.1* -• 
 
 
 ,■*■" / 
 
 'bv" 
 
 
 V^ »»V1% o 
 
 
 o w ' -0' 
 
 0^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 '^''^'^^^ «^^fe\ \^^'^'^ '>V/l^ ^v .^^ 
 
 §Or 
 
 '-^ A^ 
 
 'S 
 
 ^. 
 
 '^I^Vr^' 
 
 \. \- 
 
 
 >^ ..-'. -^o " .<i> 
 
 
 ^V ^.. o « o 
 
 <*^ .t^ 
 

 
 
 
 
 ^ t'-j?;,^. 
 
i 
 
THE STORY OF EUROPE 
 
 AND THE 
 
 NATIONS AT WAR 
 
 A GRAPHIC NARRATIVE OF THE NATIONS INVOLVED 
 IN THE GREAT WAR, THEIR HISTORY AND FORMER 
 WARS, THEIR RULERS AND LEADERS, THEIR 
 ARMIES AND NAVIES, THEIR RESOURCES, THE 
 REASONS FOR CONFLICT AND THE ISSUES AT STAKE 
 
 BY 
 
 LOGAN MARSHALL 
 
 AUTHOR OF "MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF ALL NATIONS," 
 "THE SINKING OF THE TITANIC," ETC.. ETC. 
 
 miuaUuUh 
 
 INTERNATIONAL PRESS 
 Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
^ 
 
 ^6^ 
 
 fv' 
 
 Copyright 1914 
 By L. T. MYERS 
 
 SEP 
 
 1915 
 
 ^CI,A411440 
 
ur 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 The year 1914 will stand out prominently in future history as 
 the date of the most stupendous war in the history of mankind. 
 In its special character, also, it may come to be regarded as the 
 most atrocious of all wars, at least of all fought by civilized nations. 
 Flashing, out suddenly like a bolt from the blue, unannounced, un- 
 expected, unexplained, unprecedented in suddenness and enormity, 
 it hurled nearly the whole of Europe within a week's time from a 
 state of profound peace into one of continental war. The ringing 
 of church bells was drowned by the roar of cannon, the voice of 
 the dove of peace by the blare of the trump of war, and throughout 
 the world ran a shudder of terror as these unwonted and ominous 
 sounds greeted men's ears. 
 
 But in looking back through history, tracing the course of 
 events during the past century, following the footsteps of men in 
 war and peace from that day of upheaval when medieval feudalism 
 went down in disarray before the arms of the people in the French 
 Revolution, some explanation of the great European war of 1914 
 may be reached. Every event in history has its roots somewhere 
 in earlier history, and we need but dig deep enough to find them. 
 
 Such is the purpose of the present work. It proposes to lay 
 down in a series of apposite chapters the story of the past century, 
 beginning, in fact, rather more than a century ago with the meteoric 
 career of Napoleon and seeking to show to what it led, and what 
 effects it had upon the political evolution of mankind. The French 
 
 (1)" 
 
2 PREFACE 
 
 Revolution stood midway between two spheres of history, the sphere 
 of medieval barbarism and that of modern enhghtenment. It 
 exploded like a bomb in the midst of the self-satisfied aristocracy 
 of the earlier social system and rent it into fragments which no hand 
 could put together again. In this sense the career of Napoleon 
 seems providential. The era of popular government had replaced 
 that of autocratic and aristocratic government in France, and the 
 armies of Napoleon spread these radical ideas throughout Europe 
 until the oppressed people of every nation began to look upward 
 with hope and see in the distance before them a haven of justice 
 in the coming realm of human rights. 
 
 These new conceptions took time to disseminate themselves. 
 The oppressed peoples had to fight their way upward into the light, 
 to win their progress step by step to the heights of emancipation. 
 It was a hard struggle. Time and again they were cast downward 
 in their climb. The powers of privilege, of the ^'divine right of 
 kings/' fought hard to preserve their ascendency, and only with 
 discouraging slowness did the people move onward to the haven they 
 so earnestly sought. 
 
 The story of this upward progress is the history of the nine- 
 teenth century, regarded from the special point of view of political 
 progress and the development of human rights. This is definitely 
 shown in the present work, which is a history of the past century 
 and of the twentieth century so far as it has gone. Gradually 
 the autocrat has declined in power and authority, and the principle 
 of popular rights has risen into view. But the autocrat has not been 
 fully dethroned. Medievahsm still has its hold on a few of the 
 thrones of Europe, notably those of Germany, Russia and Austria. 
 Is the present war a final effort of medievahsm to regain its hold, 
 to put down the doctrine of popular rule and replace it bv the old 
 
PREFACE 3 
 
 system of absolute government? This, at least, in the absence of 
 apparent causes for the present war, may be offered as one conceiv- 
 able explanation. If so, we can but hope that the prediction given 
 at the end of this work may come true, and that the close of the war 
 may witness the complete downfall of autocracy as a political 
 principle and the rise of the rule of the people in every civilized 
 nation of the earth. 
 
 Charles Morris. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 All Eixrope Plunged into War p^cb 
 
 Dramatic Suddenness of the Outbreak — Trade and Commerce Para- 
 lyzed — Widespread Influences — Dilemma of the Tourists — An 
 Ocean Incident — Closing the Stock Market — Terrible Effects 
 of War— The Tide of Desolation— Who Caused the Conflict?— 
 Cost of Modem Warfare 11 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 Underlying Causes of the Great European War 
 
 Assassination of the Austrian Crown Prince — ^Austria's Motive in 
 Making War — Servia Accepts Austria's Demand — ^The Ironies 
 of History — ^What Austria had to Gain — How the War Became 
 Continental — An Editorial Opinion — Is the Kaiser Responsible? — 
 Germany's Stake in the War — Why Russia Entered the War — 
 France's Hatred of Germany — Great Britain and Italy — The 
 Triple Alliance and Triple Entente 28 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 Strength and Resources of the Warring Powers 
 
 Old and New Methods in War — Costs of Modern Warfare — Nature 
 of National Resources — British and American Military Systems — ■ 
 Naval Strength — Resources of Austria-Hungary — Resources of 
 Germany — Resources of Russia — Resources of France — Resources 
 of Great Britain — Servia and Belgium 50 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 Pan-Slavism Versus Pan-Germanism 
 
 Russia's Part in the Servian Issue — Strength of the Russian Army — 
 The Distribution of the Slavs — Origin of Pan-Slavism — The 
 Czar's Proclamation — The Teutons of Europe — Intermingling of 
 Races — The Nations at War — Spread of Teutonic CiviUzation — 
 
 Views of German- Americans 70 
 
 (5) 
 
6 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 Europe at the Close of the Eighteenth Century 
 
 End of Medievalism and Beginning of Modernism p^qe 
 The Age of Feudalism — Issues of the French Revolution — How 
 Napoleon Won Fame — Conditions in France and Germany — 
 Austria and Italy — Spain and Poland — Russia and Turkey 83 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 The Earthquake of Napoleonism 
 
 Its Effect on National Conditions Finally Led to the War of 1914 
 The Campaign in Italy — The Victory at Marengo — Moreau Wins 
 Glory at Hohenlinden — Napoleon the Idol of France — The Consul 
 made Emperor — The Code Napoleon — Campaign of 1805 — 
 Battle of Austerlitz — The Gains of the Empire — The Conquest 
 of Prussia — Invasion of Poland — Victory at Eylau — Russian 
 Defeat at Friedland — Campaign of 1809 — Great Battles around 
 Vienna — Victory at Wagram — The Divorce of Josephine 92 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 Nelson and Wellington, the Champions of Britain 
 
 End op the European Reign of Terror 
 The Battle of the Nile — Nelson at Copenhagen — Defeat of the Danes — 
 Nelson at Trafalgar — Nelson Wins and Dies — The Campaign in 
 Portugal — Oporto and Talavera — The French Driven from Portu- 
 gal — Wellington in Spain — Madrid Occupied 121 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 The Decline and Fall of Napoleon^s Empire 
 
 Dawn of a New Era in Europe 
 The Kings and People of Spain — French Defeated and Napoleon in 
 Command — The Triumph of Wellington — Napoleon's Fatal Enter- 
 prise — The Grand Army in Russia — Smolensk on Fire — The Fight 
 at Borodino — Moscow Occupied by the French — The Terror 
 of Flame — Napoleon's Dread Dilemma — Winter in Full Fury — 
 The Remnant of the Grand Army — Europe Rises Against the 
 Corsican — The Empire Goes to Pieces— Napoleon Exiled to 
 Elba— End of Napoleon's Career 138 
 
CONTENTS 7 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 The Congress of Vienna 
 Radical Changes in the Map of Europe pagd 
 
 Map Making — Empire Building — Membership of the Congress — 
 Reaction the Order of the Day — Brief Summary of Changes — Ex- 
 cesses of the Congress — Confederation of the Rhine — How Other 
 Countries Fared — Character of the Work done — The Rights of 
 the People 157 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 The Holy Alliance and Its Unholy Work 
 
 Events Leading to the Monroe Doctrine and the Foreign Polict 
 
 OF the United States. 
 
 Significance of the Name — A Dangerous Doctrine — Revolution in 
 Spain and Naples — Work of the Holy AlHance in Italy — The 
 Spanish Revolt put down — The Allies gain Freedom for Greece — 
 Liberty for Spanish-America — The Birth of the Monroe Doctrine. 168 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 The Revolution of 1830 
 
 Its Disintegrating Effect on National Conditions 
 Reaction under Charles X — "Down with the Bourbons" — Louis 
 Philippe on the Throne — Holland and Belgium Divide — Popular 
 Movements in Germany and Italy — Poland in Arms — Prosperity 
 in Great Britain — An Intolerable Situation — Representation in 
 Parliament — Lord Russell's Great Speech — Effect of the 1830 
 Revolution — The Struggle for Reform — How Suffrage was 
 Gained — The Corn-Laws Repealed 179 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 Europe in Arms in 1848 
 
 Outbreak of Nineteenth Century Democracy 
 Libert}'', Equality and Fraternity — Reform Outbreak in Paris — A 
 Republic Founded — Revolt in Germany and Austria — The Met- 
 ternich Policy Fails — The Struggle in Vienna and Berlin — A 
 Federal Empire in Germany — Italy Strikes for Freedom — A, 
 French Army Occupies Rome — The Hungarian Revolution — 
 Kossuth and the Magyars — How the Conflict Ended 195 
 
8 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 Russia and the Crimean War 
 
 Outcome op Slavic Ambitions in the Near East p^gg 
 
 Turkey the "Sick Man" of Europe — Oppression of the Christians — 
 England and France Declare War — Invasion of the Crimea — The 
 Siege of Sebastopol — Charge of the Light Brigade — The Gallant 
 Six Hundred — Tennyson's Famous Poem — Sebastopol Taken — 
 The Treaty of Paris 207 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 The Ambition of Louis Napoleon 
 
 The Final Overthrow of Napoleonism 
 
 The Coup d'etat of 1851 — From President to Emperor — The Empire 
 is Peace — War With Austria — The Battle of Magenta — Posses- 
 sion of Lombardy — French Victory at Solferino — ^Treaty of Peace 
 — Invasion of Mexico — End of Napoleon's Career 219 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 Garibaldi and Italian Unity 
 
 Power of Austria. Broken 
 
 The Carbonari — Mazzini and Garibaldi — Cavour, the Statesman — 
 The Invasion of Sicily — Occupation of Naples — Victor Emmanuel 
 Takes Command — ^Watchword of the Patriots — Garibaldi 
 Marches Against Rome — ^Battle of Ironclads — Final Act of 
 Italian Unity 235 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 The Expansion of Germany 
 
 Beginning of Modern World Power 
 
 William I of Prussia — ^Bismarck's Early Career — The Schleswig- 
 Holstein Question — Conquest of the Duchies — ^Bismarck's Wider 
 Views — ^War Forced on Austria — The War , in Italy — Austria's 
 Signal Defeat at Sadowa — The Treaty of Prague — Germany after 
 1866 248 
 
CONTENTS 9 
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 The Franco-Prussian War 
 
 Birth of the German Empire and the French Republic p^aa 
 Causes of Hostile Relations — Discontent in France — War with 
 Prussia Declared — Self-deception of the French — First Meeting 
 of the Armies — The Stronghold of Metz — Mars-la-Tour and 
 Gravelotte — Napoleon III at Sedan — The Emperor a Captive; 
 France a Republic — Bismarck Refuses Intervention — Fall of the 
 Fortresses — Gambetta in Cormnand — Defiant Spirit of the 
 French — The Struggle Continued — Operations Before Paris — 
 Fighting in the South— The War at an End 262 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 Bismarck and the New German Empire 
 
 Building the Bulwarks of the Twentieth-Century Nation 
 Bismarck as a Statesman — Uniting the German States — William I 
 Crowned at Versailles — A Significant Decade — The Problem 
 of Church Power — Progress of Socialism — William II and the 
 Resignation of Bismarck — Old Age Insurance — Political and 
 Industrial Conditions in Germany 292 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 Gladstone as an Apostle of Reform 
 
 Great Britain Becomes a World Power 
 Gladstone and Disraeli — Gladstone's Famous Budget — A Suffrage Re- 
 form Bill — Disraeli's Reform Measure — Irish Church Disestablish- 
 ment — An Irish Land Bill — Desperate State of Ireland — The 
 Coercion Bill — War in Africa — Home Rule for Ireland 303 
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 The French Republic 
 
 Struggles of a New Nation 
 The Republic Organized — The Commune of Paris — Instability of the 
 Government — Thiers Proclaimed President — Punishment of the 
 Unsuccessful Generals — McMahon a Royalist President — 
 Bazaine's Sentence and Escape — Gr^vy, Gambetta and Boulanger 
 — Despotism of the Army Leaders — The Dreyfus Case — Church 
 and State — The Moroccan Controversy : 316 
 
10 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 Great Britain and Her Colonies 
 
 How England Became Mistress op the Seas p^ge 
 
 Great Britain as a Colonizing Power — Colonies in the Pacific Region — 
 Colonization in Africa — British Colonies in Africa — The Mahdi 
 Rebellion in Eygpt — Gordon at Khartoum — Suppression of the 
 Mahdi Revolt — Colonization in Asia — The British in India — 
 Colonies in America — Development of Canada— Railway Progress 
 in Canada 333 
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 The Open Door in China and Japan 
 
 Development of World Power in the East 
 Vfarlike Invasions of China — Commodore Perry and His Treaty — 
 Japan's Rapid Progress — Origin of the China-Japan War — The 
 Position of Korea — Li Hung Chang and the Empress — How Japan 
 Began War — The Chinese and Japanese Fleets — The Battle of 
 the Yalu — Preparing for Battle — How the Ships Fought — Perils 
 of the Commanders — Capture of Wei-Hai-Wei — Europe Invades 
 China — The Boxer Outbreak — Russian Designs on Manchuria — 
 Japan Begins War on Russia — The Armies Meet — Port Arthur 
 Taken — Russian Fleet Defeated — China Becomes a Republic. . . 34S 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 Turkey and the Balkan States 
 
 Checking the Dominion op the Turk in Europe 
 The Story of Servia — Turkey in Europe — The Bulgarian Horrors — The 
 Defense of Plevna — The Congress of Berlin — Hostile Sentiments 
 in the Balkans — Incitement to War — Fighting Begins — The 
 Advance on Adrianople — Servian and Greek Victories — The 
 Bulgarian Successes — Steps toward Peace — The War Resumed — 
 Siege of Scutari — Treaty of Peace — War between the Allies — 
 The Final Settlement 373 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 Methods in Modern Warfare 
 
 Ancient and Modern Weapons — New Types of Weapons — The Ironclad 
 Warship — The Balloon in War — Tennyson's Foresight — Gunning 
 after Airships — The Submarine — Under-water Warfare — The New 
 Type of Battleship— Mobilization— The Waste of War— The 
 End of Autocracy 391 
 
CHAPTER I 
 AH Europe Plunged Into War 
 
 Dramatic Suddenness of the Outbreak — Trade and Commerce Paralyzed — Widespread 
 Influences — Dilemma of the Tourists — An Ocean Incident — Closing the Stock Markets — 
 Terrible EjBfects of War— The Tide of Desolation— Who Caused the Conflict?— Cost of 
 
 Modern Warfare. 
 
 ^T the opening of the final week of July, 1914, the whole 
 world — with the exception of Mexico, in which the smoul- 
 dering embers of the revolution still burned — ^was in a 
 state of profound peace. The clattering hannners and whirling 
 wheels of industry were everyr^^here to be heard; great ships furrowed 
 the ocean waves, deep-laden with the world's products and carrying 
 thousands of travelers bent on business or enjojrment. Countless 
 trains of cars, drawn by smoke-belching locomotives, traversed the 
 long leagues of iron rails, similarly laden with passengers engaged 
 in peaceful errands and freight intended for peaceful purposes. 
 All seemed at rest so far as national hostile sentiments were con- 
 cerned. All was m motion so far as useful industries demanded 
 service. Europe, America, Asia and Africa alike had settled down 
 as if to a long holiday from war, and the advocates of universal 
 peace were jubilant over the progress of their cause, holding peace 
 congresses and conferences at The Hague and elsewhere, and giving 
 Nobel prizes of honor even to so questionable an advocate of peace 
 as Theodore Roosevelt, the redoubtable Colonel of the Rough 
 Riders, 
 
 Such occasions occur at frequent intervals in nature, in which 
 a deep cahn, a profound peace, rests over land and sea. The winds 
 are hushed, the waves at rest; only the needful processes of the 
 universe are in action, while for the time the world forgets the 
 chained demons of unrest and desti-uction. But too quickly the 
 chains are loosened, the winds and waves set free; and the hostile 
 
 (11) 
 
12 ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 
 
 forces of nature rush over earth and sea, spreading terror and 
 devastation in their path. Such energies of hostility are not con- 
 fined to the elements. They exist in human communities. They 
 underlie the political conditions of the nations, and their outbreak 
 is at times as sudden and unlooked-for as that of the winds and waves. 
 Such was the state of political affairs in Europe at the date men- 
 tioned, apparently calm and restful, while below the surface hostile 
 forces which had long been fomenting unseen were ready to burst 
 forth and whelm the world. 
 
 DKAMATIC SUDDENNESS OF THE OUTBREAK 
 
 On the night of July 25th the people of the civilized world 
 settled down to restful sliunbers, with no dreams of the turmoil 
 that was ready to burst forth. On the morning of the 26th they 
 rose to learn that a great war had begun, a conflict the possible 
 width and depth of which no man was yet able to foresee; and as 
 day after day passed on, each day some new nation springing into 
 the terrible arena until practically the whole of Europe was in 
 arms and the Armageddon seemed at hand, the world stood amazed 
 and astounded, wondering what hand had loosed so vast a catas- 
 trophe, what deep and secret causes lay below the ostensible causes 
 of the war. The causes of this are largely unknown. As a panic 
 at times affects a vast assemblage, with no one aware of its origin, 
 so a wave of hostile sentiment may sweep over vast communities 
 until the air is full of urgent demands for war with scarce a man 
 knowing why. 
 
 What is already said only feebly outhnes the state of con- 
 sternation into which the world was cast in that fateful week in 
 which the doors of the Temple of Janus, long closed, were sud- 
 denly thrown wide open and the terrible God of War marched 
 forth, the whole earth trembling beneath his feet. It was the 
 breaking of a mighty storm in a placid sky, the fall of a meteor 
 which spreads terror and destruction on all sides, the explosion 
 of a vast bomb in a great assemblage; it was everything that can 
 
ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 13 
 
 be imagined of the sudden and overwhelming, of the amazing and 
 incredible. 
 
 TRADE AND COMMERCE PARALYZED 
 
 For the moment the world stood still, plunged into a panic 
 that stopped all its activities. The chambers of finance through- 
 out the nations were closed, to prevent that wild and hasty action 
 which precipitates disaster. Throughout Europe trade, industry, 
 commerce all ceased, paralyzed at their sources. No ship of any 
 of the nations concerned dared venture from port, lest it should 
 fall a prey to the prowling sea dogs of war which made all the 
 oceans unsafe. The hosts of American tourists who had gone 
 abroad under the sunny skies of peace suddenly beheld the dark 
 clouds of war rolling overhead, blotting out the sun, and casting 
 their black shadows over all things fair. 
 
 What does this state of affairs, this sudden stoppage of the 
 wheels of industry, this unforeseen and wide spread of the conditions 
 of war portend? Emerson has said : ''When a great thinker comes 
 into the world all things are at risk." There is potency in this, 
 and also in a variation of Emerson's text which we shall venture to 
 make: ''When a great war comes upon the world all things are at 
 risk." Everj^thing which we have looked upon as fixed and stable 
 quakes as if from mighty hidden forces. The whole world stands 
 irresolute and amazed. The steady-going habits and occupations 
 of peace cease or are perilously threatened, and no one can be sure 
 of escaping from some of the dire effects of the catastrophe. 
 
 WIDESPREAD INFLUENCES 
 
 The conditions of production vanish, to be replaced by condi- 
 tions of destruction. That which had been growing in grace and 
 beauty for years is overturned and destroyed in a moment of rav- 
 age. Changes of this kind are not confined to the countries in 
 which the war rages or the cities which conquering columns of troops 
 occupy. They go beyond the borders of military activity; they 
 
14 ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 
 
 extend to far-off quarters of the earth. We quote from the New 
 York World a vivid picture drawn at the opening of the great 
 European war. Its motto is ''all the world is paying the cost of 
 the folly of Europe." 
 
 ''Never before was war made so swiftly wide. News of it 
 «omes from Japan, from Porto Rico, from Africa, from places where 
 in old days news of hostihties might not travel for months. 
 
 "Non-combatants in Argentina face ruin from the stoppage of 
 their wheat trade. Peru declares a moratorium. China wiU 
 miss her ginseng from the Virginia mountains, and must otherwise 
 make medicine. Rubber tires go soaring in price. Boots will do 
 the same while shoemakers shoot each other, and the commerce 
 in hides is halted. Children the world over will miss their Nurem- 
 berg toys at Christmas. 
 
 "Non-combatants are in the vast majority, even in the 
 countries at war, but they are not immune to its blight. Austria 
 is isolated from the world because her ally, Germany, will take no 
 chances of spilling mihtary information and will not forward mails. 
 If, telephoning in France, you use a single foreign word, even an 
 English one, your wire is cut. Hans the German waiter, Franz the 
 clarinettist in the little street band, is locked up as a possible spy. 
 There are great German business houses in London and Paris; 
 their condition is that of English and French business houses in 
 Berlin, and that is not pleasant. Great Britain contemplates, as 
 an act of war, the voiding of patents held by Germans in the United 
 Kingdom. 
 
 "Nothing is too petty, nothing too great, nothing too distant 
 in kind or miles from the field of war to feel its influence. The 
 whole world is the loser by it, whoever at the end of all the battles 
 may say that he has won." 
 
 DILEMMA OP THE TOURISTS 
 
 Let us consider one of the early results of the war. It vitally 
 affected great numbers of Americans, the army of tourists who had 
 
ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 15 
 
 made their way abroad for rest, study and recreation and whose 
 numbers, while unknown, were great, some estimating them at the 
 high total of 100,000 or more. These, scattered over all sections 
 of Europe, some with money in abundance, some with just enough 
 for a brief journey, capitahsts, teachers, students, all were caught 
 in the sudden flurry of the war, their letters of credit useless, trans- 
 portation difficult or impossible to obtain, all exposed to incon- 
 veniences, some to indignities, some of them on the flimsiest pretence 
 seized and searched as spies, the great mass of them thrown into a 
 state of panic that added greatly to the unpleasantness of the 
 situation in which they found themselves. 
 
 While these conditions of panic gradually adjusted themselves, 
 the status of the tourists continued difficult and annoying. The 
 railroads were seized for the transportation of troops, leaving many 
 Americans helplessly held in far interior parts, frequently without 
 money or credit. One example of the diffi_culties encountered 
 will serve as an instance which might be repeated a hundred 
 fold. 
 
 Seven hundred Americans from Geneva were made by Sudss 
 troops to leave a train. Many who refused were forced off at the 
 point of guns. This compulsory removal took place at some 
 distance from a station near the border, according to Mrs. Edward 
 Colhns, of New York, who with her three daughters was on the 
 train. With 200 others they reached 'Paris and were taken aboard 
 a French troop train. Most of the arrivals were women; the men 
 were left behind because of lack of space. One hundred women 
 refused to take the train without their husbands; scores struck 
 back for Geneva; others on foot, carrying articles of baggage, 
 started in the direction of Paris, hopmg to get trains somewhere. 
 Just why Swiss troops thus occupied themselves is not explained; 
 but in times of warlike turmoil many unexplainable things occur. 
 Here is an incident of a different kind, told by one of the escaping 
 host : ''I went into the restaurant car for lunch," he said. '^ "WTien I 
 tried to return to the car where I'd left my suitcase, hat, cane and 
 
16 ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 
 
 overcoat, I couldn't find it. Finally the conductor said blithely, 
 'Oh, that car was taken off for the use of the army.' 
 
 "I was forced to continue traveling coatless, hatless and minus 
 my baggage until I boarded the steamer Flushing, when I managed 
 to swipe a straw hat during the course of the Channel passage 
 wliile the people were down eating in the saloon. I grabbed the 
 first one on the hatrack. Talk about a romantic age. Why, I 
 wouldn't live in any other time than now. We will be boring om* 
 grandchildi'en talking about this war." 
 
 The scarcity of provisions in many localities and the with- 
 holding of money by the banks made the situation, as regarded 
 Americans, especially serious. Those fortunate enough to reach 
 port without encoimtering these diflaculties found the situation 
 there equally embarrassing. The great German and English hners, 
 for instance, were held up by order of the government, or feared 
 to sail lest they should be taken captive by hostile cruisers. Many 
 of these lay in port in New York, forbidden to sail for fear of capture. 
 These included ships of the Cunard and International Marine 
 lines, the North German Lloyd, the Hamburg-American, the 
 Russian-American, and the French lines, until this port led the 
 world in the congestion of great liners rendered inactive by the war 
 situation abroad. The few that put to sea were utterly incapable 
 of accommodating a tithe of the anxious and appealing apphcants. 
 It had ceased, m the state of panic that prevailed, to be a mere 
 question of money. Frightened milhonaires were credited with beg- 
 ging for steerage berths. Everywhere was dread and confusion, men 
 and women being in a state of mind past the limits of calm reason- 
 ing. Impulse is the sole ruling force where reason has ceased to act. 
 
 Slowly the skies cleared; calmer conditions began to prevail. 
 The United States government sent the battleship Tennessee abroad 
 with several milHons of dollars for the aid of destitute travelers and 
 the relief of those who could not get their letters of credit and trav- 
 elers' checks cashed. Such a measure of relief was necessary, there 
 being people abroad with letters of credit for as much as $5,000 
 
R 
 
 
 
 
 B R f.'T A I f 
 
 -f / S H 
 
 F 
 
 
 ''■ BRITJSH ri_EET 
 
 -C 
 
 600.0001 
 
 L I CHpysrwN^A' 
 
 B^TTLE.SH(P<? 48 ^4pUiSERSj_j ^^^ ^ 
 
 * OREAONOU&KTS 2@ ^Qbai rutsH-ps. 
 
 NOR T H HE'-IOOLANO^, 
 
 />.T«/ - *'" '"'^ 
 
 v/ 
 
 £ A' " 
 
 
 ^K^ 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 LA Rdtl 
 
 q: 
 
 
 <c 
 
 
 RELIEF MAP OF EUROPE SHOWJNG THE ^TAGE OF THE WAR ANJ 
 
 il 
 
 I 
 

 'Mm ^ , lii- ' 
 
 N 
 
 AND 
 
 
 .J 
 
 'S~ PETEiiSBURC' 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^'^-"•r^"" . n^--,,r„^tu„e 2.000.000 
 
 ^.','fipfAW it '"b. mrr.M cj Uter )o4.000.0 OO 
 
 |roljl.fTr^,mdMEN 5.500.000 
 
 ^b»rk«> 
 
 MOSCOW -"* 
 
 ...ift 
 
 AREA 
 CONTROLLED 
 
 7s 
 
 BY 
 
 ^Jt^r.ndi 
 
 fx U S S I A N 
 FLEEIT 
 
 )7BATTLESHIPS 
 
 - -y 
 
 r 
 
 [jOTE FORTRESSES, FORTtriED OOCK\:<^RDS-& NAVAL HARBOURS shown 'has ^"^f* 
 
 ENPOUS FORCES ENGAGED IN LAND AND SEA OPERATIONS 
 
o3 ^ 
 
 Z-, ^ ^ 
 
 =s a o 
 
 ^ 5 tn 
 
 » ^ «» 
 
 c3 03 Q 
 
 tH oj E 
 
 -tJ IS- CO 
 
 .3 tJ 
 
 O 4) 
 
 ^ 03 
 
ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 17 
 
 without money enough to buy a meal. One tomist said: "I 
 had to give a Milwaukee doctor, who had a letter of credit for $2,500, 
 money today to get shaved." London hotels showed much consider- 
 ation for the needs of travelers without ready cash, but on the 
 continent there were many such who were refused hotel accom- 
 modation. 
 
 As for those who reached New York or other American ports, 
 many had fled in such haste as to leave their baggage behind. 
 Numbers of the poorer travelers had exhausted their scanty stores 
 of cash in the effort to escape from Europe and reached port utterly 
 penniless. The case was one that called for immediate and adequate 
 solution and the governmental and moneyed interests on this side 
 did their utmost to cope with the situation. Vessels of American 
 register were too few to carry the host applying for transportation, 
 and it was finally decided to charter foreign vessels for this purpose 
 and thus hasten the work of moving the multitude of appealing 
 tomists. From 15,000 to 20,000 of these needed immediate atten- 
 tion, a majority of them being destitute. 
 
 AN OCEAN INCIDENT 
 
 Men and women needed not only transportation, but money 
 also, and in this particular there is an interesting story to tell. 
 The German steamer Kronprinzessin Cecilie, bound for Bremen, 
 had sailed from New York before the outbreak of the war, carrying 
 about 1,200 passengers and a precious freight of gold, valued at 
 $10,700,000. The value of the vessel herself added $5,000,000 to 
 this sum. What had become of her and her tempthig cargo was for 
 a time unknown. There were rumors that she had been captured 
 by a British cruiser, but this had no better foundation than such 
 rumors usually have. Her captain was alert to the situation, 
 being informed by wireless of the sudden change from peace to war. 
 One such message, received from an Irish wireless station, conveyed 
 an order from the Bremen company for him to return with all haste 
 to an American port. 
 
18 ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 
 
 It was on the evening of Friday, July 31st, that this order came. 
 At once the vessel changed its course. One by one the ship's lights 
 were put out. The decks which could not be made absolutely 
 dark were enclosed with canvas. By midnight the ship was as 
 dark as the sea surrounding. On she went through Saturday and 
 on Sunday ran into a dense fog. Through this she rushed with un- 
 checked speed and in utter silence, not a toot coming from her fog- 
 horn. This was all very well as a measure of secrecy, but it opened 
 the way to serious danger through a possible collision, and a com- 
 mittee of passengers was formed to request the captain to reconsider 
 his action. Just as the committee reached his room the first blast 
 of the fog-horn was heard, its welcome tone bringing a sense of 
 security where grave apprehension had prevailed. 
 
 A group of financiers were on board who offered tobuy the 
 ship and sail her under American colors. ' But to all such proposals 
 Captain Polack turned a deaf ear. He said that his duty was 
 spelled by his orders from Bremen to turn back and save his ship, 
 and these he proposed to obey. A passenger stated: 
 
 ''There were seven of the crew on watch all the time, two 
 aloft. This enabled the captain to know of passing vessels before 
 they came above the horizon. We were undoubtedly in danger 
 on Sunday afternoon. We intercepted a wireless message in French 
 in which two French cruisers were exchanging data in regard to 
 their positions. 
 
 "The captain told me that he imagined those to be two vessels 
 who regularly patroled the fishing grounds in the interest of French 
 fisheries. If the captain of either of those vessels should have come 
 out of the fog and found us, his share of the prize in money might 
 have amounted to $4,000,000. Did privateer ever dream of such 
 booty! 
 
 ''Early on Satm-day our four great funnels were given broad 
 black bands in order to make us look like the Olympic, which was 
 supposed to be twenty-four hours ahead of us. There was a 
 certain grim humor in the fact that the wireless operator on the 
 
ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 19 
 
 Olympic kept calling us all Friday night. Of course we did not 
 answer." 
 
 On Tuesday, August 4tli, the great ship came within sight of 
 land at the little village of Bar Harbor, Mount Desert Island, off 
 the coast of Maine; a port scarce large enough to hold the giant 
 liner that had sought safety in its waters. Wireless messages 
 were at once flashed to all parts of the country and the news that the 
 endangered vessel, with its precious cargo, was safe, was received 
 with general relief. As regards the futm-e movements of the ship 
 Captain Polack said: 
 
 "I can see no possibility of taking this shij) to New York from 
 here with safety. To avoid foreign vessels we should have to keep 
 within the three-mile limit, and to accomplish this the ship would 
 have to be built like a canoe. We have reached an American port 
 in safety and that was more than I dared to hope. We have been 
 in almost constant danger of capture, and we can consider omselves 
 extremely lucky to have come out so well. 
 
 " I know I have been criticized for making too great speed under 
 bad weather conditions, but I have not wilfully endangered the 
 lives of the passengers. I would rather have lost the whole ship 
 and cargo than have assmned any such risk. Of com'se, aside from 
 this consideration, my one aun has been to save my ship and my 
 cargo from capture. 
 
 "I have not been acting on my own initiative, but under orders 
 from the North German Lloyd in Bremen, and although I am an 
 oflicer in the German navy my duty has been to the steamship 
 Hne." 
 
 CLOSING THE STOCK MARKETS 
 
 We have so far dealt with only a few of the results of the war. 
 There were various others of great moment, to some of which a 
 passing allusion has been made. 
 
 On July 30th, for the first time in history, the stock markets 
 of the world were all closed at the same time. Heretofore when the 
 
20 ALL EUKOPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 
 
 European markets have been closed those on this side of the ocean 
 remained open. The New York Exchange was the last big stock 
 market to announce temporary suspension of business. The 
 New York Cotton Exchange closed, following the announcement 
 of the failure of several brokerage firms. Stock Exchanges through- 
 out the United States followed the example set by New York. 
 The Stock Exchanges in London and the big provincial cities, as 
 well as those on the Continent, ceased business, owing to the break- 
 down of the credit system, which was made complete by the 
 postponement of the Paris settlement. 
 
 Depositors stormed every bank in London for gold, and the 
 runs continued until eveiy bank was closed. In order to protect 
 its dwindling gold supply the Bank of England raised its discount 
 rate to 8 per cent. Leading bankers of London requested Premier 
 Asquith to suspend the bank act, and he promised to lay the matter 
 before the Chancellor of the Exchequer. In all the capitals of 
 Em-ope financial transactions virtually came to a standstill. The 
 slump in the market value of securities within the first week of the 
 war flurry was estimated at $2,000,000,000, and radical measures 
 were necessary to prevent hasty action while the condition of panic 
 prevailed. 
 
 This sudden stoppage of ordinary financial operations was 
 accompanied by a similar cessation of the industries of peace over 
 a wide range of territory. The artisan was forced to let fall the 
 tools of his trade and take up those of war. The railroads were 
 similarly denuded of their employees except in so far as they were 
 needed to convey soldiers and military suppHes. The customary 
 uses of the railroad were largely suspended and travel went on under 
 great difficulties. In a measm-e it had returned to the conditions 
 existing before the invention of the locomotive. Even horse traffic 
 was limited by the demands of the army for these animals, and foot 
 travel regained some of its old ascendency. 
 
 War makes business active in one direction and in one only, 
 that of army and navy supply, of the manufacture of the imple- 
 
■4-1 
 
 eg 03 
 
 3 fe (B 
 
 O 2 
 
 ■^ Sl=! 
 
 r-; ro O 
 
 ° pq 
 J 5 
 
 PI 1^ 
 
 O « (U 
 ° H fi 
 
 0) i-i ? 
 <U «*-( O) 
 
 "^ ft a; 
 
 03 tr-l^ 
 
 ^«« 
 
 S 
 
 5 6 
 
 I I 
 
 fl( ^ 
 
 
 o 
 
 g 
 
 
 rt 
 
 
 
 
 'o 
 
 J3 
 
 
 -^l^ 
 
 § 
 
 g 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 ■^ 
 
 o 
 
 ;i 
 
 
 o 
 
 U 
 
 <U 
 
 g 
 
 T3 
 
 1 
 
 H 
 
 o 
 
 ^ 
 
ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 21 
 
 ments of destruction, of vast quantities of explosives, of multitudes 
 of death-dealing weapons. Food supplies need to be diverted in the 
 same direction, the demands of the soldier being considered fu'st, 
 those of the home people last, the latter being often supplied at 
 starvation prices. There is plenty of work to do — of its kind. But 
 it is of a kind that injures instead of aiding the people of the nations. 
 
 TERRIBLE EFFECTS OF WAR ^ 
 
 This individual source of misery and suffering in war times is 
 accompanied by a more direct one, that of the main purpose of war 
 — destruction of human life and of property that might be utiUzed 
 by an enemy, frequently of merciless brigandage and devastation. 
 It is horrible to think of the frightful suffering caused by every great 
 battle. Immediate death on the field might reasonably be welcomed 
 as an escape from the suffering arising from wounds, the terrible 
 mutilations, the injuries that rankle throughout life, the conversion 
 of hosts of able-bodied men into feeble invahds, to be kept by the 
 direct aid of their fellows or the indirect aid of the people at large 
 through a system of pensions. 
 
 The physical sufferings of the soldiers from wounds and priva- 
 tions are perhaps not the greatest. Side by side with them are the 
 mental anxieties of their families at home, their terrible suspense, 
 the effect upon them of tidings of the maiming or death of those 
 dear to them or on whose labor they immediately depend. The 
 harvest of misery arising from this cause it is impossible to estimate. 
 It is not to be seen in the open. It dwells unseen in humble homes, 
 in city, village, or field, borne often uncomplainingly, but not less 
 poignant from this cause. The tears and terrors thus produced 
 are beyond calculation. But while the glories of war are celebrated 
 with blast of trumpet and roU of drum, the terrible accompaniment 
 of groans of misery is too apt to pass unheard and die away for- 
 gotten. 
 
 To turn from this roll of horrors, there are costs of war in other 
 directions to be considered. These include the ravage of <^ities 
 
22 ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 
 
 by flame or pillage, the loss of splendid works of architecture, the 
 irretrievable destruction of great productions of art, the vanishing 
 of much on which the world had long set store, 
 
 THE TIDE OF DESTRUCTION 
 
 Not only on land, but at sea as well, the tide of destruction 
 rises and swells. Huge warships, built at a cost of millions of 
 dollars and tenanted by hundreds of hardy sailors, are torn and 
 rent by shot and shell and at times sent to the bottom with all on 
 board by the explosion of toi-pedoes beneath their improtected 
 lower hulls. The torpedo boat, the submarine, with other agencies 
 of unseen destruction, have come into play to add enormously 
 to the horrors of naval warfare, while the bomb-dropping airship, 
 letting fall its dire missiles from the sky, has come to add to the 
 dread terror and torment of the battle-field. 
 
