and Flanders — with a quarter of a million more arriving every month. The Closing Scenes. — We now come to the closing scenes of the great war-drama. On March 21, 1918, the Germans, massing together every available resource of men and guns, hurled themselves against the western lines. Three objects they had in view — to drive in, at Amiens, a wedge between the French and the British armies ; to capture the Channel ports ; and to reach Paris. And they nearly succeeded in all three attempts. From March 21 till the middle of July they pressed on and on, inflicting terrible losses on the defenders, and gaining ground at a rate which, at first, must have exceeded even their expectations. In the middle of July, however, General Foch, who had been appointed Generalissimo of the Entente forces, regained the initiative, and began a series of counter-attacks before which the Germans — who had committed the fatal blunder of under-estimating their enemy — were obliged to give way. Blow after blow, at various points in the line, did Foch deliver, until the Germans were compelled to relinquish all, and more than all, of the territorial gains they had made by their March offensive. On July 20 they suffered their second great reverse at the Marne ; during August they were driven from Soissons, Bapaume, St Mihiel, and Noyon ; in September they lost Peronne, and abandoned the famous Hindenburg Line ; and October found the Allies once more in possession of St Quentin, Cambrai, Le Cateau, Laon, Ostend, Lille, and Douai — with the Bel- gian coast quite clear of the enemy. One of the most dramatic of the final strokes of the war was the taking of Sedan by the Americans in November. The Armistice. — Abandoned by all her allies, and her civil population clamoring for peace, Germany, faced with a total military collapse, now proposed a cessation of hostilities. On November 9 German plenipotentiaries 216 THE COURSE OF THE WAR— II arrived at the headquarters of the Allies ; two days later an armistice was signed, and righting ceased at 11 a.m. The terms of the armistice were thirty-five in number, and included the most substantial guarantees that Ger- many should, pending and during a proposed Peace Conference, be put quite out of action as a military power. On November 9 the Kaiser abdicated and fled to Holland, the revolutionary party (' the Reds ') seized the public offices in Berlin, and united Socialists under Chancellor Ebert formed a government. Naval Operations of the War. — And now, finally, what did the Entente navies, of which, as we have already said, the British fleet formed the backbone, do to help in the winning of the war ? 1. They convoyed the first English Expeditionary Force across the Channel, which henceforth was kept an open highway for the following hosts raised by Lord Kitchener and his successors. 2. They enabled the troops of the Dominions, of India, and of the French colonial army to be placed on the western and other fronts. 3. They secured the shores of France against attack, and thus made the whole strength of the French army available for the fighting line. 4. They prevented the German navy from concen- trating for an attack on the Russian sea-bases and Petrograd. 5. They shielded Italy from the irresistible pressure which would otherwise have been put upon her to take her place as a member of the Triple Alliance. 6. They closed to the Germans the whole world out- side Europe, and kept these countries open to the Entente as sources of supply. 7. They made the Atlantic safe for the crossing of the American army, and for its supplies. Although no noteworthy naval action took place 217 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE immediately on the outbreak of the war — the German fleet being penned up in the Bight of Heligoland, and, for the most part, refusing to come out — the Entente suffered at first from the depredations of German cruisers still remaining at large. A squadron of these inflicted a defeat on the British off Coronel on Novem- ber 1, 1914; but the same squadron, on December 8 of the same year, was annihilated near the Falkland Isles. Single raiders ultimately shared the same fate ; one by one they were hunted down and sunk, until all had been swept from the seas. The British coast, however, suffered not a little from ' tip-and-run ' bombardments, in which fast German vessels, slipping through the blockade, would shell some North Sea port for a few minutes, and then rush back at full speed to their base. But a naval action off the Dogger Bank on January 24, 1915, in which the Bliicher was sunk, and subsequent minor engagements between British patrols and German raiding craft, taught the enemy the requisite lesson ; so that raids diminished, and were eventually well-nigh abandoned. The only great fleet action of the war took place off the coast of Jutland on May 31, 1916. In this the Germans claimed a victory. But it is sufficient to show on which side victory lay if we mark the fact that the Germans quitted the scene of action in disorder, and retired to their ports, to reissue thence only when they came out to surrender at the end of the war. They had gained not one single advantage, and the grip of the Entente fleets on the highway of the sea was made more secure than ever. But of all the tasks with which the Entente navies were entrusted, perhaps the most difficult proved to be that of tackling the U-boats, with their policy of unre- stricted submarine warfare. Unprepared for such a breach of all law, human and divine, the defenders set themselves earnestly and assiduously to the solving of 218 THE COURSE OF THE WAR — II the problems involved. Everything had to be created to deal with the as yet unknown potentialities of under- sea warfare. Rut, by and by, the menace was held. Had this not been the case, it is possible that Germany might have won the war. The losses of the Entente were great ; but processions of food-ships and of trans- ports moved steadily and continuously across the oceans and the seas until the end. The war has often been referred to as the Armageddon of Biblical prophecy, and its magnitude justifies the name. During its course Spain only of all the notable Powers of Europe maintained neutrality, and the small nationalities which were not actually engaged in the vast military operations suffered bitterly. Besides the United States, many of the American republics threw in their lot with what they recognized to be the sacred cause of freedom, and for the first time in the history of mankind the civilized world became one vast factory for the supply of munitions and food for the belligerents. In particular, Great Britain, Germany, and the United States devoted the whole energy of their non-combatant populations to the task ; long before their entry into the war the American people were sustaining the Allies with all their vigor and organizing abilities, and the finances of the latter were preserved from shipwreck by the vast loans raised with enthusiasm in the United States. It has been computed by M. Klotz, French Minister of Finance, that the total cost to the world of the war was not less than two hundred millions of dollars. Another remarkable feature of the war was the inven- tions which added new terror to an ancient scourge. Submarines and aircraft had already become practical, but they were soon developed into weapons of alarming efficiency. German U-boats sank between seven and eight millions of tons of British shipping alone ; the air- raids over London and Paris struck terror into the 219 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE hearts of non-combatants far from the battle fronts, and during the last two years of the war nearly seven thousand German aircraft were destroyed or brought down on the western front. Perhaps the greatest surprise of the war was the British tanks, which affected the morale of the German troops to an extraordinary degree. Other outstanding inventions were depth-charges, which wrought much destruction upon the U-boats, and the wire aprons suspended from stationary balloons, which proved to be among the most effective protections against air- raids. Over seven million Allied and enemy soldiers were killed in battle or died of wounds. It was a grievous sacrifice, but the world " could do no other." On the one hand was the boasted ' will to conquer ' to the end that the world should henceforth be forced to develop in a German mould, and on the other was the resolve to live as free men along the lines of racial charac- teristics proper to every nation. Democracy was never so sorely tested, but she emerged triumphantly in the end. QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES 1. Write a short history of the Saloniki Expeditionary Force. 2. Give the chief events on the Austro-Italian frontier from the close of 1915 to the end of the war. 3. Describe the military collapse of Russia, and state the social and political results that immediately followed. 4. What part did Rumania take in the war? 5. Name the chief events of the Mesopotamian campaign. 6. Trace the progress of the invasion of Palestine by British, Colonial, and Indian troops. 7. Describe the attack by the Germans on Verdun. 220 THE COURSE OF THE WAR— II 8. What brought the United States of America into the war? 9. What three objectives had the Germans in view when they launched their great offensive in March 1918? 10. When did the Entente begin their counter-offensive, and what results did it attain ? 11. What was the part played bv sea-power in the war? 221 CHAPTER XXXI THE PEACE CONFERENCE THE history of Europe during the year 1919 is practically a history of the Peace Conference, which met at Paris early in January, and apparently came to an end — though we can- not say that it had then finished all its tasks — on December 31. The Conference consisted of representatives from the numerous Allied and Associated Powers who had banded themselves together against Germany and her adherents ; and — what was a far-reaching change in the Constitution of the British Empire — delegates from the Dominions and India were allowed to take a prominent part in the proceedings. From time to time the mem- bers of the Conference met in full, or plenary, sessions. But it soon became clear that these plenary sessions were not to be permitted to take original action ; they were to be used merely for the purpose of confirming decisions already arrived at by the representatives of the five Great Powers — the United States of America, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan — who thus assumed chief control of the proceedings. The Council of Ten, however, viz., two representatives from each of the aforesaid Great Powers, did not exist long. At the end of March it was superseded by the Council of Four, but was continued as the Council of Foreign Ministers, to whom from time to time were referred matters of secondary importance. The four — President 222 THE PEACE CONFERENCE Wilson for America, M. Clemenceau for France, Mr Lloyd George for Great Britain, and Signor Orlando for Italy — met daily, and for some months the destinies of the world lay in their hands. The bulk of the detailed work was done by com- mittees. There were committees on the League of Nations and Labor, on Responsibilities, on Inter- national Control of Waterways, on Reparation, on Finance and the Economic Terms, on Belgium, on the frontiers of Poland, Serbia, Rumania, and Czecho- slovakia, and on numerous other matters ; and it was upon reports which they presented to the Supreme Council that the final decisions were made ; though some of the most important matters were kept by the four in their own hands. Such, in broad outline, was the machinery by which the Peace Conference did its work. But progress was neither so rapid nor so smooth as its well-wishers could have desired. Indeed the different national interests were so conflicting that it was found well-nigh impos- sible to reconcile them, and much fierce discussion took place between the rival claimants for consideration. It was not until the end of May that the most vital matter before the Conference, viz., the drafting of the German Peace Treaty, was completed. In a somewhat amended form, this was duly signed by the contracting parties on June 28. It is divided into fifteen Parts, the most interesting of which are the following : Part 1. The formation of a League of Nations to promote international co-operation and to achieve international peace and security. These ends are to be attained : (a) By the acceptance of obligations not to resort to war. (b) By the prescription of open, just, and honor- able relations between nations. 223 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE (c) By the firm establishment of the understandings of international law as the actual rule among Governments ; and (d) By the maintenance of justice and a scrupulous respect for all treaty obligations in the dealings of organized peoples with one another. Part 2. Germany's future boundaries. The chief changes are : (a) The mines of the Saar Valley handed to France as part payment of reparation, and this district put under the administration of a Commission for fifteen years, with a plebiscite at the end. The Commission to be appointed by and responsible to the League of Nations. (b) Northern Schleswig to go to Denmark should a plebiscite so decide. (c) Luxemburg to pass from the German sphere of influence, including the Customs Union. (d) Farther south, the eastern frontier of France to be restored to its full limits as it ran before the war of 1870, thus once more embracing the whole of Lorraine, together with Alsace. (e) Polish territory to take in a broad strip in Eastern Germany, in order to include Polish majorities. (/) The inhabitants of a portion of Silesia to declare by vote whether they will be joined to Ger- many or to Poland. (g) The small southwestern extremity of this area to be renounced by Germany in favor of the Czecho- slovak State. Part 4. Germany to renounce in favour of the prin- cipal Allied and Associated Powers all her overseas possessions. Part 5. In order to render possible the initiation of a 224 THE PEACE CONFERENCE general limitation of the armaments of all nations, Germany to undertake a drastic restriction of her mili- tary, naval, and air establishments. Part 7. William II to be brought to trial, together with persons accused by the Allied and Associated Powers of having committed acts in violation of the laws and customs of war. Part 9. The cost of reparation for the loss and damage suffered by the Allied and Associated Govern- ments and their nationals, as a consequence of the aggression of Germany, to be a first charge upon the assets and revenues of the German Empire and its constituent States. Part 11. The aircraft of the Allied and Associated Powers to have full liberty of passage and landing over and in the territory and territorial waters of Germany, and to enjoy the same privileges as German aircraft, particularly in cases of distress by land or sea. Part 13. " Whereas the League of Nations has for its object the establishment of universal peace, and such a peace can be established only if it is based upon social justice : " And whereas certain conditions of labor exist involving such injustice, hardship, and privation to large numbers of people as to produce unrest so great that the peace and harmony of the world are imperilled : and an improvement of these conditions is urgently required : as, for example, by the regulation of the hours of work, including the establishment of a working day and week, the regulation of the labor supply, the prevention of unemployment, the provision of an adequate living wage, the protection of the worker against sickness, disease, and injury arising out of his p 225 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE employment, the protection of children, young persons, and women, provision for old age and injury, protection of the interests of workers when employed in countries other than their own, recognition of the principle of association, the organization of vocational and tech- nical education, and other matters : " Whereas, also, the failure of any nation to adopt humane conditions of labor is an obstacle in the way of other nations which desire to improve conditions in their own countries : " The high contracting parties, moved by