 We began this chapter with a statement of the startling sud- 
 denness of this great war, and the widespread consequences 
 which immediately followed. We have been led into a discussion 
 of its issues, of the disturbing and distracting consequences which 
 cannot fail to follow any great modern war between civilized nations. 
 We had some examples of this on a small scale in the recent Balkan- 
 Turkish war. But that was of minor importance and its effects, 
 many of them sanguinary and horrible, were mainly confined to the 
 region in which it occurred. But a war covering nearly a whole 
 continent cannot be confined and circumscribed in its conse- 
 quences. All the world must feel them in a measure — though 
 diminishing with distance. The vast expanse of water which 
 separates the United States from the European continent could not 
 save its citizens from feeling certain ill effects from the struggle 
 of war lords. America and Europe are tied together with many 
 cords of business and interest, and the severing or weakening 
 of these cannot fail to be seriously felt. Canada, at a similar 
 width of removal from Europe, had reason to feel it still more 
 seriously, from its close political relations with Great Britain and 
 
ALL EUllOPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 23 
 
 the ties of race and governmental conditions which intimately 
 bind them. In fact, the war practically crossed the ocean and 
 brought the Dominion of Canada within its reach. Many loyal 
 Canadians stepped into the fray as an aid to the British cause. 
 
 WHO CAUSED THE CONFLICT? 
 
 Returning to the topic of the suddenness of the issue, which in 
 less than a week plunged the five leading nations of Europe into 
 internecine war, shall we seek to discover an adequate reason for this 
 rapid plimge into the arena of conflict? It was much less a rising of 
 people against people than of war lord against war lord. What had 
 the great mass of the people to do with it, except to raise the idle 
 cries of "Hoch der Kaiser," ''On to Berlm," and the like popular 
 mouthings! "What had the men of wealth and business promi- 
 nence to do with it? What the parliaments of the nations? The 
 fact is patent that this vast, this inexcusable, war was primarly due 
 to thi'ee men, three autocrats, three rulers of a type beyond which 
 the civilized world has long since grown, bare surviving remnants 
 of Roman imperiaUsm and medieval tyranny. These three men 
 were Francis Joseph of Austria, Wilham II of Germany, Nicholas II 
 of Russia, men who, when it came to a question of war, had but to 
 raise their hand and the peoples under their rule were forced to 
 respond. We are not here concerned with their motives, the secret 
 ambitions or political considerations that moved them. What we 
 are concerned with is the terrible fact that three men, in this age of 
 national progress, still possessed the power to plunge a continent 
 into carnage, cause the slaughter of himdreds of thousands of their 
 subjects and the misery of the milUons dependent upon them. In 
 the words of Shakespeare, "It is not, and it cannot come to good." 
 The conclusion of this passage from the great bard, ''but break my 
 heart, for I must hold my tongue," does not apply to the modern 
 historical critic, since to hold his tongue is the very last thing that 
 he would thinli of doing in such a crisis. 
 
 It would have been but just, if those men were so eager for 
 
24 ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 
 
 war, to have put them in the field themselves and let them decide 
 the issue involved by a triple duel. If the whole three had fallen 
 upon the field of glory the world would have closed over them 
 almost without a ripple and all moved smoothly on. But to call 
 vast armies into the field, to slaughter innocent men in myriads! 
 that is another question. 
 
 In this age of the world it is out of all reason for any one man 
 to have such fearful power. It is not a matter here of abihty 
 to decide wisely upon great issues, but that of any single, fallible 
 individual's possessing such power. If war is threatened it should 
 be decided upon deliberately and calmly by a body of the seniors 
 of the na,tion, not the self-chosen advisers of the emperor. It may 
 be said, indeed, that in such a case a nation might be practically 
 vanquished before it was ready to strike back at a more impulsive 
 enemy. Yet France and Britain are governed by such bodies of 
 seniors, and neither of them can well go to war without parliamen- 
 tary approval. Yet in the present exigency such dehberations as 
 were necessary caused no loss of time, and both were ready to strike 
 back promptly when their interests and obligations were threatened. 
 
 COST OF MODERN WAKFARE 
 
 Let us close this preliminary chapter with a consideration, not 
 of the inmiediate effect of war, but of its final cost. In the end, 
 after the storm has passed, the changes of territory, if any, are 
 made, and industry has begun to revive, what remains? There 
 is left a load of debt that for half a century or longer after the 
 war will hang like a chain around the necks of the people, every 
 man and woman of which will feel its constricting bonds. 
 
 Here it is not the men who made the war that suffer. They 
 have long been laid away in the cemetery, with statues significant 
 of the ''glory" of their career, anthems chanted to their memory. 
 It is not they who must pay the cost. Tliis falls upon the 
 people, who are taxed through generations to meet the dead and 
 past issue, and suffer a perennial privation in consequence. 
 
ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 25 
 
 And in the days to which we have now come the cost of war is a 
 giant to be reckoned with. With every increase in the size of 
 cannon, the tonnage of warships, the destructiveness of weapons 
 and ammunition, this element of cost grows proportionately greater 
 and has in our day become stupendous. Nations may spend in 
 our era more cold cash in a day of war than would have served for a 
 year in the famous days of chivalry. A study of this question 
 was made by &tmy and navy experts m 1914, and they decided 
 that the expense to the five nations concerned in the European war 
 would be not less than $50,000,000 a day. 
 
 If we add to this the loss of untold numbers of young men in 
 the prime of life, whose labor is needed in the fields and workshops 
 of the nations involved, other bilHions of dollars must be added 
 to the estimate, due to the crippling of industries. There is also the 
 destruction of property to be considered, including the very costly 
 modern battleships, this also footing up into the billions. 
 
 When it is considered that in thirteen years the cost of main- 
 tenance of the armies and navies of the warring countries, as well as 
 the cost of naval construction, exceeded $20,000,000,000, some idea 
 may be had of the expense attached to war a.nd the preparations 
 of European countries for just such contingencies as those that arose 
 in Europe in 1914. The cost of the Panama Canal, one of the most 
 useful aids to the commerce of the world, was approximately 
 $375,000,000, but the expense of the preparations for war in Europe 
 during the time it took to build the canal exceeded the cost of this 
 gigantic midertakuig nearly sixty to one. 
 
 The money thus expended on preparation for war during the 
 thirteen years named would, if spent in railroad and marme construc- 
 tion, have given vast commercial power to these nations. To what 
 extent have they been benefited by the rivalry to gain, precedence in 
 military power? They stand on practically the same basis now that 
 it is all at an end. Would they not be on the same basis if it had 
 never begun? Aside from this is the incentive to employ these vast 
 armaments in the purpose for which they were designed, the effect 
 
26 ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 
 
 of creating a niilitaiy spirit and developing a military caste in 
 each by the nations, a result very likely to be productive of ill effects. 
 The total expense of maintenance of armies and navies, together 
 with the cost of construction in thirteen years, in Germany, Austria, 
 Russia, France and Great Britain, was as follows: 
 
 Naval expenditures $5,648,525,000 
 
 Construction 2,146,765,000 
 
 Cost of armies 13,138,403,000 
 
 Total $20,933,693,000 
 
 The wealth of the same nations in round figures is: 
 
 Great Britam $80,000,000,000 
 
 Germany 60,500,000,000 
 
 Austria 25,000,000,000 
 
 France 65,000,000,000 
 
 Russia 40,000,000,000 
 
 Total $270,500,000,000 
 
 This enormous expense which was incurred in preparation for 
 war needed to be rapidly increased to meet the expenses of actual 
 warfare. The British House of Commons authorized war credits 
 amounting to $1,025,000,000, while the German Reichstag voted 
 $1,250,000,000. Austria and France had to set aside vast sum_s 
 for their respective war chests. 
 
 HALF CENTURY TO PAY DEBTS 
 
 In anticipation of trouble Germany in 1913 voted $250,000,000 
 for extraordinary war expenses and about $100,000,000 was spent 
 on an aerial fleet. France spent $60,000,000 for the same purpose. 
 
 The annual cost of maintaining the great armies and navies of 
 
ALL EUIIOPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 27 
 
 Europe even on a peace basis is enormous, and it must be vastly 
 increased during war. The official figures for 1913-14 are: 
 
 British army $224,300,000 
 
 British navy 224,140,000 
 
 German army 183,090,000 
 
 German navy 1117300,000 
 
 French army 191,431,580 
 
 French navy 119,571,400 
 
 Russian army 317,800,000 
 
 Russian navy 122,500,000 
 
 Austrian army 82,300,000 
 
 Austrian navy 42,000,000 
 
 Total. . . ^ $1,618,432,980 
 
 It was evident that taxes to meet the extraordinary expenses of 
 war would have to be greatly increased in Germany and France. 
 As business became at a standstill throughout Europe and every port 
 of entry blocked, experts wondered where the money was to come 
 from. All agreed that, when peace should be declared and the 
 figures were all in, the result financially would be staggering and that 
 the heaviest burden it had ever borne would rest upon Europe for 
 fifty years to come. For when the roar of the cannon ceases and 
 the nations are at rest, then dawns the era of payment, inevitable, 
 unescapable, one in which for generations every man and woman 
 must share. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 Underlying Causes of the Great European War 
 
 Assassination of the Austrian Crown Prince — ^Austria's Motive in Making War — Servia 
 Accepts Austria's Demand — The Ironies of History — What Austria had to Gain — How 
 the War Became Continental — ^An Editorial Opinion — Is the Kaiser Responsible? — 
 Germany's Stake in the War — Why Russia Entered the Field — France's Hatred 
 of Germany — Great Britain and Italy — The Triple Alliance and Triple Entente. 
 
 'HAT brought on the mighty war which so suddenly 
 sprang forth? What evident, what subtle, what deep- 
 hidden causes led to this sudden demohtion of the temple 
 of peace? What pride of power, what lust of ambition, what desire 
 of imperial dominion cast the armed hosts of the nations into the 
 field of conflict, on which multitudes of innocent victims were to 
 be sacrificed to the insatiate hunger for blood of the modem 
 Moloch? 
 
 Here are questions which few are capable of answering. Osten- 
 sible answers may be given, surface causes, reasons of immediate 
 potency. But no one will be wiUing to accept these as the 
 true moving causes. For a continent to spring in a week's time 
 from complete peace into almost universal war, with all the great 
 and several of the small Powers involved, is not to be explained 
 by an apothegm or embraced within the limits of a paragraph. If 
 not all, certainly several of these nations had enmities to be un- 
 chained, ambitions to be gratified, long-hidden purposes to be put in 
 action. They seemed to have been awaiting an opportunity, and 
 it came when the anger of the Servians at the seizure of Bosnia 
 by Austria culminated in a mad act of assassination. 
 
 ASSASSINATION OF THE AUSTRIAN CROWN PRINCE 
 
 The immediate cause, so far as apparent to us, of the war in 
 question was the murder, on June 29, 1914, of the Austrian Crown 
 
 (28) 
 

 T) 
 
 
 C 
 
 
 tS . 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
 ;>^ 
 
 ,±^ <U 
 
 > 
 
 l^fe 
 
 <j 
 
 
 fc 
 
 t3 '-t-^ 
 
 w 
 
 < rt 
 
 rn 
 
 (U -M 
 
 R 
 
 
 S 
 
 M-v <U 
 
 « 
 
 Of 
 
 pq 
 
 td 
 
 
 
 W 
 
 c <-> 
 
 H 
 
 oj 1:1 
 
 
 o 
 
 1^ 
 O 
 
 CJ 03 
 
 
 o 
 
 q 
 
 o ^~ 
 
 & 
 
 ^p 
 
 <u 
 
 U cS 
 
 S 
 
 m^ 
 
 o 
 
 1^ 
 
 o 
 
 fa.M 
 
 
 t3 O 
 
 w 
 
 "?1. 
 
 w 
 
 i oj 
 
 H 
 
 r^"^ 
 
 
 > 5^ 
 
 
 c 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 U 
 
 !^ S -TS 
 
 ^ U3 
 ?^ 6 c 
 
 ^ 33 
 o^ 
 
 
 
 
 P^ 
 
 
 'O 
 
 03 
 
 £ ai S " 
 
UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 29 
 
 Prince Francis Ferdinand and his wife, while on a visit to Sarajevo, 
 the capital of Bosnia, the assassin being a Servian student, supposed 
 to have come for that purpose from Belgrade, the Servian capital. 
 The inspiring cause of this dastardly act was the feeling of hostility 
 towards Austria which was widely entertained in Servia. Bosnia was 
 a part of the ancient kingdom of Servia. The bulk of its people are 
 of Slavic origin and speak the Servian language. Servia was eager to 
 regain it, as a possible outlet for a border on the Mediterranean Sea. 
 When, therefore, in 1908, Austria annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina, 
 which had been imder her military'' control since 1878, the indigna- 
 tion in Servia was great. While it had died down in a measure 
 in the subsequent years, the feehng of injury survived in many 
 hearts, and there is httle reason to doubt that the assassination of 
 Archduke Ferdinand was a result of this pervading sentiment. 
 
 In fact, the Austrian government was satisfied that the murder 
 plot was hatched in Belgrade and held that Servian officials were in 
 some way concerned in it. The Servian press gave some warrant 
 for this, being openly boastful and defiant in its comments. When 
 the Austrian consul-general at Belgrade dropped dead in the con- 
 sulate the papers showed their satisfaction and hinted that he had 
 been poisoned. This attitude of the press evidently was one of 
 the reasons for the stringent demand made by Austria on July 23d, 
 requiring apology and change of attitude from Servia and asking for 
 a reply by the hour of 6 p. m. on the 25th. The demands were in 
 I part as follows: 
 
 1. An apology by the Servian government in its official journal 
 for all Pan-Sei'vian propaganda and for the participation of Servian 
 army officers in it, and warning all Servians in the future to desist 
 from anti- Austrian demonstrations. 
 
 2. That orders to this effect should be issued to the Servian army. 
 
 3. That Servia should dissolve all societies capable of con- 
 ducting intrigues against Austria. 
 
 4. That Servia should curb the activities of the Servian press 
 in regard to Austria. 
 
30 UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 
 
 5. That Austrian officials should be permitted to conduct an 
 inquiry in Servia independent of the Servian government into the 
 Sarajevo plot. 
 
 An answer to these demands was sent out at ten minutes before 
 6 o'clock on the 25th, in which Servia accepted all demands except 
 the last, which it did not deem "in accordance with international 
 law and good neighborly relations." It asked that this demand 
 should be submitted to The Hague Tribunal. The Austrian Minis- 
 ter at Belgrade, Baron Giesl von Gieslingen, refused to accept this 
 reply and at once left the capital with the entire staff of the legation. 
 The die was cast, as Austria probably intended that it should be. 
 
 Austria's motive in making war 
 
 It had, in fact, become evident early in July that the mihtary 
 party in Austria was seeking to manufactm-e a popular demand for 
 war, based on the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand and his 
 wife. Such was the indication of the tone of the Vienna newspapers, 
 which appeared desirous of working up a senthnent hostile to Servia. 
 It may be doubted if the aged emperor was a party to this. Probably 
 his assent was a forced one, due to the insistence of the war party 
 and the public sentiment developed by it. That the murder of 
 the Ai'chduke was the real cause of the action of Austria can scarcely 
 be accepted in view of Servia's acceptance of Austria's rigid demands. 
 The actual cause was undoubtedly a deeper one, that of Austria's 
 long-cherished purpose of gaining a foothold on the yEgean Sea, 
 for which the possession of Servia was necessary as a preHminaiy 
 step. A plausible motive was needed, any pretext that would serve 
 as a satisfactory excuse to Europe for hostile action and that could 
 at the same time be utiUzed in developing Austrian indignation 
 against the Servians. Such a motive came in the act of assassination 
 and immediate use was made of it. The Austrian war party 
 contended that the deed was planned at Belgrade, that it had been 
 fomented by Servian officials, and that these had supplied the 
 murderer with explosives and aided in their transfer into Bosnia. 
 
UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR ?A 
 
 What evidence Austria possessed leading to this opinion we 
 do not know. While it is not likely that there was any actual 
 evidence, the case was one that called for investigation, and Austria 
 was plainly within its rights in demanding such an inquiry and due 
 punishment of every one found to be connected with the tragic deed. 
 But Austria went farther than this. It was willing to accept 
 nothing less than a complete and humiliating submission on the 
 part of Servia. And the impression was widely entertained, whether 
 with or without cause, that in this Austria was not acting alone 
 but that it had the full support of Germany. That country also 
 may be supposed to have had its ends to gain. What these were we 
 shall consider later. 
 
 SERVIA ACCEPTS AUSTRIA'S DEMANDS 
 
 Imperious as had been the demand of Austria, one which would 
 never have been submitted to a Power of equal strength, Servia 
 accepted it, expressing itself as willing to comply with all the con- 
 ditions imposed except that relating to the participation of Aus- 
 trian officials in the inquiry, an explanation being asked on this 
 point. If this reply should be deemed inadequate, Servia stood 
 ready to submit the question at issue to The Hague Peace Tribunal 
 and to the Powers which had signed the declaration of 1909 relating 
 to Bosnia and Herzegovina. 
 
 The subsequent action of Austria was significant. The Aus- 
 trian Minister at Belgrade, as before stated, rejected it as unsatis- 
 factory and immediately left the Servian capital. He acted, in short, 
 v/ith a precipitancy that indicated that he was acting under instruc- 
 tions. This was made very evident by what immediately followed. 
 When news came on July 28th that war had been declared and active 
 hostilities commenced, it was accompanied by the statement that 
 Austria would not now be satisfied even with a full acceptance of her 
 demands. 
 
 That the intention of this imperious demand and what quickly 
 followed was to force a war, no one can doubt. Servia's nearly 
 
32 UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT VfAR 
 
 complete assent to the conditions imposed was declared to be not 
 only misatisfactory, but also '' dishonorable," a word doubtless 
 deliberately used. Evidently no door was to be left open for 
 retrogressive consideration. 
 
 THE IRONIES OF HISTORY 
 
 It is one of the ironies of history that a people who once played 
 a leading part in saving the Austrian capital from capture should 
 come to be threatened by the armies of that capital. This takes 
 us back to the era when Servia, a powerful empire of those days, 
 fell under the dominion of the conquering Turks, whose armies 
 fiu'ther overran Hungary and besieged Vienna. Had this city been 
 captured, all central Europe would have lain open to the barbarities 
 of the Turks. In its defense the Servians played a leading part, 
 so great a one that we are told by a Hungarian historian, "It was 
 the Serb Bacich who saved Vienna." But in 1914 Servia was 
 brought to the need of saving itself from Vienna. 
 
 WHAT AUSTRIA HAD TO GAIN 
 
 If it be asked what Austria had to gain by this act; what was 
 her aim in forcing war upon a far weaker state; the answer is at hand. 
 The Balkan States, of which Servia is a prominent member, lie in 
 a direct line between Europe and the Orient. A great power 
 occupying the whole of the Balkan peninsula would possess political 
 advantages far beyond those enjoyed by Austria-Hungary. It 
 would be in a position giving it great influence over, if not strategic; 
 control of, the Suez Canal, the commerce of the Mediterranean, 
 and a considerable all-rail route between Central Em-ope and the 
 far East. Salonika, on the ^gean Sea, now in Greek territory, 
 is one of the finest harbors on the Mediterranean Sea. A railway 
 through Servia now connects this port with Austria and Germany. 
 In addition to this railway it is not unlikely that a canal may in 
 the near future connect the Danube with the harbor of Salonika. 
 If this project should be carried out, the commerce of the Danube 
 
BATTLE.GROIIND OP EASTERN EUROPE 
 
34 UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 
 
 and its tributary streams and canals, even that of central and western 
 Gennany, would be able to reach the Mediterranean without passing 
 through the perilous Iron Gates of the Danube or being subjected 
 to the delays and dangers incident to the long passage through the 
 Black Sea and the Grecian Archipelago. 
 
 We can see in all this a powerful motive for Austria to seek to 
 gain possession of Servia, as a step towards possible future control 
 of the whole Balkan penmsula. The commercial and manufactm- 
 ing interests of Austria-Himgary were growing, and mastership of 
 such a route to the Mediterranean would mean inunense advantage 
 to this ambitious empire. Possession of northern Italy once gave 
 her the advantage of an important outlet to the Mediterranean. 
 Tliis, thi'ough events that will be spoken of in later chapters, was 
 lost to her. She apparently then sought to reach it by a more 
 direct and open road, that leading through Salonika. 
 
 Such seem the reasons most likely to have been active in the 
 Austrian assault upon Servia. The murder of an Austrian arch- 
 duke by an insignificant assassin gave no sufficient warrant for the 
 act. The whole movement of events indicates that Austria was 
 not seeking retribution for a crime but seizing upon a pretext for 
 a predeteraiined purpose and couching her demands upon Servia 
 in terms which no self-respecting nation could accept without 
 protest. Servia was to be put in a position from which she could 
 not escape and every door of retreat against the arbitrament of war 
 wa& closed against her. 
 
 But in this retrospect we are dealing with Austria and Servia 
 alone. What brought Germany, what brought France, what 
 brought practically the whole of Europe into the struggle? What 
 caused it to grow with startling suddenness from a minor into a 
 major conjQict, from a contest between a bulldog and a terrier into 
 a battle between Uons? What were the unseen and unnoted con- 
 ditions that, within little more than a week's time, induced all the 
 leading nations of Europe to cast down the gage of battle and spring 
 full-armed into the arena, bent upon a struggle which threatened 
 
UNDERLllNG CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 35 
 
 to suipass any that the world had ever seen? Certainly no trifling 
 causes were here involved. Only great and far-reaching causes could 
 have brought about such a catastrophe. All Europe ajopeared to be 
 sitting, unknowingly or knowingly, upon a powder barrel which 
 only needed some inconsequent hand to apply the match. It 
 seems incredible that the mere pulling of a trigger by a Sei^vian 
 student and the slaughter of an archduke in the Bosnian capital 
 could in a month's time have plunged all Europe into war. 
 From ymall causes great events may rise. Certainl}'^ that with 
 which we are here deahng strikingly illustrates this homely 
 apothegm. 
 
 HOW THE WAR BECAME CONTINENTAL 
 
 We cannot hope to point out the varied causes which were 
 at work in this vast event. Very possibly the leading ones are 
 unknown to us. Yet some of the important ones are evident and 
 may be made evident, and to these we must restrict ourselves. 
 
 Allusion has ah'eady been made to the general behef that the 
 Emperor of Germany was deeply concerned in it, and that Austria 
 would not have acted as it did without assurance of support, in fact 
 without direct instigation, from some strong allied Power, and this 
 Power is adjudged aUke by pubUc and private opinion to have been 
 Germany, acting in the person of its ambitious war lord, the 
 dominating Kaiser. 
 
 It may be stated that all the Powers concerned have sought to 
 disclaim responsibihty. Thus Servia called the world to witness that 
 her answer to Austria was the limit of submission and conciUation. 
 Austria, thiough her ambassador to the United States, solemnly 
 declared that her assault upon Servia was a measure of ''self- 
 defense." Russia explained her action as "benevolent intervention," 
 and expressed "a humble hope in omnipotent providence" that 
 her hosts would be triumphant. Germany charged France with per- 
 fidious attack upon the unarmed border of the fatherland, and 
 proclaimed a holy war for ''the security of her territory." France 
 
WHERE THE BATTLES OF WESTERN EUROPE HAVE BEEN AND WILL 
 
 BE FOUGHT 
 
 3eI^i&n7rooj3s-^ ® airman Troops^ -f 4- Fr€>nch Troops ® 
 
Th 
 Poincar 
 membe 
 and the 
 the hon 
 
 
 5 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 3 " -^ rtS CD 
 
 
 a. 
 
 chi 
 , at 
 of t 
 man 
 r of 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 H 
 
 a 
 
 i§:?c.i 
 
 w 
 
 R. 
 
 
 
 
 
 ►d 
 
 a. 
 
 ive of 
 
 in the 
 
 1 Acad 
 
 om fall 
 
 CO 
 
 a 
 
 Ul -i 
 
 w 
 
 
 NT OF 
 
 the Fren 
 Elysees 
 
 my, a fa 
 most of 
 
 .'^' 
 
 ch R 
 Palac 
 mous 
 the b 
 
 
 
 C ir-ca a> 
 
 l^fj 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 p re e K 
 
 
 
 Rayu 
 
 He 
 
 nd au 
 
 defen 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 on »^ p &• 
 
 
 

 ^.^ij|»«^j 
 
 ■ "'' ' 
 
 a g 
 
UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 37 
 
 and England, Belgium and Italy deplored the conflict and protested 
 that they were innocent of offense. So far as all this is concerned 
 the facts are generally held to point to Germany as the chief in- 
 stigator of the war. 
 
 Russia, indeed, had made threatening movements toward 
 Austria as a warnmg to her to desist from her threatened invasion 
 of Servia. Great Britain proposed mediation. Germany made 
 no movement in the direction of preventing the war, but directed 
 its attention to Russia, warning it to stop mobiUzation within 
 twenty-four hours, and inmiediately afterward beginning a similar 
 movement of mobilization in its own territory. On August 1st 
 Germany declared war against Russia, the first step towards making 
 the contest a continental one. On the 2d, when France began 
 mobiUzation, German forces moved against Russia and France 
 simultaneously and invaded the neutral states of Luxembourg and 
 Belgium. It was her persistence in the latter movement that 
 brought Great Britam into the contest, as this country was pledged 
 to support Belgian neutrahty. On August 4th, Great Britain 
 sent an ultimatiun to Germany to withdraw from the neutral 
 territory which her troops had entered. Germany retorted by a 
 declaration of war against Great Britain. This was issued at 7 p. m. 
 Great Britain repUed by a similar declaration at 11 p. m. 
 
 AN EDITORIAL OPINION 
 
 As regards the significance of these movements, in which 
 Germany hurled declarations of war in rapid succession to east 
 and west, and forced the issue of a continental war upon nations 
 which had taken no decisive step, it may suffice to"quote an editorial 
 summing up of the situation as regards Germany, from the Phila- 
 delphia North American of August 7th : 
 
 ''From these facts there is no escape. Leaving aside all ques- 
 tions of justice or poUtical expediency, the aggressor throughout 
 has been Germany. Austria's fury over the assassination of the 
 heir to the throne was natural. But Servia tendered full reparation. 
 
38 UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 
 
 So keen and conservative an authority as Rear Admiral Mahan 
 declares that ^the aggressive insolence' of Austria's ultimatum 
 'and Servia's concession of all demands except those too humihating 
 for national self-respect' show that behind Austria's assault was 
 the instigiition of Berlin. He adds: 
 
 "'Knowing how the matter would be viewed in Russia, it is 
 incredible that Austria would have ventured on the ultimatum unless 
 assured beforehand of the consent of Germany. The inference is 
 irresistible that it was the pretext for a war already determined upon 
 as soon as plausible occasion offered.' 
 
 "Circumstantial evidence, at least, places responsibihty for the 
 flinging of the first firebrand upon the government of the Kaiser. 
 Now, who added fuel to the flames, until the great conflagration 
 was under way? 
 
 "The next move was the Czar's. ^Fraternal sentiments of the 
 Russian people for the Slavs in Servia,' he says, led him to order 
 partial mobilization, following Austria's invasion of Servia. In- 
 stantly Germany protested, and within forty-eight hours sent an 
 ultimatum demanding that Russia cease her preparations. On the 
 following day Germany began mobilizing, and twenty-four hours 
 later declared war on Russia. MobiHzation in France, necessitated 
 by these events, was anticipated by Germany, which simultaneously 
 flung forces into Russia, France, Luxembourg and Belgium. 
 
 "It was Germany's historic poUcy of 'blood and iron' that 
 fired Austria to attempt the crushing of Servia. It was Germany 
 that hurled an ultimatum, swiftly followed by an army, at Russia. 
 It was Germany that struck first at the French frontier. It was 
 Germany that trampled upon solenrn treaty engagements by 
 invading the neutral states of Luxembourg and Belgium. And it 
 was Germany that, in answer to England's demand that the neutral- 
 ity of Belgium be protected, declared war against Great Britain. 
 
 "Regardless, therefore, of questions of right and wrong, it is 
 undeniable that in each succeeding crisis Germany has taken the 
 aggressive. In so doing she has been inspired by a supreme confi- 
 
UNDEKLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 39 
 
 dence in her military might. But she has less reason to be proud of 
 her diplomacy. The splendid audacity of her moves cannot obscure 
 the fact that in making the case upon which she will be judged 
 she has been outmaneuvered by the dehberation of Russia, the for- 
 bearance of France and the patience of Great Britain. She has 
 assumed the role of international autocrat, while giving her foes 
 the advantage of prosecuting a patriotic war of defense. 
 
 ''Particularly is this true touching the violation of neutral 
 territory. For nearly half a century the duchy of Luxembourg 
 has been considered a 'perpetually neutral state,' under solemn 
 guarantee of Austria, Great Britain, Germany and Russia. Since 
 1830, when Belgium seceded from the Netherlands, it, too, has been 
 held 'an independent and perpetually neutral state,' that status 
 being solemnly declared in a convention signed by Great Britain, 
 France, Russia, Austria and Prussia. Yet the first war move of 
 Gennany was to overrun these countries, seize their railroads, 
 bombard their cities and lay waste their territories. 
 
 "For forty years Germany has been the exemplar of a progres- 
 sive civilization. In spite of her adherence to inflated miUtarism, 
 she has put the whole world in her debt by her inspiring industrial 
 and scientific achievements. Her people have taught mankind 
 lessons of incalculable value, and her sons have enriched far distant 
 lands with their genius. Not the least of the catastrophes inflicted 
 by this inhuman war is that an unbridled autocracy has brought 
 against the great German empire an indictment for arrogant assa.ult 
 upon the peace of nations and the secm-ity of human institutions." 
 
 IS THE KAISER" RESPONSIBLE? 
 
 How much reliance is to be placed on the foregoing newspaper 
 opimon, and on the prevailing sentiment holding Kaiser Wilhelni 
 responsible for flinging the war bomb that disrupted the ranks 
 of peace, no one can say. Every one naturally looked for the 
 fomenter of this frightful international conflict and was disposed to 
 place the blame on the basis of rumor and personal feeling. On 
 
40 UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 
 
 the other hand each nation concerned has vigorously disclaimed 
 responsibility for the cataclysm. Austria — very meekly — claimed 
 that Servia precipitated the conflict. Germany blamed it upon 
 Russia and France, the former from Slavic race sentiment, the 
 latter from enmity that had existed since the loss of Alsace and 
 Lorraine in 1870. They, on the contrary, laid all the blame upon 
 Germany. In the case of England alone we have a clear vista. 
 The obligation of the island kingdom to maintain the neutral 
 position of Belgium and the utter disregard of this neutrality by 
 Germany forced her to take part and throw her armies into the field 
 for the preservation of her international obligations. 
 
 Many opinions were extant, many views advanced. One of 
 these, from Robert C. Long, a war correspondent of note, laid the 
 total responsibility upon Austria, which, he said, plunged Europe 
 into war in disregard of the Kaiser, who vigorously sought to pre- 
 vent the outbreak, even threatening his ally in his efforts to preserve 
 peace. In his view, ''All the blood-guiltiness in this war will rest 
 upon two Powers, Austria and Russia. It rests on Austria for her 
 undue harshness to Servia and on Russia for its dishonesty in secretly 
 mobilizing its entire army at a time when it was imploring the 
 Kaiser to intervene for peace, and when the Kaiser was working for 
 peace with every prospect of success." 
 
 We have quoted one editorial opinion holding Germany wholly 
 responsible. Here is another, from the New York Times, which, 
 with a fair degree of justice, distributes the responsibility among 
 all the warring nations of Europe: 
 
 "Germany is not responsible; Russia is not responsible, or 
 Austria, or France, or England. The pillars of civiUzation are 
 undermined and human aspirations bludgeoned down by no Power, 
 but by all Powers; by no autocrats, but by all autocrats; not 
 because this one or that has erred or dared or 'dreamed or swaggered, 
 but because all, in a mad stampede for armament, trade and terri- 
 tory, have sowed swords and guns, nourished harvests of death- 
 dealing crops, made ready the way. 
 
o Q 
 
 
 wmhf 
 

 4 
 
 GREAT BRITAIN 5 
 
 A graphic showing of the size and formidableness of the i'i 
 )ng Europea.n oowers. 
 
 among iiuropea.n powers. 
 
AT SPITHEAD . 
 
 , which holds superiority both as to strength and efficiency 
 
UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 41 
 
 "For what reason other than war have billions in bonds and 
 taxes been clamped on the backs of all Europe? None sought to 
 evade war; each sought to be prepared to triumph when it came. 
 At most some chancelleries whispered for delay, postponement; 
 they knew the clash to be inevitable; if not today, tomorrow. 
 Avoid war! What else have they lived for, what else prepared for, 
 what else have they inculcated in the mind of youth than the sure- 
 iiess of the conflict and the great glory of offering themselves to 
 this Moloch in sacrifice? 
 
 "No Power involved can cover up the stain. It is indelible, 
 the sin of all Europe. It could have been prevented by common 
 agreement. There was no wish to prevent it. Munition manufac- 
 turers were not alone in urging the race to destruction, physical 
 and financial. The leaders were for it. It was pohcy. A boiling 
 pot will boil, a nurtured seed will grow. There was no escape from 
 the avowed goal. A slow drift to the inevitable, a thunderbolt 
 forged, the awful push toward the vortex! What men and nations 
 want they get." 
 
 Germany's stake in the war 
 
 What had Germany to gain in the war in the instigation of which 
 she is charged with being so deeply involved? Territorial aggran- 
 dizement may have been one of her purposes. Belgium and Holland 
 lay between her and the open Atlantic, and the possession of these 
 countries, with their splendid ports, would pay her well for a reason- 
 able degree of risk and cost. The invasion of Belgimn as her first 
 move in the war game may have had an ulterior purpose in the 
 acquisition of that country, one likely to be as distasteful to France 
 as the taking over of Alsace-Lorraine. Perhaps the neutral position 
 taken by Holland, with her seeming incHnation in favor of Germany, 
 may have had more than racial relations behind it. Considerations 
 of ultimate safety from annexation may have had its share in this 
 attitude of neutrality. 
 
 The general impression has been that Gennany went to war 
 
42 UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 
 
 with the purpose of establishing beyond question her political and 
 military supremacy on the European continent. Mihtary despot- 
 ism in Germany was the decisive factor in making ine^dtable the 
 general war. The Emperor of Germany stood as the incarnation and 
 exponent of the Prussian policy of military autocracy. He had 
 ruled all German States in unwavering obedience to the militarist 
 maxim: ''In times of peace prepare for war." He had used to the 
 full his autocratic power in building up the German Empire and in 
 making it not only a marvel of industrial efficiency, but also a stu- 
 pendous military machine. In this effort he had burdened the 
 people of Germany with an ever-increasing war budget. The limit 
 in this direction was reached with the war budget of the year 1912, 
 when the revenues of the princes and of all citizens of wealth were 
 specially taxed. No new sources of revenue remained. A crisis 
 had come. 
 
 That crisis, from Germany's point of view, was not any 
 menace from Britam or any fear of the British power. It was 
 rather the very real and very rapidly rising menace of the new 
 great Slav power on Germany's border, including, as it did, the 
 Russian Empire and the entire line of Slav countries that encircled 
 Germanic Austria from the Adriatic to Bohemia. These Slav 
 peoples are separated from the governing Teutonic race in the 
 Austrian Empire by the gulfs of blood, language, and religion. 
 And in Europe the Slav population very largely outnumbers the 
 Teuton population. 
 
 Recent events, especially in the Balkan wars, had made it 
 plain, not to the German Emperor alone, but to all the world, 
 that the growth into an organized power of more than two hundred 
 millions of Slav peoples along nearly three thousand miles of inter- 
 national frontier was a menace to the preservation of Teuton 
 supremacy in Europe. That Teuton supremacy was based 
 on the sword. The Geiman Emperor's appeal was to ''My 
 sword." But when the new sword of the united Slav power 
 was allowed to be unsheathed, German supremacy was 
 
UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 43 
 
 threatened on its own ground and by the weapon of its own 
 choosing. 
 
 However all this be, and it must be admitted that it is to a 
 degree speculative, there were in 1914 conditions existing that 
 appeared to render the time a suitable one for the seemingly 
 inevitable continental war. Revelations pointing to defects 
 in the French anny, deficiencies of equipment and weaknesses in 
 artillery, had been made in the French Pai'liament. The debate that 
 occurred was fully dwelt upon in the German papers. And on 
 July 16th the organ of Berlin radicahsm, the Vossische Zeitung, 
 published a leading article to show that Russia was not prepared 
 for war, and never had been. As for France, it said: '^A Gallic 
 cock with a lame wing is not the ideal set up by the Rassians. 
 And when the Russian eagle boasts of being in the best of health 
 who is to beheve him? Why should the French place greater con- 
 fidence in the inveterate Russian disorganization than in their own 
 defective organization?" 
 
 As regards the Kaiser's own estimate of his preparedness for 
 war, and the views of national polity he entertained, we shall let 
 him speak for himself in the following extracts from former utter- 
 ances : 
 
 "We will be everywhere victorious even if we are surrounded 
 by enemies on all sides and even if we have to fight superior num- 
 bers, for our most powerful ally is God above, who, since the time 
 of the Great Elector and Great King, has always been on om* side." 
 —At Berlin, March 29, 1901. 
 
 "I vowed never to strike for world mastery. The world 
 empire that I then dreamed of was to create for the Gennan empire 
 on all sides the most absolute confidence as a quiet, honest and 
 peaceable neighbor. I have vowed that if ever the tune came 
 when liistory should speak of a German world power or a Hohen- 
 zollern world power this !?hould not be based on conquest, 
 but come through a mutual striving of nations after a common 
 purpose. 
 
44 UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 
 
 "After much has been done internally in a military way, the 
 next thing must be the arming ourselves at sea. Every German 
 battleship is a new guarantee for the peace of the world. We 
 are the salt of the earth, but must prove worthy of being so. 
 Therefore our youth must learn to deny what is not good for them. 
 
 "With all my heart I hope that golden peace will continue 
 to be present with us." — ^At Bremen, March 22, 1905. 
 
 "My first and last care is for my fighting forces on land and 
 sea. May God grant that war may not come, but should the 
 cloud descend, I am firmly comnnced that the army will acquit 
 itself as it did so nobly thirty-five years ago." — ^At Berlin, February 
 25, 1906. 
 