sentiments of justice and humanity, as well as by the desire to secure the permanent peace of the world, agree to the following : " A permanent organization shall be hereby estab- lished for the promotion of the objects set forth above. " The original members of the League of Nations shall be the original members of this organization, and hereafter membership of the League of Nations shall carry with it membership of this organization." Part 14. As a guarantee for the execution of the Treaty by Germany, the German territory situated to the west of the Rhine, together with the bridgeheads, are to be occupied by Allied and Associated troops for a period of fifteen years. But if the conditions of the Treaty are faithfully carried out by Germany, this occupation shall be successively restricted. At the close of its main task, viz., the conclusion of peace with Germany, the Conference turned its atten- tion to other matters that were pressing for settlement. First of these tasks was the Austrian Treaty. The drafting of this was now speedily finished, and the com- pleted document was laid before the Austrian delegates on July 20, 1919. But the Austrian delegates objected strongly to many of its provisions. For, apparently, 226 THE PEACE CONFERENCE these had been drawn up on the assumption that it would be fair to lay before the Austrians terms which were nearly identical with those presented to Germany ; and there had been little consideration of the many and great differences between this new Austrian State — a small and comparatively poor territory, with a popula- tion of only six millions — and the old German Empire, which continued with little diminution of population or material resources. Moreover, the task before the Conference was not merely to make a Treaty of Peace with Austria, but also to arrange for the entire reor- ganization of the dominions of the Habsburgs, the empire of many races. On the territorial side, the Austrians wished to keep their Adriatic seaboard intact, and they demurred at those clauses which assigned Mid- Tyrol to the Italians. In spite, however, of Austrian objections, the Peace Conference made no changes in the proposed territorial rearrangements, though there were considerable alterations in the economic and finan- cial sections. The Austrian Treaty was eventually signed at St Germain on September 4. The attention of the Conference was then turned to the Balkans. This district, with its different religions, its different races, its different national aspirations, and its chaotic mingling of populations, had long been per- haps the chief storm-centre of European politics ; and the attempt to straighten out such a distressing tangle of interests by no means met with universal approba- tion. Originally it had been determined to assign large areas in Thrace to Greece, so that she should have a connected portion of territory cutting off Bulgaria from the JEgean Sea. But, this course proving unacceptable to the United States, at the last moment a compromise was made by which, while Bulgaria was required to surrender the districts in dispute, their final disposal was left for further discussion. The Treaty with Bul- garia was signed at the end of November. 227 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE Now the settlement of the Bulgarian problem was involved with that of Turkey, and the difficulties here were enormous. At the beginning, the complete disso- lution of the Turkish Empire was freely discussed ; and it was suggested that the Sultan should be expelled from Constantinople, that there should be put in his place an international commission reporting to the League of Nations, or that a mandate should be assigned to some Power. But what Power should and would undertake such a task ? There were strong objections to assigning it to any European State, and America was unwilling to take up the burden. Meanwhile, the occupation of Smyrna by the Greeks, and of other districts of Asia Minor by the Italians, had caused grave discontent among the Mohammedan populations ; and the settlement of Syrian affairs became a matter of acute controversy. A representa- tive of the King of Hedjaz came to Paris to press the claim of the Arab nation to the government of all those districts of the former Turkish Empire in which they formed the predominant element in the population. But there were large numbers of Europeans inhabiting the towns on the Syrian coast, and it was doubtful if these would agree to live under the rule of desert Arabs. To find a solution to the Syrian and other problems, it was determined to send out a commission, which should inquire on the spot. But the commission did not start; and, at the close of 1919, Turkish affairs were still, as it were, in the melting-pot. Up to the end of 1919, it had been impossible to make peace with Hungary, and that chiefly because of inter- nal disturbances. When Hungary first declared herself an independent state, a government was formed with Count Karolyi at its head. This, however, came to an end in March, and power was assumed by the Bol- shevists under Bela Kun. But during the month of August Bela Kun made a blunder which proved fatal to 228 THE PEACE CONFERENCE his rule. He attacked the Rumanians, was defeated, and fled the country. Elated by their victory, the Rumanians now imposed upon the Hungarians terms which were quite inconsistent with the terms of the Armistice and the policy of the Conference ; and not until an