 In the early days of the reign of William II war was prominent 
 in his utterances. He was the War Lord in full feather, and the 
 world at that time looked with dread upon this new and some- 
 what blatant apostle of militarism. Yet year after year passed 
 imtil the roll of almost three decades was achieved, without his 
 drawing the sv^ord, and the world began to regard him as an apostle 
 of peace, a wise and capable ruler who could gain his ends with- 
 out the shedding of blood. What are we to believe now? Had 
 he been wearing a mask for all these years, biding his time, hiding 
 from view a deeply cherished purpose? Or did he really believe 
 that a mission awaited him, that regeneration of the world through 
 the sanguinary path of the battle-field was his duty, and that by the 
 aid of a successful war he could inaugurate a safer and sounder 
 era of peace? 
 
 We throw out these ideas as suggestions only. What the 
 Kaiser purposed, what deep-laid schemes of international policy 
 he entertained, will, perhaps, never be known. But if he was 
 really responsible for the great war, as he was so widely accused 
 of being, the responsibility he assumed was an awful one. If 
 he was not responsible, as he declared and as some who claun to 
 have been behind the scenes maintain, the world will be ready to 
 absolve him when his innocence has been made evident. 
 

UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 45 
 
 WHY RUSSIA ENTERED THE FIELD 
 
 In this survey of the causes of the great war under considera- 
 tion the position of Russia comes next. That countiy was the 
 first to follow Austria and begin the threatening work of mobiliza- 
 tion. Germany's first open participation consisted in a warning 
 to Russia that this work must cease. Only when her warning 
 was disregarded did Germany begin mobilization and declare war. 
 All this was the work of a very few days, but in this era of active 
 military preparedness it needs only days, only hours in some 
 instances, to change from a state of peace into a state of war and 
 hurl great armed hosts against the borders of hostile nations. 
 
 The general impression was that it was the Slavic race senti- 
 ment that inspired Russia's quick action. Servia, a country of 
 Slavs, brothers in race to a large section of the people of Russia, 
 was threatened with national annihilation and her great kinsman 
 sprang to her rescue, determined that she should not be absorbed 
 by her land-hungry neighbor. This seemed to many a sufficient 
 cause for Russia's action. Not many years before, when Austria 
 annexed her wards, Bosnia and Herzegovina, both Slavic countries, 
 Russia protested against the act. She would doubtless have done 
 more than protest but for her financial and military weakness 
 arising from the then recent Russo-Japanese War. In 1914 she was 
 much stronger in both these elements of national power and lost 
 not a day in preparing to march to Servia's aid. 
 
 But was this the whole, or indeed the chief, moving impulse 
 in Russia's action? Was she so eager an advocate of Pan-Slavism 
 as such a fact would indicate? Had she not some other purpose 
 in view, some fish of her own to fry, some object of moment to 
 obtain? Many thought so. They were not willing to credit the 
 Russian bear with an act of pure international benevolence. Wars 
 of pm^e chaiity are rarely among the virtuous acts of nations. 
 As it had been suggested that Germany saw in the war a possible 
 opportunity to gain a frontier on the Atlantic, so it was hinted that^ 
 Russia had in mind a similar frontier on the Mediterranean. Time 
 
46 UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 
 
 and again she had sought to wring Constantinople from the hands 
 of the Turks. In 1877 she was on the point of achieving this 
 purpose when she was halted and turned back by the Congress 
 of Berlin and the belHcose attitude of the nations that stood 
 behind it. 
 
 Here was another and seemingly a much better opportunity. 
 The Balkan War had almost accomplished the conquest of the 
 great Turkish capital and left Turkey in a state of serious weak- 
 ueBS. If Europe should be thrown into the throes of a general war, 
 in which every nation would have its own interests to care for, 
 Russia's opportmiity to seize upon the prize for which she had so 
 long sought was an excellent one, there being no one in a position 
 to say her nay. To Russia the possession of Constantinople was 
 like the possession of a new world, and this may well have been 
 her secret motive in springing without hesitation into the war. 
 Her long-sought prize hung temptingly within reach of her hand, 
 the European counterpart of the ''Monroe Doctrine" could not 
 now be evoked to stay her grasp, and it seems highly probable 
 that in this may have lain the chief cause of Russia's participation 
 in the war. 
 
 France's hatred of Germany 
 
 The RepubHc of France was less hasty than Russia and Ger- 
 many in issuing a declaration of war. Yet there, too. the order of 
 mobiUzation was quickly issued and French troops were on the 
 march toward the German border before Germany had taken a 
 similar step. France had not forgotten her humiliation in 1870. 
 So far was she from forgetting it that she cherished a vivid recol- 
 lection of what she had lost and an equally vivid enmity towards 
 Germany in consequence. Enmity is hardly the word. Hatred 
 better fits the feeling entertained. And this was kept vitally 
 alive by the fact that Alsace and Lorraine, two of her former 
 provinces, still possessing a considerable French population, were 
 now held as part of the dominions of her enemy. The sore 
 
UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 47 
 
 rankled and hope of retribution lay deep in the heart of the French. 
 Here seemed an opportunity to achieve this long-cherished pur- 
 pose, and we may reasonably believe that the possibihty of regain- 
 ing this lost territoiy made France eager to take part in the coming 
 war. She had been despoiled by Germany, a valued portion of 
 her territory had been wrested from her grasp, a promising chance 
 of regaining it lay before her. She had the men; she had the 
 arms; slie had a military organization vastly superior to that of 
 1870; she had the memoiy of her former triumphs over the now 
 alhed nations of Austria and Germany; she had her obUgations 
 to aid Russia as a further inducement. The causes of her taking 
 part in the war are patent, especially in view of the fact that in a 
 very brief inter\^al after her declaration her troops had crossed the 
 border and were marching gaily into Alsace, wimiiiig battles and 
 occupying towns as they advanced. 
 
 GREAT BRITAIN AND ITALY 
 
 We have suggested that in the case alike of Austria, Russia, 
 Germany and France the hope of gaining valuable acquisitions of 
 territory was entertained. In the case of France, enmity to Ger- 
 many was an added motive, the territory she sought being land 
 of which she had been formerly despoiled. These purposes of 
 changing the map of Europe did not apply to or influence Great 
 Britain. That country had no territory to gain and no great 
 iiiiHtary organization to exercise. She possessed the most power- 
 ful navy of any country in the world, but she was moved by no 
 desire of showing her strength upon the sea. There was no reason, 
 so far as any special advantage to herseh was concerned, for her 
 taking part in the war, and her fu'st step was a generous effort 
 to mediate between the Powers in arms. 
 
 Only when Belgium — a small nation that was in a sense imder 
 the guardianship of Great Britain, so far as its nationality and 
 neutrality were concerned — was invaded by Germany without 
 warning, did Britain feel it incumbent upon her to come to its aid. 
 
48 UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 
 
 This may not have been entirely an act of benevolence. There 
 was a probabiMty that Germany, once in control of Belgium, 
 would not readily let go. She might add it to her empire, a 
 fact likely to seriously affect British commerce. However 
 this be. Great Britain lost no tune after the invasion in be- 
 coming a party to the continental war, sending her fleet abroad 
 and enlisting troops for service in the aid of her alHes, France and 
 Belgium. 
 
 Italy, a member of the Triple Alliance, the other members of 
 which were Germany and Austria, was the only one of the great 
 Powers that held aloof. She had absolutely nothing to gain by 
 taking part in the war, while her late large expenses in the con- 
 quest of Tripoh had seriously depleted her war chest. As regards 
 her alhance with Germany and Austria, it put her under no obliga- 
 tion to come to their aid in an offensive war. Her obligation was 
 restricted to aid in case they were attacked, and she justly held 
 that no such condition existed. As a result, Germany and Austria 
 found themselves at war with the three powerful members of the 
 Triple Entente, while Italy, the third member of the Triple Alliance, 
 declined to draw the sword. 
 
 The defection of Italy was a serious loss to the power of the 
 allies, so much so that Emperor WilHam threatened her with 
 war if she failed to fulfil her assumed obHgations. This threat 
 Italy quietly ignored. She gave indications, in fact, that her 
 sympathies were with the opposite party. Thus Germany and 
 Austria found themselves pitted against three great Powers and a 
 possible fourth, with the addition of the two small nations of 
 Servia and Belgium. And the latter were not to be despised as 
 of neghgible importance. Servia quickly showed an abiUty 
 to check the forward movements of Austria, while Belgium, 
 without aid, long held a powerful German army at bay, 
 defending the city and fortresses of Liege with a boldness 
 and success that called forth the admiring acclamations of the 
 world. 
 
UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 49 
 
 THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE AND TRIPLE ENTENTE 
 
 This review of causes and motives may be supplemented by 
 a brief statement of what is meant by the Triple Alliance and Triple 
 Entente, terms which come into common prominence in discussmg 
 European politics. They indicate the division of Europe, so far 
 as its greater Powers are concerned, into two fully or partially 
 allied bodies, the former consisting of Germany, Austria and Italy, 
 the latter of Great Britain, France and Russia. These organiza- 
 tions are of comparatively recent date. The Alliance began in 
 1879 in a compact between Germany and Austria, a Dual Alliance, 
 which was converted into a Triple one in 1 883, Italy then, through 
 the influence of Bismarck, joining the alliance. In this compact 
 Austria and Germany pledged themselves to mutual assistance 
 if attacked by Russia; Italy and Germany to the same if attacked 
 by France. 
 
 The Triple Entente — or Understanding — arose from a Dual 
 Alliance between France and Russia, formed in 1887, an informal 
 understanding between Britain and France in 1904 and a similar 
 understanding between Britain and Russia in 1907. Its purpose, 
 as formed by Edward VII, was to balance the Triple Alliance and 
 thus convert Europe into two great military camps. When organ- 
 ized there seemed little probability of its being called into activity 
 for many years. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 Strength and Resources of the Warring Powers 
 
 Old and New Methods in War — Costs of Modern Warfare — Nature of National 
 
 Resources — British and American Military Systems — Naval Strength — Resources of 
 
 Austria-Hungary — Resom-ces of Germany — Resources of Russia — Resources of France — 
 
 Resources of Great Britain — Servia and Belgium 
 
 WITHIN the whole history of mankind the nations of the 
 earth had never been so thoroughly equipped for the 
 art of warfare as they were in 1914. While the arts of 
 construction have enormously developed, those of destruction have 
 fully kept pace with them; and the horrors of war have enormously 
 increased side by side with the benignities of peace. It is interesting 
 to trace the history of warfare from this point of ^dew. Beginning 
 with the club and hammer of the stone age, advancing through the 
 bow and arrow and the sling-shot of later times, this art, even in 
 the great days of ancient civilization, the eras of Greece and Rome, 
 had advanced Uttle beyond the sword and spear, crude weapons 
 of destruction as regarded in our times. They have in great part 
 been set aside as symbols of mihtary dignity, emblems of the 
 ''pomp and circumstance of glorious war." 
 
 Descending through the Middle Ages we find the sword and 
 spear still holding sway, with the bow as an important accessory 
 for the use of the common soldier. As for the knight, he became an 
 iron-clad champion, so incased in steel that he could fight effectively 
 only on horseback, becoming largely helpless on foot. At length, 
 the greatest stage in the history of war, the notable invention 
 of gunpowder was achieved, and an enormous transformation 
 took place in the whole terrible art. The musket, the rifle, the pistol, 
 the cannon were one by one evolved, to develop in the nineteenth 
 century into the breech-loader, the machine gim, the bomb, and the 
 
 (50) 
 
STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 51 
 
 multitude of devices fitted to bring about death and destruction 
 by wholesale, instead of by the retail methods of older days. 
 
 At sea, the sailing vessel, with her far-flung white wings and 
 rows of puny guns, has given way to the steel-clad battleship 
 with her fewer but enormously larger cannons, capable of flinging 
 huge masses of iron many miles through the air and with a precision 
 of aim that seems incredible for such great distances. 
 
 We must add to this the torpedo boat, a tiny craft with a weapon 
 capable of sinking the most costly and stupendous of battleships, 
 and the submarine, fitted to creep unseen under blockading fleets, 
 and deal destruction with nothing to show the hand that dealt 
 the deadly blow. Even the broad expanse of the air has been made 
 a field of warlike activity, with scouting airships flying above 
 contending armies and signahng their most secret movements 
 to the forces below. 
 
 OLD AND NEW METHODS IN WAB 
 
 In regard to loss of life on the battle-field, it may be said that 
 many of the wars of ancient times surpassed the bloodiest of those 
 of modern days, despite the enormously more destructive weapons 
 and implements now employed. Wlien men fought hand to hand, 
 and no idea of quarter for the defeated existed, entire armies were 
 at times slaughtered on the field. In our days, when the idea of 
 mercy for the vanquished prevails, this wholesale slaughter of 
 beaten hosts has ceased, and the death list of the battle-field has 
 been largely reduced by caution on the part of the fighters. With 
 the feehng that a dead soldier is utterly useless, and a wounded 
 one often worse than useless, as constituting an impediment, every 
 means of saving life is utihzed. Soldiers now fight miles apart. 
 Prostrate, hidden, taking advantage of every opportunity of pro- 
 tection, every natural advantage or artificial device, vast quantities 
 of ammunition are wasted on the empty air, every ball that finds 
 its quarry in human flesh being mayhap but one in hundreds that 
 go astray. In the old-time wars actual hand-to-hand fighting took 
 
62 STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 
 
 place. Almost every stroke told, every thrusting blade was 
 directly parried or came back stained with blood. In modern wars 
 fighting of this kind has ceased. A battle has become a matter 
 of machinery. The strong arm and stalwart heart are replaced 
 by the buUet-fiinging machine, and it is a rare event for a man to 
 know to whose hand he owes wound or death. Such, at least, 
 was largely the case in the war between Russia and Japan in 1905. 
 But in recent battles we read of hordes of soldiers charging up to 
 the muzzles of machine guns, and being mowed down like 
 ripened wheat. 
 
 COSTS OF MODERN WAEFAEE 
 
 But while loss of human life in war has not greatly increased, 
 in other directions the cost of warfare has enormously grown. 
 In the past, li\;tle special preparation was needed by the fighter. 
 Armies could be recruited off-hand from city or farm and do valiant 
 duty in the field, with simple and cheap weapons. In our days 
 years of preliminary preparation are deemed necessary and the costs 
 of war go on during times of profound peace, milHons of men who 
 could be used effectively in the peaceful industries spending the 
 best years of their lives in learning the most effective methods of 
 destroying their fellow men. 
 
 This is only one phase of the element of cost. Great work- 
 shops are devoted to the preparation of military material, of abso- 
 lutely no use to manldnd except as instruments of destruction. 
 The costs of war, even in times of peace, are thus very large. But 
 they increase in an enormous proportion after war lias actually 
 begim, millions of dollars being needed where tens formerly sufheed, 
 and national bankruptcy threatening the nation that keeps its armies 
 long in the field. The American Civil War, fought half a century 
 ago, was a costly procedure for the American people. If it had been 
 fought five or ten years ago its cost would have been increased 
 five-fold, so great has been the progress in this terrible art in the 
 interva]. 
 
cc'co 
 
 ST '-•^ 
 
STRENGTH AND KEBOURCES OF POWERB 53 
 
 WATUEE OF NATIONAL RESOURCES 
 
 It is our purpose in the present chapter to take up the subject 
 of this cost and review the condition and resources of the several 
 nations which were involved in the dread internecine struggle 
 of 1914, the frightful conflict of nations that moved like a great 
 panorama before our eyes. These resources are of two kinds. 
 One of them consists in the material wealth of the nations concerned, 
 the product of the fields and factories, the mineral treasures beneath 
 the soil, the results of trade and commercial activity and the con- 
 ditions of national finance, including the extent of available revenue 
 and the indebtedness which hangs over each nation, much of it 
 a heritage from former wars which have left little beyond this aggra- 
 vating record of their existence. It is one which adds something 
 to the cost of every particle of food consumed by the people, every 
 shred of clothing worn by them. Additions to this incubus of debt 
 little disturb the rulers when bUthely or bitterly engaging in new 
 wars, but every such addition adds to the burdens of taxation laid 
 on the shoulders of the groaning citizens, and is sure to deepen 
 the harvest of retribution when the time for it arrives. 
 
 A second of these resources is that of preparation for war in 
 time of peace, the trainmg of the able-bodied citizens in the mihtary 
 art, until practically the entire nation becomes converted into a 
 vast army, its members, after their term of compulsory service, 
 engaging in ordinary labors in times of peace, yet liable to be called 
 into the field whenever the war lords desire, to face the death- 
 belching field piece and machine gun in a sanguinary service in 
 which they have little or no personal concern. This preparedness, 
 with the knowledge of the duties of a soldier which it involves, 
 is a valuable war resource to any nation that is saddled with such 
 a system of universal mihtary training. And few nations of Europe 
 and the East are now without it. Great Britain is the chief one in 
 Europe, while in America the United States is a notable example 
 of a nation that has adopted the opposite pohcy, that of keeping 
 its population at peaceful labor, steadily adding to its resources, 
 
STAGGERING FIGURES ON THE GREATEST 
 WAR IN HISTORY 
 
 According to official estimates over 75 per cent of 
 the population of Europe was involved in the war of 1914. 
 Of an estimated total of 495,473,000 persons in all Europe, 
 nations having an approximate total of 372,373,000 
 inhabitants were fighting against each other with a total 
 estimated army strength in time of war of about 
 17,992,000 men. The statistics of the warring nations 
 were approximately as follows: 
 
 Estimated War Strength 
 
 Nations Population of Army 
 
 Russia 160,100,000 5,500,000 
 
 Germany 64,900,000 5,300,000 
 
 Austria-Hungary 51,340,000 2,000,000 
 
 Great Britain 45,000,000 730,000 
 
 France 39,601,000 4,000,000 
 
 Belgium 7,432,000 222,000 
 
 Servia 4,000,000 240,000 
 
 Totals 372,373,000 17,992,000 
 
 J 
 
STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 55 
 
 during the whole tune in which peace prevails, and trusting to the 
 courage and mental resources of its citizens to teach them quickly 
 the art of fighting when, if ever, the occasion shall arrive. 
 
 It must be admitted that the European system of mihtarism 
 is likely to be of great advantage in the early days of a war, in which 
 large bodies of trained soldiers can be hm'led with destructive force 
 against hastily gathered militia. The distinction between trained 
 and untrained soldiers, however, rapidly disappears in a war of 
 long continuance. Experience in the field is a lesson far superior 
 to any gained in mock warfare, and the taking part in a few battles 
 will teach the art of warfare to an extent surpassing that of years 
 of marching and counter-marching upon the training field. 
 
 BRITISH AND AMERICAN MILITARY SYSTEMS 
 
 Britain and the United States, the only two of the greater 
 nations that have adopted the policy here considered, are not 
 trusting completely to chance. Each of them has a body of 
 regular troops, fitted for police duty in time of peace and for field 
 duty in time of war, and serving as a nucleus fitted to give a 
 degree of coherence to raw militia when the sword is drawn. Sub- 
 sidiary to these are bodies of volunteer troops, training as a recrea- 
 tion rather than as an occupation, yet constituting a valuable 
 auxiliary to the regular forces. This system possesses the ad- 
 vantage of maintaining no soldiers except those kept in constant 
 and needful duty, all the remaining population staying at their 
 regular labors and adding very materially every year to the resources 
 of the nation, while saving the great sums expended without ade- 
 quate return in the process of keeping up the system of militarism. 
 
 What is above said refers only to the human element in the 
 system. In addition is the necessity of preparing and keeping in 
 store large quantities of war material — cannons, rifles, ammuni- 
 tion, etc. — the building of inland forts and coast and harbor forti- 
 fications, for ready and immediate use in time of war. In this all 
 the nations are alike actively engaged, the United States and 
 
56 STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 
 
 Britain as well as those of the European continent, and none of 
 them are likely to be caught amiss in this particular. Cannon 
 and gunpowder eat no food and call for no pay or pension, and 
 once got ready can wait with little loss of efficiency. They may, 
 indeed, become antiquated through new invention and develop- 
 ment, and need to be kept up to date in this particular. But 
 otherwise they can be readily kept in store and each nation may 
 with comparative ease maintain itself on a level with others as 
 regards its supply of material of war. 
 
 NAVAL STRENGTH 
 
 In one field of war-preparation little of the distinction 
 indicated exists. This is that of ocean warfare, in which rivalry 
 between the great Powers goes on without restriction — at least 
 between the distinctively maritime nations. In this field of effort, 
 the building of gigantic battleships and minor war vessels, 
 Britain has kept itself in advance of all others, as a nation in which 
 the sea is likely to be the chief field of warlike activity. Beginning 
 with a predominance in war ships, it has steadily retained it, add- 
 ing new and constantly greater war ships to its fleet with a feverish 
 activity, under the idea that here is its true field of warfare. It 
 has sought vigorously to keep itseK on a level in this particular 
 with any two of its rivals in sea power. While it has not quite 
 succeeded in this, the United States and Germany pushing it 
 closely, it is well in the lead as compared with any single Power, 
 and to keep this lead it is straining every nerve and fiber of its 
 national capacity. 
 
 RESOURCES OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 
 
 Commg now to a statement of the strength and resources 
 of the chief Powers concerned in the present war, Austria-Hungary, 
 as the originator of the outbreak, stands first. It is scarcely neces- 
 sary to repeat that its severe demands upon Seivia, arising from 
 the murder of the Archduke Ferdinand and its refusal to accept 
 
STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 57 
 
 Servians almost complete acceptance of its terms, led to an immedi- 
 ate declaration of war upon the small offending state, the war fever 
 thus started quickly extending from side to side of the continent. 
 Therefore in considering the existing conditions of the various coun- 
 tries involved, those of Austria-Hungary properly come first, the 
 others following in due succession. . 
 
 Austria-Hungary is a dual kingdom, each partner to the 
 union having its separate national organization and legislative body. 
 A\Tiile both are under the rule of one monarch, Francis Joseph 
 being at once the Emperor of Austria and the King of Hungary, 
 their union is not a very intimate one. There is large racial dis- 
 tinction between the two countries, and Hungary cherishes a 
 strong feeling of anunosity to Austria, the outcome of acts of 
 tyranny and barbarity not far in the past. 
 
 The two countries closely approach each other in area, Austria 
 having 115,903 and Hungary 125,039 square miles; making a 
 total of 240,942. The populations also do not vary largely, the 
 total being estimated at about 50,000,000. Of these the Slavs 
 number more than 24,000,000, approaching one half the total, 
 while of Germans there are but 11,500,000, little more than half 
 the Slavic population. The Magyars, or Hungarians, a people 
 of eastern origin, and the main element of Hungarian population, 
 number about 8,750,000. In addition there are several millions 
 of Roumanian and Italic stock, and a considerable number of 
 Jews and Gypsies. The inclusion of this heterogeneous population 
 into one kingdom dates far back in medieval history, and it was 
 not until 1867, as a consequence of a vigorous Hungarian demand, 
 that Austria and Hungary became divided into separate nations, 
 the remnant of their former close union remaining in their being 
 ruled by one monarch, the venerable Francis Joseph, who is still 
 upon the throne. This division quickly followed the war between 
 Prussia and Austria in 1866, and was one of the results of the 
 defeat of Austria in that war. 
 
 Austria is a hilly or mountainous country, its plains occupying 
 
68 STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 
 
 only about one fifth of the total territory. The most extensive 
 tracts of low or fiat land occur in Hungary, Galicia and Slavonia, 
 the great Hungarian plain having an area of 36,000 square miles. 
 Much of this is highly fertile, and Hungary is the great granary of 
 the country. Austria-Hungary is well watered by the Danube and 
 its tributaries and has a small extent of sea-coast on the Adriatic, 
 its principal ports being Trieste, Pola and Fiume. Its railways 
 are about 30,000 miles in length. In consequence of its interior 
 position its largest trade is with Germany, through which empire 
 there is also an extensive transit commerce. Its moimtainous 
 character makes it rich in minerals, the chief of these being coal, 
 iron, and salt. 
 
 Bosnia and Herzegovina, formerly part of Turkey in Europe, 
 were put under the military occupation and administrative rule 
 of Austria after the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-8, and in 1908 
 were fully annexed by Austria, an act of spoliation which had its 
 ultimate result in the assassination of Ai-chduke Ferdinand in 1914, 
 and may thus be considered the instigating agency in the 1914 war. 
 
 The finances of Austria-Hungary may be briefly given. Austria 
 has an annual revenue of $636,909,000; Hungary of $410,068,000; 
 their expenditure equaling these sums. The debt of Austria is 
 stated at $1,433,511,000; of Hungaiy, $1,257,810,000; and of the 
 joint states at $1,050,000,000. Military service is obligatory ori 
 all over twenty years of age who are capable of bearing arms, 
 the total terms of service being twelve years, of which three are 
 passed in the line, seven in the reserve, and two inthe Landwehr. 
 The army is estimated to number 390,000 on the peace footing 
 and over 2,000,000 on the war footing. Its navy numbers four 
 modern and nine older battleships, with twelve cruisers and a num- 
 ber of smaller craft. 
 
 RESOURCES OF GERMANY 
 
 Germany, in the census of 1910, was credited with a popu- 
 lation of 64,925,993. This is in great part composed of Teutons, 
 
 I 
 
STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 69 
 
 or men of German race, its people being 'far less heterogeneous 
 than those of Austria, though it includes several millions of Slavs, 
 Lithuanians, Poles and others. It has an area of 208,738 square 
 miles. It is mountainous in the south and center, but in the 
 north there is a wide plain extending to the German Ocean and the 
 Baltic Sea, and forming part of the great watershed which stretches 
 across Europe. Its soil, except in the more rugged and moim- 
 tainous districts, is prolific, being well watered and bearing abun- 
 dant crops of the ordinary cereals. Potatoes, hemp and flax are 
 very abundant crops and the sugar beet is extensively cultivated. 
 The forests are of great extent and value, and are carefully con- 
 served to yield a large production without over cutting. Among 
 domestic animals, the cattle, sheep and swine of certain districts 
 have long been famous. 
 
 The minerals are numerous and some of them of much value, 
 those of chief importance being coal, iron, zinc, lead and salt. 
 While much attention is given to mining and agriculture, the 
 manufacturing industries are especially important. Linens and 
 other textiles are widely produced and iron manufacture is largely 
 carried on. The Krupp iron works at Essen are of world-wide 
 fame, and the cannon made there are used in the forts of many 
 distant nations. 
 
 These are a few only of the large variety of manufactures, 
 a market for which is found in all parts of the world, the com- 
 merce of Germany being widely extended. In short, the empire 
 has come into very active rivalry with Great Britain in the develop- 
 ment of commerce, and to its progress in this direction it owes 
 much of its flourishing condition. Hamburg is by far the most 
 important seaport, Bremen, Stettin, Danzig and others also 
 being thriving ports. The total length of railway is over 40,000 
 miles. 
 
 The annual revenue of the German Empire is nearly $900,000,- 
 000; that of its component states, $1,500,000,000. The debt of 
 the empire is estimated at $1,180,000,000; that of the states at 
 
60 STRENGTH AND ^ RESOUE.CES OF PO VVERB 
 
 $3j735j000^000. The revenue is derived chiefly from customs duties,. 
 excise duties on beet-root sugar, salt; tobacco and malt and contri- 
 butions from the several states. 
 
 Germany is the foster home of modern militarism and is held 
 to have the most complete army syRtem in the world. Every man 
 capable of bearing arms must begin his military training on the 
 1st of Januarj'' of the year in which he reaches the age of twenty, 
 and continue it to the end of his forty-second year, unless released 
 from this duty by the competent authorities, either altogether or 
 for times of peace. 
 
 Seven years of this time must be spent in the army or fleet; 
 three of them in active service, four in the reserve. Seven more 
 years are passed in the Landwehr, the members of which may be 
 called out only twice for training. The remaining time is passed in 
 the Landsturm, which is called out only in case of invasion of the 
 empire. The total peace strength of the army is given at 870,000; 
 of the reserves at 4,430,000; the total being 5,300,000. 
 
 ^ The naval force of Germany is very powerful, though con- 
 siderably less than that of Great Britain. It comprises 19 of the 
 enormous modern battleships, 7 cruiser battleships, and 20 of older 
 type; 9 fu"st-class and 45 second and third-class cruisers, and 
 numerous smaller warships, includmg 47 torpedo boats, 141 destroy- 
 ers and 60 submarines. 
 
 RESOURCES OF RUSSIA 
 
 Russia, the third of the three nations to which the war was 
 most immediately due, is the most extensive consolidated empire 
 in the world, its total area being estimated at 8,647,657 square 
 miles, of which 1,852,524 are in Europe, the remainder in Asia. 
 The population is given at about 160,000,000, of which 130,000,000 
 are in Europe. 
 
 Agriculture is the chief pursuit of this great population, though 
 manufactures are largely developing. The forests, immense in 
 extent, cover forty-two per cent of the area and contain timber in 
 
Si 
 
 H -^ 
 
 >H o 
 
STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 61 
 
 enormous quantities. While a large part of the area is level ground 
 there is much elevated territory, and the mineral wealth is very 
 important. It includes gold, silver, platinum, iron, copper, coal 
 and salt, all of large occm-rence. Of the people, over 1,800,000 
 are employed in manufactm'e, and the annual value of the commerce 
 amounts to $1,300,000,000. The length of railway is about 50,000 
 miles. 
 
 Russia is heavily in debt, Germany being its largest creditor. 
 The total debt is stated at $4,553,000,000, its revenue $1,674,000,000. 
 The iiabihty to military sendee covers all able-bodied men between 
 the ages of twenty and forty-two years. Five years must be passed 
 in active service, the remainder in the various reserves. On a 
 peace footing the army is 1,290,000 strong; its war strength is 
 5,500,000. The territorial service is capable of supplying about 
 3,000,000 more, making a possible total of 7,500,000. As regards 
 the navy, it was greatly reduced in strength in the war with Japan 
 and has not yet fully recovered. The empire now possesses nine 
 modem battleships, four cruiser battleships, and eight of old type. 
 There are also cruisers and other vessels, including 23 torpedo 
 boats, 105 destroyers, and 48 submarines. 
 
 RESOURCES OF FRANCE 
 
 France, the one large Power in Europe in which the people have 
 come to their own and have got rid of the fact of a king, as illustrated 
 ill the other continental Powers, the fiction of a king, as illustrated 
 in the British reahn — the one, in addition to the mountain realm of 
 Switzerland^ in which the people govern themselves through their 
 representati^'es, has taken up the dogma of militarism in common 
 with its neighbors and constitutes the fourth of the Powers in which 
 this system has been carried to its ultim_ate. 
 
 France had a startling object lesson in 1870. It had, under 
 Napoleon III, been imitating Prussia in its military establishment, 
 and its governm.ent officials coincided with the em_peror in the 
 theory that its army was in a splendid state of preparation. Mar- 
 
62 STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 
 
 shal LebcEuf lightly declared that ^'everything was ready, more 
 than ready, and not a gaiter button missing," and it was with a 
 Hght-hearted confidence that the Emperor Napoleon declared war 
 against Prussia, the insensate multitude filling Paris with their 
 futile war cry of ''On to Berlin." 
 
 This is not the place to deal with this subject, but it may be 
 said that France quickly learned that nothing was ready and the 
 nation went down in the most sudden and awful disaster of modern 
 times. A lesson had been taught, one not easy to forget. The 
 Republic succeeded the Empire, and has since been working on the 
 theory that war with its old enemy might at any time becom^e 
 imminent and no negligence in the matter of preparation could be 
 permitted. As a consequence, France went into the war of 1914 
 in a state of fitness greatly superior to that of 1870, and Germany 
 found France waiting on its border fine, alert and able, ready alike 
 for offense or defense. 
 
 What are the natural conditions, the strength and resources, 
 of this great repubhc? France has an area of 207,054 square miles, 
 almost the same as that of the German Empire. If its numerous 
 colonies be added, its total area is over 4,000,000 square miles. But 
 this vast colonial expanse is of no special advantage to it in a Eiu"o- 
 pean war. Its population is 39,601,509 ; if Algeria, its most available 
 colony, be added, it is about 45,000,000, a total 20,000,000 less than 
 the population of Germany. 
 
 Its soil is highly fitted for agricultural use, about nine tenths 
 of it being productive and more than half of it under the plow, 
 the cereals forming the bulk of its products. Its wheat crop is 
 large and oats, rye and barley are also of value, though the raising 
 of the domestic animals is of less importance than in the surround- 
 ing countries. The growth of the vine is one of its most important 
 branches of agriculture, and in good years France produces about 
 half of the total wine yield of the world. In mineral wealth it stands 
 at a somewhat low level, its yield of coal, iron, etc., being of minor 
 importance. 
 
STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 63 
 
 France enjoys a large and valuable commerce and active 
 manufacturing industries, products of a more or less artistic char- 
 acter being especially attended to. Of the textile fabrics, those 
 of silk goods are much the most important, this industry employ- 
 ing about 2,000,000 persons and yielding more than a fourth in 
 value of the whole manufactured products of France. Other 
 products are carpets, tapestry, fine muslins, lace and cotton goods. 
 Products of different character are numerous and their value large. 
 The fisheries of France are also of much importance. Its com- 
 merce, while large, is very considerably less than that of Great 
 Britain and Germany, France being especially a self-centered coun- 
 try, largely using what it makes. 
 
 There is abundant provision for internal trade and travel, 
 there being 30,000 miles of railway, 3,000 miles of canal, and 
 5,500 miles of navigable rivers. The annual revenue approaches 
 $1,000,000,000, and the pubHc debt in 1914 was at the large total 
 of over $6,200,000,000. This is much the largest debt of any 
 nation in the world, the debt of Russia, which comes next in amount, 
 being about $1,700,000,000 less. It is largely due to the cost of 
 the war of 1870 and the subsequent large payment to Germany. 
 Yet the French people carry it without feelin,g seriously over- 
 burdened. 
 
 Coming now to the French military system, it rivals that of 
 Germany in efficiency. The law requires the compulsory mili- 
 tary service of every French citizen who is not unfit for such 
 service. They have to serve in the regTilar army for three years, 
 in the regular reserves for six years, in the territorial army for 
 six years, and finally in the reserves of this army for ten years. 
 This gives France a peace strength of 720,000 and a total war 
 strength of 4,000,000. The navy is manned partly by conscrip- 
 tion, partly by voluntary enlistment, the naval forces comprising 
 about 60,000 officers and men. 
 
 The naval strength of the republic embraces 17 modern battle- 
 ships, 25 of older type, 18 first-class, 13 second and third-class 
 
64 STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 
 
 cruisers, 173 torpedo boats, 87 destroyers, and 90 submarines. There 
 is another element of modern military strength of growing impor- 
 tance, and sure to be of large use in the war mider review. This 
 is that of the airship. In 1914 France stood at the head in this 
 particular, its aeroplanes, built or under construction, numbering 
 550. Germany had 375, Russia 315, Italy 270, Austria 220, 
 Britain 180 and Belgium 150. In dirigible balloons Germany 
 stood first, with 50. France had 30, Russia 15, Austria 10 and 
 Britain 7. These air-soaring implements of war came into play 
 early in the conflict and Tennyson's vision of "battles in the blue" 
 was realized in attacks of aeroplanes upon dirigibles, with death 
 to the crews of each. 
 
 RESOURCES OF GREAT BRITAIN 
 
 Great Britain, the remaining party to the five-fold war of 
 great European Powers, is an island country of considerably 
 smaller area than those so far named. Including Ireland it has an 
 area of 121,391 square miles, about equal to that of the American 
 State of New Mexico and not half the size of the Canadian province 
 of Saskatchewan. Its population, however, surpasses that of 
 France, amounting to 45,221,615. If the outlying dominions 
 of Great Britain be added it becomes one of the leading empires 
 of the world, its colonial dominions being estimated at over 
 13,000,000 square miles, and the total population of kingdom and 
 colonies at 435,000,000, the greatest population of any country in 
 the world. And Britain differs from France in the fact that much 
 of this outlying population is available for war purposes in case 
 of peril to the liberties of the mother country. At the outbreak of 
 the war of 1914 the loyal Dominion of Canada sprang at once into 
 the field, mobilized its forces, and offered the mother land material 
 aid in men and ships. 
 
 The same sense of loyalty doubtless exists in Australia and 
 South Africa and in others of the British oversea dominions, 
 while India could add an important contingent to the army if 
 
THE WAR CALL OF SIR JAMES WHITNEY TO ALL 
 CANADIANS 
 
 "I have been asked to express an opinion upon Canada's duty 
 towards the Empire at this juncture. The momentous crisis we now 
 face makes plain what Canada's course must be. That course is to 
 exert her whole strength and power at once in behalf of our Empire. 
 
 "We are part of the Empire in the fullest sense and share in its 
 obligations as well as its privileges. We have enjoyed under British 
 rule the blessings of peace, liberty and protection and now that we 
 have an opportunity of repaying in some measure the heavy debt we 
 owe the Mother Country, we will do so with cheerfulness and courage. 
 
 "I know my fellow Canadians too well to doubt that they will 
 respond with enthusiastic loyalty to the appeal. Sir Robert Borden 
 has all Canada behind him in the steps that must be taken to join 
 in fighting the Empire's battles, because the contest forced upon 
 Great Britain is our contest as much as hers and upon the issue of 
 events depends oiu" national existence. 
 
 "Never before in our history has the call of duty and of honor 
 been so clear and imperative and Canada will neither quail nor falter 
 at the last. The British Government has done everything possible 
 to avoid war and has sought peace with an earnestness v/orthy of 
 responsible statesmen. But a dishonorable peace would prove dis- 
 astrous to the Empire and we would be unworthy of the blood that 
 runs in our veins if we sought to avoid an inevitable conflict. 
 
 "I rejoice at the evidence of Imperial unity displayed on all 
 sides and, as our cause is to preserve liberty and resist an unjust 
 aggression, it will evoke all that is best and noblest in the Canadian 
 character." 
 
66 STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 
 
 necessity demanded. As for the immediate kingdom, it is not of 
 high value in agricultural wealth, being at present divided up to a 
 considerable extent into large unproductive estates, and it is quite 
 unable to feed its teeming population, depending for this on its 
 large commerce in food products. Its annual imports amount to 
 about $3,000,000,000, its exports to $2,250,000,000. 
 
 Commercially and industrially alike Great Britain stands at 
 the head of all European nations. Its abundant mineral wealth, 
 especially in coal and iron, has stimulated manufactures to the 
 highest degree, while its insular character and immerous seaports 
 have had a similar stimulating effect upon commerce. Its revenue, 
 aside from that of the colonies, amounts to about $920,000,000 
 annually, and its pubhc debt reaches a total of $3,485,000,000. 
 
 The British government depends largely for safety from 
 invasion upon its insular position and its enormously developed 
 navy, and has not felt it necessaiy to enter upon the frenzy of 
 military preparation which pervades the continental nations. 
 No British citizen is obliged to bear arms except for the defense of 
 his country, but all able-bodied men are liable to militia service, 
 the militia being raised, when required, by ballot. Enlistment 
 among the regulars is either for twelve years' army service, or for 
 seven years' army service and five years' reserve service. The 
 peace strength of the army is estimated at about 255,000 men, the 
 reserves at 475,000; making a total of 730,000. 
 