ultimatum had been sent them from Paris did they agree to moderate their demands. Meanwhile it was of great importance to establish a government in Hungary with which the Allies could arrange a peace ; eventually this difficult task was accomplished. Throughout the Conference, Russian affairs were a source of serious anxiety. There were no Russian representatives at Paris, and it was felt that their absence would prove a great obstacle to the settlement of a peace both universal and permanent. But what representatives should be asked to attend ? Mr Lloyd George proposed that the different parties struggling for power in Russia should agree to a cessation of hostili- ties, and send delegates to a free conference to be held on the island of Prinkipo. In this manner, it was hoped, they might come to an amicable arrangement among themselves. But nothing came of the proposal. From time to time other suggestions were made for opening negotiations with the Bolshevists, but these too came to naught. The Conference showed no fixed determination of purpose, and continued to waver between the three policies of recognition of the Bol- shevists, active support of the anti-Bolshevists, and non-intervention in Russian affairs. As a result of its year's work the Peace Conference achieved much. The boundaries of future Germany were settled ; the new States of Poland and Czecho- slovakia were constituted ; the change from the king- dom of Serbia to the Serb-Croat-Slovene State was made ; the republic of Austria was recognized as a new element in Europe. But though much was 229 HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE achieved, much still remained to be achieved before swords could safely be forged into ploughshares and spears into pruning-hooks. It is possible to close this outline of modern European history with a note of hope. On January 16, 1920, the League of Nations held its first sitting. It remains for the future to determine whether from this beginning shall issue a realization of the ideals to which the League owes its birth. " The corporate will of humanity still waits to be born through the agency of the League of Nations.' , diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiriiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiij CHILDREN OF THE WORLD I SUNSHINE LANDS OF I I EUROPE J By LENORE E. MULETS \ COLLECTION of four charming little stories about | A the children of France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal | | which give the American child a vivid interest in the I | lives of his little far-away friends, and lend attraction to the geography and history of the lands described. | Each story gives a sketch of a particular country interwoven with | an account of the experiences of a child who lives there. There I | is just enough adventure to prevent the incidents from appearing | s commonplace to the active American child. Sancho, the Portuguese lad, tires of living on his father's farm | = and longa for life at sea. His travels with his mother give op- | £ portunity for a description of his country which will present to | | children many facts of value. | Little Fernando from Spain roves the length and breadth of his I | native land, visiting the cities, the factories, the orchards, the I | mines, and the mountains. The young reader is given a splendid | = idea of romantic and sunny Spain. I | Jacques and Odette, little French patriots, receive letters from | | their father who went to the war. Here the child gains sympathy | r for these little people of France and acquires information about | | their country which is well worth while. | Amerigo travels all over beautiful Italy, seeing many of its | famous cities, and learning about its wonderful past. His | = journey to America with his father gives opportunity for the | | relation of his experiences. 5 Sunshine Lands of Europe may be used as a supplementary text | I in reading, geography, or history by any grade from four to six, = I inclusive. Specially drawn maps and 75 illustrations by Elias I Goldberg add greatly to the value of the book. Boards. Price $1.00 WORLD BOOK COMPANY yonkers-on-hudson, new york 2126 Prairie Avenue, Chicago =T( f 1 1 1 F 1 1 1 i i r ( 1 1 1 1 C 1 1 1 1 1 M 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 r 1 1 1 1 M M 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 •! ' 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 M 1 1 1 1 II 1 1 II I i II 1 1 1 1 > 1 1 ■ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ■ 1 1 . 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 .^ £>iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiimMimiiimiiiiiiiiiHiiiimiiiiiiiiiiMiiiimmiiii i i inn iiniiiiiii inn iiimimmimiu 1 Foundation History Series 1 By Henry W. Elson, Ph. D., Litt. D., 1 § President of Thiel College, and Cornelia E. MacMullan, Ph. D., = Montclair State Normal School | 'TpHIS series follows the recommendations of the Com- | A mittee of Eight of the American Historical Associa- 1 I tion. Emphasis is placed on the lives of leaders and I | heroes, on great movements and important events. The | | social side of history is given special prominence, and | | much attention is devoted to those features of ancient and | 1 medieval life which explain the important elements of I | modern civilization. I The Story of Our Country, Book I | From the discovery of the continent until the close of | I the Revolution. 