 It is in its navy that Great Britain's chief warlike strength 
 exists, the naval force being much greater than that of any other 
 nation. It possesses in all 29 modern battleships, many of them 
 of the great ^dreadnaught and super-dreadnaught type. In addi- 
 tion it has 10 cruiser battleships, and 38 older battleships, most of 
 the latter likely to be of little service for warlike duty. There are 
 also 45 first-class, and 70 second and third-class cruisers, 58 torpedo 
 JDoats, 212 destroyers and 85 submarines, the whole forming a 
 total naval strength approaching that of any two of the other 
 PoYv^ers.- 
 
STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF P0\\:ERS 67 
 
 SERVTA AND BELGIUM 
 
 As regards the remaining nations engaged in the war, Servia, 
 in which the contest began, has an area of 18,782 square miles, a 
 population of 4,000,000, and a standing army of 240,000, a number 
 seemingly veiy inadequate to face the enormously greater power 
 of Austria-Hungary. But the men had become practically all 
 ooldiers, ver>^ many of them tried veterans of the recent Balkan 
 War; their country is moimtainous and admirably fitted for defen- 
 sive warfare, and their power of resistance to invasion was quickly 
 shown to be great. 
 
 Belgium, the other earty seat of the war, is still smaller in area, 
 having but 11,366 square miles. But it is very densely populated, 
 possessing 7,432,784 inhabitants. Its army proved brave and 
 capable, its fortifications modern and well adapted to defense, and 
 small as was its field force it held back the far more numerous 
 German invaders until France and Great Britain had their troops 
 in position for available defense. This small intermediate kingdom 
 therefore played a very important part in the outset of the war. 
 
 If one judges by the figures given of the available military 
 strength of the nations involved, the huge host said to have 
 followed Xerxes to the invasion of Greece could easily be far sur- 
 passed in modern warfare. The fact is, however, that these huge 
 figures greatlj" exceed the numbers that could, except in the most 
 extreme exigency, be available for use in the field, and for real 
 active service we should be obliged to greatly reduce these paper 
 estimates. It must be taken into account that the fields and 
 factories of the nations cannot be too greatly denuded of their 
 trained workers. It was a shrewd saying of Napoleon Bonaparte 
 that '^An army marches on its stomach," and the important duty 
 of keeping the stomach adequately filled can not be overlooked. 
 
 In actual war also there is an enormous exhaustion of niilitaiy 
 material, which must be constantlj'^ replaced, and this in turn 
 demands the services of great numbers of trained artisans. The 
 question of finance also cannot be overlooked. It needs vast 
 
NUMERICAL UNITS OF STANDING ARMIES 
 
 In order to inform the reader about the size of the various sub-divisioua 
 of foreign armies, a table which gives as accurately aa possible the number 
 of men and the composition of such divisions follows: 
 
 GERMANY 
 
 Armu Corps — Its staff, 2 infantry divisions, 2 regiments of Md artillery, 
 3 squadrons of cavalry, a company of pioneers, a bridge train, field bakeries, 
 telegraph troops, field hospital, etc., one or two batteries of heavy field howitzers 
 or mortars and a machine gun group. Total, 40,000 men. Infantry Division — 
 Two brigades. Total, 12,000 men. Brigade— Two regiments. Total, 6,000 
 men. Regiment — Three battalions of 4 companies each. Total, 3,000 men. 
 Battalion — Four companies of 250 men each. Total, 1,000 men. Regiment 
 of Field Artillery — Nine batteries of field gxms and 3 of field howitzers; 72 pieces. 
 Battery — Six guns. Brigade of Cavalry — ^Two and occasionally three regiments. 
 Total, 1,600 to 2,400 men. Regiment of Cavalry — Four squadrons of 200 men 
 each. Total, 800 men. 
 
 FRANCE 
 
 Anny Corps — Two infantry divisions, 1 brigade of cavalry, 1 brigade of 
 horse and foot ai'tiUeiy, 1 engineers' battalion, 1 squadron of train. Total, 
 40,000 men. Infantry Division — Two brigades of infantry, 1 squadron of cavalry, 
 12 batteries. Total, 12,000 men and 48 guns. Brigade — Two regiments of 3 
 battalions each. Total, 6,000 men. Regiment — Three battahons of 4 companies 
 each. Total, 3,000 men. Battalion — Four companies of 250 men each. Total 
 1,000 men. Cavalry Division — Two and sometimes three bi'igades; 3,200-4,800 
 men. Brigade of Cavalry — Two regiments of 8 squadrons, with 2 batteries of 
 artillery. Regiment of Cavalry — Four squadrons; 800 men. Squadron of Cavalry 
 — ^Two hundred men. Battery of Artillery — Six guns. 
 
 GREAT BRITAIN 
 
 Brigade of Infantry — Four battahons and administrative and medical 
 units. Total, 4,000 men. Cavalry Brigade — Two regiments of 4 squadrons each. 
 Total, 800 men. Brigade of Artillery — Three batteries, 18 guns; heavy artillery, 
 12 guns; field howitzers, 2 batteries; horse artillery, 2 batteries. Battery — Six- 
 guns. Division — Fifty-four guns, 12 howitzers and 4 heavv field guns; 15,000 
 combatants. 
 
 RUSSIA 
 
 Army Corps — Thirtynsix thousand men. Army Corps with Cavalry Division 
 — Forty thousand men. Cavalry Division — Four thousand men. Battalion 
 of Infantry — Eight hundred men. Squadron of Cavalry — One hundred and 
 twenty-five men. Battery of Artillery — Eight guns. 
 
 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 
 
 Army Corps — Two infantry divisions, 1 regiment of field artillery, 1 pioneer 
 battalion, 1 bridging corps. Total, 34,000 men. Infantry Division — Twelve 
 thousand men. Cavalry Division — Four thousand men. Artillery Brigade — 
 Ten battalions, 6 guns each. 
 
Copyright by Underwood and Underwood, N. Y. 
 
 THE WAR LORD OF EUROPE 
 
 Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany leaving the palace on his way to review the troops 
 mobilized for an almost world-wide war. He has built up the German army during 
 his reign to be the finest fighting machine in the world. 
 
'"^.■s 
 
 5^^ 
 
STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 69 
 
 sums of money to keep a modern army in the field, this increasing 
 rapidly as the forces grow in nmnbers, and no national treasm-e 
 chest is inexhaustible. Tax as they may, the war lords cannot 
 squeeze out of their people more blood than flows in their veins, 
 and exhaustion of the war-chest may prove even more disastrous 
 than exhaustion of the regiments. For these reasons a hmit to the 
 size of armies is inevitable and in any great war this limitation 
 must quickly make itself apparent. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 Pan-Slavism Versus Pan-Germanism 
 
 Russia's Part in the Servian Issue — Strength of the Russian Army — The Distribution 
 of the Slavs — Origin of Pan-Slavism — The Caar's Proclamation — The Teutons of 
 Europe — Intermingling of Races — The Nations at War — Spread of Teutonic Civilisa- 
 tion — Views of German-Americans, 
 
 ^AN-SLAVISM against Pan-Germanism was the issue which 
 was launched when the Emperor of all the Russias took 
 up Servians quarrel with Austria-Hungary. Russia, if she 
 wanted a ground for war, could have found no better one. The 
 popularity of her aggressive big-brother attitude to all the Slavs 
 was quickly attested in St. Petersburg. It had been a long time 
 since war had appealed with the same favor to so large a part of 
 the Czar's people. Slavs there were in plentj^ to menace the allied 
 German Powers, even if there were not alhed French arms, on 
 Germany's other flank, and Britain's naval supremacy to cope Yviih. 
 Slavs in past times had spread over all of eastern Europe, from 
 the Arctic to the Adriatic and the ^gean Seas. Their continuity 
 was long ago broken into by an intrusion of Magyars, Finns, and 
 Roumanians, leaving a northern Slavic section composed of North- 
 Russians, Poles, Czechs, and Slovaks, and a southern section com- 
 prising the main body of the Balkan people. For over a thousand 
 years these Slavs have peopled Europe east of the Elbe River. 
 And for centm^ies they kept the hordes of Cossacks, Turks and bar- 
 barians off Europe. Russia in those days was called ''the nation 
 of the sword." And over a himdred years ago that sword was 
 drawn for Servia. After 400 years of vassalage to Turkey, the 
 Serbs rebelled in 1804, and then only Russian intervention saved 
 Ihem from defeat. In later wars oppression of the Slavs was 
 a prominent issue. . 
 
 am 
 
PAN-SLAVIBM VER.SUB PAN-GERM ANTBM 71 
 
 Russia's part in the Servian issue 
 
 "^Tiat rendered the Russian menace so formidable at the 
 opening of the 1914 war was the unusual enthusiasm which was 
 displayed. Ordinarily, the huge population of Russia has been 
 rather apathetic toward the purposes of the Emperor. But in 
 the case of Austria's injustice to Servia the Czar, judging from the 
 demonstrations in St. Petersburg, could reasonably count upon 
 having behind him possibl}^ 100,000,000 Slavs among his subjects. 
 Moscow and Odessa gave similar demonstrations of good feeling, 
 and it seemed as if, in the event of the Czar's assuming command 
 as generalissimo of all the forces, the wave of enthusiasm would 
 sweep over the whole empire. Who knows what is the strength 
 of the Russian bear, onc'e he is roused to sullen fury? In the ten 
 years following the Russo-Japanese "War Russia had greatly added 
 to her araiy and na^^, and materially cut down the time required 
 for the mobilization of her forces by eliminating many of the diffi- 
 culties attendant upon transportation and equipment of troops. 
 Her quiet advances toward )3ecoming a Power to be feared by 
 the most formidable European nation had come to be recognized 
 even if in a vague way. 
 
 In considering the potential strength of the armies which 
 Russia, in the course of a long war, might put in the field, it may 
 be pointed out that military service in that empire of more than 
 160,000,000 people is universal and compulsory. Service under 
 the flag begins at the age of twenty and lasts for twenty-three 
 years. Usually it is proportioned as follows: Three or four years 
 in the active a^rmy, fourteen or fifteen in the Zapas, or first reserve, 
 and five years in the Opolchenie, or second reserve. For the 
 Cossacks, those fighters who are a conspicuous element of R.ussia's 
 military strength, there is hardly a cessation in discipline during 
 their early manhood. Holding their lands by military tenure, 
 they are liable to service for life. Furnishing their own equip- 
 ment and horses — the Cossack is almost invariably a cavahyman — 
 they pass through three periods of four years each, v/ith diminish- 
 
72 PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM 
 
 ing duties, until they wind up in the reserve, which is Uable to be 
 called into the field in time of war. 
 
 STEENGTH OF THE RUSSIAN ARMY 
 
 Russia's field army consists of three powerful divisions — the 
 anny of European Russia, the army of Asia, already referred to, 
 and the army of the Caucasus. The European Russian field army 
 consists of twenty-seven army corps — each corps comprising, at 
 fighting strength, about 36,000 men— and some twenty-odd cavalry 
 divisions, of 4,000 horsemen each. With the field army of the 
 Caucasus and the first and second reserve divisions of the Cossacks, 
 the total would be brought to nearly 1,600,000 men. With the 
 Asiatic army, the grand total, according to the latest figures, would 
 give the Russian armies a fighting strength of 1,850,000 men, of 
 whom it would be practicable to assemble, say, 1,200,000 in a 
 single theater of war. With respect to the armies which could be 
 put in the field in time of urgent demand, there are conflicting 
 estimates. It seems certain that Russia's war strength is more 
 than 5,500,000 men, but, of course, the train service and the artil- 
 lery for such a force is lacking. Two and three-quarter million 
 men could probably be mustered at one time. 
 
 In the event of a prolonged war, in which the tide of affairs 
 should put Russia strictly on the defensive, she would be less easily 
 invaded than any large country of Europe. The very extent of 
 her empire, protected by natural barriers at almost every side 
 save where she touches Northeast Europe, would present almost 
 insuperable difficulties to the invader. Napoleon paid dearly for 
 his fortitude in pushing his columns into Moscow. The only 
 conditions under which a repetition of such a feat is conceivable 
 were not likely to be found during a general European struggle. 
 
 THE DISTRIBUTION OP THE SLAVS 
 
 To make matters worse for the Austrian or German invader, 
 there are conflicting relations between their own people and the 
 
PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM 73 
 
 Russians. The Polish provinces, for instance, however unfriendly 
 toward Russia, as one of the dismemberers of the PoUsh kingdom, 
 are strongly bound in blood and speech to the Russian nation. 
 The Poles and Russians are brother Slavs, and are likely to remem- 
 ber this in any conflict which approaches an issue between Pan- 
 Germanism and Pan-Slavism. The Poles of East Prussia have 
 an ingrained hatred of their German masters and have been 
 embittered by political oppression almost to the point of revolt. 
 Those along Austria's eastern border are Uttle less bitter. 
 
 The estimate is made that Europe contains in all about 
 140,000,000 Slavs, this being the most numerous race on the con- 
 tinent, the Teutons ranking second. While the great bulk of 
 these are natives of Russia, they have penetrated in large num- 
 bers to the west and south, and are to be found abundantly in the 
 Balkan region, in the Austrian realm, and in the region of the 
 disintegrated kingdom of Poland. 
 
 According to recent authoritative statistics the race question 
 in Austria-Hungary is decidedly complicated and diversified In 
 the kingdoms and provinces represented in the Reichsrath in 
 Vienna there are nearly 10,000,000 Germans and 18,500,000 
 non-Germans. Of these nearly 17,500,000 are Slavs. Among 
 these Slavs, the Croats and Serbs niunber 780,000, chiefly in Dal- 
 matia, while there are in all 660,000 Orthodox and nearly 3,500,000 
 Greek Uniats. 
 
 In Hungary, with its subject kingdoms of Croatia and Sla- 
 vonia, there are 8,750,000 Magyars, 2,000,000 Germans, and 
 8,000,000 other non-Magyars. Of these, 3,000,000 are Roumanians 
 and well over 5,000,000 Slavs. The Croats, or Roman Catholic 
 Serbs, number 1,800,000, and their Orthodox brothers are 1,100,000 
 in number. All told, Hungary has nearly 11,000,000 Roman Cath- 
 oHc subjects, 2,000,000 Greek Uniats, and 3,000,000 Orthodox. 
 In this connection it should be remembered that the Patriarchate 
 of the Orthodox Serb Church has been fixed at Karlowitz, imder 
 Hungarian rule, for over two centuries. 
 
74 PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GEBMANISM 
 
 In Bosnia there are 434,000 Roman Catholic Croats, 825,000 
 Orthodox Serbs, and over 600,000 Bosniaks, or Moslem Serbs. 
 Thus it will be seen that the Emperor Francis Joseph rules over 
 more than 24,000,000 Slavs and 3,225,000 Roumanians, of whom 
 nearly 4,500,000 adhere to various Orthodox Churches and 5,400,000 
 are Uniats. Of this Slav mass 5,000,000 Poles, mostly Roman 
 Catholics, are not particularly susceptible to Pan-Slav propaganda, 
 as that is largely Russian and Orthodox. 
 
 Within the boundaries of Germany herself there are over 
 3,000,000 Slavs, chiefly Poles, the Slavs of Polish descent in all 
 being estimated at 15,000,000. To these must be added the Bul- 
 garians, Serbs and Montenegrins of the Balkan region, constituting 
 about 7,000,000 more. 
 
 ORIGIN OF PAN-SLAVISM 
 
 The term Pan-Slavism has been given to the agitation carried 
 on by a great party in Russia, its purpose being the union of the 
 Slavic peoples of Europe under Russian rule, as an extensive 
 racial empire. This movement originated about 1830, when the 
 feeling of race relationship in Russia was stirred up by the revolu- 
 tionary movement in Poland. It gained renewed strength from 
 the Polish revolution of 1863, and still survives as the slogan of 
 an ardent party. The ideals of Pan-Slavism have made their 
 way into the Slavic populations of Bohemia, Silesia, Croatia and 
 Slavonia, where there is dread of the members of the race losing 
 their individuality under the aggressive action of the Austrian, 
 German or Hungarian governments. In 1877-78 Russia entered 
 into war against Turkey as the champion of the Balkan Slavs. 
 A similar movement was that made in 1914, when the independence 
 of the Servian Slavs was threatened by Austria. The immediate 
 steps taken by Russia to mobilize her forces in protection of the 
 Serbs was followed as immediately by a declaration of war on the 
 part of the German emperor and the quick plunging of practically 
 the whole of Europe into a war. 
 
PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM 75 
 
 THE czar's proclamation 
 
 In thirl connection the proclamation made by the Russian 
 Czar to his people on August 3d, possesses much interest, as indi- 
 cating his Slavic sentiment. The text is as follows: 
 
 ''By the grace of God we, Nicholas II, Emperor and Auto- 
 crat of all the Russias, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Fin- 
 land, etc., to all our faithful subjects make known that Russia, 
 related by faith and blood to the Slav peoples and faithful to her 
 historical traditions, has never regarded their fate with indifference. 
 
 "But the fraternal sentiments of the Russian people for the 
 Slavs have been awakened with perfect unanimity and extraor- 
 dinary force in these last few days, when Austria-Hungaiy know- 
 ingly addressed to Servia claims unacceptable to an independent 
 State. 
 
 "Having paid no attention to the pacific and conciliatory 
 reply of the Servian Government and having rejected the benevolent 
 intervention of Russia, Austria-Hungary made haste to proceed to 
 an armed attack and began to bombard Belgrade, an open place, 
 
 "Forced by the situation thus created to take necessary meas- 
 ures of precaution, we ordered the araiy and the navy put on a 
 war footing, at the same time using every endeavor to obtain a 
 peaceful solution. Pourparlers were begun amid friendly relations 
 with Gemiany and her ally, Austria, for the blood and the prop- 
 erty of our subjects were dear to us. 
 
 "Contrary to our hopes in our good neighborly relations of 
 long date, and disregarding our assurances that the mobilization 
 measures taken were in pursuance of no object hostile to her, 
 GeiTQany demanded their immediate cessation. Being rebuffed 
 in this demand, Germany suddenly declared war on Russia. 
 
 "Today it is not only the protection of a countiy related to 
 us and unjustly attacked that must be accorded, but we must 
 safeguard the honor, the dignity and the integrity of Russia and 
 her position among the Great Powers. 
 
76 PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM 
 
 ''We believe unshakably that all our faithful subjects will 
 rise with imanimity and devotion for the defense of Russian soil; 
 that internal discord will be forgotten in this threatening hour; 
 that the unity of the Emperor with his people will become still 
 more close and that Russia, rising like one man, will repulse the 
 insolent attack of the enemy. 
 
 "With a profound faith in the justice of our work and with 
 a humble hope in oronipotent providence in prayer we call God's 
 blessing on holy Russia and her valiant troops. 
 
 "Nicholas." 
 
 Later than this was an appeal made by the Czar to the Poles 
 under his rule, asking for their earnest support in the war arising 
 from the cause above stated, and promising them the boon which 
 the Polish people have long coveted: that of self-government and 
 a practical acknowledgment of their national existence. 
 
 THE TEUTONS OF EUROPE 
 
 While the Slavs form the great bulk of the inhabitants of 
 eastern Europe, the Teutons, or people of Teutonic race and 
 language, are widely spread in the west and north, including the 
 German-speaking people of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Switzer- 
 land, the English-speaking people of the British Islands, the Scan- 
 dinavian-speaking people of Norway and Sweden, the Flemish- 
 speaking people of Belgium, and practically the whole people of 
 Denmark and Holland. Yet though these are racially related 
 there is no such feeling as a Pan-Teutonic sentiment, combining 
 them into a racial unity. Instead of community and fraternity, 
 a considerable degree of enmity and rivalry exists between the 
 several peoples named, especially between the British and Germans. 
 Pan-Germanism is not Pan-Teutonism in any proper sense, being 
 confined to the several German countries of Europe, and especially 
 to the combination of separate states which constitutes the present 
 German empire. It is the Teuton considered in this minor sense 
 
OJ o 
 
PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GEEMANISM 77 
 
 that has set himself against the Slav, as a measure of self-defense 
 against the torrent of Slavism apparently seeking an outlet in all 
 directions. 
 
 Prolific as we know the Anglo-Saxons to have once been and 
 as the Germans still appear to be, there are few instances in human 
 history of a natural growth of population like that of the Slavs 
 in recent years. They have grown to outnumber the Gerroans 
 nearly three to one, and may perhaps do so in the future in a still 
 greater proportion. 
 
 This is a scarcely desirable state of affairs in view of the fact 
 that the Slavs as a whole are lower and more primitive in char- 
 acter and condition than the Germans. The cultivated portion of 
 Slavic populations forms a veiy small proportion in number of 
 the whole, and stands far in advance of the abundant multitude 
 of peasants and artisans, a vast body of people who are ruled 
 chiefly by fear; fear of the State on one side, of the Church on 
 the other. 
 
 INTERMINGLING OF RACES 
 
 There ^as long been an embittered, remorseless, and often 
 bloody struggle for supremacy between the Teuton and the Slav, 
 yet there has been considerable intermingUng of the races, many 
 German traders making their way into Russian towns, while multi- 
 tudes of Slavic laborers have penetrated into German communities. 
 Eastern Prussia has large populations of Slavs, and its Pohsh sub- 
 jects in Posen have been persistently non-assimilable. But only 
 within recent times has there arisen a passion to "Russianize" 
 all foreign elements in the one nation and on the other hand to 
 "Germanize" all similar foreign elements in the other. Austria- 
 Hungary is the most remarkable combination of unrelated peoples 
 ever got together to make part of a state, and is especially notable 
 for its many separate groups of Slavs. Bohemia, for instance, 
 has a very large majority of Slavic population, eager to be recog- 
 nized as such, and there are Slavic populations somewhat indis- 
 
78 PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GEEJVIANISM 
 
 criniinately scattered thi'oughout the dual-monarchy, especially in 
 Hungary. 
 
 These Slavic populations, however, differ widely in religious 
 belief. While largely of the Greek confession of faith, a consider- 
 able section of them are Roman Catholics, and many are faithful 
 Mohanmaedans. This difference in religion plays a major part in 
 their political relations, a greater one than any feeling of nationality 
 and racial unity, and aids greatly in adding to the diversity of con- 
 dition and sentiment among these mixed populations. 
 
 THE NATIONS AT WAR 
 
 In the war which sprang so suddenly and startlingly into the 
 field of events in 1914 very little of this sentiment of race animos- 
 ity appeared. While the German element remained intact in the 
 union of Germany and Austria, there was a strange mingling of races 
 in the other side of the struggle, that of the Slavic Russian, the 
 Teutonic Britain, and the Celtic French. As for Italy, the non- 
 Geraianic member of the Triple Alhance, it at first wisely declared 
 itseK out of the war, as one in which it was in no sense concerned 
 and under no obligation to enter-into from the terms of its alliance. 
 Later events tended to bring it into sympathy with the non- 
 Germanic side, as a result of enmity to Austria. So the conflict 
 became narrowed down to a struggle between Pan-Germanism on 
 the one hand and a variety of unrelated racial elements on the 
 other. It may be that Emperor William had a secret purpose 
 to unite, if possible, all German-speaking peoples mider his single 
 sway and that Czar Nicholas had similar views regarding a union 
 of the Slavs, but as they did not take the world into their 
 confidence no one can say what plans and ambitions lay hidden in 
 their mental treasure chests. In this connection it is certainly 
 of mterest that three of the leaders in this five-fold war were 
 near relatives, the Czar, the Kaiser and the British King being 
 cousins and all of Teutonic blood. This is a result of the inter- 
 marriage of royal families in these later days. 
 
PAN-SLiVVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANIS]\1 79 
 
 SPREAD OF TEUTONIC CIVILIZATION 
 
 We cannot better conclude this chapter than by quoting the 
 following illuminating statement of the character and progress of 
 the Teutonic civilization from the editorial pages of the Philadelphia 
 North American: 
 
 "No greater fallacy was ever born of that mother of error, 
 War, than that the present cataclysmic conflict in Europe is 
 between Teutonic and Slavic civilizations. Ardent German 
 patriots, stung to the soul by what appears to be universal sym- 
 pathy with the forces allied against the two Kaisers, may well be 
 pardoned for a judgment based more on soreness of heart than on 
 historic facts. For those of our fellow-citizens whose roots go deep 
 into the glorious soil of continental Germany we have only a pro- 
 found tolerance, now that they eagerly seek to rally public opinion 
 in support of the fatherland. 
 
 "We say 'continental Germany' because, after all, the empire 
 of William II is only a small part of Germany. It was Hugo, 
 that Frencliman of the encyclopedic mind, who called Germany 
 the 'wellspring of nations.' 'They flow from her as rivers,' said 
 he. 'She receives them as the sea.' 
 
 "And it is this very fact which controverts the assertion that 
 this war is a conflict between Teuton and Slav. Such an asser- 
 tion dismisses France and England as negligibles, or else classifies 
 them as Slavic. Russia will undoubtedly prove to be an important 
 factor in deciding the war. But that she will have a preponderant 
 influence in shaping the future development of European intellect 
 and ideals is unthinkable. W^iether Russia be on the winning or 
 the losing side, the effect of this war on her huge, inert bulk must 
 necessarily be for liberalization. On the other hand, a victory 
 for the Kaiser will undoubtedly result in strengthening the hands 
 of autocracy by glorifying despotism in Gei-many and putting 
 behind it the sentiment of the most efficient nation in the world. 
 
 "But, happily, this is not a conflict between Teutonic and 
 Slavic civilizations. For Teutonic civilization is at least as accu- 
 
80 PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM 
 
 lately represented among the nations arrayed against the Kaiser 
 as it is in the ideals which he seeks to impress on Europe. Euro- 
 pean civilization is essentially Teutonic. The hordes that came out 
 of the Black Forest and erected a new social order on the decayed 
 structure of the Roman empire did not keep their ideals between 
 the Rhine and the Danube. Teutonic civilization passed into 
 Gaul with the Franks, the conquering tribes who proudly blazoned 
 their freedom in their name. This they gave to the nation which 
 they built on the substructure of Gallic and Latin blood. 
 Teutonic civilization overflowed northern Italy with the long- 
 bearded warriors whose tribal designation has been corrupted into 
 'Lombardy.' 
 
 ''Teutonic civilization crossed the Channel and laid the founda- 
 tion of England. There it has been preserved in a purer state 
 than in any other part of the globe, except in Scandinavia. The 
 free ideals which England has spread broadcast throughout the 
 world are her heritage from the Saxon freemen who founded a 
 new Germany in Britain, while military despots did violence to 
 German ideals in central Europe. 
 
 ''There is no civiUzation worthy the name except Teutonic 
 civihzation. It fills Europe and America; it dominates Asia and 
 Africa. Its seat is in London and Paris, and Rome and Brussels, 
 and Copenhagen and Stockholm, and New York and Philadelphia, 
 no less than in Berlin and Vienna. Because we inherit the blood 
 of the Saxons or the Normans' or the Franks or the Longobards we 
 are all Germans; but more especially are we Germans because 
 our most priaeless heritage is the free ideals of those free men. 
 It is idle, therefore, to talk of prejudice against Germans m this 
 conflict. And it is equally futile to argue that Teutonic civiliza- 
 tion is at stake in a war in which the most potent factors on either 
 side are themselves the ripest product of that civilization watered 
 by the most ancient German blood." 
 
 A presentation of the views of leading German-Americans will 
 serve at least to show their loyalty to their Fatherlands 
 
 i 
 
PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM 81 
 
 VIEWS OF GERMAN-AMERICANS 
 
 As regards the inciting cause of the great conflict, German- 
 American writers have been strongly disposed to consider it an 
 Annageddon of the two great European races, the Slavic and 
 Teutonic, despite the fact that Teutons and Slavs were united 
 against the German nations, while the latter have hosts of Slavic 
 subjects fighting in their cause. These critics appear inclined to 
 set aside these seemingly inevitable results of the race mixture in 
 Europe and the strength of political issues, commercial rivalries, and 
 treaty obligations in dividing the nations of Europe into two great 
 hostile bodies irrespective of the Slavic and Germanic question. But 
 among the critics of the war were those who set aside these condi- 
 tions as minor in actual importance, and saw looming up behind 
 the apparent issues that of the battle for supremacy between the 
 two great races, that destined to settle the question whether the 
 Slavs or the Teutons were to become the ruling powers in Europe. 
 This is the theory that has been maintained by the German- 
 American writers referred to. Let us quote some of their views. 
 
 The president of the German-American Chamber of Com- 
 merce, of New York, has said: 
 
 ''The only Power able to checkmate Russia is Germany, and 
 therefore Germany is fighting the battle of civilization and of 
 progress against reaction. . . . Strike down German military 
 power and German prestige, and nothing but the Czar remains in 
 Europe." 
 
 Professor Francke, of Harvard, declared that if Germany 
 lost, ''her place would be taken by Russia, which, with her teeming 
 millions and inexhaustible resources, would become the arbiter of 
 Europe." 
 
 "It is race treachery," said Dr. Ernst Richard, president of 
 the German-American Peace Society, "for England to fight against 
 Germany and for Russia. . . . The real cause of the war is: 
 Shall Europe be ruled by Asiatics or by Europeans, by Slavs or 
 by Teutons?" 
 
82 PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM 
 
 Dr. Hugo Miinsterberg, of Harvard, a personal friend of the 
 Kaiser, wrote: 
 
 "All German good will for peace was doomed because the 
 issue between the onrushing Slavic world and the German world 
 had grown to an overpowering force. The struggle between the 
 two civilizations was imminent. ... At last the chance 
 came to strike the long-delayed blow of the Slavic world against 
 the German. Both Slavs and Germans are willing to sacrifice 
 labor and life for the conservation of their national culture and 
 their very existence." 
 
 General von Bernhardi, a noted German military leader, 
 wrote three years ago: 
 
 "Russia feels herself the leading power of the Slavic races. 
 Pan-Slavism is hard at work. . . . The coming war must be 
 a war for our political and national existence." 
 
 In his manifesto to the world, as already given, the Czar 
 proclaimed: 
 
 "Russia, related by faith and blood to the Slav peoples, and 
 faithful to her historic traditions, has never regarded their fates 
 with indifference. The fraternal sentiments of the Russian people 
 for the Slavs have been awakened with perfect mianimity and 
 extraordinary force." 
 
 The German Emperor took up the issue when he charged the 
 strife to Russia's "insatiable nationalism," and exhorted his sub- 
 jects to "remember, above all, that you are Germans." 
 
 These views are well worth presentation, as coming from men 
 of marked culture and developed powers of thought. It is quite 
 possible that they had come to look upon the possible as the 
 actual. While animosity between Slav and German doubtless 
 had to do with the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, and the 
 same animosity may have had some share in Austria's rigid demand 
 upon Servia, apparently framed for the purpose of precipitating 
 a war, the actual war propaganda rapidly spread to embrace other 
 issues not included in this original race incentive. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 Europe at the Close of the Eighteenth Century 
 
 End of Medievalism and Beginning of Modernism 
 
 The Age of FeudaUsm — Issues of the French Revolution — How Napoleon Won 
 Fame — Conditions in France and Germany — Spain and Poland — Russia and Turkey — 
 
 Austria and Italy. 
 
 "HEN, after a weary climb, we find ourselves on the sum- 
 mit of a lofty mountain, and look back from that com- 
 manding altitude over the ground we have traversed, 
 what is it that we behold? The minor details of the scenery, many 
 of which seemed large and important to us as we passed, are now 
 lost to view, and we see only the great and imposing features of the 
 landscape, the high elevations, the town-studded valleys, the 
 deep and winding streams, the broad forests. It is the same 
 when, from the summit of an age, we gaze backward over the 
 plain of time. The myriad of petty happenings are lost to sight, 
 and we see only the strildng events, the critical epochs, the mighty 
 crises through which the world has passed. These are the things 
 that make true history, not the daily doings in the king's palace 
 or the peasant's hut. What we should seek to observe and store 
 up in our memories are the turning points in hmnan events, the 
 great thoughts which have ripened into noble deeds, the hands of 
 might which have pushed the world forward in its career; not 
 the trifling occurrences which signify nothing, the passing actions 
 which have borne no fruit in human affairs. It is with such turning 
 points, such critical periods in modern history, that we are 
 here dealing; not to picture the passing bubbles on the stream of 
 time, but to point out the great ships which have sailed up that 
 stream laden with a noble freight. This is history in its deepest 
 and best aspect, and we have set our camera to photograph only 
 
 (83) 
 
84 EUROPE AT CLOSE OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 
 
 the men who have made and the events which constitute history 
 in the phase here outhned. 
 
 THE AGE OF FEUDALISM 
 
 The Medieval Age was the age of feudahsm, that remarkable 
 system of government based on military organization which held 
 western Europe captive for centuries. The state was an army, 
 the nobihty its captains and generals, the king its commander-m- 
 chief, the people its rank and file. As for the horde of laborers, 
 they were hardly considered at all. They were the hewers of wood 
 and drawers of water for the armed and fighting class, a base, down- 
 trodden, enslaved multitude, destitute of rights and privileges, 
 their only mission in the world to provide food for and pay taxes 
 to their masters. 
 
 France, the country in which the feudal system had its birth, 
 was the country in which it had the longest lease of life. There it 
 Dame down to the verge of the nineteenth century with little relief 
 irom its terrible exactions. We see before us in that country the 
 spectacle of a people steeped in misery, crushed by tyranny, robbed 
 of all political rights, and without a voice to make their sufferings 
 Jmown; and of an aristocracy lapped in luxury, proud, vain, insolent, 
 lavish with the people's money, ruthless with the people's blood, 
 and blind to the specter of retribution which was rising higher 
 yeaf by year before their eyes. 
 
 ISSUES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 
 
 This era of injustice and oppression reached its climax in the 
 closing years of the eighteenth century, and went down at length 
 in that hideous nightmare of blood and terror known as the French 
 Revolution. Frightful as this was, it was unavoidable. The 
 pride and privilege of the aristocracy had the people by the throat, 
 and only the sword or the guillotine could loosen their hold. 
 
 It was the need of money for the spendthrift throne that pre- 
 cipitated the Revolution. For years the indignation of the people 
 
ID 
 
 B 
 
 
 o 
 
 ^0 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 "* 
 
 03 
 
 
 •c 
 
 
 +J 
 
 >, 
 
 tfl 
 
 u 
 
 ;3 
 
 03 
 
 < 
 
 G 
 
 0) 
 
 oj Xi 
 
 ' — 1 
 
 -1-^ 
 
 C 
 
 ^H 
 
 O 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 |.s 
 
 &,, - 
 
 -*^ fi !h 
 
 o a g 
 
 G O ^1 
 
 d "3 a 
 
 tn _, 03 
 
 ^al 
 
 fi) " •-' 
 
 _^ ?3 p 
 
 w 4J _ 
 6 t" "7-1 
 
 (Tj 03 
 
 ,-^^ (LI 
 
 =3^ <=> 
 
 (U 
 
 O ni ^ 
 ^W G 
 
 P 03 '^ 
 
EUROPE AT CLOSE OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 85 
 
 had been growing and spreading; for years the authors of the nation 
 had been adding fuel to the flame. The voices of Voltaire, Rousseau 
 and a dozen others had been heard in advocacy of the rights of man, 
 and the people were growing daily more restive under their load. 
 But still the lavish waste of money wrung from the hunger and sweat 
 of the people went on, imtil the king and his advisers found their 
 coffers empty and were without hope of filling them without a direct 
 appeal to the nation at large. 
 
 It was in 1788 that the fatal step was taken. Louis XVI, King 
 of France, called a session of the States-General, the Parliament 
 of the kingdom, which had not met for more than a hundred years. 
 This body was composed of three classes, the representatives of 
 the nobility, of the church, and of the people. In all earlier instances 
 they had been docile to the mandate of the throne, and the mon- 
 arch, blind to the signs of the times, had no thought but that this 
 assembly would vote him the money he asked for, fix by law a sys- 
 tem of taxation for his future supply, and dissolve at his coimnand. 
 
 He was ignorant of the temper of the common people. They 
 had gained a voice at last, and were sure to take the opportunity to 
 speak their mind. Their representatives, known as the Third Estate, 
 were made up of bold, earnest, indignant men, who asked for bread 
 and were not to be put off with a crust. They were twice as numer- 
 ous as the representatives of the nobles and the clergy, and thus 
 held control of the situation. They were ready to support the 
 throne, but refused to vote a penny until the crying evils of the state 
 were reformed. They broke loose from the other two Estates, 
 established in 1789 a separate parliament under the name of the 
 National Assembly, and began that career of revolution which did 
 not cease until it had brought monarchy to an end in France and 
 set all Europe aflame. 
 
 The Revolution grew, month by month and day by day. New 
 and more radical laws were passed; moss-grown abuses were swept 
 away in an hour's sitting; the king, who sought to escape, was 
 seized and held as a hostage; and war was boldly declared against 
 
86 EUROPE AT CLOSE OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 
 
 Austria and Prussia, which showed a disposition to interfere. In 
 November, 1792, the French army gained a brilhant victory at 
 Jemmapes, in Belgium, which eventually led to the conquest of 
 that kingdom by France. It was the first important event in the 
 career of victory which in the coming years was to make France 
 glorious in the annals of war. 
 
 The hostihty of the surrounding nations added to the revolu- 
 tionary fury in France. Armies were marching to the rescue of the 
 king, and the unfortunate monarch was seized, reviled and insulted 
 by the mob, and incarcerated in the prison called the Temple. The 
 queen, Marie Antoinette, daughter of the Emperor of Austria, was 
 likewise haled from the palace to the prison. In the foUov/ing 
 year, 1793, king and queen alike were taken to the guillotine and 
 their royal heads fell into the fatal basket. The Revolution was 
 consummated, the monarchy was at an end, France had fallen into 
 the hands of the people, and from them it descended into the hands 
 of a ruthless and blood-thirsty mob. 
 
 Meanwhile a foreign war was being waged. England had 
 formed a coaUtion with most of the nations of Europe, and France 
 was threatened by land with the troops of Holland, Prussia, Austria, 
 Spain and Portugal, and by sea with the fleet of Great Britain. The 
 incompetency of her assailants saved her from destruction. Her 
 generals who lost battles were sent to prison or to the guillotine, 
 the whole country rose as one man in defense, and a number of 
 brilliant victories drove her enemies from her borders and gave the 
 armies of France a position beyond the Rhine. 
 
 HOW NAPOLEON WON FAME 
 
 These wars soon brought a great man to the front, Napoleozi 
 Bonaparte, a son of Corsica, whose career as a man of recognized 
 ability began in 1794, when, under the orders of the National 
 Convention — the successor of the National Assembly — he quelled 
 the mob in the streets of Paris with loaded cannon and put a final 
 end to the Terror which had so long prevailed. 
 