1 For use in grade 4. vii -f- 216 pages. Price 88 cents. The Story of Our Country, Book II From the constitutional convention to the present time. | For use in grade 5. viii -j- 283 pages. Price $1.00. The Story of the Old World European events which have a direct bearing on our ideals. | For use in grade 6. viii -\- 248 pages. Price $1.20. | I Each volume is bound in cloth, is profusely illustrated, I I and is provided with lithographed maps in delicate colors. | I Teachers who want texts for an elementary course in | 1 history or for use as supplementary reading material will | I find the Foundation History Series exactly suited to their | I needs. 1 WORLD BOOK COMPANY yonkers-on-hudson, new york 1 2126 Prairie Avenue, Chicago 1 ~MlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlS ^* ■■■tfitiiritiiriTiifi[iiriiTiriiiiif]tii(iiTi[Ti[iiTiiiiiiiriifiiiiriiiiiiiriiTiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiirjiiiiiiriiii[rit)iTiiriiiitiitiiriiriiiiiiiii f ^3 I THE NEW WORLD | PROBLEMS IN POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY % ISAIAH BOWMAN, Ph. D. Director of the American Geographical Society I T) RESENTS in convenient form the facts bearing upon the | I new territorial, racial, religious, commercial, and political | I alignments in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Pacific. 1 Many highly significant lacts contained in this book can be | 1 obtained from no other source. Problems are presented in | I their relation to world politics and in their historical and geo- | I graphical setting. The latest reliable statistics are given when- j 1 ever they serve to make a point clear. § i There are 21 J hand-drawn maps, all specific and clear. They are designed to bring out particular economic, political, or geographical features treated in the text. I A reading of The New World will enable the student of geog- | 1 raphy, history, and economics to see the significance of the | changes that have been made in the map of the world, to un- | derstand the influences that have brought them about, to esti- | 1 mate their bearing upon the course of political events, and to | 1 think in a more comprehensive way about the many vital prob- | 1 lems in the field of international relations. Cloth, vii + 632 pages. Price $6-00 WORLD BOOK COMPANY i yonkers-on-hudson, new york 2126 Prairie Avenue, Chicago Tii 1 1 1 11 1 " iiiiiinmiiiiii iiuiiirs piiiiiiiiimmiiiiimmiimmmiiiii i i iiiiimmmmmmmit i iiiiimmn mini iiimmmiimmiimmmiimiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiu INTERAMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL READERS A Central American Journey [ By ROGER W. BABSON H ERE is a geographical reader for grade five or six, dealing with | a perfectly new field, being a children's book based on the big adventure of big business in the Central American export field | | The family of an American business man accompany him on a tour of | | Central America. They have many friends there and see not only § the customs and scenery of the country but the way in which people | live in their homes. Moreover, they see how our* foreign trade | | should be handled to bring about closer relations with our country and | 1 theirs, and learn many picturesque and more or less amusing facts | | about the mistakes which have been made. I While the interest of the book lies primarily in the things the children i see and hear and do, rather than in any definite plot, there is plenty of f incident, as they visit a gold mine, cacao, coffee, and banana planta- tions, a balsam forest, and Indian villages; they travel in unfrequented | | regions and experience two earthquakes. i The two Carroll children, boy and girl, have become intimate with a little Central American girl, daughter of a professor in one of the uni- I 1 versities, and have learned Spanish from her. The practical advan- 1 i tages of a knowledge of Spanish are brought out in the course of the | i story. | | The tendency of the book is to give American children not only an in- | f terest in this picturesque region, but the right view of its people. ■ § A part of the educational value is derived from the fact that without | much direct instruction, the importance of accuracy, correct informa- i | tion, system, and practical experience, and ability, in foreign trade, is § = shown. = | The illustrations from photographs are of great value. The drawings = I add to the attractiveness of the volume. | The author is the famous statistician, who has visited this country | | often, and who writes as entertainingly and informingly aa he does | for the readers of his books and magazine articles. Cloth, lx + 219 pages. | Price $1.20. 1 WORLD BOOK COMPANY YoNKERS-ON-HuDSON, New YoRK 2126 Prairie Avenue, Chicago ilUlllliilllNlmiiliiilllliniMiMiiiiM iiiiiiiMiiiiiiiHiiiHMiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniuiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiMiiiii minimi! ii i i ii minimi I Loyal Citizenship | By Thomas Harrison Reed Professor of Government, University of California THIS textbook on citizenship and its problems | for the junior high school acquaints the young | | student with the fundamental principles of gov- | j ernment, economics, and sociology underlying all | community life. It teaches him that sound gov- | | ernment rests upon the industry and high charac- g | ter of its citizenry. It gives him a practical con- | | ception of the scope of his future duties. It j | purposes to make him a loyal patriot without | | encouraging him to be priggish in his enthusiasm | for his country. The motive of the book is the training of students | | for citizenship. To this end it emphasizes the | | principles underlying government and society. | | It impresses on the student at every step his | ethical and civic responsibilities in relation to his | | rights and privileges. | Loyal Citizenship will develop an intelligent atti- | tude towards the progress of political and social institutions and will give the young student good | reasons for his faith and- pride in the ideals of | America. Cloth, x -f- 333 pages. Illustrated WORLD BOOK COMPANY YoNKERS-ON-HlTDSON, NEW YoRK 2126 Prairie Avenue,_ Chicago - - ! ! ' ! ' ! ' ■ ! : ' ' ' ' ; ' - ' : I ' ■ 1 . 