EUROPE AT CLOSE OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 87 
 
 Placed at the head of the French army in Italy, Napoleon 
 quickly astonished the world by a series of the most brilliant vic- 
 tories, defeating the Austrians and the Sardinians wherever he met 
 them, seizing Venice, the city of the lagoon, and forcing almost 
 all Italy to submit to his arms. A republic was established here 
 and a new one in Switzerland, while Belgium and the left bank 
 of the Rhine were held by France. 
 
 His wars here at an end. Napoleon's ambition led him to 
 Egypt, inspired by great designs which he failed to realize. In 
 his absence anarchy arose in France. The five Directors, then 
 at the head of the government, had lost all authority, and Napo- 
 leon, who had unexpectedly returned, did not hesitate to overthrow 
 them and the Assembly which supported them. A new govern- 
 ment, with three Consuls at its head, was formed. Napoleon, as 
 First Consul, holding almost royal power. Thus France stood in 
 1800, at the end of the eighteenth century. 
 
 CONDITIONS IN FKANCE AND GERMANY 
 
 In the remainder of Europe there was nothing to compare 
 with the momentous convulsion which had taken place in France. 
 England had gone through its two revolutions more than a cen- 
 tury before, and its people were the freest of any m Europe. 
 Recently it had lost its colonies in America, but it still held in 
 that continent the broad domain of Canada, and was building 
 for itself a new empire in India, while founding colonies in twenty 
 other lands. In commerce and manufactures it entered the nine- 
 teenth century as the greatest nation on the earth. The hanmier 
 and the loom resounded from end to end of the island, mighty 
 centers of industry arose where cattle had grazed a century before, 
 coal and iron were being torn in great quantities from the depths 
 of the earth, and there seemed everywhere an endless bustle and 
 whirr. The ships of England haunted all seas and visited the most 
 remote ports, laden with the products of her workshops and bring- 
 ing back raw material for her factories and looms. Wealth accu- 
 
88 EUROPE AT CLOSE OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 
 
 mulated, London became the money market of the world, the 
 riches and prosperity of the island kingdom were growing to be 
 a parable among the nations of the earth. 
 
 On the continent of Europe, Prussia, destined in time to be- 
 come great, had recently emerged from its medieval feebleness, 
 mainly under the powerful hand of Frederick the Great, whose 
 reign extended until 1786, and whose ambition, daring, and mili- 
 tary genius made him a fitting predecessor of Napoleon the Great, 
 who so soon succeeded him in the annals of war. Unscrupulous 
 in his aims, this warrior king had torn Silesia from Austria, added 
 to his kingdom a portion of unfortunate Poland, annexed the prin- 
 cipahty of East Friesland, and lifted Prussia into a leading posi- 
 tion among the Eiu-opean states. 
 
 Germany, now — ^with the exception of Austria — a compact 
 empire, was then a series of disconnected states, variously known 
 as kingdoms, principalities, margravates, electorates, and by other 
 titles, the whole forming the so-called Holy Empire, though it 
 was "neither holy nor an empire." It had drifted down in this 
 fashion from the Middle Ages, and the work of consolidation had 
 but just begun, in the conquests of Frederick the Great. A host 
 of petty potentates ruled the land, whose states, aside from Prussia 
 and Austria, were too weak to have a voice in the councils of 
 Europe. Joseph II, the titular emperor of Germany, made an 
 earnest and vigorous effort to combine its elements into a power- 
 ful unit; but he signally failed, and died in 1790, a disappointed 
 and embittered man. 
 
 AUSTRIA AND ITALY 
 
 Austria, then far the most powerful of the German states, 
 was from 1740 to 1780 under the reign of a woman, Maria Theresa, 
 who struggled in vain against her ambitious neighbor, Frederick 
 the Great, his kingdom being extended ruthlessly at the expense 
 of her imperial dominions. Austria remained a great country, 
 however, including Bohemia and Hungary among its domains. 
 
EUROPE AT CLOSE OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 89 
 
 It was lord of Lombardy and Venice in Italy, and. was destined to 
 play an important but unfortunate part in the coming Napoleonic 
 wars. 
 
 The peninsula of Italy, the central seat of the great Roman 
 Empire, was, at the opening of the nineteenth century, as sadly 
 broken up as Germany, a dozen weak states taking the place of 
 the one strong one that the good of the people demanded. The 
 independent cities of the medieval period no longer held sway, 
 and we hear no more of wars between Florence, Genoa, Milan, 
 Pisa and Rome; but the country was still made up of minor states 
 — Lombardy, Venice and Sardinia in the north, Naples in the 
 south, Rome in the center, and various smaller kingdoms and duke- 
 doms between. The peninsula was a prey to turmoil and dis- 
 sension. Germany and France had made it their fighting ground 
 for centuries, Spain had filled the south with her armies, and the 
 country had been miserably torn and rent by these frequent wars 
 and those between state and state, and was in a condition to wel- 
 come the coming of Napoleon, whose strong hand for the time 
 promised the blessing of peace and union. 
 
 SPAIN AND POLAND 
 
 Spain, not many centuries before the greatest nation in 
 Europe, and, as such, the greatest nation on the globe, had mis- 
 erably declined in power and place at the opening of the nineteenth 
 century. Under the emperor Charles I it had been united with 
 Germany, while its colonies embraced two thirds of the great 
 continent of America. Under Philip II it continued powerful in 
 Europe, but with his death its decay set in. Intolerance checked 
 its growth in civilization, the gold brought from America was 
 swept away by more enterprising states, its strength was sapped 
 by a succession of feeble monarchs, and from first place it fell 
 into a low rank among the nations of Europe. It still held its 
 vast colonial area, but this proved a source of weakness rather 
 than of strength, and the people of the colonies, exasperated by 
 
90 EUROPE AT CLOSE OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 
 
 injustice and oppression, were ready for the general revolt which 
 was soon to take place. Spain presented the aspect of a great 
 nation ruined by its innate vices, impoverished by official venality 
 and the decline of industry, and fallen into the dry rot of advanc- 
 ing decay. 
 
 Of the nations of Europe which had once played a prominent 
 part, one was on the point of being swept from the map. The 
 name of Poland, which formerly stood for a great power, now 
 stands only for a great crime. The misrule of the kings, the tur- 
 bulence of the nobility, and the enslavement of the people had 
 brought that state into such a condition of decay that it lay Hke 
 a rotten log amid the Powers of Europe. 
 
 The ambitious nations surrounding — ^Russia, Austria and 
 Prussia — took advantage of its weakness, and in 1772 each of them 
 seized the portion of Poland that bordered on its own territories. 
 In the remainder of the kingdom the influence of Russia grew so 
 great that the Russian ambassador at Warsaw became the real 
 ruler in Poland. A struggle against Russia began in 1792, Kos- 
 ciusko, a brave soldier who had fought under Washington in 
 America, being at the head of the patriots. But the weakness 
 of the king tied the hands of the soldiers, the Polish patriots left 
 their native land in despair, and in the following year Prussia and 
 Russia made a further division of the state, Russia seizing a broad 
 territory, 96,000 miles in area, with more than 3,000,000 inhabit- 
 ants. Prussia received 22,500 square miles, with a population of 
 1,100,000. 
 
 In 1794 a new outbreak began. The patriots returned and 
 a desperate struggle took place. But Poland was doomed. Suva- 
 roff, the greatest of the Russian generals, swept the land with 
 fire and sword. Kosciusko fell wounded, crying, "Poland's end 
 has come," and Warsaw was taken and desolated by its assailants. 
 The patriot was right; the end had come. What remained of 
 Poland was divided up between Austria, Prussia and Russia, and 
 only a name remained. 
 
EUROPE AT CLOSE OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 91 
 
 RUSSIA AND TURKEY 
 
 There are two others of the Powers of Europe of which we 
 must speak, Russia and Turkey. Until the seventeenth century- 
 Russia had been a domain of barbarians, weak and disunited, and 
 for a long period the vassal of the savage Mongol conquerors of 
 Asia. Under Peter the Great (1689-1725) it rose into power and 
 prominence, took its place among civilized states, and began that 
 career of conquest and expansion which is still going on. At the 
 end of the eighteenth century it was under the rule of Catharine 
 II, often miscalled Catharine the Great, who died in 1796, just 
 as Napoleon was beginning his career. Her greatness lay in the 
 ability of her generals, who defeated Turkey and conquered the 
 Crimea, and who added the greater part of Poland to her empire. 
 Her strength of mind and decision of character were not shared 
 by her successor, Paul I, and Russia entered the nineteenth century 
 under the weakest sovereign of the Romanoff line. 
 
 Turkey, once the terror of EiKope, sending its armies into 
 the heart of Austria, was now confined Vvdthin the boundaries it 
 had long before won, and had begun its long struggle for existence 
 with its powerful neighbor, Russia. At the beginning of the nine- 
 teenth century it was still a powerful state, with a wide domain 
 in Europe, and continued to defy the Christians who coveted its 
 territory and sought its overthrow. But the canker-worm of a 
 weak and barbarous government was at its heart, while its cruel 
 treatment of its Christian subjects exasperated the strong Powers 
 of Europe and invited their armed interference. 
 
 As regards the world outside of Europe and America, no part 
 of it had yet entered the circle of modern civilization. Africa was 
 an almost unknown continent; Asia was little better known; and 
 the islands of the Eastern seas were still in process of discovery. 
 Japan, which was approaching its period of manumission from bar- 
 barism, was still closed to the world, and China lay like a huge 
 and helpless bulk, fast in the fetters of conservatism and blind 
 seK-sufficiency. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 The Earthquake of Napoleonism 
 
 Its Effect on National Conditions Finally Led to the 
 
 War of 1914 
 
 The Campaign in Italy — ^The Victory at Marengo — Moreau Wins Glory at Hohen- 
 linden — Napoleon the Idol of France — The Consul made Emperor — The Code 
 Napoleon — Campaign of 1805 — Battle of Austerlitz — ^The Gains of the Empire — The 
 Conquest of Prussia — Invasion of Poland — ^Victory at Eylau — Russian Defeat at 
 Friedland — Campaign of 1809 — Great Battles around Vienna — Victory at Wagram — 
 
 The Divorce of Josephine. 
 
 THE first fifteen years of the nineteenth century in Europe 
 yield us the history of a man rather than of a continent. 
 France was the center of Europe; Napoleon, the Corsican, 
 was the center of France. All the affairs of all the nations seemed 
 to gather around this genius of war. He was respected, feared, 
 hated; he had risen with the suddenness of a thundercloud on a 
 clear horizon, and flashed the lightnings of victory in the dazzled 
 eyes of the nations. All the events of the period were concen- 
 trated into one great event, and the name of that event was 
 Napoleon. He seemed incarnate war, organized destruction; 
 sword in hand, he dominated the nations, and victory sat on his 
 banners with folded wings. He was, in a full sense, the man of 
 destiny, and Europe was his prey. 
 
 Never has there been a more wonderful career. The earlier 
 great conquerors began life at the top; Napoleon began his at the 
 bottom. Alexander was a king; Csesar was an aristocrat of the 
 Roman republic; Napoleon rose from the people, and was not even 
 a native of the land which became the scene of his exploits. Pure 
 force of military genius lifted him from the lowest to the highest 
 place among mankind, and for long and terrible years Europe 
 shuddered at his name and trembled beneath the tread of his 
 
 (92) 
 
THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 93 
 
 marching legions. As for France, he brought it glory, and left 
 it ruin and dismay. 
 
 We have briefly epitomized Napoleon's early career, his 
 doings in the Revolution, in Italy, and in Egypt, unto the time 
 that France's worship of his military genius raised him to the rank 
 of First Consul, and gave him in effect the power of a king. No 
 one dared question his word, the army was at his beck and call, 
 the nation lay prostrate at his feet — not in fear but in admira- 
 tion. Such was the state of affairs in France in the closing year 
 of the eighteenth century. The Revolution was at an end; the 
 Republic existed only as a name; Napoleon was the autocrat of 
 France and the terror of Europe. From this point we resume 
 the story of his career. 
 
 The First Consul began his reign with two enemies in the 
 field, England and Austria. Prussia was neutral, and he had won 
 the friendship of Paul, the emperor of Russia, by a shrewd move. 
 While the other nations refused to exchange the Russian prisoners 
 they held. Napoleon sent home 6,000 of these captives, newly clad 
 and armed, under their own leaders, and without demanding ran- 
 som. This was enough to win to his side the weak-minded Paul, 
 whose dehght in soldiers he well knew. 
 
 Napoleon now had but two enemies in arms to deal with. He 
 wrote letters to the king of England and the emperor of Austria, 
 offering peace. The answers were cold and insulting, asking 
 France to take back her Bourbon kings and return to her old 
 boundaries. Nothing remained but war. Napoleon prepared for 
 it with his usual rapidity, secrecy, and keenness of judgment. 
 
 THE CAMPAIGN IN ITALY 
 
 There were two French armies in the field m the spring of 
 1800, Moreau commanding in Germany, Massena in Italy. Switzer- 
 land, which was occupied by the French, divided the armies of the 
 enemy, and Napoleon determined to take advantage of the sepa- 
 ration of their forces, and strike an overwhelming blow. He sent 
 
94 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 
 
 word to Moreau and Massena to keep the enemy in check at any 
 cost, and secretly gathered a third army, whose corps were dis- 
 persed here and there, while the Powers of Europe were aware 
 only of the army of reserve at Dijon, made up of conscripts and 
 invalids. 
 
 Meanwhile the armies in Italy and Germany were doing their 
 best to obey orders. Massena was attacked by the Austrians 
 before he could concentrate his troops, his army was cut in two, 
 and he was forced to fall back upon Genoa, in which city he was 
 closely besieged, with a fair prospect of being conquered by star- 
 vation if not soon relieved. Moreau was more fortunate. He 
 defeated the Austrians in a series of battles and drove them back 
 on Ulm, where he blockaded them in their camp. All was ready 
 for the great movement which Napoleon had in view. 
 
 Twenty centuries before Hannibal had led his army across the 
 great mountain barrier of the Alps, and poured down like an 
 avalanche upon the fertile plains of Italy. The Corsican deter- 
 mined to repeat this briUiant achievement and emulate Hanni- 
 bal's career. Several passes across the mountains seemed favor- 
 able to his purpose, especially those of the St. Bernard, the Simplon 
 and Mont Cenis. Of these the first was the most difficult; but 
 it was much the shorter, and Napoleon determined to lead the 
 main body of his army over this ice-covered mountain pass, despite 
 its dangers and difficulties. The enterprise was one to deter any 
 man less bold than Hannibal or Napoleon, but it was welcome 
 to the hardihood and daring of these men, who rejoiced in the 
 seemingly impossible and spurned faltering at hardships and perils. 
 
 The task of the Corsican was greater than that of the Car- 
 thaginian. He had cannon to transport, while Hannibal's men 
 carried only swords and spears. But the genius of Napoleon was 
 equal to the task. The cannon were taken from their carriages 
 and placed in the hoUowed-out trunks of trees, which could be 
 dragged with ropes over the ice and snow. Mules were used to 
 draw the gun-carriages and the wagon-loads of food and muni- 
 
THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 95 
 
 tions of war. Stores of provisions had been placed at suitable 
 points along the road. 
 
 The sudden appearance of the French in Italy was an utter 
 surprise to the Austrians. They descended like a torrent into the 
 valley, seized Ivry, and five days after reaching Italy met and 
 repulsed an Austrian force. The divisions which had crossed by 
 other passes one by one joined Napoleon. Melas, the Austrian 
 commander, was warned of the danger that impended, but refused 
 to credit the seemingly preposterous story. His men were scat- 
 tered, some besieging Massena in Genoa, some attacking Suchet 
 on the Var. His danger was imminent, for Napoleon, leaving 
 Massena to starve in Genoa, had formed the design of annihilating 
 the Austrian army at one tremendous blow. 
 
 The people of Lombardy, weary of the Austrian yoke, and 
 hoping for liberty under the rule of France, received the new- 
 comers with transport, and lent them what aid they could. On 
 June 9th Marshal Lannes met and defeated the Austrians at 
 Montebello, after a hot engagement. "I heard the bones crackle 
 like a hailstorm on the roofs," he said. On the 14th, the two 
 armies met on the plain of Marengo, and one of the most famous 
 of Napoleon's battles began. 
 
 THE VICTORY AT MARENGO 
 
 Napoleon was not ready for the coming battle, and was taken 
 by surprise. He had been obliged to break up his army in order 
 to guard all the passages open to the enemy. When he entered, 
 on the 13th, the plain between the Scrivia and the Bormida, near 
 the little village of Marengo, he was ignorant of the movements 
 of the Austrians, and was not expecting the onset of Melas, who, 
 on the following morning, crossed the Bormida by three bridges, 
 and made a fierce assault upon the divisions of Generals Victor 
 and Lannes. Victor was vigorously attacked and driven back, 
 and Marengo was destroyed by the Austrian cannon. Lannes 
 was surrounded by overwhelming nmnbers, and, fighting furiously, 
 
96 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 
 
 was forced to retreat. In the heat of the battle Bonaparte reached 
 the field with his guard and his staff, and found himself in the 
 thick of the terrific affray and his army virtually beaten. 
 
 The retreat continued. It was impossible to check it. The 
 enemy pressed enthusiastically forward. The army was in im- 
 minent danger of being cut in two. But Napoleon, with obstinate 
 persistence, kept up the fight, hoping for some change in the 
 perilous situation. Melas, on the contrary — an old man, weary 
 of his labors, and confident in the seeming victory — ^withdrew to 
 his headquarters at Alessandria, whence he sent off despatches 
 to the effect that the terrible Corsican had at length met defeat. 
 
 He did not know his man. Napoleon sent an aide-de-camp 
 in all haste after Desaix, one of his most trusted generals, who had 
 just returned from Egypt, and whose corps he had detached towards 
 Novi. All depended upon his rapid return. Without Desaix the 
 battle was lost. Fortunately the alert general did not wait for 
 the messenger. His ears caught the sound of distant cannon and, 
 scenting danger, he marched back with the utmost speed. 
 
 Napoleon met his welcome officer with eyes of joy and hope. 
 "You see the situation," he said, rapidly explaining the state of 
 affairs. "What is to be done?" 
 
 "It is a lost battle," Desaix repUed. "But there are some 
 hours of daylight yet. We have time to win another." 
 
 While he talked with the conmiander, his regiments had 
 hastily formed, and now presented a threatening front to the 
 Austrians. Their presence gave new spirit to the retreating troops. 
 
 "Soldiers and friends," cried Napoleon to them, "remember 
 that it is my custom to sleep upon the field of battle." 
 
 Back upon their foes turned the retreating troops, with new 
 animation, and checked the victorious Austrians. Desaix hur- 
 ried to his men and placed himself at their head. 
 
 "Go and tell the First Consul that I am about to charge," 
 he said to an aide. "I need to be supported by cavalry." 
 
 A few minutes afterwards, as he was leading his troops irre- 
 
THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 97 
 
 sistibly forward, a ball struck him in the breast, inflicting a mortal 
 wound. ''I have been too long making war in Africa; the bullets 
 of Europe know me no more," he sadly said. '^ Conceal my death 
 from the men; it might rob them of spirit." 
 
 The soldiers had seen him fall, but, instead of being dispirited, 
 they were filled with rage, and rushed forward furiously to avenge 
 their beloved leader. At the same time Kellermann arrived with 
 his dragoons, impetuously hurled them upon the Austrian cavalry, 
 broke through their columns, and fell upon the grenadiers who were 
 wavering before the troops of Desaix. It was a death-stroke. 
 The cavalry and infantry together swept them back in a disorderly 
 retreat. One whole corps, hopeless of escape, threw down its 
 aims and surrendered. The late victorious army was everywhere 
 in retreat. The Austrians were crowded back upon the Bormida, 
 here blocking the bridges, there flinging themselves into the stream, 
 on all sides flying from the victorious French. The cannon stuck 
 in the muddy stream and were left to the victors. When Melas, 
 apprised of the sudden change in the aspect of affairs, hurried 
 back in dismay to the field, the battle was irretrievably lost, and 
 General Zach, his representative in command, was a prisoner in 
 the hands of the French. The field was strewn with thousands 
 of the dead. The slain Desaix and the living Kellermann had 
 turned the Austrian victory into defeat and saved Napoleon. 
 
 A few days afterwards, on the 19th, Moreau in Germany won 
 a brilliant victory at Hochstadt, near Blenheim, took 5,000 pris- 
 oners and twenty pieces of cannon, and forced from the Austrians 
 an armed truce which left him master of South Germany. A still 
 more momentous armistice was signed by Melas in Italy, by which 
 the Austrians surrendered Piedmont, Lombardy, and all their 
 territory as far as the Mincio, leaving France master of Italy. 
 Melas protested against these severe terms, but Napoleon was 
 immovable. 
 
 ''I did not begin to make war yesterday," he said. "I know 
 your situation. You are out of provisions, encmnbered with the 
 
 7 
 
98 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 
 
 dead, wounded, and sick, and surrounded on all sides. I could 
 exact everything. I ask only what the situation of affairs demands. 
 I have no other terms to offer." 
 
 During the night of the 2d and 3d of July, Napoleon re-entered 
 Paris, which he had left less than two months before. BrilUant 
 ovations met him on his route, and all France would have pros- 
 trated itself at his feet had he permitted. He came crowned with 
 the kind of glory which is especially dear to the French, that 
 gained on the field of battle. 
 
 MOEEAU WINS GLORY AT HOHENLINDEN 
 
 Five months afterwards, Austria having refused to make 
 peace without the concurrence of England, and the truce being 
 at an end, another- famous victory was added to the list of those 
 which were being inscribed upon the annals of France. On the 
 3d of December the veterans under Moreau met an Austrian army 
 under the Archduke John, on the plain of Hohenlinden, across 
 which ran the small river Iser. 
 
 The Austrians marched through the forest of Hohenlinden, 
 looking for no resistance, and unaware that Moreau's army awaited 
 their exit. As they left the shelter of the trees and debouched 
 upon the plain, they were attacked by the French in force. Two 
 divisions had been despatched to take them in the rear, and 
 Moreau held back his men to give them the necessary time. The 
 snow was falling in great flakes, yet through it his keen eyes saw 
 some signs of confusion in the hostile ranks. 
 
 "Richepanse has struck them in the rear," he said, "the 
 time has come to charge." 
 
 Ney rushed forward at the head of his troops, driving the 
 enemy in confusion before him. The center of the Austrian army 
 was hemmed in between the two forces. Decaen had struck their 
 left wing in the rear and forced it back upon the Inn. Their 
 right was driven into the valley. The day was lost to the Aus- 
 trians, whose killed and wounded numbered 8,000, while the 
 
THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 99 
 
 French had taken 12,000 prisoners and eighty-seven pieces of 
 cannon. 
 
 The victorious French advanced, sweeping back all opposi- 
 tion, until Vienna, the Austrian capital, lay before them, only a 
 few leagues away. His staff officers urged Moreau to take pos- 
 session of the city. 
 
 ''That would be a fine thing to do, no doubt," he said; "but 
 to my fancy to dictate terms of peace will be a finer thing still." 
 
 The Austrians were ready for peace at any price. On Christ- 
 mas day, 1800, an armistice was signed which dehvered to the 
 French the valley of the Danube, the country of the Tyrol, a 
 number of fortresses, and immense magazines of war materials. 
 The war continued in Italy till the end of December, when a truce 
 was signed there and the conflict was at an end. 
 
 NAPOLEON THE IDOL OF FRANCE 
 
 The events which immediately followed may be briefly sum- 
 marized. Napoleon's brilliant victories had won him a leading 
 position in France and made him at once the terror of Europe 
 and the admiration of the world. Among the excitable and glory- 
 loving people of France he was fairly worshipped. His word was 
 law, his requests commands, his rank that of a general and consul, 
 his position that of an emperor and autocrat. He had but to 
 speak and the whole nation was ready and eager to obey. The 
 nineteenth century dawned, leaving France at peace with all the 
 countries of Europe except Great Britain, a treaty of peace being 
 concluded with Austria in February, 1801. 
 
 So far as Great Britain was concerned the war that still 
 existed had to do solely with the troops which Napoleon had left 
 in Egypt on his hasty return from that country. These hardened 
 veterans proved too much for either the British land forces or 
 the Turkish troops, and a treaty was finally made which stipu- 
 lated that the French soldiers, 24,000 in number, should be taken 
 back to France in English ships, with their arms and ammunition. 
 
100 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 
 
 On March 27, 1802, the treaty of Amiens was signed, establishing 
 peace between England and France, and for the first time in years 
 France was free from war. Its great general had conquered peace. 
 
 A PERIOD OF PEACE 
 
 The days of leisure which now came to the First Consul — the 
 rank at this time held by Napoleon — ^were by no means days of 
 idleness. His mind throbbed with new ideas and new puiposes. 
 There were reUcs of the insensate fury of the Revolution that 
 needed to be removed, and to these he first applied himself. One 
 of the earliest things he did was to restore the Christian worship 
 in the churches of France, aboHshing the Republican festivals 
 which had replaced Christianity with paganism. 
 
 But he did not propose to share his authority with the Pope; 
 to establish a new kingship beside his own. He insisted that the 
 Church should yield its old-time supremacy, and become a servant 
 of, instead of an autocrat over, the French state. Another step 
 was to have his term of office extended from ten years, as originally 
 fixed, to life. He established himself in the Tuileries, where he 
 began to restore the old court customs and etiquetta abolished 
 by the Revolution, and made an effort to re-establish the customs 
 and usages of the monarchy. The royal-like customs and elegance 
 established made the First Consul's court resemble that of the 
 deposed monarchy. In truth he had made himself king in every- 
 thing but in name. However, the new liberties and privileges 
 which the people had won by the Revolution were not interfered 
 with. With these the peasant who had made himseK monarch 
 was in full sympathy. Feudalism had been definitely overthrown, 
 and Napoleon's supremacy in the state was a benevolent one that 
 recognized the popular freedom. 
 
 THE CONSUL MADE EMPEROR 
 
 He was not without enemies — ^bitter ones, many of them. 
 There were among the old Republicans many shrewd enough to 
 

 o ^ <! r"-5 
 
 
 liBoO^ 
 
 
 great 
 d Nel 
 tory s( 
 oment 
 d and 
 
 
 
 U Cfi fD 
 
 
 3-0 C O en 
 
 
 fl> >-*> B 3 '^ 
 
 
 sea 
 me 
 ded 
 vict 
 gaii 
 
 
 
 ^ Q -^^^ 
 
 
 a^g-pcg^ 
 
 
 - '^^" 
 
 
 5 m P >-h B^ 
 
 
 n t^ n m ^■ 
 
 
 story 
 ated 
 ite in 
 son f ( 
 e the 
 
 
 is represent 
 the combin( 
 
 the decline 
 3II and died 
 
 double hon 
 
 > 
 
 
 p n >^ ft) 
 -1 w ft^^Pu 
 
 
 H 
 
 by t 
 Fren 
 Nap 
 heb 
 of vi 
 
 S B* 
 
 ^ 
 
 n^ r^™ 
 
 rj 
 
 above engr 
 and Spanis 
 on's power 
 d the word 
 iry and We 
 
 
 aving. 
 3h fleets, 
 and cha 
 s telling 
 stminste 
 
 
 
 
 H 
 
 
 '-' 3-3 .1-1 
 
 trJ 
 
 t wa: 
 vastl 
 ged 
 .im t 
 Abt 
 
 W 
 
 to 
 
 
 m 3'Et.'<; "^ 
 
 •* 
 
 off Ca; 
 
 his su 
 
 le dest 
 
 at the 
 
 y- 
 
 1-' 
 00 
 
 
 
 peTr 
 [perio: 
 iny 0: 
 naval 
 
 
 '-b >-t m 
 
 
 falga 
 in n- 
 Eurc 
 powe 
 
 
 2,P 3 t» 
 
 
 ^ cro 
 
 
 
 
 3 o<- !4>Q 
 
 
 coast 
 essels 
 ; glori 
 
 and 
 
 
 
 OTO „, 
 
 
 'O fi S 
 
 
 p en 3 i-b 
 
 
 Spain, 
 
 dmen, 
 
 to die 
 
 in was- 
 
 
 
 
THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 101 
 
 see that the republic they had founded was being undermined by 
 this new popular favorite. Plots were formed, attempts made 
 upon his life, and even Moreau, the victor at Hohenlinden, was 
 accused of being in collusion with the conspirators and was ban- 
 ished from France. Napoleon fought them with a ruthlessness 
 equal to their own. The Duke d'Enghien, a royalist French 
 nobleman, believed by Napoleon to be deeply concerned in the 
 royalist conspiracies, ventured too near the borders of France and 
 was seized and taken to Paris by agents of the First Consul. Here, 
 without form of law or opportunity for defense, he was at once 
 executed. This was an act of lawless power which excited more 
 indignation that anything in Napoleon's career, and one which 
 historians of the present day do not hesitate to characterize as 
 murder. 
 
 The culmination of Napoleon's ambition came in 1804, when, 
 like Caesar, the Roman conqueror, he sought the crown as a reward 
 for his victories, and was elected Emperor of the French by an 
 almost unanimous vote. The Pope was obliged to come to Paris 
 at the fiat of the new autocrat and to anoint him as emperor, 
 thus giving the sanction of the Church to his new dignity. 
 
 The old insignia of royalty were at once restored, the emperor 
 surrounded himself with a brilliant court, brought back the dis- 
 carded titles of nobility, and sought to banish every trace of 
 republican simphcity. But the new royalty was not one of the 
 old type. FeudaHsm was definitely at an end. The world of 
 Europe entered upon its nineteenth-century career with that effete 
 and abominable system banished from France and with few foot- 
 holds elsewhere. The new empire was one founded upon modem 
 lines, one called into existence by the votes of a free people, not 
 resting upon a nation of slaves. 
 
 THE CODE NAPOLEON 
 
 During his brief respite from war Napoleon's activity was 
 great, his statesmanship notable. Great public works, mommients 
 
102 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 
 
 to his glory, were constructed, wide schemes of pubKc improvement 
 were entered upon, and important changes were made in the finan- 
 cial system that provided the great sums needed for these enter- 
 prises. The most important of these evidences of intellectual 
 activity was the Code Napoleon, the first organized code of French 
 law and still the basis of jurisprudence in France. This, first pro- 
 mulgated in 1801 as the civil code of France, had its title changed 
 to Code Napoleon in 1804, and as such stands as one of the greatest 
 monuments, to the mental capacity of this extraordinary man. 
 
 The period of peace ended in 1803, when Great Britain, 
 Napoleon's most persistent foe, again declared war against France. 
 Hitherto the sea had protected his British foes from the force of 
 the great Corsican's arms. But, angered by their persistent 
 enmity, he now determined to play the role of William of Nor- 
 mandy and attack them on their own shores. 
 
 A great fleet was gathered, a powerful army got ready, the 
 army numbering 120,000 men with 10,000 horses, the fleet 1,800 
 gunboats of various types. It was a threatening enterprise and 
 might have been a successful one, under the leadership of Napo- 
 leon, but for the shrewd policy of William Pitt, then Prime Min- 
 ister, who organized a coalition in Europe which gave the emperor 
 a new use for his army. 
 
 CAMPAIGN OF 1805 
 
 The Austrians, who had been so often defeated, were again 
 quickly in the field, but they were not quick enough for the alert 
 Napoleon, whose troops were at once set in motion from all 
 quarters towards the Rhine. Early in October, 1805, the French 
 held both banks of the Danube, and were handled so skilfully 
 that the Austrian army under General Mack, an incapable com- 
 mander, was siu'rounded in the fortress of Ulm and forced to sur- 
 render as prisoners of war; 23,000 soldiers and eighteen generals 
 were held as captives by the victorious French. Another army, 
 sent to Italy, was met and defeated by Marshal Massena. 
 
THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 103 
 
 Meanwhile the King of Prussia, whose territory had been 
 crossed by the French without his consent, had joined the coah- 
 tion against Napoleon, had given free passage to the troops of 
 Sweden and Russia, members of the coalition, and a powerful 
 army was despatched to Austria. The French under Murat had 
 reached and occupied Vienna, forcing the Austrian emperor to flee 
 for safety, and thence advanced into Moravia. Here, on the 1st 
 of December, 1805, the two armies, both concentrated in their 
 fullest strength (92,000 of the allies to 70,000 French) came face 
 to face on the field of Austerlitz, where on the following day was 
 to be fought one of the memorable battles in the history of the 
 world. 
 
 BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ 
 
 The Emperor Alexander had joined Francis of Austria, and 
 the two monarchs, with their staff officers, occupied the castle 
 and village of Austerlitz. Their troops hastened to occupy the 
 plateau of Pratzen, which Napoleon had designedly left free. 
 His plans of battle were already fully made. He had, with the 
 intuition of genius, foreseen the probable maneuvers of the enemy, 
 and had left open for them the position which he wished them 
 to occupy. He even announced their movement in a proclama- 
 tion to his troops. 
 
 ''The positions that we occupy are formidable," he said, ''and 
 while the enemy march to turn my right they will present to me 
 their flank." 
 
 This movement to the right was indeed the one that had been 
 decided upon by the allies, with the purpose of cutting off the 
 road to Vienna by isolating numerous corps dispersed in Austria 
 and Styria. It had been shrewdly divined by Napoleon in choos- 
 ing his ground. 
 
 The fact that the 2d of December was the anniversary of the 
 coronation of the emperor filled the French troops with ardor. 
 They celebrated it by making great torches of the straw which 
 
104 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 
 
 formed their beds and illuminating their camp. Early the next 
 morning the allies began their projected movement. To the joy 
 of Napoleon his prediction was fulfilled: they were advancing 
 towards his right. He felt sure that the victory was in his hands. 
 
 He held his own men in readiness while the line of the enemy 
 deployed. The sun was rising, its rays gleaming through a mist, 
 which dispersed as it rose higher. It now poured its brilliant 
 beams across the field, the afterward famous "sun of Austerlitz.'* 
 The movement of the allies had the effect of partly withdrawing 
 their troops from the plateau of Pratzen. At a signal from the 
 emperor the strongly concentrated center of the French army 
 moved forward in a dense mass, directing their march towards the 
 plateau, which they made all haste to occupy. They had reached 
 the foot of the hill before the rising mist revealed them to the 
 enemy. 
 
 The two emperors watched the movement without divining 
 its intent. ''See how the French climb the height without stay- 
 ing to reply to our fire," said Prince Czartoryski, who stood near 
 them. 
 
 The emperors were soon to learn why their fire was disdained. 
 Their marching colunms, thrown out one after another on the 
 slope, found themselves suddenly checked in their movement, 
 and cut off from the two wings of the army. The alUed force had 
 been pierced in its center, which was flung back in disorder, in 
 spite of the efforts of Kutusoff to send it aid. At the same time 
 Davout faced the Russians on the right, and Murat and Lannes 
 attacked the Russian and Austrian squadrons on the left, while 
 Kellermann's light cavalry dispersed the squadrons of the Uhlans. 
 
 The Russian guard, checked in its movement, turned towards 
 Pratzen, in a desperate effort to retrieve the fortune of the day. 
 It was incautiously pursued by a French battalion, which soon 
 found itself isolated and in danger. Napoleon perceived its peril 
 and hastily sent Rapp to its support, with the Mamelukes and 
 the chasseurs of the guard. They rushed forward with energy 
 
THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 105 
 
 and quickly drove back the enemy, Prince Repnin remaining a 
 prisoner in their hands. 
 
 The day was lost to the allies. Everywhere disorder prevailed 
 and their troops were in retreat. An isolated Russian division 
 threw down its arms and surrendered. Two columns were forced 
 back beyond the marshes. The soldiers rushed in their flight 
 upon the ice of the lake, which the intense cold had made thick 
 enough to bear their weight. 
 
 And now a terrible scene was witnessed. War is merciless; 
 death is its aim; the slaughter of an enemy by any means is looked 
 upon as admissible. By Napoleon's order the French cannon 
 were turned upon the lake. Their plunging balls rent and splint- 
 ered the ice under the feet of the crowd of fugitives. Soon it 
 broke with a crash, and the unhappy soldiers, with shrill cries of 
 despair, sunk to death in the chilling waters beneath, thousands 
 of them perishing. It was a frightful expedient — one that would 
 be deemed a crime in any other code than the merciless one of war. 
 
 A portion of the allied army made a perilous retreat along a 
 narrow embankment which separated the two lakes of Melnitz 
 and Falnitz, their exposed causeway swept by the fire of the 
 French batteries. Of the whole army, the corps of Prince Bag- 
 ration alone withdrew in order of battle. 
 
 All that di'eadful day the roar of battle had resounded. At 
 its close the victorious French occupied the field; the allied army 
 was pouring back in disordered flight, the dismayed emperors in 
 its midst; thousands of dead covered the fatal field, the groans 
 of thousands of wounded men filled the air. More than 30,000 
 prisoners, including twenty generals, remained in Napoleon's hands, 
 and with them a hundred and twenty pieces of cannon and forty 
 flags, including the standards of the Imperial Guard of Russia. 
 
 THE GAINS OF THE EMPIRE 
 
 The defeat was a crushing one. Napoleon had won the 
 most famous of his battles. The Emperor Francis, in deep depres- 
 
106 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 
 
 sion, asked for an interview and an armistice. Two days after- 
 ward the emperors — the conqueror and the conquered — met, and 
 an armistice was granted. While the negotiations for peace con- 
 tinued Napoleon shrewdly disposed of the hostility of Prussia by 
 offering the state of Hanover to that power and signing a treaty 
 with the king. On December 26th a treaty of peace between 
 France and Austria was signed at Presburg. The Emperor 
 Francis yielded all his remaining possessions in Italy, and also the 
 Tyrol, the Black Forest, and other districts in Germany, which 
 Napoleon presented to his allies, Bavaria, Wiirtemberg, and 
 Baden, whose monarchs were still more closely united to Napo- 
 leon by marriages between their children and relatives of him- 
 self and his wife Josephine. Bavaria and Wiirtemberg were made 
 kingdoms, and Baden was raised in rank to a grand-duchy. The 
 three months' war was at an end. Austria had paid dearly for 
 her subserviency to England. Of the several late enemies of 
 France, only two remained in arms, Russia and England. And 
 in the latter Pitt, Napoleon's greatest enemy, died during the 
 next month, leaving the power in the hands of Fox, an admirer 
 of the Corsican. Napoleon was at the summit of his glory and 
 success. 
 
 The victory of Austerlitz left Germany in Napoleon's hands, 
 and the remodeling of the map of Europe was one of the greatest 
 that has ever taken place at any one time. Kingdoms were 
 formed and placed under Napoleon's brothers or favorite generals. 
 His changes in the states of Germany were numerous and radical. 
 Those of south and west Germany were organized into the Con- 
 federation of the Rhine, under his protection. Many of the small 
 principalities were suppressed and their territories added to the 
 larger states. As to the "Holy Roman Empire," a once powerful 
 organization which had long since sunk into a mere shadow, it 
 finally ceased to exist. The empire of France was extended by 
 these and other changes until it spread over Italy, the Nether- 
 lands and the south and west of Germany. 
 
THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 107 
 
 Changes so great as this could scarcely be made without excit- 
 ing bitter opposition. Prussia had been seriously affected by Napo- 
 leon's map-making, and in the end its king, Frederick William, 
 became so exasperated that he broke off all communication with 
 France and began to prepare for war. 
 
 THE CONQUEST OF PRUSSIA 
 
 It is by no means impossible that Napoleon had been work- 
 ing for this. It is certain that he was quick to take advantage of 
 it. While the Prussian king was slowly collecting his troops and 
 war material, the veterans of France were already on the march 
 and approaching the borders of Prussia. The hasty levies of 
 Frederick William were no match for the war-hardened French, 
 the Russians failed to come to their aid, and on the 4th of October, 
 1806, the two armies met at Jena. 
 
 The Prussians proved incapable of withstanding the im- 
 petuous attack of the French and were soon broken and in panic 
 and flight. Nothing could stop them. Reinforcements coming up, 
 20,000 in number, were thrown across their path, but in vain, 
 being swept away by the fugitives and pushed back by the 
 triumphant pursuers. 
 
 At the same time another battle was in progress near Auer- 
 stadt between Marshal Davout and the forces of the Duke of 
 Brunswick. This, too, ended in victory for the French. The 
 king had been with the duke and was borne back by the flying 
 host, the two bodies of fugitives finally coalescing. In that one 
 fatal day Frederick Wilham had lost his army and placed his 
 kingdom in jeopardy. "They can do nothing but gather up the 
 dehris," said Napoleon. 
 
 It took but a brief period to complete the utter dispersal of 
 the Prussian forces, and on October 27th Napoleon entered in 
 triumph the city of Berlin, the Prussian capital. The whole 
 country was at liis mercy, and its chief cities were heavily taxed 
 to meet the expenses of the war, while their treasures of art and 
 
108 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 
 
 science were carried off to enrich the museums and galleries of 
 France. All English merchandise found in ports and warehouses 
 was seized, and a heavy war contribution put upon the state. 
 As Napoleon could not reach the British islands, he now estab- 
 lished a continental embargo upon British trade. This war upon 
 commerce, in which Great Britain took part in reprisal, caused 
 great distress, not only in Europe but in America as well, one of 
 its final effects being the American war of 1812. 
 
 INVASION OF POLAND 
 
 Napoleon, not content while an enemy remained in arms, 
 with inflexible resolution resolved to make an end of all his adver- 
 saries and meet in battle the great empire of the north, which 
 had remained in arms against him since the battle of Austerlitz. 
 The Russian armies then occupied Poland, whose people, burning 
 under the oppression and injustice to which they had been sub- 
 jected, gladly welcomed Napoleon's specious offers to bring them 
 back their lost liberties, and rose in his aid when he marched his 
 armies into their country. 
 
 Here the French, on marching against their foe, found them- 
 selves exposed to unlooked-for privations. They had dreamed of 
 abundant stores of food, but discovered that the country they had 
 invaded was, in this wintry season, a desert, a series of frozen 
 solitudes incapable of feeding an army, and holding no reward for 
 them other than that of battle with and victory over the hardy 
 Russians. 
 
 Napoleon advanced to Warsaw, the Polish capital. The 
 Russians were entrenched behind the Narew and the Ukra. The 
 French continued to advance. The Russians were beaten and 
 forced back in every battle, several furious encounters took place, 
 and Alexander's army fell back upon the Pregel, intact and power- 
 ful still, despite the French successes. The wintry chill and the 
 character of the country seriously interfered with Napoleon's 
 plans, the troops being forced to make their way through thick 
 
THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 109 
 
 and rain-soaked forests, and march over desolate and marshy 
 plains. The winter of the north fought against them like a strong 
 army and many of them fell dead without a battle. Warlike 
 movements became almost impossible to the troops of the south, 
 though the hardy northeners, accustomed to the climate, con- 
 tinued their military operations. 
 
 VICTORY AT EYLAU 
 
 By the end of January the Russian army was evidently 
 approaching in force, and immediate action became necessary. 
 The cold increased. The mud was converted into ice. On 
 January 30, 1807, Napoleon left Warsaw and marched in search 
 of the enemy. General Benningsen retreated, avoiding battle, 
 and on the 7th of February entered the small town of Eylau, from 
 which his troops were pushed by the approaching French. He 
 encamped outside the town, the French in and about it; it was 
 evident that a great battle was at hand. 
 
 The weather was cold. Snow lay thick upon the ground and 
 still fell in great flakes. A sheet of ice covering some small lakes 
 formed part of the country upon which the armies were encamped, 
 but was thick enough to bear their weight. It was a chill, inhos- 
 pitable country to which the demon of war had come. 
 
 Before daybreak on the 8th Napoleon was in the streets of 
 Eylau, forming his line of battle for the coming engagement. 
 Soon the artillery of both armies opened, and a rain of cannon 
 balls began to decimate the opposing ranks. The Russian fire 
 was concentrated on the town, which was soon in flames. That 
 of the French was directed against a hill which the emperor deemed 
 it unportant to occupy. The two armies, nearly equal in numbers, 
 — the French having 75,000 to the Russian 70,000 — were but a 
 short distance apart, and the slaughter from the fierce cannonade 
 was terrible. 
 
 A series of movements on both sides began, Davout march- 
 ing upon the Russian flank and Augereau upon the center, while 
 
110 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 
 
 the Russians maneuvered as if with a purpose to outflank the 
 French on the left. At this interval an unlooked-for obstacle 
 interfered with the French movements, a snow-fall beginning, 
 which grew so dense that the armies lost sight of each other, and 
 vision was restricted to a few feet. In this semi-darkness the 
 French columns lost their way, and wandered about uncertainly. 
 For half an hour the snow continued to fall. When it ceased the 
 French army was in a critical position. Its cohesion was lost; 
 its columns were straggling about and incapable of supporting 
 one another; many of its superior officers were woimded. The 
 Russians, on the contrary, were on the point of executing a vig- 
 orous turning movement, with 20,000 infantry, supported by 
 cavalry and artillery. 
 
 "Are you going to let me be devoured by these people?" cried 
 Napoleon to Murat, his eagle eye discerning the danger. 
 
 He ordered a grand charge of all the cavalry of the army, 
 consisting of eighty squadrons. With Murat at their head, they 
 rushed like an avalanche on the Russian lines, breaking through 
 the infantry and dispersing the cavahy who came to its support. 
 The Russian infantry suffered severely from this charge, its two 
 massive Unes being rent asunder, while the third fell back upon a 
 wood in the rear. Finally Davout, whose movement had been 
 hindered by the weather, reached the Russian rear, and in an im- 
 petuous charge drove them from the hilly ground which Napoleon 
 wished to occupy. 
 
 The battle seemed lost to the Russians. They began a retreat, 
 leaving the ground strewn thickly with their dead and wounded. 
 But at this critical moment a Prussian force, some 8,000 strong, 
 which was being pursued by Marshal Ney, arrived on the field 
 and checked the French advance and the Russian retreat. Ben- 
 ningsen regained sufficient confidence to prepare for final attack, 
 when he was advised of the approach of Ney, who was two or 
 three hours behind the Prussians. At this discouraging news a 
 final retreat was ordered. 
 
THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 111 
 
 The French were left masters of the field, though little attempt 
 was made to pursue the menacing columns of the enemy, who 
 withdrew in military array. It was a victory that came near 
 being a defeat, and which, indeed, both sides claimed. Never 
 before had Napoleon been so stubbornly withstood. His success 
 had been bought at a frightful cost, and Konigsberg, the old Prus- 
 sian capital, the goal of his march, was still covered by the com- 
 pact columns of the alUes. The men were in no condition to pur- 
 sue. Food was wanting, and they were without shelter from the 
 wintry chill. Ney surveyed the terrible scene with eyes of gloom. 
 "What a massacre," he exclaimed; "and without result!" 
 
 So severe was the exhaustion on both sides from this great 
 battle that it was four months before hostilities were resumed. 
 Meanwhile Danzig, which had been strongly besieged, surrendered, 
 and more than 30,000 men were released to reinforce the French 
 army. Negotiations for peace went slowly on, without result, 
 and it was Jime before hostilities again became imminent. 
 
 Eylau, which was now Napoleon's headquarters, presented 
 a very different aspect at this season from that of four months 
 before. Then all was wintry desolation; now the country pre- 
 sented a beautiful scene of green woodland, shining lakes, and 
 attractive villages. The light corps of the army were in motion 
 in various directions, their object being to get between the Rus- 
 sians and their magazines and cut off retreat to Konigsberg. On 
 June 13th Napoleon, with the main body of his army, marched 
 towards Friedland, a town on the River Alle, in the vicinity of 
 Konigsberg, towards which the Russians were moving. Here, 
 crossing the Alle, Benningsen drove from the town a regiment of 
 French hussars which had occupied it, and fell with all his force 
 on the corps of Marshal Lannes, which alone had reached the field. 
 
 Lannes held his ground with his usual heroic fortitude, while 
 sending successive messengers for aid to the emperor. Noon had 
 passed when Napoleon and his staff reached the field at full gallop, 
 far in advance of the troops. He surveyed the field with eyes of 
 
112 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 
 
 hope. "It is the 14th of June, the anniversary of Marengo," he 
 said; "it is a lucky day for us." 
 
 "Give me only a reinforcement," cried Oudinot, "and we will 
 cast all the Russians into the water." 
 
 This seemed possible. Benningsen's troops were perilously 
 concentrated within a bend of the river. Some of the French gen- 
 erals advised deferring the battle till the next day, as the hour 
 was late, but Napoleon was too shrewd to let an advantage escape 
 him. 
 
 "No," he said, "one does not surprise the enemy twice in such 
 a blunder." He swept with his field-glass the masses of the enemy 
 before him, then seized the arm of Marshal Ney. "You see the 
 Russians and the town of Friedland," he said. "March straight 
 forward; seize the town; take the bridges, whatever it may cost. 
 Do not trouble yourself with what is taking place around you. 
 Leave that to me and the army." 
 
 The troops were coming in rapidly, and marching to the places 
 assigned them. The hours moved on. It was half-past five in 
 the afternoon when the cannon sounded the signal of the coming 
 fray. Meanwhile Ney's march upon Friedland had begun. A 
 terrible fire from the Russians swept his ranks as he advanced. 
 Aided by cavalry and artillery, he reached a stream defended by 
 the Russian Imperial Guard. Before those picked troops the 
 French recoUed in temporary disorder; but the division of General 
 Dupont, marching briskly up, broke the Russian guard, and the 
 pursuing French rushed into the town. In a short time it was in 
 flames and the fugitive Russians were cut off from the bridges, 
 which were seized and set on fire. 
 
 The Russians made a vigorous effort to recover their lost 
 ground, General Gortschakoff endeavoring to drive the French 
 from the town, and other corps making repeated attacks on the 
 French center. All their efforts were in vain. The French columns 
 continued to advance. By ten o'clock the battle was at an end. 
 Many of the Russians had been drowned in the stream, and the 
 
THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 113 
 
 field was covered with their dead, whose numbers were estimated 
 by the boastful French bulletins at 15,000 or 18,000 men, while 
 they made the improbable claim of having lost no more than 500 
 dead. Konigsberg, the prize of victory, was quickly occupied by 
 Marshal Soult, and yielded the French a vast quantity of food, 
 and a large store of military suppUes which had been sent from 
 England for Russian use. The King of Prussia had lost the whole 
 of his possessions with the exception of the single town of Memel. 
 
 Victorious as Napoleon had been, he had found the Russians 
 nocontemptible foes. At Eylau he had come nearer defeat than 
 ever before in his career. He was quite ready, therefore, to listen 
 to overtures of peace, and early in July a notable interview took 
 place between him and the Czar of Russia at Tilsit, on the Nie- 
 men, the two emperors meeting on a raft in the center of the 
 stream. What passed between them is not known. Some think 
 that they arranged for a division of Europe between their respective 
 empires, Alexander taking all the east and Napoleon all the west. 
 However that was, the treaty of peace, signed July 8th, was a dis- 
 astrous one for the defeated Prussian king, who was punished for 
 his temerity in seeking to fight Napoleon alone by the loss of more 
 than half his kingdom, while in addition a heavy war indemnity 
 was laid upon his depleted realms. 
 
 He was forced to yield all the countries between the Rhine 
 and the Elbe, to consent to the establishment of a Dukedom of 
 Warsaw, under the supremacy of the king of Saxony, and to the 
 loss of Danzig and the surrounding territory, which were converted 
 into a free state. A new kingdom, named Westphaha, was 
 founded by Napoleon, made up of the territory taken from Prussia 
 and the states of Hesse, Brunswick and South Hanover. His 
 younger brother, Jerome Bonaparte, was made its king. It was 
 a further step in his policy of foimding a western empire. 
 
 Louisa, the beautiful and charming queen of Frederick WiUiam, 
 sought Tilsit, hoping by the seduction of her beauty and grace of 
 address to induce Napoleon to mitigate his harsh terms. But in 
 
 8 
 
114 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 
 
 vain she brought to bear upon him all the resources of her intellect 
 and her attractive charm of manner. He continued cold and 
 obdurate, and she left Tilsit deeply mortified and humiUated. 
 
 CAMPAIGN OF 1809 
 
 We shall summarize more briefly what followed. The events, 
 however, were of much interest, and take a prominent part in 
 the annals of the great Napoleonic campaigns. Indignation 
 of the Austrians at the arbitrary acts of the conqueror became in 
 time so intense that, in April, 1809, they again declared war 
 against France, despite the many defeats they had experienced. 
 This war led to an interesting struggle in the Tyrol, the Austrian 
 section of the Alps, in which Andreas Hofer, a valiant leader of the 
 mountaineers, for a time gained freedom from French dominion. 
 But their independence was of short duration, and their courageous 
 leader was taken and remorselessly put to death for daring to seek 
 freedom for his country. 
 
 The French campaign in Austria was, as usual, one of great 
 speed — a remarkable rapidity in those days preceding the rail- 
 way. Yet the Archduke Charles, who led the Austrians, was 
 equally rapid,, in his movements, and the widely-spread French 
 army soon found itself in imminent risk of being cut in two by 
 the Austrians. This peril Napoleon perceived in reaching the front, 
 and he wrote urging Massena forward. 
 
 "Never was there need for more rapidity of movement than 
 now. Activity, activity, speed!" was the burden of his letter. 
 
 A brief hesitation robbed the Archduke of the advantage he 
 had gained. The rapidly concentrating French army fell upon 
 his troops, defeated them in a series of engagements, relieved 
 Davout before Ratisbon, captured that town, and forced the Arch- 
 duke to retreat into Bohemia. This brief but active campaign 
 gave Napoleon, according to his despatch, 50,000 prisoners, a 
 hundred cannon, and a large quantity of other military material. 
 In Italy the French were less successful, meeting with defeat at 
 
THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 115 
 
 the hands of Archduke John, commander of the Austrian army in 
 that country. General McDonald, the French commander, took 
 up a defensive position, and on the first of May was gratified to 
 see indications of withdrawal of the enemy. 
 
 ''Victory in Germany!" he cried. "Now is our time for a 
 forward march." 
 
 He was correct, the Archduke John had been recalled in haste 
 to aid his brother Charles in the defense of Vienna, on which the 
 French were advancing in force. 
 
 GKEAT BATTLES AROUND VIENNA 
 
 The campaign now became a race for the capital of Austria. 
 During its progress several conflicts took place, in each of which 
 the French won. The city was defended by the Archduke Maxi- 
 milian with an army of over 15,000 men, but he found it expedient 
 to withdraw, and on the 13th the troops of Napoleon occupied 
 the Austrian capital. Meanwhile Charles had concentrated 
 his troops and was marching hastily towards the opposite side 
 of the Danube, whither his brother John was advancing from 
 Italy. 
 
 It was important for Napoleon to strike a blow before this 
 junction could be made. He resolved to cross the Danube in the 
 suburbs of the capital itself, and attack the Austrians before they 
 were reinforced. In the vicinity of Vienna the channel of the 
 river is broken by many islets. At the island of Lobau, the point 
 chosen for the attempt, the river is broad and deep, but Lobau 
 is separated from the opposite bank by only a narrow branch, 
 while two smaller islets offered themselves as aids in the con- 
 struction of bridges, there being four channels, over each of which 
 a bridge was thrown. 
 
 The work was a difficult one. The Danube, swollen by the 
 meltmg snows, imperiled the bridges, erected with difficulty and 
 braced by insufficient cordage. But despite this peril the crossing 
 began, and on May 20th Marshal Massena reached the other side 
 
116 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 
 
 and posted his troops in the two villages of Aspern and Essling, 
 and along a deep ditch that connected them. 
 
 As yet only the vanguard of the Austrians had arrived. Other 
 corps soon appeared, and by the afternoon of the 21st the entire 
 army, from 70,000 to 80,000 strong, faced the French, still only 
 half their number, and in a position of extreme peril, for the bridge 
 over the main channel of the river had broken during the night, 
 and the crossing was cut off in its midst. 
 
 Napoleon, however, was straining every nerve to repair the 
 bridge, and Massena and Lannes, in command of the advance, 
 fought like men fighting for their lives. The Archduke Charles, 
 the ablest soldier Napoleon had yet encountered, hurled his troops 
 in masses upon Aspern, which covered the bridge to Lobau. Sev- 
 eral times it was taken and retaken, but the French held on with 
 a death grip, all the strength of the Austrians seeming insufficient 
 to break the hold of Lannes upon Essling. An advance in force, 
 which nearly cut the communication between the two villages, 
 was checked by an impetuous cavalry charge, and night fell, leav- 
 ing the situation unchanged. 
 
 At dawn of the next day more than 70,000 French had crossed 
 the stream; Marshal Davout's corps, with part of the artillery 
 and most of the ammunition, being still on the right bank. At this 
 critical moment the large bridge, against which the Austrians had 
 sent fireships, boats laden with stone and other floating missiles, 
 broke for the third tinae, and the engineers of the French army 
 were again forced to the most strenuous and hasty exertions for 
 its repair. 
 
 The struggle of the day that had just begun was one of 
 extraordinary valor and obstinacy. Men went down in multi- 
 tudes; now the Austrians, now the French, were repulsed; the 
 Austrians, impetuously assailed, slowly fell back; and Lannes was 
 preparing for a vigorous movement designed to pierce their center, 
 when word was brought Napoleon that the great bridge had again 
 yielded to the floating debris, carrying with it a regiment of cuiras- 
 
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 
 
THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 117 
 
 siers, and cutting off the supply of ammunition. Lannes was at 
 once ordered to fall back upon the villages, and simultaneously 
 the Austrians made a powerful assault on the French center, which 
 was checked with great difficulty. Five times the charge was 
 renewed, and though the enemy was finally repelled, it became 
 evident that Napoleon, for the first time in his career, had met 
 with a decided check. Night fell at length, and reluctantly he 
 gave the order to retreat. He had lost more than a battle, he 
 had lost the brilliant soldier Lannes, who fell with a mortal wound. 
 Back to the island of Lobau marched the French; Massena, in 
 charge of the rear-guard, bringing over the last regiments in safety. 
 More than 40,000 men lay dead and wounded on that fatal field, 
 which remained in Austrian hands. Napoleon, at last, was obliged 
 to acknowledge a repulse, if not a defeat, and the nations of Europe, 
 when the news reached them, held up their heads with renewed 
 hope. It had been proved that the Corsican was not invincible. 
 Some of Napoleon's generals, deeply disheartened, advised an 
 immediate retreat, but the emperor had no thought of such a 
 movement. It would have brought a thousand disasters in its 
 train. On the contrary, he held the island of Lobau with a strong 
 force, and brought all his resources to bear on the construction 
 of a bridge that would defy the current of the stream. At the 
 same time reinforcements were hurried forward, until by the 1st 
 of July he had around Vienna an army of 150,000 men. The 
 Austrians had probably from 135,000 to 140,000. The archduke 
 had, moreover, strongly fortified the positions of the recent battle, 
 expecting the attack upon them to be resumed. 
 
 VICTORY AT WAGRAM 
 
 Napoleon had no such intention. He had selected the heights 
 ranging from Neusiedl to Wagram, strongly occupied by the Aus- 
 trians, but not fortified, as his point of attack, and on the night 
 of July 4th bridges were thrown from the island of Lobau to the 
 mainland, and the army which had been gathering for several 
 
118 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 
 
 days on the island began its advance. It moved as a whole 
 against the heights of Wagram, occupying Aspem and Essling in 
 its advance. 
 
 The great battle began on the succeeding day. It was hotly 
 contested at all points, but attention may be confined to the 
 movement against the plateau of Wagram, which had been en- 
 trusted to Marshal Davout. The height was gained after a des- 
 perate struggle; the key of the battle-field was held by the French; 
 the Austrians, impetuously assailed at every point, and driven from 
 every point of vantage, began a retreat. The Archduke Charles 
 had anxiously looked for the coming of his brother John, with 
 the army under his command. He waited in vain, the laggard 
 prince failed to appear, and retreat became inevitable. The battle 
 had already lasted ten hours, and the French held all the strong 
 points of the field; but the Austrians withdrew slowly and in 
 battle array, presenting a front that discouraged any effort to 
 piu-sue. There was nothing resembling a rout. 
 
 The Archduke Charles retreated to Bohemia. His forces 
 were dispersed during the march, but he had 70,000 men with 
 him when Napoleon reached his front at Znaim, on the road to 
 Prague, on the 11th of July. Fiu-ther hostilities were checked by 
 a request for a truce, preliminary to a peace. The battle, aheady 
 begun, was stopped, and during the night an armistice was signed. 
 The vigor of the Austrian resistance and the doubtful attitude of 
 the other Powers made Napoleon willing enough to treat for terms. 
 
 The peace, which was finally signed at Vienna, October 14, 
 1809, took from Austria 50,000 square miles of territory and 
 3,000,000 inhabitants, together with a war contribution of $85,- 
 000,000, while her army was restricted to 150,000 men. The over- 
 throw of the several outbreaks which had taken place in north 
 Germany, the defeat of a British expedition against Antwerp, 
 and the suppression of the revolt in the Tyrol, ended all organized 
 opposition to Napoleon, who was once more master of the Euro- 
 pean situation. 
 
THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 119 
 
 THE DIVORCE OF JOSEPHINE 
 
 Raised by this signal success to the summit of his power, 
 lord paramount of western Europe, only one thing remained to 
 trouble the mind of the victorious emperor. His wife, Josephine, 
 was childless; his throne threatened to be left without an heir. 
 Much as he had seemed to love his wife, the companion of his early 
 days, when he was an unknown and unconsidered subaltern, seek- 
 ing humbly enough for mihtary employment in Paris, yet ambition 
 and the thirst for glory were always the ruling passions in his 
 nature, and had now grown so dominant as to throw love and 
 wifely devotion utterly into the shade. He resolved to set aside 
 his wife and seek a new bride among the princesses of Europe, 
 hoping in this way to leave an heir of his own blood as successor 
 to his imperial throne. 
 
 Negotiations were entered into with the courts of Europe to 
 obtain a daughter of one of the proud royal houses as the spouse 
 of the plebeian emperor of France. No maiden of less exalted 
 rank than a princess of the imperial famihes of Russia or Austria 
 was high enough to meet the ambitious aims of this proud lord of 
 battles, and negotiations were entered into with both, ending in 
 the selection of Maria Louisa, daughter of the Emperor Francis 
 of Austria, who did not venture to refuse a demand for his daugh- 
 ter's hand from the master of half his dominions. 
 
 Napoleon was not long in finding a plea for setting aside the 
 wife of his days of poverty and obscurity. A defect in the mar- 
 riage was alleged, and the transparent farce went on. The divorce 
 of Josephine has awakened the sympathy of a century. It was, 
 indeed, a piteous example of statecraft, and there can be no 
 doubt that Napoleon suffered in his heart while yielding to the 
 dictates of his unbridled ambition. The marriage with Maria 
 Louisa, on the 2d of April, 1810, was conducted with all possible 
 pomp and display, no less than five queens carrying the train of 
 the bride in the august ceremony. The purpose of the marriage 
 did not fail; the next year a son was bom to Napoleon. But this 
 
120 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 
 
 imperial youth, who was dignified with the title of King of Rome, 
 was destined to an inglorious life, as an unconsidered tenant of 
 the gilded halls of his imperial grandfather of Austria. 
 
 With the defeat and death of Napoleon the Great was des-. 
 tined to end the empire he had so brilUantly built up. It was as 
 well. No man of his name could hope to emulate his career or 
 worthily grasp the scepter he was finally forced to let fall. An 
 imworthy one, sarcastically termed "Napoleon the Little," sought 
 to do so, but proved an example of the ordinary seeking to replace 
 the extraordinary. Of all rulers of men and leaders of armies few 
 if any have equalled Napoleon in genius. Alike as a soldier and 
 as a statesman he proved himself great, and the years that have 
 passed since his death have but increased the world's admiration 
 for his abiUties. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 Nelson and Wellington, the Champions of Britain 
 
 End of the European' Reign of Terror 
 
 The Battle of the Nile — Nelson at Copenhagen — Defeat of the Danes — Nelson at 
 
 Trafalgar — Nelson Wins and Dies — The Campaign in Portugal — Oporto and Talavera 
 
 — The French Driven from Portugal — Wellington in Spain — Madrid Occupied. 
 
 FOR nearly twenty years went on the stupendous struggle 
 between Napoleon the Great and the Powers of Europe, 
 but in all that time, and among the multitude of men who 
 met the forces of France in battle, only two names emerge which 
 the world cares to remember, those of Horatio Nelson, the most 
 famous of the admirals of England, and Lord Wellington, who 
 alone seemed able to overthrow the greatest militaiy genius of 
 modem times. On land the efforts of Napoleon were seconded 
 by the intrepidity of a galaxy of heroes, Ney, Murat, Moreau, 
 Massena and other men of fame. At sea the story reads differently. 
 That era of stress and strain raised no great admiral in the service 
 of France; her ships were feebly conunanded, and the fleet of 
 Great Britain, under the daring Nelson, kept its proud place as 
 mistress of the sea. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF THE NILE 
 
 The first proof of this came before the opening of the cen- 
 tury, when Napoleon, led by the ardor of his ambition, landed in 
 Egypt, with vague hopes of rivaling in the East the far-famed 
 exploits of Alexander the Great. The fleet which bore him thither 
 remaiaed moored in Aboukir Bay, where Nelson, scouring the 
 Mediterranean in quest of it, first came in sight of its serried fine 
 of ships on August 1, 1798. One alternative alone dwelt in his 
 courageous soul, that of a heroic death or a glorious victory. 
 
 (121) 
 
122 NELSON AND WELLINGTON 
 
 ''Before this time tomorrow I shall have gained a victory or 
 Westminster Abbey," he said. 
 
 In the mighty contest that followed, the French had the 
 advantage in munbers, alike of ships, guns and men. They were 
 drawn up in a strong and compact line of battle, moored in a 
 manner that promised to bid defiance to a force double their own. 
 They lay in an open roadstead, but had every advantage of situa- 
 tion, the British fleet being obliged to attack them in a position 
 carefully chosen for defense. Only the genius of Nelson enabled 
 him to overcome those advantages of the enemy. ''If we suc- 
 ceed, what will the world say?" asked Captain Berry, on hearing 
 the admiral's plan of battle. "There is no 'if in the case," 
 answered the admiral. "That we shall succeed is certain: who 
 may live to tell the story, is a very different question." 
 
 The story of the "Battle of the Nile" belongs to the record of 
 eighteenth-century affairs. All we need say here is that it ended 
 in a glorious victory for the English fleet. Of thirteen ships of 
 the line in the French fleet, only two escaped. Of four frigates, 
 one was sunk and one burned. The British loss was 895 men. 
 Of the French, 5,225 perished in the terrible fray. Nelson sprang, 
 in a moment, from the position of a man without fame into that 
 of the naval hero of the world — as Dewey did in as famous a fray 
 almost exactly a century later. Congratulations and honors were 
 showered upon him, the Sultan of Turkey rewarded him with 
 costly presents, valuable testimonials came from other quarters, 
 and his own country honored him with the title of Baron Nelson 
 of the Nile, and settled upon him for life a pension of £2,000. 
 
 NELSON AT COPENHAGEN 
 
 The first great achievement of Nelson in the following cen- 
 tury was the result of a daring resolution of the statesmen of 
 England, in their desperate contest with the Corsican conqueror. 
 By his exploit at the Nile the admiral had very seriously weakened 
 the sea-power of France. But there were Powers then in alliance 
 
NELSON AND WELLINGTON 123 
 
 with France — Russia, Sweden and Denmark — ^which had formed 
 a confederacy to make England respect their naval rights, and 
 whose combined fleet, if it should come to the aid of France, might 
 prove sufficient to sweep the ships of England from the seas. 
 
 The weakest of these Powers, and the one most firmly allied 
 to France, was Denmark, whose fleet, consisting of twenty-three 
 ships of the line and about thirty-one frigates and smaller vessels, 
 lay at Copenhagen. At any moment this powerful fleet might 
 be put at the disposal of Napoleon. This possible danger the 
 British cabinet resolved to avoid. A plan was laid to destroy 
 the fleet of the Danes, and on the 12th of March, 1801, the Brit- 
 ish fleet sailed with the purpose of putting this resolution into 
 effect. 
 
 Nelson, then bearing the rank of vice-admiral, went with 
 the fleet, but only as second in comman,d. To the disgust of the 
 English people. Sir Hyde Parker, a brave and able seaman, but 
 one whose name history has let sink into oblivion, was given chief 
 command — a fact which would have insured the failure of the 
 expedition if Nelson had not set aside precedent, and put glory 
 before duty. Parker, indeed, soon set Nelson chafing by long- 
 drawn-out negotiations, which proved useless, wasted time, and 
 saved the Danes from being taken by surprise. When, on the 
 morning of April 30th, the British fleet at length advanced through 
 the Sound and came in sight of the Danish line of defense, they 
 beheld formidable preparations to meet them. 
 
 Eighteen vessels, including full-rigged ships and hulks, were 
 moored in a line nearly a mile and a half in length, flanked to 
 the northward by two artificial islands mounted with sixty-eight 
 heavy cannon and supphed with furnaces for heating shot. Near by 
 lay two large block-ships. Across the harbor's mouth extended 
 a massive chain, and shore batteries commanded the channel. 
 Outside the harbor's mouth were moored two 74-gun ships, a 40- 
 gun frigate and some smaller vessels. In addition to these defenses, 
 which stretched for nearly four miles in length, was the difficulty 
 
124 NELSON AND WELLINGTON 
 
 of the channel, always hazardous from its shoals, and now beaconed 
 with false buoys for the purpose of luring the British ships to 
 destruction. 
 
 DEFEAT OF THE DANES 
 
 __ With modern defenses — rapid-fire guns and steel-clad bat- 
 teries — the enterprise would have been hopeless, but the art of 
 defense was then at a far lower level. Nelson, who led the van 
 in the 74-gun ship Elephant, gazed on these preparations with 
 admiration, but with no evidence of doubt as to the result. The 
 British fleet consisted of eighteen line-of-battle ships, with a large 
 number of frigates and other craft, and with this force and his 
 indomitable spirit, he felt confident of breaking these formidable 
 lines. 
 
 At ten o'clock on the morning of April 2d the battle began, 
 two of the British ships running aground almost before a gun was 
 fired. At sight of this disaster Nelson instantly changed his plan 
 of sailing, starboarded his hehn, and sailed in, dropping anchor 
 within a cable's length of the Dannehrog, of 62 guns. The other 
 ships followed his example, avoiding the shoals on which the 
 Bellona and Russell had grounded, and taking position at the 
 close quarters of 100 fathoms from the Danish ships. 
 
 A terrific cannonade followed, kept up by both sides with 
 unrelenting fury for three hours, and with terrible effect on the 
 contesting ships and their crews. At this juncture took place an 
 event that has made Nelson's name immortal among naval heroes. 
 Admiral Parker, whose flag-ship lay at a distance from the hot 
 fight, but who heard the incessant and furious fire and saw the 
 groimded ships flying signals of distress, began to fear that Nelson 
 was in serious danger, from which it was his duty to withdraw 
 him. At about one o'clock he reluctantly hoisted a signal for the 
 action to cease. 
 
 At this moment Nelson was pacing the quarter-deck of the 
 Elephant, inspired with all the fury of the fight. ''It is a warm 
 
WELLINGTON AT WATERLOO GIVING THE WORD TO ADVANCE 
 
 When the French staggered back in final despair, after hurling themselves a 
 dozen times against the British ranks, the great British commander, Wellington, 
 shouted "Let all the line advance," and Napoleon's shattered army was swept from the 
 field. 
 
NELSON AND WELLINGTON 125 
 
 business," he said to Colonel Stewart, who was on the ship with 
 him; ''and any moment may be the last of either of us; but, mark 
 you, I would not for thousands be anywhere else." 
 
 As he spoke the flag-lieutenant reported that the signal to 
 cease action was shown on the mast-head of the flag-ship London, 
 and asked if he should report it to the fleet. 
 
 ''No," was the stern answer; "merely acknowledge it. Is 
 our signal for 'close action' still flying?" 
 
 "Yes," replied the officer. 
 
 "Then see that you keep it so," said Nelson, the stump of 
 his amputated arm working as it usually did when he was agitated. 
 "Do you know," he asked Colonel Stewart, "the meaning of sig- 
 nal No. 39, shown by Parker's ship?" 
 
 "No. What does it mean?" 
 
 "To leave off action!" He was silent a moment, then, burst 
 out, "Now damn me if I do!" 
 
 Turning to Captain Foley, who stood near him, he said: 
 "Foley, you know I have only one eye; I have a right to be bhnd 
 sometimes." He raised his telescope, apphed it to his blind eye, 
 and said: "I really do not see the signal." 
 
 On roared the guns, overhead on the Elephant still streamed 
 the signal for "close action," and still the torrent of British balls 
 rent the Danish ships. In half an hour more the fire of the Danes 
 was fast weakening. In an hour it had nearly ceased. They had 
 suffered frightfully, in ships and lives, and only the continued 
 fire of the shore batteries now kept the contest alive. It was 
 impossible to take possession of the prizes, and Nelson sent a flag 
 of truce ashore with a letter in which he threatened to burn the 
 vessels, with all on board, unless the shore fire was stopped. This 
 threat proved effective, the fire ceased » the great battle was at an 
 end. 
 
 At four o'clock Nelson went on board the London, to meet 
 the admiral. He was depressed in spirit, and said: "I have fought 
 contrary to orders, and may be hanged; never mind, let them." 
 
126 NELSON AND WELLINGTON 
 
 There was no danger of this; Parker was not that kind of 
 man. He had raised the signal through fear for Nelson's safety, 
 and now gloried in his success, giving congratulations where his 
 subordinate looked for blame. The Danes had fought bravel}^ 
 and stubbornly, but they had no commander of the spirit and 
 genius of Nelson, and were forced to yield to British pluck and 
 endurance. Until June 13th, Nelson remained in the Baltic, 
 watching the Russian fleet which he might still have to j&ght. 
 Then came orders for his return home, and word reached him that 
 he had been created Viscount Nelson for his services. 
 
 NELSON AT TRAFALGAR 
 
 There remains to describe the last and most famous of Nel- 
 son's exploits, that in which he put an end to the sea-power of 
 France, by destroying the remainder of her fleet at Trafalgar, and 
 met death at the moment of victory. Four years had passed since 
 the fight at Copenhagen. During much of that time Nelson had 
 kept his fleet on guard off Toulon, impatiently waiting until the 
 enemy should venture from that port of refuge. At length, the 
 combined fleet of France and Spain, now in alliance, escaped his 
 vigilance, and sailed to the West Indies to work havoc in the 
 British colonies. He followed them thither in all haste; and sub- 
 sequently, on their return to France, he chased them back across 
 the seas, burning with eagerness to bring them to bay. 
 
 On the 19th of October, 1805, the allied fleet put to sea from 
 the harbor of Cadiz, confident that its great strength would enable 
 it to meet any force the British had upon the waves. Admiral 
 De Villeneuve, with thirty-three ships of the line and a consider- 
 able number of smaller craft, had orders to force the straits of 
 Gibraltar, land troops at Naples, sweep British cruisers and com- 
 merce from the Mediterranean, and then seek the port of Toulon 
 to refit. As it turned out, he never reached the straits, his fleet 
 meeting its fate before it could leave the Atlantic waves. Nelson 
 had reached the coast of Europe again, and was close at hand 
 
NELSON AND WELLINGTON 127 
 
 when the doomed ships of the allies appeared. Two swift ocean 
 scouts saw the movements, and hastened to Lord Nelson with 
 the welcome news that the long-deferred moment was at hand. 
 On the 21st, the British fleet came within view, and the follow- 
 ing signal was set on the mast-head of the flag-ship: 
 
 ''The French and Spaniards are out at last; they outnumber 
 us in ships and guns and men; we are on the eve of the greatest 
 sea-fight in history." 
 
 On came the ships, great lumbering craft, strangely unhke 
 the war-vessels of today. Instead of the trim, grim, steel-clad, 
 steam-driven modem battleship, with its revolving turret, and 
 great frowning, breech-loading guns, sending their balls through 
 miles of air, those were bluff-bowed, ungainly hulks, with bellying 
 sides towering like black walls above the sea as if to make the 
 largest mark possible for hostile shot, with a great show of muzzle- 
 loading guns of small range, while overhead rose lofty spars and 
 spreading sails. Ships they were that today would be sent to 
 the bottom in five minutes of fight, but which, mated against others 
 of the same build, were capable of giving a gallant account of 
 themselves. 
 
 It was off the shoals of Cape Trafalgar, near the southern 
 extremity of Spain, that the two fleets met, and such a tornado 
 of fire as has rarely been seen upon the ocean waves was poured 
 from their broad and lofty sides. As they came together there 
 floated from the masthead of the Victory, Nelson's flagship, that 
 signal which has become the watchword of the British isles: 
 "England expects that every man will do his duty." 
 
 NELSON WINS AND DIES 
 
 We cannot follow the fortunes of all the vessels in that stu- 
 pendous fray, the most famous sea-fight in history. It must serve 
 to follow the Victory in her course, in which Nelson eagerly sought 
 to thrust himself into the heart of the fight and dare death in his 
 quest for victory. He was not long in meeting his wish. Soon 
 
128 NELSON AND WELLINGTON 
 
 he found himself in a nest of enemies, eight ships at once pouring 
 their fire upon his devoted vessel, which could not bring a gun 
 to bear in return, the wind having died away and the ship lying 
 almost motionless upon the waves. 
 
 Before the Victory was able to fire a shot fifty of her men had 
 fallen killed or wounded, and her canvas was pierced and rent till 
 it looked like a series of fishing nets. But the men stuck to their 
 gims with unyielding tenacity, and at length their opportunity 
 came. A 68-pounder carronade, loaded with a round shot and 500 
 musket balls, was fired into the cabin windows of the Biicentaure, 
 with such terrible effect as to disable 400 men and 20 guns, and 
 put the ship practically out of the fight. 
 