1 1 ' 1 1 1 1 ' r = 1 1 r I i 1 1 r I 1 1 1 ' 1 1 1 1 1 ■ 1 1 r I r I ' 1 1 , 1 1 r : 1 1 1 ■ 1 1 [ u • I ■ I : I i ■ 1 1 ' I 1 : 1 1 ■ I ' ( r n 1 1 , M 1 1 ■ 1 1 r ll I ' n 1 1 1 1 - 1 1 ! I ■ ll r 1 1 ' I : I ! : I ■ r I Tr- gmiiimimiiiimiiiimiiimiMiiiimmimiiiiimmim iiiiiiimiiiiiiNllinilinimmimniliimiliilllllltlllilimiiiiilHil ilium i IIIlllllllIlimilK I CONSERVATION SERIES 1 Conservation Reader By HAROLD W. FAIRBANKS, Ph. D. | Lecturer, University of California; Geography Supervisor Berketey | | Public Schools | A small book bringing out in a simple and interesting manner the I | principles of conservation of natural resources has long been wanted , § | for there has been little on the subject that could be placed in the hands | | of pupils. It is to answer this need that Fairbanks' Conservation | | Reader has been prepared. § | The book touches upon every phase of conservation, but it deals at = = greatest length with saving the soil, the forests, and wild life. It is one | | of the author's main purposes to arouse a stronger sentiment for pre- = | serving what remains of the forests as well as for extending their areas. | | This is because proper forestation will lessen the danger of floods and | | of erosion of the soil, and it will encourage the return of the wild crea- | | tures that are of so much economic importance and add so much to the | | joy of life. 1 | The matter is presented in an easy narrative style that is calculated to | § arouse the intelligent interest of children. The text is illustrated with | E photographs of wild animals, trees, landscapes, and rarely beautiful | | birds, printed in colors. The subject is timely and the treatment is | | happy throughout. f | Conservation Reader should be used as a reader or as a book for | regular study in every elementary school in the country. Cloth, vi + 216 pages. = Price $1.20. = WORLD BOOK COMPANY YoNKERS-ON-HlTDSON, New YoRK 2126 Prairie Avenue, Chicago iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 1 ■ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ■ r j ti ) 1 1 ■ t j ■ 1 1 1 1 1 ■ 1 ■ ■ j ■ 1 1 ■ 1 j ■ ■ j ■ 1 1 1 1 j 1 1 ■ l 1 ■ 1 1 1 1 1 1 j 1 1 1 1 1 ■ n ■ 1 1 1 1 ■ u ■ ■ 1 1 1 1 1 ■ 1 1 1 1 ■ ■ 1 1 ■ 1 ■ 1 1 ■ r 1 1 1 1 11 1 1 1 ■ 1 1 r 1 1 n 1 ■ 1 ■ 1 ■ r j ■ 1 1 ■ 1 1 1 r ■ r j^ :> iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iNiiiiitiiiiiiNiiiimiiNiKf*---,. / _/•"" ' iiniiiii" i miiiiimuiiimimiiiB I THE AMERICAN SPIRIT [ A BASIS FOR WORLD DEMOCRACY | _ Edited by | | Paul Monroe, Ph.D., LL.D. and Irving E. Miller, Ph.D. Columbia University Bellingham Normal School § | *Tp HE American Spirit, like the American people, is a | 1 A composite. The mingled qualities of discoverer, ex- | | plorer, colonist, pioneer, frontiersman, and immigrant, | I have left a heritage of independence, initiative, dissatis- | I faction with existing attainments, a forward look, a con- | | fidence in the powers of the common man, and an ideal- | | istic faith in his worth and destiny. Self-government, | | achieved through patriotic struggle and made secure | | through hard experience, confirms the heritage. Democ- | 1 racy in government, preserved from corruption only by | 1 constant vigilance and continual practice, goes hand in | = hand with democracy in society; the two lead to ideals of | 1 industrial democracy yet in the process of attainment. | Through civil war, ideals of national unity were achieved | | and the national destiny was made sure. An enlightened | | diplomacy committed the nation to a policy of humanity | | and generosity towards the weaker nations, and the war | | of 1898 made it clear to the world that that policy would | | be upheld at any cost. The crisis of the World War | | afforded the supreme test of the American spirit, and in 1 | that crisis it was not found wanting; the heroism of the i I sons was found worthy of the sacrifice of the fathers. | How the varied traits of the forefathers have blended to | | make the American spirit a basis for world democracy | | is briefly told in this volume. = Cloth, xv + 336 pages. f WORLD BOOK COMPANY yonkers-on-hudson, new york | 2126 Prairie Avenue, Chicago | nuiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiii iiii iiii iiii iiiiiiihii i i i nn mi i in i mi in i iin n i mi in i mi 1 1 iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiimiililiimillllfi ^IMIIIIMIIMIIIIIIMIIIIMIUIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIiniMIHIMIIMIMIMIIIIMIMIMIHIMIMIIIIMIUIIMIIIIIIINIIIIIIIIIHIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIMIUUIIIIIIIIIIIIIMMIIininilllllllllllMIIIMIIIIUII^ The First Four Volumes of Government Handbooks \ A series of college textbooks on government. Edited by David P. Barrows and Thomas H. Reed, of