 The Victory next turned upon the Neptune and the Redoubt- 
 able, of the enemy's fleet. The Neptune, not liking her looks, kept 
 off, but she collided and locked spars with the Redoubtable, and a 
 terrific fight began. On the opposite side of the Redoubtable came 
 the British ship Temeraire, and opposite it again a second ship of 
 the enemy, the four vessels lying bow to bow, and rending one 
 another's sides with an incessant hail of balls. On the Victory 
 the gunners were ordered to depress their pieces, that the balls 
 should not go through and wound the Temeraire beyond. The 
 muzzles of their cannon fairly touched the enemy's side, and after 
 each shot a bucket of water was dashed into the rent, that they 
 might not set fire to the vessel which thej'^ confidently expected to 
 take as a prize. 
 
 In the midst of the hot contest came the disaster already 
 spoken of. Brass swivels were mounted in the French ship's tops 
 to sweep with their fire the deck of their foe, and as Nelson and 
 Captain Hardy paced together their poop deck, regardless of dan- 
 ger, the admiral suddenly fell. A ball from one of these guns had 
 reached the noblest mark on the fleet. 
 
 "They have done for me at last. Hardy," the fallen man 
 said. 
 
 ''Don't say you are hit!" cried Hardy in dismay. 
 
NELSON AND WELLINGTON 129 
 
 "Yes, my backbone is shot through." 
 
 His words were not far from the truth. He never arose from 
 that fatal shot. Yet, dying as he was, his spirit survived. 
 
 'I hope none of our ships have struck, Hardy," he feebly 
 asked in a later interval of the fight. 
 
 "No, my lord. There is small fear of that." 
 
 "I'm a dead man. Hardy, but I'm glad of what you say. 
 Whip them now you've got them. Whip them as they've never 
 been whipped before." 
 
 Another hour passed. Hardy came below again to say that 
 fourteen or fifteen of the enemy's ships had struck. 
 
 "That's better, though I bargained for twenty," said the 
 dying man. "And now, anchor, Hardy — anchor." 
 
 "I suppose, my lord, that Admiral Collingwood will now take 
 the direction of affairs." 
 
 "Not while I live," exclaimed Nelson, with a momentary 
 return of energy. "Do you anchor. Hardy." 
 
 "Then shall we make the signal, my lord." 
 
 "Yes, for if I live, I'll anchor." 
 
 That was the end. Five minutes later Horatio Nelson, Eng- 
 land's greatest sea champion, was dead. He had won— not "vic- 
 tory and Westminster Abbey" — but victory and a noble resting 
 place in St. Paul's Cathedral. 
 
 Colling-wood did not anchor, but stood out to sea with the 
 eighteen prizes of the hard-fought fray. In the gale that followed 
 many of the results of victory were lost, four of the ships being 
 retaken, some wrecked on shore, some foundering at sea, only 
 four reaching British waters in Gibraltar Bay. But whatever 
 was lost, Nelson's fame was secure, and the victory at Trafalgar 
 is treasured as one of the most famous triumphs of British arms. 
 
 The naval battle at Copenhagen, won by Nelson, was followed, 
 six years later, by a combined land and naval expedition in which 
 Wellington, England's other champion, took part. Again inspired 
 by the fear that Napoleon might use the Danish fleet for his own 
 
130 NELSON AND WELLINGTON 
 
 purposes, the British government, though at peace with Denmark, 
 sent a fleet to Copenhagen, bombarded and captured the city, 
 and seized the Danish ships. A battle took place on land in 
 which Wellington (then Sir Arthur Wellesley) won an easy victory 
 and captured 10,000 men. The whole business was an inglorious 
 one, a dishonorable incident in a struggle in which the defeat of 
 Napoleon stood first, honor second. Among the English them- 
 selves some defended it on the plea of policy, some called it piracy 
 and murder. 
 
 THE CAMPAIGN IN PORTUGAL 
 
 Not long afterwards England prepared to take a serious part 
 on land in the desperate contest with Napoleon, and sent a Brit- 
 ish force to Portugal, then held by the French army of invasion 
 under Marshal Junot. This force, 10,000 strong, was commanded 
 by Sir Arthur Wellesley, and landed July 30, 1808, at Mondego 
 Bay. He was soon joined by General Spencer from Cadiz, with 
 13,000 men. 
 
 The French, far from home and without support, were seriously 
 alarmed at this invasion, and justly so, for they met with defeat 
 in a sharp battle at Vimeiro, and would probably have been forced 
 to surrender as prisoners of war had not the troops been called 
 off from pursuit by Sir Harry Burrard, who had been sent out 
 to supersede Wellesley in command. The end of it all was a truce, 
 and a convention under whose terms the French troops were per- 
 mitted to evacuate Portugal with their arms and baggage and 
 return to France. This release of Junot from a situation which 
 precluded escape so disgusted Wellesley that he threw up his com- 
 mand and returned to England. Other troops sent out under Sir 
 John Moore and Sir David Baird met a superior force of French 
 in Spain, and their expedition ended in disaster. Moore was 
 killed while the troops were embarking to return home, and the 
 memory of this affair has been preserved in the famous ode, ''The 
 Burial of Sir John Moore," from which we quote: 
 
NELSON AND WELLINGTON 131 
 
 "We buried him darkly at dead of night, 
 The sod with our bayonets turning, 
 By the glimmering moonbeams' misty light 
 And the lanterns dimly bm-ning," 
 
 In April, 1809, Wellesley returned to Portugal, now chief in 
 command, to begin a struggle which was to continue until the 
 fall of Napoleon. There were at that time about 20,000 British 
 soldiers at Lisbon, while the French had in Spain more than 300,000 
 men, under such generals as Ney, Soult and Victor. The British, 
 indeed, were aided by a large number of natives in arms. But 
 these, though of service as guerillas, were almost useless in regular 
 warfare. 
 
 OPORTO AND TALAVERA 
 
 Wellesley was at Lisbon. Oporto, 170 miles north, was held 
 by Marshal Soult, who had recently taken it. Without delay 
 Wellington marched thither, and drove the French outposts across 
 the river Douro. But in their retreat they burned the bridge of 
 boats across the river, seized every boat they could find, and rested 
 in security, defying their foes to cross. Soult, veteran officer 
 though he was, fancied that he had disposed of Wellesley, and 
 massed his forces on the seacoast side of the town, in which quarter 
 alone he looked for an attack. 
 
 He did not know his antagonist. A few skiffs were secured, 
 and a small party of British was sent across the stream. The 
 French attacked them, but they held their ground till some others 
 joined them, and by the time Soult was informed of the danger 
 Wellesley had landed a large force and controlled a good supply 
 of boats. A battle followed in which the French were routed and 
 forced to retreat. But the only road by which their artillery or 
 baggage could be moved had been seized by General Beresford, 
 and was strongly held. In consequence Soult was forced to 
 abandon all his wagons and cannon and make his escape by by- 
 roads into Spain. 
 
132 NELSON AND WELLINGTON 
 
 This signal victory was followed by another on July 27, 1809, 
 when Wellesley, with 20,000 British soldiers and about 40,000 
 Spanish allies, met a French army of 60,000 men at Talavera in 
 Spain. The battle that succeeded lasted two days. The brunt 
 of it fell upon the British, the Spaniards proving of little use, yet 
 it ended in the defeat of the French, who retired unmolested, the 
 British being too exhausted to pursue. 
 
 The tidings of this victory were received with the utmost 
 enthusiasm in England. It was shown by it that British valor 
 could win battles against Napoleon on land as well as on sea. 
 Wellesley received the warmest thanks of the king, and, like Nel- 
 son, was rewarded by being raised to the peerage, being given the 
 titles of Baron Douro of Wellesley and Viscount Wellington of 
 Talavera. 
 
 THE FRENCH DRIVEN FROM PORTUGAL 
 
 Men and supplies just then would have served Wellington 
 better than titles. With strong support he could have marched 
 on and taken Madrid. As it was, he felt obliged to retire upon 
 the fortress of Badajoz, near the frontier of Portugal. Spain was 
 swarming with French soldiers, who were gradually collected there 
 until they exceeded 350,000 men. Of these 80,000, under the 
 command of Massena, were sent to act against the British. Before 
 this strong force Wellington found it necessary to draw back, and 
 the frontier fortresses of Almeida and Ciudad Rodrigo were taken 
 by the French. Wellington's j&rst stand was on the heights of 
 Busaco, September, 1810. Here, with 30,000 men, he withstood 
 all the attacks of the French, who in the end were forced to with- 
 draw. Massena then tried to gain the road between Lisbon and 
 Oporto, whereupon Wellington quickly retreated towards Lisbon. 
 
 The British general had during the winter been very usefully 
 employed. The road by which Lisbon must be approached passes 
 the village of Torres Vedras, and here two strong lines of earth- 
 works were constructed, some twenty-five miles in len^tbj stretch- 
 
NELSON AND WELLINGTON 133 
 
 ing from the sea to the Tagus, and effectually securing Lisbon 
 against attack. These works had been built with such secrecy 
 and despatch that the French were quite ignorant of their exist- 
 ence, and Massena, marching in confidence upon the Portuguese 
 capital, was amazed and chagrined on finding before him this 
 formidable barrier. 
 
 It was strongly defended, and all his efforts to take it proved 
 in vain. He then tried to reduce the British by famine, but in 
 this he was equally baffled, food being poured into Lisbon from 
 the sea. He tried by a feigned retreat to draw the British from 
 their works, but this stratagem failed of effect, and for four months 
 more the armies remained inactive. At length the exhaustion of 
 the country of provisions made necessary a real retreat of the 
 French, and Massena withdrew across the Spanish frontier, halting 
 near Salamanca. Of the proud force with which Napoleon pro- 
 posed to ''drive the British leopards into the sea," more than 
 half had vanished in this luckless campaign. 
 
 WELLINGTON IN SPAIN 
 
 But though the French army had withdrawn from Portugal, 
 the frontier fortresses were still in French hands, and of these 
 Almeida, near the borders, was the first to be attacked by Wel- 
 lington's forces. Massena advanced with 50,000 men to its relief, 
 and the two armies met at Fuentes-de-Onoro, May 4, 1811. The 
 French made attacks on the 5th and 6th, but were each time 
 repulsed, and on the 7th Massena retreated, sending orders to 
 the governor of Almeida to destroy the fortifications and leave 
 the place. 
 
 Another battle was fought in front of Badajoz of the most 
 sanguinary character, the total loss of the two armies being 15,000 
 killed and wounded. For a time the British seemed threatened 
 with inevitable defeat, but the fortune of the day was turned into 
 victory by a desperate charge. Subsequently Ciudad Rodrigo 
 was attacked, and was carried by storm, in January, 1812. Wei- 
 
134 NELSON AND WELLINGTON 
 
 lington then returned to Badajoz, which was also taken by storm, 
 after a desperate combat m which the victors lost 5,000 men, a 
 number exceeding that of the whole French garrison. 
 
 MADRID OCCUPIED 
 
 These continued successes of the British were seriously out of 
 consonance with the usual exploits of Napoleon's armies. He 
 was furious with his marshals, blaming them severely, and might 
 have taken their place in the struggle with Wellington but that 
 his fatal march to Russia was about to begin. Badajoz taken, 
 Wellington advanced into Spain, and on July 21st encountered 
 the French army under Marmont before the famous old town of 
 Salamanca. The battle, one of the most stubbornly contested in 
 which Wellington had yet been engaged, ended in the repulse of 
 the French, and on August 12th the British army marched into 
 Madrid, the capital of Spain, from which King Joseph Bonaparte 
 had just made his second flight. 
 
 WelUngton's next effort was a siege of the strong fortress of 
 Burgos. This proved the one failure in his mihtary career, he 
 being obliged to raise the siege after several weeks of effort. In 
 the foUowing year he was strongly reinforced, and with an army 
 numbering nearly 200,000 men he marched on the retreating 
 enemy, meeting them at Vittoria, near the boundary of France 
 and Spain, on June 21, 1813. The French were for the first time 
 in this war in a minority. They were also heavily encumbered 
 with baggage, the spoils of their occupation of Spain. The battle 
 ended in a complete victory for Wellington, who captured 157 
 cannon and a vast quantity of plunder, including the spoils of 
 Madrid and of the palace of the kings of Spain. The specie, of 
 which a large sum was taken, quickly disappeared among the 
 troops, and failed to reach the treasm-e chests of the army. 
 
 The French were now everywhere on the retreat. Soult, after a 
 vigorous effort to drive the British from the passes of the Pyrenees, 
 withdrew, and Wellington and his army at length stood on the 
 
NELSON AND WELLINGTON 135 
 
 soil of France. A victory over Soult at Nivelle, and a series of 
 successes in the following spring, ended the long Peninsular War, 
 the abdication of Napoleon closing the long and terrible drama of 
 battle. In the whole six years of struggle Wellington had not 
 once been defeated on the battle-field. 
 
 His military career had not yet ended. His great day of 
 glory was still to come, that in which he was to meet Napoleon 
 himseK on the field of Waterloo and, for the first time in the his- 
 tory of the great Corsican, drive back the latter's army in utter rout. 
 
 A year or more had passed since the events just narrated. In 
 June, 1815, Wellington found himself at the head of an army 
 some 100,000 strong, encamped around Brussels, the capital of 
 Belgiiun. It was a mingled group of British, Dutch, Belgian, 
 Hanoverian, German and other troops, hastily got together, and 
 many of them not safely to be depended upon. Of the British, 
 numbers had never been under fire. Marshal Bliicher, with an 
 equal force of Prussian troops, was near at hand; the two forces 
 prepared to meet the rapidly advancing Napoleon. 
 
 There followed a defeat of Bliicher at Ligny, and an attack 
 on Wellington at Quatre Bras. On the evening of the 17th the 
 army, retreating from Quatre Bras, encamped on the historic 
 field of Waterloo in a drenching rain, that turned the roads 
 into streams, the fields into swamps. All night long the rain 
 came down, the soldiers enduring the flood with what patience 
 they could. In the morning it ceased, fires were kindled and 
 active preparations began for the terrible struggle at hand. 
 
 Here ran a shallow valley, bounded by two ridges, the north- 
 ern of which was occupied by the British, while Napoleon posted 
 his army on its arrival along the southern ridge. On the slope 
 before the British center was the white-walled farm house of La 
 Haye Sainte, and in front of the right wing the chateau of Hougou- 
 mont, with its various stout stone buildings. Both of these were 
 occupied by men of WelUngton's army, and became leading points 
 in the struggle of the day. 
 
136 NELSON AND WELLINGTON 
 
 It was nine o'clock in the morning before the vanguard of the 
 French army made its appearance on the crest of the southern 
 ridge. By half-past ten 61,000 soldiers — ^infantry, cavalry and 
 artillery — lay encamped in full sight. About half-past eleven 
 came the first attack of that remarkable day, during which the 
 French waged an aggressive battle, and the British stood on the 
 defensive. 
 
 This first attack was directed against Hougoumont, around 
 which there was a desperate contest. At this point the affray 
 went on, in successive waves of attack and repulse, all day long; 
 yet still the British held the buildings, and all the fierce valor of 
 the French failed to gain them a foothold within. 
 
 About two o'clock came a second attack, preceded by a 
 frightful cannonade upon the British left and center. Four mas- 
 sive columns, led by Ney, poured steadily forward straight for the 
 ridge, sweepmg upon and around the farm-stead of La Haye Sainte, 
 but met at every point by the sabres and bayonets of the British 
 lines. Nearly 24,000 men took part in this great movement, the 
 struggle lasting more than an hour before the French staggered 
 back in repulse. Then from the French lines came a stupendous 
 cavalry charge, the massive columns composed of no less than 
 forty squadrons of cuirassiers and dragoons, fiUing almost all the 
 space between Hougoiunont and La Haye Sainte as they poured 
 like a torrent upon the British hues. Tom by artillery, rent by 
 musketry; checked, reformed; charging again, and again driven 
 back; they expended their strength and their lives on the infantry 
 squares that held their ground with the grimmest obstinacy. 
 Once more, now strengthened by the cavalry of the Imperial 
 Guard, they came on to carnage and death, shattering themselves 
 against those unyielding squares, and in the end repulsed with 
 frightful loss. 
 
 The day was now well advanced, it being liaK-past four in 
 the afternoon; the British had been fearfully shaken by the furious 
 efforts of the French; when, emerging from the woods at St. Lam- 
 
NELSON AND WELLINGTON 137 
 
 bert, appeared the head of a column of fresh troops. Who were 
 they? Bliicher's Prussians, or Grouchy's pursuing French? On 
 the answer to this question depended the issue of that terrible 
 day. The question was soon decided; they were the Prussians; 
 no sign appeared of the French; the hearts of the British beat 
 high with hope and those of the French sank low in despair, for 
 these fresh troops could not fail to decide the fate of that mighty 
 field of battle. Soon the final struggle came. Napoleon, driven 
 to desperation, launched his grand reserve corps, the far-famed 
 Imperial Guard, upon his enemies. On they come, with Ney at 
 their head; on them poured a terrible torrent of flame; from a 
 distance the front ranks appeared stationary, but only because they 
 met a death-line as they came, and fell in bleeding rows. Then 
 on them, in a wild charge, rushed the British Foot Guards, took 
 them m flank, and soon all was over. '^The Guard dies, but never 
 surrenders," said their commander. Die they did, few of them 
 surviving to take part in that mad flight which swept Napoleon 
 from the field and closed the fatal day of Waterloo. England had 
 won the great victory, now century-old, and Wellington from 
 that day of triumph took rank with the greatest of British heroes. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 The Decline and Fall of Napoleon's Empire 
 
 Dawn of a New Eka in Europe 
 
 The Kings and People of Spain — French Defeated and Napoleon in Command — 
 The Triumph of Wellington — Napoleon's Fatal Enterprise — The Grand Army in 
 Russia — Smolensk on Fire — The Fight at Borodino — Moscow Occupied by the French 
 — The Terror of Flame — Napoleon's Dread Dilemma — Winter in Full Fury — The 
 Remnant of the Grand Army — ^Europe Rises Against the Corsican — The Empire Goes 
 to Pieces — Napoleon Exiled to Elba^ — ^End of Napoleon's Career. 
 
 A MBITION, unrestrained by caution, uncontrolled by modera- 
 /-\ tion, has its inevitable end. An empire built upon victory, 
 "*" "^ trusting solely to military genius, prepa.res for itself the ele- 
 ments of its overthrow. This fact Napoleon was to learn. In 
 the outset of his career he opposed a new art of war to the obsolete 
 one of his enemies, and his path to empire was over the corpses of 
 slaughtered armies and the ruins of fallen kingdoms. But year by 
 year his foes learned his art, in war after war their resistance grew 
 more stringent, each successive victory was won with more difficulty 
 and at greater cost, and finally, at the crossing of the Danube, the 
 energy and genius of Napoleon met their equal, and the standards 
 of France, for the first time under Napoleon's leadership, went 
 back in defeat. It was the tocsin of fate. His career of victory 
 had culminated. From that day its dechne began. 
 
 THE KINGS AND PEOPLE OF SPAIN 
 
 It is interesting to find that the first effective check to Napo- 
 leon's victorious progress came from one of the weaker nations of 
 Europe, a power which the conqueror contemned and thought to 
 move as one of the minor pieces in his game of empire. Spain at 
 that time had reached almost the lowest stage of its decline. Its 
 king was an imbecile; the heir to the throne a weakling; Godoy, 
 
 (138) 
 
DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 139 
 
 the ''Prince of the Peace," the monarch's favorite, an ambitious 
 intriguer. Napoleon's armies had invaded Portugal and forced 
 its monarch to embark for Brazil, his American domain. A similar 
 movement was attempted in Spain. This country the base Godoy 
 betrayed to Napoleon, and then, frightened by the consequences 
 of his dishonorable intrigues, sought to escape with the king and 
 court to the Spanish dominions in America. His scheme was pre- 
 vented by an outbreak of the people of Madrid, and Napoleon, 
 ambitiously designing to add the peninsula to his empire, induced 
 both Charles IV and his son Ferdinand to resign from the throne. 
 He replaced them by his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, who, on June 
 6, 1808, was named King of Spain. 
 
 Hitherto Napoleon had dealt with emperors and kings, whose 
 overthrow carried with it that of their people. In Spain he had a 
 new eleinent, the people itself, to deal with. The very weakness 
 of Spain proved its strength. Deprived of their native monarchs, 
 and given a Idng not of their own choice, the whole people rose in 
 rebellion and defied Napoleon and his armies. An insurrection 
 broke out in Madrid in which 1,200 French soldiers were slain. 
 Juntas were formed in different cities, which assumed the control 
 of affairs and refused obedience to the new king. From end to end 
 of Spain the people sprang to arms and began a guerilla warfare 
 which the troops of Napoleon sought in vain to quell. The bayonets 
 of the French were able to sustain King Joseph and his court in 
 Madrid, but proved powerless to put down the people. Each 
 city, each district, became a separate center of war, each had to 
 be conquered separately, and the strength of the troops was con- 
 sumed in petty contests with a people who avoided open warfare 
 and dealt in surprises and scattered fights, in which victory counted 
 for little and needed to be repeated a thousand times. 
 
 FRENCH DEFEATED AND NAPOLEON IN COMMAND 
 
 The Spanish did more than this. They put an army in the 
 field which was defeated by the French, but they revenged them- 
 
140 DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 
 
 selves brilliantly at Baylen, in Andalusia, where General Dupont, 
 with a corps 20,000 strong, was surrounded in a position from 
 which there was no escape, and forced to surrender himself and his 
 men as prisoners of war. 
 
 This undisciplined people had gained a victory over France 
 which none of the great Powers of Europe could match. The 
 Spaniards were filled with enthusiasm; King Joseph hastily aban- 
 doned Madrid; the French armies retreated across the Ebro. Soon 
 encouraging news came from Portugal. The Enghsh, hitherto 
 mainly confining themselves to naval warfare and to aiding the 
 enemies of Napoleon with money, had landed an army in that 
 country under Sir Arthur Wellesley (afterwards Lord Wellington) 
 and other generals, which would have captured the entire French 
 army had it not capitulated on the terms of a free passage to France. 
 For the time being the peninsula of Spain and Portugal was free 
 from Napoleon's power. 
 
 The humiliating reverse to his arms called Napoleon himself 
 into the field. He marched at the head of an army into Spain, 
 defeated the insurgents wherever met, and reinstated his brother 
 on the throne. The city of Saragossa, which made one of the most 
 heroic defenses laiown in history, was taken, and the advance of 
 the British armies was checked. And yet, though Spain was widely 
 overrun, the people did not yield. The junta at Cadiz defied the 
 French, the guerillas continued in the field, and the invaders 
 found themselves baffled by an enemy who was felt oftener than 
 seen. 
 
 The Austrian war called away the emperor and the bulk of 
 his troops, but after it was over he filled Spain with his veterans, 
 increasing the strength of the army there to 300,000 men, under 
 his ablest generals, Soult, Massena, Ney, Marmont, Macdonald 
 and others. They marched through Spain from end to end, yet, 
 though they held all the saUent points, the people refused to submit, 
 but from their mountain fastnesses kept up a petty and annoying 
 war. 
 
DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 141 
 
 THE TRIUMPH OF WELLINGTON 
 
 Massena, in 1811, invaded Portugal, where Wellington with an 
 Enghsh army awaited him behind the strong lines of Torres Vedras, 
 which the ever-victorious French sought in vain to carry by assault. 
 Massena was compelled to retreat, and Soult, by whom the emperor 
 replaced hun, was no more successful against the shrewd English 
 general. At length Spain won the reward of her patriotic defense. 
 The Russian campaign of 1812 compelled the emperor to deplete 
 his army in that country, and Wellington came to the aid of the 
 patriots, defeated Marmont at Salamanca, entered Madrid, and 
 forced King Joseph once more to flee from his unquiet throne. 
 
 For a brief interval he was restored by the French army under 
 Soult and Suchet, but the disasters of the Russian campaign brought 
 the reign of King Joseph to a final end, and forced him to give up 
 the pretence of reigning over a people who were unflinchingly 
 determined to have no king but one of their own choice. The story 
 of the Spanish war ends in 1813, when WelHngton defeated the 
 French at Vittoria, pursued them across the Pyrenees, and set foot 
 upon the soil of France. 
 
 napoleon's fatal enterprise 
 
 While these events were taking place in Spain the power of 
 Napoleon was being shattered to fragments in the north. On the 
 banks of the Niemen, a river that flows between Prussia and Poland, 
 there gathered near the end of June, 1812, an immense army of more 
 than 600,000 men, attended by an enormous multitude of non- 
 combatants, their purpose being the invasion of the empire of Russia. 
 Of this great army, made up of troops from half the nations of 
 Europe, there reappeared six months later on that broad stream 
 about 16,000 armed men, almost all that were left of that stupendous 
 host. The remainder had perished on the desert soil or in the frozen 
 rivers of Russia, few of them surviving as prisoners in Russian 
 hands. Such was the character of the dread catastrophe that broke 
 
142 DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 
 
 the power of the mighty conqueror and delivered Europe from his 
 autocratic grasp. 
 
 The breach of relations between Napoleon and Alexander was 
 largely due to the arbitrary and high-handed proceedings of the 
 French emperor, who was accustomed to deal with the map of 
 Europe as if it represented his private domain. He offended Alex- 
 ander by enlarging the duchy of Warsaw — one of his own creations — 
 and deeply incensed him by extending the French empire to the 
 shores of the Baltic, thus robbing of his dominion the Duke of Olden- 
 burg, a near relative of Alexander. On the other hand the Czar 
 declined to submit the commercial interests of his country to the 
 rigor of Napoleon's "continental blockade," and made a new tariff 
 which interfered with the importation of French and favored that 
 of EngHsh goods. These acts in which Alexander chose to place 
 his own interests in advance of those of Napoleon were as worm- 
 wood to the haughty soul of the latter, and he determined to punish 
 the Russian autocrat as he had done the other monarchs of Europe. 
 
 For a year or two before war was declared Napoleon had been 
 preparing for the greatest struggle of his life, adding to his army 
 by the most rigorous methods of conscription and collecting great 
 magazines of war material, though still professing friendship for 
 Alexander. The latter, however, was not deceived. He prepared, 
 on his part, for the threatened struggle, made peace with the Turks, 
 and formed an alliance with Bemadotte, the crown prince of Sweden, 
 who had good reason to be offended with his former lord and master. 
 Napoleon, on his side, alhed himself with Prussia and Austria, 
 and added to his army large contingents of troops from the German | 
 
 states. At length the great conflict was ready to begin between the 
 two autocrats, the Emperors of the East and the West, and Europe 
 resoimded with the tread of marching feet. 
 
 THE GRAND ARMY IN RUSSIA 
 
 In the closing days of June the grand army crossed the Niemen, 
 its last re^ments reaching Russian soil by the opening of July. 
 
DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 148 
 
 Napoleon, with the advance, pressed on to Wihia, the capital of 
 Lithuania. On all sides the Poles rose in enthusiastic hope, and 
 joined the ranks of the man whom they looked upon as their dehv- 
 erer. Onward went the great army, marching with Napoleon's 
 accustomed rapidity, seeking to prevent the concentration of the 
 divided Russian forces, and advancing daily deeper into the 
 dominions of the Czar. 
 
 The French emperor had his plans well laid. He proposed to 
 meet the Russians in force on some interior field, win from them one 
 of his accustomed brilUant victories, crush them with his enormous 
 coliunns, and force the dismayed Czar to sue for peace on his own 
 terms. But plans need two sides for their consummation, and the 
 Russian leaders did not propose to lose the advantage given them 
 by natin-e. On and on went Napoleon, deeper and deeper into that 
 desolate land, but the great army he was to crush failed to loom up 
 before him, the broad plains still spread onward empty of soldiers, 
 and disquiet began to assail his imperious soul as he found the Rus- 
 sian hosts keeping constantly beyond his reach, luring him ever 
 more deeply into their vast territory. In truth Barclay de Tolly, 
 the Czar's chief in command, had adopted a policy which was siu-e 
 to prove fatal to Napoleon's purpose, that of persistently avoiding 
 battle and keeping the French in pm-suit of a fleeting will-of-the- 
 wisp, while their army wasted away from natural disintegration in 
 that inhospitable clime. 
 
 He was correct in his views. Desertion, illness, the death of 
 young recruits who could not endure the hardships of a rapid march 
 in the severe heat of midsununer, began their fatal work. Napo- 
 leon's plan of campaign proved a total failure. The Russians 
 would not wait to be defeated, and each day's march opened a 
 wider circle of operations before the advancing host, whom the 
 interminable plam filled with a sense of hopelessness. The heat 
 was overpowering, and men dropped from the ranks as rapidly as 
 though on a field of battle. At Vitebsk the army was inspected, 
 and the emperor was alarmed at the rapid decrease in his forces. 
 
144 DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 
 
 Some of the divisions had lost more than a fourth of their men, 
 in every corps the ranks were depleted, and reinforcements akeady 
 had to be set on the march. 
 
 Onv/ard they went, here and there bringing the Russians to 
 bay in a minor engagement, but nowhere meeting them in numbers. 
 Europe waited in vain for tidings of a great battle, and Napoleon 
 began to look upon his proud army with a feeling akin to despair. 
 He was not alone in his eagerness for battle. Some of the high- 
 spirited Russians, among them Prince Bagration, were as eager, 
 but as yet the prudent poHcy of Barclay de Tolly prevailed, and the 
 srmies of Russia kept beyond the reach of their foes. 
 
 SMOLENSK ON FIRE 
 
 On the 14th of August, the army crossed the Dnieper, and 
 marched, now 175,000 strong, upon Smolensk, which was reached 
 on the 16th. This ancient and venerable town was dear to the Rus- 
 sians, and they made their first determined stand in its defense, 
 fighting behind its walls all day of the 17th. Finding that the 
 assault was likely to succeed, they set fire to the town at night and 
 withdrew, leaving to the French a city in flames. The bridge was 
 cut, the Russian army was beyond pursuit on the road to Moscow, 
 nothing had been gained by the struggle but the ruins of a town. 
 
 The situation was growing desperate. For two months the 
 army had advanced without a battle of importance, and was now 
 in the heart of Russia, reduced to half its numbers, while the hoped- 
 for victory seemed as far off as ever. And the short srnnmer of the 
 north was nearing its end. The severe winter of that climate 
 would soon begin. Discouragement everywhere prevailed. Efforts 
 were made by Napoleon's marshals to induce him to give up the 
 losing game and retreat, but he was not to be moved from his 
 purpose. Stubborn adherence to his plans was a marked phase 
 of his character. A march on Moscow, the old capital of the 
 empire, he felt sure would bring the Russians to bay. Once within 
 its walls he hoped to dictate terms of peace. 
 
DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 145 
 
 THE FIGHT AT BORODINO 
 
 Napoleon was soon to have the battle for which his soul craved. 
 Barclay's prudent and successful policy was not to the taste of many 
 of the Russian leaders, and the Czar was at length induced to replace 
 him by fiery old Kutusoff, who had commanded the Russians at 
 Austerhtz. A change in the situation was soon apparent. On the 
 5th of September the French army debouched upon the plain of 
 Borodino, on the road to Moscow, and the emperor saw with joy 
 the Russian army drawn up to dispute the way to the ''Holy 
 City" of the Muscovites. The dark columns of troops were strongly 
 intrenched behind a small stream, frowning rows of guns threatened 
 the advancing foe, and hope returned to the emperor's heart. He 
 felt sure that he now had the enemy withia his grasp and that 
 victory would turn the situation in his favor. 
 
 Battle began early on the 7th, and continued all day long, 
 the Russians defending their ground with unyielding stubbornness, 
 the French attacking their positions with all their old impetuous 
 dash and energy. Murat and Ney were the heroes of the day. 
 Again and again the emperor was implored to send the imperial 
 guard and overwhelm the foe, but he persistently refused. ''If 
 there is a second battle tomorrow," he said, "what troops shall 
 I fight it with? It is not when one is eight himdred leagues from 
 home that he risks his last resource." 
 
 The guard was not needed. On the following day Kutusoff 
 was obhged to withdraw, leaving no less than 40,000 dead or 
 woimded on the field. Among the killed was the brave Prince 
 Bagration. The retreat was an orderly one. Napoleon found it 
 expedient not to pursue. His own losses aggregated over 30,000, 
 among them an imusual number of generals, of whom ten were 
 killed and thirty-nine wounded. Three days proved a brief time 
 to attend to the burial of the dead and the needs of the wounded. 
 Napoleon named the engagement the Battle of the Moskva, from 
 the river that crossed the plain, and honored Ney, as the hero of the 
 day, with the title of Prince of Moskwa. 
 
 10 
 
146 DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 
 
 MOSCOW OCCUPIED BY THE FRENCH 
 
 On the 15th the Holy City was reached. A shout of "Moscow? 
 Moscow!" went up from the whole army as they gazed on the 
 gilded cupolas and magnificent buildings of that famous city, 
 brilliantly lit up by the afternoon sun. Twenty miles in circum- 
 ference, dazzling with the green of its copper domes and its minarets 
 of yellow stone, the towers and walls of the famous Kremlin rising 
 above its palaces and gardens, it seemed like some fabled city of the 
 Arabian Nights. With renewed enthusiasm the troops rushed 
 towards it, while whole regiments of Poles fell on their knees, thank- 
 ing God for delivering this stronghold of their oppressors into their 
 hands. 
 
 It was an empty city into which the French marched; its 
 streets deserted, its dwellings silent. Its busy life had vanished like 
 a morning mist. Kutusoff had marched his army through it and 
 left it to his foes. The inhabitants were gone, with what they could 
 carry of their treasures. The city, like the empire, seemed likely 
 to be a barren conquest, for here, as elsewhere, the policy of retreat, 
 so fatal to Napoleon's hopes, was put into effect. The emperor 
 took up his abode in the Kremlin, within whose ample precincts he 
 found quarters for the whole imperial gTiard. The remainder of 
 the army was stationed at chosen points about the city. Provisions 
 were abundant, the houses and stores of the city being amply 
 supplied. The army enjoyed a luxury of which it had been long 
 deprived, while Napoleon confidently awaited a triumphant result 
 from his victorious progress. 
 
 THE TERROR OF FLAME 
 
 A terrible disenchantment awaited the invader. Early on 
 the following morning word was brought him that Moscow was on 
 fire. Flames arose from houses that had not been opened. It was 
 evidently a premeditated conflagration. The fire burst out at once 
 in a dozen quarters, and a high wind carried the flames from street 
 
DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 147 
 
 to street, from house to house, from church to church. Russians 
 were captured who boasted that they had fired the town under 
 orders and who met death unflinchingly. The governor had left 
 them behind for this fell purpose. The poorer people, many of 
 whom had remained hidden in their huts, now fled in terror, taking 
 with them what cherished possessions they could carry. Soon the 
 city was a seething mass of flames. 
 
 The Kremlin did not escape. A tower burst into flames. 
 In vain the unperial guard sought to check the fire. No fire-engines 
 were to be found in the town. Napoleon hastily left the palace and 
 sought shelter outside the city, where for three days the flames 
 ran riot, feeding on ancient palaces and destroying untold treasures. 
 Then the v/ind sank and rain poured upon the smouldering embers. 
 The great city had become a desolate heap of smoking ruins, into 
 which the soldiers daringly stole back in search of valuables that 
 might have escaped the flames. 
 
 This frightful conflagration was not due to the Czar, but to 
 Coimt Rostoptchin, the governor of Moscow, who was subsequently 
 dri^ven from Russia by the execrations of those he had ruined. 
 But it served as a proclamation to Europe of the hnplacable resolu- 
 tion of the Muscovites and their determination to resist to the 
 bitter end. 
 
 napoleon's dread dilemma 
 
 Napoleon, sadly troubled in soul, sent letters to Alexander, 
 suggesting the advisability of peace. Alexander left his letters 
 unanswered. Until October 18th the emperor waited, hoping against 
 hope, willing to grant almost any terms for an opportunity to escape 
 from the fatal trap into which his overweening ambition had led 
 him. No answer came from the Czar. He was inflexible in his 
 determinatiori not to treat with these invaders of his country. 
 In deep dejection Napoleon at length gave the order to retreat — 
 too late, as it was to prove, since the terrible Russian winter was 
 ready to descend upon them in all its frightful strength, 
 
148 DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIHE 
 
 The army that left that ruined city was a sadly depleted one. 
 It had been reduced to 103,000 men. The army followers had also 
 become greatly decreased in numbers, but still formed a host, 
 among them delicate ladies, thinly clad, who gazed with terrified 
 eyes from their travehng carriages upon the dejected troops. 
 Articles of plunder of all kinds were carried by the soldiers, even 
 the woimded in the wagons lying amid the spoil they had gathered. 
 The Kremlin was destroyed by the rear guard, under Napoleon's 
 orders, and over the drear Eussian plains the retreat began. 
 
 It was no sooner under way than the Russian poHcy changed. 
 From retreating, they everywhere advanced, seeking to annoy 
 and cut off the enemy, and utterly to destroy the fugitive army if 
 possible. A stand was made at the town of Maloyaroslavetz, 
 where a sanguinary combat took place. The French captured the 
 town, but ten thousand men lay dead or wounded on the field, 
 while Napoleon was forced to abandon his projected line of march, 
 and to take for his return the route he had followed in his 
 advance on Moscow. From the bloody scene of contest the retreat 
 continued, the battle-field of Borodino being crossed, and, by the 
 middle of November, the ruins of Smolensk reached. 
 
 WINTER IN FULL FURY 
 
 Winter was now upon the French in all its fury. The food 
 brought from Moscow had been exhausted. Famine, frost and 
 fatigue had proved more fatal than the bullets of the enemy. In 
 fourteen days after reaching Moscow the army lost 43,000 men, 
 leaving it only 60,000 strong. On reaching Smolensk it numbered 
 but 42,000, having lost 18,000 more within eight days. The unarmed 
 followers are said to have still numbered 60,000. Worse still, 
 the supply of arms and provisions ordered to be ready at Smolensk 
 was in great part lacking, only rye-flour and rice being found. 
 Starvation threatened to aid the winter cold in the destruction of 
 the feeble remnant of the ''Grand Army." 
 
 Onward went the despairing host, at every step harassed b^ 
 
DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 149 
 
 the Russians, who followed like wolves on their path. Ney, in 
 command of the rear-guard, was the hero of the retreat. Cut ofT 
 by the Russians from the main column, and apparently lost beyond 
 hope, he made a wonderful escape by crossing the Dnieper on the 
 ice during the night and rejoining his companions, who had given 
 up the hope of ever seeing him again. 
 
 On the 26th the ice-cold river Beresina was reached, destined 
 to be the most terrible point on the whole dreadful march. Two 
 bridges were thrown in all haste across the stream, and most of the 
 men under arms crossed, but 18,000 stragglers fell into the hands 
 of the enemy. How many were trodden to death in the press or were 
 crowded from the bridge into the icy river cannot be told. .• It 
 is said that when spring thawed the ice 30,000 bodies were found 
 and burned on the banks of the stream. A mere fragment of the 
 great army remained alive. Ney was the last man to cross that 
 frightful stream. 
 