the University of California Government and Politics of France By Edward McChesney Sait | The only book written in English that describes French government | | to the elevation of Deschanel as president and the appointment of the | | Millerand cabinet. Lucid in style, with an accurate perspective and | | a distinct scholarship. | Cloth, xv +478 pages. Illustrated Price $2.60 j Evolution of the Dominion of Canada By Edward Porritt | i This history of the government of Canada since the Confederation is = i the most comprehensive and up-to-date handbook on the Dominion I I yet published. The author, a leading authority in this field, has = | spared no effort in the way of painstaking research to achieve this end. | Cloth, xix +540 pages. Illustrated Price $2.60 | Government and Politics of Switzerland By Robert C. Brooks I A description of the organization and functioning of the government I | of Switzerland, with a discussion of historical origin and development s I and with particular emphasis on the modern political life of the country. § Cloth, xvi +430 pages. Illustrated Price $2 .40 | Government and Politics of the German Empire By Fritz-Konrad Kruger 1 A careful and authoritiative study of the political institutions of the | | German Empire, from the point of view of a member of the National = | Liberal party of Germany. An added pamphlet brings the text up = = to peace times. = Cloth, xii +340 pages. Illustrated Price $2.00 | Other volumes are in preparation. Detailed description of the series sent on request. WORLD BOOK COMPANY yon t kers-on-hudson, new york 2126 Prairie Avenue, Chicago ^1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 II 4 1 1 • 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 < II • 1 1 1 1 ■ 1 1 1 1 ■ 1 1 1 1 • 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ■ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 J 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ] 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ■ 1 1 ■ 1 1 1 1 J ■ 1 1 ■ 1 1 ■ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 J 1 1 1 1 1 1 J 1 1 ■ II 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 II 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 j 1 1 [ 1 1 1 1 ■ 1 1 1 IV^ SIMMIIIIIIIIIHIIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIIIIII IIIIIIIIMIIHIII I Hill I Ill nil L' CHILDREN OF THE WORLD | I A series that opens up to young readers the studies of | | geography and history as living subjects | | PAZ AND PABLO— A Story of Two Little Filipinos f By Addie F. Mitchell. .Illustrations by Elias Goldberg. | 95 pages. | The two children do all the things which Filipino | children do, and their little adventures are so interest- | ingly told by a former teacher in the Philippines that | boys and girls of this country in grades three to five | i will be anxious to know more about the land of Paz | | and Pablo. | 1 SUNSHINE LANDS OF EUROPE By Lenore E. Mulcts. Illustrations by Elias Goldberg. | | 159 pages. | Four charming little stories about Sancho, the Portu- f guese lad, and his life on the sea; about little Fernando | of Spain, and his visits to famous places of his native | land; about Jacques and Odette, the French children 1 who received such interesting letters from their father | who went to the war; and about Amerigo who traveled | all over Italy and finally made the long journey to | 1 America. 1 Specially drawn maps add greatly to the value of the | book. Intended for supplementary reading in grades I 1 four to six. | 1 THE ALO MAN — Stories From the Congo By Mara L. Pratt-Chadzuick and Louise Lamprey. | Illustrated. 170 pages. | Folk tales related by a wandering story-teller to the 1 children of a chief, are interwoven with the everyday | experiences of a Congo village. For grades four to f | seven. | WORLD BOOK COMPANY YoNKERS-ON-HuDSON, NEW YORK 2126 Prairie Avenue, Chicago ailllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllf: PIONEER LIFE SERIES THE WHITE INDIAN BOY UNCLE NICK AMONG THE SHOSHONES Everybody that knew Uncle Nick Wilson was always begging him to tell about the pioneer days in the Northwest. When he was eight years old the Wilson family crossed the plains by ox-team. He was only twelve when he slipped away from home to travel north with a band of Shoshones, with whom he wandered about for two years, sharing all the experiences of Indian life. Later, after he had re- turned home, he was a pony express rider, he drove a stage on the Overland route, and he acted as guide in an expedition against the Gosiute Indians. A few years ago Uncle Nick was persuaded to write down his recol- lections, and Professor Howard N. Driggs helped him to make his account into a book that is a true record of pioneer life, with its hardships and adventures. The White Indian Boy is illustrated with many instructive photo- graphs and with drawings of Indian life by F. N. Wilson. Single copies of this book are $1.20 postpaid. Discounts are allowed when a number of copies are ordered. Send orders to the publishers. WORLD BOOK COMPANY yonkers-on-hudson, new york 2126 Prairie Avenue, Chicago W 8 4 «^ ***■*. v 4 o. *."..•■ «* -.0 «^* * 7^ Deacidified using the Bookkeeper ,.. . m • . o *U «j> i Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide A>*^ u- * Ay r^s • - &■ * «» « *^HKi0' % .»* (724)779-2111 process. ' Treatment Date: |^Y 2QrJ2 *K PreservationTechnologies B ^' A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 111 Thomson Park Drive 4& ^