 THE REMNANT OF THE GRAND ARMY 
 
 On the 3d of December Napoleon issued a bulletin which has 
 become famous, telling the anxious nations of Europe that the grand 
 army was annihilated, but the emperor was safe. Two days 
 afterwards he surrendered the conmiand of the army to Murat and 
 set out at all speed for Paris, where his presence was indispensably 
 necessary. On the 13th of December some 16,000 haggard and 
 staggering men, almost too weak to hold the arms to which they 
 still despairingly clung, recrossed the Niemen, which the "Grand 
 Army" had passed in such magnificent strength and with such 
 abounding resources less than six months before. It was the 
 greatest and most astounding disaster in the miUtary history of 
 the world. 
 
 This tale of terror may be fitly closed by a dramatic story told 
 by General Mathieu Dimaas, who, while sitting at breakfast in 
 Gumbinnen, saw enter a haggard man, with long beard, blackened 
 face, and red and glaring eyes. 
 
150 DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 
 
 ^'I am here at last," he exclaimed. "Don't you know me?" 
 
 "No," said the general. "Who are you?" 
 
 "I am the rear-guard of the Grand Army. I have fired the 
 last musket-shot on the bridge of Kowno. I have thrown the last 
 of our arms into the Niemen, and came hither through the woods. 
 I am Marshal Ney." 
 
 "This is the beginning of the end," said the shrewd Talleyrand, 
 when Napoleon set out on his Russian campaign. The remark 
 proved true, the disaster in Russia had loosened the grasp of the 
 Corsican on the throat of Europe, and the nations, which hated as 
 much as they feared their ruthless enemy, made active preparations 
 for his overthrow. While he was in France, actively gathering men 
 and materials for a renewed struggle, signs of an implacable hostility 
 began to manifest themselves on all sides in the surrounding states. 
 Belief in the invincibility of Napoleon had vanished, and little fear 
 was entertained of the raw conscripts whom he was forcing into the 
 ranks to replace his slaughtered veterans. 
 
 ETJKOPE RISES AGAINST THE CORSICAN 
 
 Prussia was the first to break the bonds of alliance with France, 
 to ally itself with Russia, and to call its people to arms against their 
 oppressor. They responded with the utmost enthusiasm, men of 
 all ranks and all professions hastened to their coimtry's defense, 
 and the noble and the peasant stood side by side as privates in the 
 same regiment. In March, 1813, the French left Berlin, which was 
 immediately occupied by the Russian and Prussian allies. The 
 king of Saxony, however, refused to desert Napoleon, to whom he 
 owed many favors and whose anger he feared; and his realm, in 
 consequence, became the theater of the war. 
 
 Across the opposite borders of this kingdom poured the hostile 
 hosts, meeting in battle at Liitzen and Buntzen. Here the French 
 held the field, driving their adversaries across the Oder, but not in the 
 wild dismay seen at Jena. A new spirit had been aroused in the 
 Prussian heart, and they left thousands of their enemies dead upon 
 
DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 151 
 
 the field, among whom Napoleon saw with grief his especial friend 
 and favorite Diiroc. 
 
 A truce followed, which the French emperor utilized in gathering 
 fresh levies. Prince Mettemich, the able chancellor of the Austrian 
 empire, sought to make peace, but his demands upon Napoleon 
 were much greater than the proud conqueror was prepared to grant, 
 and he decisively refused to cede the territor}'- held by him as the 
 spoils of war. His refusal brought upon him another powerful 
 foe, Austria alhed itself with his enemies, formally declaring war 
 on August 12, 1813, and an active and terrible struggle began. 
 
 napoleon's last important victory 
 
 Napoleon's army was rapidly concentrated at Dresden, upon 
 whose works of defense the alhed army precipitated itself in a vigor- 
 ous assault on August 26th. Its strength was wasted agamst 
 the vigorously-held fortifications of the city, and in the end the gates 
 were flung open and the serried battahons of the Old Guard 
 appeared in battle array. From every gate of the city these tried 
 soldiers poured, and rushed upon the unprepared wings of the hostile 
 host. Before this resistless charge the enemy recoiled, retreating 
 with heavy loss to the heights beyond the city, and leaving Napoleon 
 master of the field. 
 
 On the next morning the battle was resumed. The alhes, 
 strongly posted, still outnumbered the French, and had abundant 
 reason to expect victory. But Napoleon's eagle eye quickly saw 
 that their left wing lacked the strength of the remainder of the Ime, 
 and upon this he poured the bulk of his forces, while keeping their 
 center and right actively engaged. The result justified the instinct 
 of his genius, the enemy was driven back in disastrous defeat, 
 and once again a glorious victory was inscribed upon the banners 
 of France — the final one in Napoleon's career of fame. 
 
 Yet the fruits of this victory were largely lost in the events 
 of the remainder of the month. On the 26th Blucher brilliantly 
 defeated Marshal Macdonald on the Katzbach, in Silesia; on the 
 
152 DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 
 
 30th General Vandamme, with 10,000 French soldiers, was sur- 
 rounded and captured at Cuhn, in Bohemia; and on the 27th 
 Hirschfeld, at Hagelsberg, with a corps of volunteers, defeated 
 Girard. The Prussian-Swedish army similarly won victories on 
 August 25th and September 6th, and a few weeks afterward the 
 Prussian general, Count York, supported by the troops of General 
 Horn, crossed the Elbe in the face of the enemy, and gained a bril- 
 liant victory at Wartenburg. Where Napoleon was present victory 
 incHned to his banner. Where he was absent his lieutenants 
 suffered defeat. The struggle was everywhere fierce and desperate, 
 but the end was at hand. 
 
 THE LAST STAND AT LEIPZIG 
 
 The rulers of the Rhine Confederation now began to desert 
 Napoleon and all Germany to join against him. The fii'st to secede 
 was Bavaria, which allied itself with Austria and joined its forces 
 to those of the alhes. During October the hostile armies concen- 
 trated in front of Leipzig, M^here was to be fought the decisive 
 battle of the war. The struggle promised was the most gigantic 
 one in which Napoleon had ever been engaged. Against his 100,000 
 men was gathered a host of 300,000 Austrians, Prussians, Russians, 
 and Swedes. 
 
 We have not space to describe the multitudinous details of 
 this mighty struggle, which continued with unabated fury for three 
 days, October 16th, 17th, and 18th. It need scarcely be said that 
 the generalship shown by Napoleon in this famous contest lacked 
 nothing of his usual brilliancy, and that he was ably seconded by 
 Ney, Murat, Augereau, and others of his famous generals, yet the 
 overwhelming numbers of the enemy enabled them to defy all the 
 valor of the French and the resources of their great leader, and at 
 evening of the 18th the armies still faced each other in battle array, 
 the fate of the field yet undecided. 
 
 Napoleon was in no condition to renew the combat. During 
 the long affray the French had expended no less than 250,000 
 
DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 153 
 
 cannon balls. They had but 16,000 left, which two hours' firing 
 would exhaust. Reluctantly he gave the order to retreat, and all 
 that night the wearied and disheartened troops filed through the 
 gates of Leipzig, leaving a rear-guard in the city, who defended it 
 bravely against the swarming multitude of the foe. A disastrous 
 blunder terminated their stubborn defense. Orders had been left 
 to blow up the bridge across the Elster, but the mine was, by mis- 
 take, set off too soon, and the gallant garrison, 12,000 in number, 
 with a multitude of sick and wounded, was forced to surrender 
 as prisoners of war. 
 
 THE EMPIRE GOES TO PIECES 
 
 The end was drawing near. Vigorously pursued, the French 
 reached the Rhine by forced marches, defeating with heavy loss 
 the army of Austrians and Bavarians which sought to block their 
 way. The stream was crossed and the French were once more 
 upon their own soil. After years of contest, Germany was finally 
 freed from Napoleon's long-victorious hosts. 
 
 Marked results followed. The carefully organized work of 
 Napoleon's poHcy quickly fell to pieces. The kingdom of West- 
 phaha was dissolved. The elector of Hesse and the dukes of Bruns- 
 wick and Oldenburg returned to the thrones from which they had 
 been driven. The Confederation of the Rhine ceased to exist, 
 and its states alhed themselves with Austria. Denmark, long 
 faithful to France, renounced its alhance in January, 1814. Austria 
 regained possession of Lombardy, the duke of Tuscany returned 
 to his capital, and the Pope, Pius VII, long held captive by Napoleon, 
 went back in trimnph to Rome. A few months sufficed to break 
 down the edifice of empire slowly reared through so many years, 
 and almost all Europe outside of France united itself in hostihty 
 to its hated foe. 
 
 Napoleon was offered peace if he would accept the Rhine as 
 the French frontier, but his old infatuation and trust in his genius 
 prevailed over the dictates of prudence, he treated the offer in his 
 
154 DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 
 
 usual double-dealing way, and the allies, convinced that there could 
 be no stable peace while he remained on the throne, decided to cross 
 the Rhine and invade France. 
 
 Bliicher led his columns across the stream on the first day of 
 1814, Schwarzenberg marched through Switzerland into France, 
 and Wellington crossed the Pyrenees. Napoleon, like a wolf brought 
 to bay, sought to dispose of his scattered foes before they would 
 unite, and began with Bliicher, whom he defeated five times in 
 as many days. The allies, still in dread of their great opponent, 
 once more offered him peace, but his success robbed him of wisdom, 
 he demanded more than they were willing to give, and his enemies, 
 encouraged by a success gained by Bliicher, broke off the nego- 
 tiations and marched on Paris, now bent on the dethronement of 
 their dreaded antagonist. 
 
 NAPOLEON EXILED TO ELBA 
 
 A few words will bring the story of this contest to an end. 
 France was exhausted, its army was incapable of coping with the 
 serried battahons marshalled against it, Paris surrendered before 
 Napoleon could come to its defense, and in the end the emperor, 
 vacillating and in despair, was obliged, on April 7, 1814, to sign an 
 unconditional act of abdication. The Powers of Europe awarded 
 him as a kingdom the diminutive island of Elba, in the Mediter- 
 ranean, with an annual income of 2,000,000 francs and an army 
 composed of 400 of his famous guard. The next heir to the throne 
 returned as Louis XVIII. France was given back its old frontier 
 of 1492, the foreign armies withdrew from her soil, and the career 
 of the great Corsican seemed at an end. 
 
 In spite of their long experience with Napoleon, the event 
 proved that the Powers of Europe knew not all the audacity and 
 mental resources of the man with whom they had to deal. They 
 had made what might have proved a fatal error in giving him an 
 asylum so near the coast of France, whose people, intoxicated with 
 the dream of glory through whicji he had so long led them, would 
 
DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 155 
 
 be sure to respond enthusiastically to an appeal to rally to his 
 support. 
 
 The Powers were soon to learn their error. While the Congress 
 of Vienna, convened to restore the old constitution of Europe, was 
 deliberating and disputing, its members were startled by the news 
 that the dethroned emperor was again upon the soil of France, and 
 that Louis XVIII was in full flight for the frontier. Napoleon 
 had landed on March 1, 1815, and set out on his return to Paris, 
 the army and the people rapidly gathering to his support. On the 
 30th he entered the Tuileries m a blaze of triumph, the citizens, 
 thoroughly dissatisfied with their brief experience of Bourbon rule, 
 going mad with enthusiasm in his welcome. 
 
 THE HUNDRED DAYS 
 
 Thus began the famous period of the ''Hundred Days." The 
 Powers declared Napoleon to be the "enemy of nations," and armed 
 a half million of men for his final overthrow. The fate of his desper- 
 ate attempt was soon decided. For the first time he was to meet 
 the British in battle, and in Wellington to encounter the only man 
 who had definitely made head against his legions. A British 
 army was dispatched in all haste to Belgium, Bliicher with his 
 Prussians hastened to the same region, and the mighty final struggle 
 was at hand. The unrelenting enemies of the Corsican conqueror, 
 the British islanders, were to be the agents of his overthrow. 
 
 The little kingdom of Belgium was the scene of the momentous 
 contest that brought Napoleon's marvelous career to an end^ 
 Thither he led his army, largely made up of new conscripts; and 
 thither the English and the Prussians hastened to meet him. On 
 June 16, 1815, the prelude to the great battle took place. Napoleon 
 met Bliicher at Ligny and defeated hun; then, leaving Grouchy 
 to pursue the Prussians, he turned against his island foes. On the 
 same day Ney encountered the forces of Wellington at Quatre Bras, 
 but failed to drive them back. On the 17th Wellington took a new 
 position at Waterloo, and awaited there his great antagonist. 
 
156 DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 
 
 June 18, 1815, was the crucial day in Napoleon's career, the one 
 in which his power was to fall, never to rise again. The stupen- 
 dous struggle, as Wellington himself described it, was "a battle of 
 giants." Long the result wavered in the balance. All day long the 
 British sustained the desperate assaults of their antagonists. Terri- 
 ble was the contest, frightful the loss of life. Hour after horn- 
 passed, charge after charge was hurled by Napoleon against the 
 British lines, which still closed up over the dead and stood firm; 
 and it seemed as if night would fall with the two armies unflinchingly 
 face to face, neither of them victor in the terrible fray. 
 
 The arrival of Blticher with his Prussians turned the scale. 
 To Napoleon's bitter disappointment Grouchy, who should have 
 been close on the heels of the Prussians, failed to appear, and the 
 weary and dejected French were left to face these fresh troops 
 without support. Napoleon's Old Guard in vain flung itself into 
 the gap, and the French nation long repeated in pride the saying 
 attributed to the commander of this famous corps, "The guard 
 dies, but it never surrenders." 
 
 In the end the French army broke and fled in disastrous rout, 
 three-fourths of the whole force being left dead, wounded, or 
 prisoners, while all its artillery became the prize of the victors. 
 Napoleon, pale and confused, was led by Soult from the battle-field. 
 It was his last fight. His abdication was demanded, and he 
 resigned the crown in favor of his son. A hopeless and unnerved 
 fugitive, he fled from Paris to Rochefort, hoping to escape to 
 America. But the British fleet held that port, and in despair he 
 went on board a vessel of the fleet, trusting himself to the honor 
 of the British nation. But the statesmen of England had no 
 sympathy with the vanquished adventurer, from whose ambition 
 Europe had suffered so terribly. He was sent as a state prisoner 
 to the island of St. Helena, there to end his days. His final hour 
 of glory came in 1842, when his ashes were brought in pomp to Paris, 
 where they found a final resting-place in the Hotel des Invalides. 
 
cnta 
 
 t3 o G 
 
 3 Co 
 
 - o 
 
 ^^ 
 S- ^ 
 
 
 fD 
 
 w 
 
 o 
 a 
 
 o 
 ;^ 
 
 Q 
 
 o 
 
 O 
 w 
 
 3 
 
 o 
 
 -3 g 
 
 , P3 
 
 ►s ^ :^ 
 ^ -• o 
 
 3 g O 
 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 The Congress of Vienna 
 Radical Changes in the Map of Europe 
 
 Map-Making — ^Empire Building — Membership of the Congress — Reaction the Order 
 of the Day — Brief Summary of Changes — Excesses of the Congress — Confederation 
 of the Rhine — How other Coimtries Fared — Character of the Work done — The Rights 
 
 of the People. 
 
 THE terrific struggle of the "Hundred Days," which followed 
 Napoleon's return from Elba and preceded his exile to St. 
 Helena, made a serious break in the deUberations of the 
 Congress of Vienna, convened by the victorious Powers for the 
 purpose of recasting the map of Europe, which Napoleon had so 
 sadly transformed, of setting aside the radical work of the French 
 Revolution, and, in a word, of turning back the hands of the clock 
 of time. Twenty-five years of such turmoil and volcanic distur- 
 bance as Europe had rarely known were at an end; the ruling powers 
 were secure of their own again; the people, worn out with the long 
 and bitter struggle, welcomed eagerly the return of rest and peace; 
 and the emperors and kings deemed it a suitable time to throw over- 
 board the load of new ideas under which the European "Ship of 
 State" seemed to them Hkely to founder. 
 
 MAP-MAKING 
 
 The art of map-making, that of recasting the boimdaries of 
 countries and throwing into the waste heap the carefully prepared 
 maps of the past, is one that goes on side by side with that of war, 
 and is put into effect as one of its most common results. In our 
 days the widening of the borders of victorious countries and narrow- 
 mg of those of defeated nations is one of the chief results of war, 
 and numerous instances of it might be cited. Of recent examples 
 
 (157) 
 
158 THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 
 
 may be named the taking of the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine 
 from France and adding them to Geimany in 1871, an injmy which 
 France still bitterly resents and to retrieve which became the most 
 prominent object of the French people in taking part in the war of 
 1914. A second instance of considerable interest was that which 
 followed the Balkan War of 1912-13, succeeding which decided 
 changes in the boundaries of the countries involved took place, 
 one of its results being the founding of a new and turbulent nation, 
 that of Albania. 
 
 EMPIRE BUILDING 
 
 In this work of empire building history presents few instances 
 to compare with that arising from the Napoleonic wars, which led 
 to the boundaries of the empire of France being enormously extended, 
 while the multitude of minor states in Germany were in considerable 
 measure swept out of existence, their relics being used for the build- 
 ing up of fewer and larger states. As we have already seen, the 
 renmant of the once powerful kingdom of Poland was at this time 
 dismembered and divided between the great robber nations surround- 
 ing — Austria, Russia and Prussia. It would be difficult to find an 
 example of national brigandage surpassing this in political depravity 
 and indignity, since even the ordinary pretence of warhke retribu- 
 tion was lacking. It is something which the Polish people have 
 never forgotten or forgiven, and efforts to placate them and obtain 
 their earnest aid were made alike by Germany and Russia at the 
 opening of the war of 1914. 
 
 We speak of these matters here from the fact that the Congress 
 of Vienna, with which we are now concerned, was convened for the 
 purpose of overthrowing the wholesale map-making of Napoleon 
 and restoring the older condition of affairs so far as appeared 
 possible or desirable. The task of the Congress was far from an 
 easy one. Many of the smaller German States could not be 
 restored to their original owners. Those who had benefited by 
 occupying them were sure to protest effectively against . giving 
 
THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 159 
 
 them up, and all statesmen of somid judgment could not but 
 perceive that Napoleon had done excellent work in destroying the 
 intricate medieval division of Germany into minor units, much 
 of it the work of robber barons of the past. As for the dereUct 
 "Holy Roman Empire," to attempt to restore it would be like 
 lifting a fiction into the attitude of a fact. Such was the character 
 of the problem which lay before the members of the Congress 
 that had been convened to try and overthrow the work done by 
 Napoleon's autocratic will. 
 
 MEMBERSHIP OF THE CONGRESS 
 
 The Congress of Vienna, opened in September, 1814, was, 
 in its way, a brilhant gathering. It included, mainly as hand- 
 some ornaments, the emperors of Russia and Austria, the kings 
 of Prussia, Denmark, Bavaria and Wlirtemberg; and, as its 
 working element, the leading statesmen of Europe, notably the 
 English Castlereagh and Wellington, the French Talleyrand, the 
 Prussian Hardenberg, and the Austrian Metternich. Checked 
 in its dehberations for a time by Napoleon's fierce hundred days' 
 death struggle, it quickly settled down to work again, having 
 before it the vast task of undoing the mighty results of a quarter 
 of a century of revolution. For the French Revolution had 
 broadened into a European revolution, with Napoleon and his 
 armies as its great instruments. The whole continent had been sown 
 thickly with the French ideas of human rights, and a crop of new 
 demands had grown up, not easily to be uprooted. 
 
 The exile of Napoleon to Elba had been followed by a treaty 
 at Paris, in which the widely expanded borders of the French empire 
 were forced back within their original limits, France surrendering 
 fifty-eight fortified places still held by its troops, 12,000 pieces of 
 artillery, and a considerable number of warships. After the final 
 Napoleonic downfall at Waterloo a second treaty of Paris had 
 been signed, November 20, 1815, through which France lost still 
 more heavily, more territory was taken, a war indenmity of over 
 
160 THE CONGRESS OF VIENlSlA 
 
 1,000,000,000 francs was exacted, and arrangements were made for 
 five years of foreign occupation. 
 
 REACTION THE ORDER OF THE DAY 
 
 Reaction was the order of the day in the Vienna Congress. The 
 shaken power of the monarchs was to be restored, the map of Europe 
 to be readjusted, the people to be put back into the submissive 
 condition which they had occupied before that eventful 1789, when 
 the States-General of France began its momentous work of destroy- 
 ing the equilibrium of the world. As for the people of Europe, deeply 
 infected as they were with the new ideas of hberty and the rights 
 of man, which had made their way far beyond the borders of France, 
 they were for the time worn out with strife and turmoil, and settled 
 back supinely to enjoy the welcome era of rest, leaving their fate 
 for the present in the hands of the astute plenipotentiaries who 
 were gathered in their wisdom at Vienna. 
 
 These worthy tools of the monarchs had an inomense task 
 before them — too large a one, as it proved. It was easy to talk 
 about restoring to the nations the territory they had possessed 
 before Napoleon began his career as a map-maker; but it was 
 not easy to do so except at the cost of new wars. The territories 
 of many of the Powers had been added to by the French emperor, 
 and they were not likely to give up their new possessions without 
 protest, if not war. In Germany the changes, as already stated, 
 had been enormous. Napoleon had found there more than three 
 hundred separate states, some no larger than a small American 
 county, yet each possessed of the paraphernaha of a court and 
 sovereign, a capital, an army and a public debt. And these were 
 feebly combined into the phantasm known as the Holy Roman 
 Empire. 
 
 When Napoleon had finished his work this empire had ceased 
 to exist except as a tradition, and the great galaxy of sovereign 
 states was reduced to thirty-nine. These included the great 
 dominions of Austria and Prussia; the smaller states of Bavaria, 
 
THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 161 
 
 Saxony, Hanover and Wiirtemberg, which Napoleon had raised 
 into kingdoms; and a vastly reduced group of minor states. The 
 work done here it was somewhat dangerous to meddle with. The 
 small potentates of Germany were like so many bull-dogs, glaring 
 jealously across their new borders, and ready to fly at one another's 
 throats at any suggestion of a change. The utmost they would 
 yield was to be united into a confederacy called the Bund, with a 
 Diet meeting at Frankfort. But as the delegates to the Diet were 
 given no law-making power, the Bund became an empty farce. 
 
 BRIEF SUMMARY OF CHANGES 
 
 The great Powers took care to regain their lost possessions, or 
 to replace them with an equal amount of territory. Prussia and 
 Austria spread out again to their old size, though they did not cover 
 quite the old ground. Most of their domains in Poland were given 
 up, Prussia getting new territory in West Germany and Austria 
 in Italy. These provinces in Poland were ceded to Alexander of 
 Russia, who added them to his own Polish dominions, and formed 
 a new kingdom of Poland, with himself as king. So in a shadowy 
 way Poland was brought to life again. Britain got for her share in 
 the spoils a number of French and Dutch colonies, including Malta 
 and the Cape Colony in Africa. Thus each of the great Powers 
 repaid itself for its losses. 
 
 In Italy a variety of changes were made. The Pope got back 
 the States of the Church; Tuscany was restored to its king; the 
 same was the case with Naples, King Murat, Napoleon's old Mar- 
 shal, being driven from his throne and put to death. Piedmont, 
 increased by the Republic of Genoa, was restored to the king of 
 Sardinia. Some smaller states were formed, as Parma, Modena 
 and Lucca. Finally Lombardy and Venice, much the richest 
 regions of Italy, were annexed to Austria, which country was made 
 the dominant power in the Italian peninsula. 
 
 Louis XVIII, the Bourbon king, brother of Louis XVI, who had 
 reigned while Napoleon was at Elba, came back to the throne of 
 11 
 
162 THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 
 
 France. The title of Louis XVII had been given to the poor boy, son 
 of Louis XVI, who had died from cruel treatment in the dungeons 
 of the Revolution. In Spain the feeble Ferdinand returned to the 
 throne which he had given up without a protest at the command 
 of Napoleon. Portugal was granted a monarch of its old dynasty. 
 All seemed to have floated back into the old conditions again. 
 
 EXCESSES OF THE CONGRESS 
 
 In fuller review of the work of the Congress, it is a matter 
 well worthy of interest to note that all the excesses with which 
 Napoleon had been reproached were repeated there; the four 
 sovereigns (of Russia, Britain, Prussia and Austria) who had set 
 themselves up as the instrmnents of Providence against revolu- 
 tionary France, rearranging the map of Eiurope to the advantage of 
 their ambition. A veritable market of men was held. The com- 
 mission entrusted with reapportioning the human flock among the 
 kings, known by the significant name of Valuation Commission, 
 was very much taken up with the demands of Prussia, which 
 claimed an indemnity of three miUion three hundred thousand 
 souls. They went so far as to discuss the quality of the mer- 
 chandise, and they did France the honor of acknowledging that a 
 former Frenchman of Aix-la-Chapelle or Cologne was worth more 
 than a Pole; so, to equahze the division, they gave fewer men on 
 the left bank of the Rhine than on the right bank of the Oder. 
 While the four Powers were in accord, there were no ecclesiastical 
 princes, and the free cities were a cheap booty that was divided 
 imscrupulously. At one time this trade in subjects, however, 
 came near leading to the rupture of the coalition. Russia and 
 Prussia had come to an understanding that would give the former 
 the whole of Poland and the latter all of Saxony in exchange for its 
 Pohsh provinces. ''Everyone must find what suits him," the 
 Czar had said. But Britain, Austria and France agreed, in a secret 
 treaty, to make this plan fail, and the French ambassador, Talley- 
 rand, succeeded in saving the king of Saxony; but at the same 
 
THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 163 
 
 time he compromised France by proposing to give to Prussia, in 
 exchange for the Saxon provinces which it wanted, those of the 
 Rhine, which it did not want. 
 
 Britain had no territorial claim to make on the continent; 
 it had obtained restitution to its royal house of the Electorate of 
 Hanover, along with some additions of territory; but as Hanover 
 was a male fief, a separation was foreseen that took place in 1837. 
 Hov/ever, it could well remain satisfied with keeping what it had 
 acquired on the sea during its struggle against the Revolution and 
 the Empire — Heligoland, opposite the mouths of the Elbe and the 
 Weser; the protectorate of the Ionian Islands, at the entrance to 
 the Adriatic; Malta, between Sicily and Africa; Santa Lucia and 
 Tabago, in the Antilles; the Seychelles and the Isle of France, in 
 the Indian Ocean; the Dutch colony of the Cape of Good Hope, 
 and the island of Ceylon. 
 
 France, while diminished by the increase in power of the four 
 great states, was still a large and important country, and seemed 
 formidable enough for precautions to be taken against it along its 
 frontiers, these having been left open to future invasions. The 
 coalition estabhshed as its outposts the following coimtries: on 
 the north Belgiima and Holland, united in a single kingdom under 
 the scepter of the Prince of Orange; on the northeast the Rhenish 
 country, divided between Prussia, which got the largest share, 
 Holland, which obtained Luxembourg and Limbourg, Hesse- 
 Darmstadt and Bavaria, France's old ally, which was put at its 
 doors to become its enemy. Lastly, in the south the re-establish- 
 ment of Savoy and Piedmont placed Lyons, France's second capital, 
 within two days march of the coalition's armies. 
 
 CONFEDERATION OF THE RHINE 
 
 The most difficult matter had been the reconstruction of the 
 Confederation of the Rhine, which was turned anew against France 
 imder the name of the Germanic Confederation. Long and violent 
 debates in the Congress arose on this subject, the small states 
 
164 THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 
 
 making energetic efforts to save their independence. Those who 
 held for German unity, and even Prussia, wished to restore the old 
 empire of Germany. Austria dared not resume the ancient crown 
 of the Hapsburgs, and the kings of Bavaria and Wiirtemberg did 
 not mean to let fall from their heads those which Napoleon had 
 placed upon them. Already, when there was question of the 
 spoliation of Saxony, Bavaria had promised thirty thousand men 
 to Tallejrand if France, united with Austria and England, wished 
 to throw Prussia back into Brandenburg and Russia behind the 
 Vistula; and Wiirtemberg, Hanover, Baden and Hesse were in 
 accord with this. It was agreed that the empire destroyed in 1806 
 could not be restored; and when the news of the return from Elba 
 came, the Confederation of the Rhine was formed, a device thus 
 irreverently characterised: ''A hut to shelter Germany during 
 the storm was built in great haste, a wretched shelter which the 
 princes themselves destroyed later on." This Confederation was 
 to be composed of thirty-nine states sending deputies to a diet at 
 Frankfort, the perpetual presidency of which would devolve on 
 Austria. 
 
 That diet was to consist of two assemblies, the one ordinary, 
 with seventeen votes (that is, one vote for each of the large 
 states, and one also for each of the groups into which the small 
 states had been arranged); and the general assembly, in which 
 each state had a number of votes in proportion to its impor- 
 tance, in all sixty-nine votes. The former would decide current 
 business; the latter was to be convened whenever there was ques- 
 tion of the fundamental laws or of the great interests of the federal 
 pact. The Confederates would retain their sovereign indepen- 
 dence, their armies, and their diplomatic representation. But the 
 Confederation would also have its own army and fortresses, these 
 to be built out of the indemnity paid by France — Luxembourg, 
 Mayence and Landau, to close against France the approach to the 
 Rhine; Rastadt and Ulm, to keep it at the foot of the Black 
 Forest or in the valley of the Danube. 
 
THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 165 
 
 HOW THE OTHER COUNTRIES FARED 
 
 In Switzerland, Geneva and Vaud were enlarged at the 
 expense of France with a part of the Gex country and some com- 
 munes of Savoy; Valais, Geneva and Neufchatel, added to the 
 nineteen old cantons, formed the Helvetian Confederation, which 
 the Congress placed under the guarantee of perpetual neutrality. 
 In Italy the king of the Two Sicilies and the Pope recovered what 
 they had lost; but Austria again became omnipotent in the penin- 
 sula. Mistress of the Milanese and Venetia, it made sure of the 
 right bank of the Po by the privilege of putting a garrison in 
 Piacenza, Ferrara and Comacchio; it had placed an archduke on 
 the throne of Tuscany, stipulated the revertibility to the imperial 
 crown of the duchies of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla, ceded for 
 life to the ex-Empress Maria Louisa, and of that of Modena, given 
 to an Austrian prince. In the last place, though he had received 
 Genoa and Savoy, the king of Piedmont, poorly defended by the 
 Ticino frontier, seemed at the mercy of his formidable neighbor. 
 In the north of Europe Sweden, in compensation for Finland 
 taken by Russia, received Norway taken from Denmark, which 
 was to obtaiujin compensation Swedish Pomerania and Rugen; 
 but Prussia, bitter against that small state, the only one that had 
 remained faithful to France's fortunes, imposed on it the exchange 
 of these countries for Lauenburg. That duchy, like Holstein, was, 
 m.oreover, but the personal domain of the king, who, with regard to 
 these two German provinces, became a member of the Germanic 
 Confederation, that, is, of a state organized against France. Den- 
 mark in 1864 and France in 1870 were to feel the effect of these 
 artificial combinations. 
 
 CHARACTER OF THE WORK DONE 
 
 The Germanic Confederation seemed well adapted to assuring 
 the peace of the continent by separating three great military 
 states. The mutual jealousies of Austria and Prussia, the distrust 
 
166 THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 
 
 of the small states in regard to the large ones, the delays resulting 
 from the complicated play of the Germanic Institutions, forearmed 
 Germany against sudden impulses. Between three countries of 
 rapid action, Russia turning to account ideas of race and religion 
 to the advantage of an age-long policy, Britain obeying the mer- 
 cantile spirit, and France too prostrate to precipitate revolutions, 
 Germany, the classic land of long negotiations, could interpose a 
 temporizing spirit. By the very nature of its institutions, Hving on 
 perpetual compromises, the Confederation represented in European 
 affairs the spirit of arrangement, which is that of diplomacy. But, 
 to render effective service to the peace of the world, this Confed- 
 eration — organized for defense and not for attack, and independent 
 of Berlin as well as of Vienna — should have formed a real Ger- 
 many, neither French as in the time of Napoleon, nor Prussian as 
 it has been for more than a generation. 
 
 The two great Powers meant, on the contrary, to put their 
 strength at the service of their interests. Austria, occupying but 
 a strip of German territory at its border, would remain satisfied 
 with exerting influenoe at Frankfort. Prussia would want more. 
 As it needed Hanover to unite its Rhenish province with Branden- 
 burg, and as it needed a slice of Poland to connect the Electorate 
 with the countries of the Teutonic order, so it woujd make itself 
 ever more and more German; it would cause to be said every- 
 where, in the pulpit and in the press, that it was the hope, the 
 personification of the German party, and one day it would drive 
 Austria out of Germany, another day it would take Frankfort, 
 nay, even the Diet, and it would lead the Germanic Confederation 
 to suicide, becoming its sole legatee. But at this period, 1815, 
 Prussia was far from having a dream of this greatness. It had, as 
 yet, no Bismarck, the man whose hand was to lead it to glory, 
 
 THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE 
 
 As for the rights of the people, in these varied changes, what 
 had become of them? Had they been swept away and the old 
 
THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 167 
 
 wrongs of the people been brought back? Not quite. The 
 frenzied enthusiasm for hberty and human rights of the past 
 twenty-five years could not go altogether for nothing. The linger- 
 ing relics of feudalism had vanished, not only from France but 
 from all Europe, and no monarch or congress could bring them 
 back again. In its place the principles of democracy had spread 
 from France far among the peoples of Europe. The principle of 
 class privilege had been destroyed in France, and that of social 
 equaUty had replaced it. The principle of the liberty of the 
 individual, especially in his reUgious opinions, and the doctrine of 
 the sovereignty of the people, had been proclaimed. These had 
 still a battle before them. They needed to fight their way. 
 Absolutism and the spirit of feudalism were arrayed against them. 
 But they were too deeply implanted in the minds of the people 
 to be eradicated. They had been carried by the armies of France 
 throughout Europe and deeply planted in a hundred places, and 
 their establishment as actual conditions was the most important 
 part of the political development of the nineteenth century. 
 
 Revolution was the one thing that the great Powers of Europe 
 feared and hated; this was the monster against which the Congress 
 of Vienna directed its efforts. The cause of quiet and order, the 
 preservation of the established state of things, the authority of 
 rulers, the subordination of peoples, must be firmly maintained, 
 and revolutionary disturbers must be put down with a strong hand. 
 Such was the political dogma of the Congress. And yet, in spite 
 of its assembled wisdom and the principles it promulgated, the 
 century that followed was especially the century of revolutions, 
 the result being an extraordinary increase in the liberties and 
 prerogatives of the people. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 The Holy Alliance and Its Unholy Work 
 
 Events Leading to the Monroe Doctrine and the Foreign 
 Policy of the United States. 
 
 Significance of the Name — ^A Dangerous Doctrine — Revolution in Spain and Naples — 
 Work of the Holy Alliance in Italy — The Spanish Revolt put down — The Allies gain 
 Freedom for Greece — Liberty for Spanish-America — The Birth of the Monroe Doctrine, 
 
 WE have not yet told the whole story of the Congress of 
 Vienna. While arranging for a new distribution of 
 power and authority in Europe, it took another seem- 
 ingly necessary step; that of providing an instrumentality for 
 making its work durable. The plan devised by the Congress for 
 the suppression of revolution by the restless population of Europe, 
 wrought to desperation by the effort of the imperial autocrats to 
 rob them of the liberties which they had for a brief period enjoyed, 
 was the establishment of an association of monarchs which adopted 
 the grandiloquent title of the Holy AUiance. It included Alexander 
 of Russia, Francis of Austria, and Frederick William of Prussia, 
 men whose ideas of holiness embraced the recognition of their 
 august majesties as the deities of a new religion. 
 
 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NAME 
 
 These devout autocrats proposed to rule in accordance with 
 the precepts of the Bible, to stand by each other in a true frater- 
 nity, to govern their subjects Uke loving parents, and to see that 
 peace, justice, and religion should flourish in their dominions. An 
 ideal scheme it was, but its promulgators soon won the name of 
 hypocrites and the hatred of those whom they were to deal with 
 on the principle of love and brotherhood. Reaction was the 
 watchword, absolute sovereignty the purpose, the eradication of 
 
 (168) 
 
HOLY ALLIANCE AND ITS UNHOLY WORK 169 
 
 the doctrine of popular sovereignty the sentiment which animated 
 these powerful monarchs; and the Holy Alliance meant practically 
 the determination to unite their forces against democracy and 
 revolution wherever they should show themselves. They may have 
 felt that the existing system was the best of all possible systems and 
 that all who opposed it were enemies of wholesome government. 
 
 Their promises had been sufficiently gratifying. Under the 
 inspiration of the Czar Alexander a treaty or compact was signed 
 by the trio of autocrats, in which they proposed to manifest 
 "before the whole world their imalterable determination to adopt 
 as the rule of their conduct, whether in the administration of their 
 respective states or in their poUtical relations with every other 
 government, the precepts of the Christian reUgion, precepts of 
 justice, of charity and of peace." 
 
 In the first article of this compact they pledged themselves to 
 regard one another as ''brothers," in the second they agreed ''to 
 show one another unalterable good will," regarding themselves as 
 "delegated by Providence to govern three branches of one and the 
 same family, namely, Austria, Prussia and Russia," to form them 
 into a single Christian nation, having as sovereign "Him to whom 
 alone belongs power as a property, because in Him are found all 
 the treasures of love, knowledge and infinite wisdom." 
 
 A DANGEROUS DOCTRINE 
 
 It is rather dangerous for any man or group of men, however 
 abundantly they regard themselves to be filled with the sentiments 
 of fatherly and brotherly love, to undertake to think and act for 
 millions of subjects likely to be affected by very different ideas and 
 aspirations. Such individuals are too apt to imagine that to 
 them belong "the earth and the fulness thereof," that their word is 
 law, their ideas wisdom, their pohtical views the only just and true 
 ones. In consequence, even when moved by the best intentions, 
 they frequently cause more mischief than they can cure. Such 
 was certainly the case with the imperial members of the Holy 
 
170 HOLY ALLIANCE AND ITS UNHOLY WORK 
 
 Alliance. Satisfied in their minds that the existing status of 
 society was the one designed by the Creator of the Universe, they 
 were vigorously bent on .naintaining it and putting down with a 
 vigorous hand any one who presumed to hold different views. 
 
 A remark made by the Czar Alexander shows luminously how 
 little he was fitted to act as the arbiter of fate to his subjects. 
 ''You are ever speaking to me of principles/' he said to one of his 
 advisers. ''I do not know what they are; what attention do you 
 think I pay to your parchments or your treaties?" Such was the 
 man who proposed to act as the vicegerent of God, and who had 
 just taken a leading part in the dividing up of Europe on new lines, 
 often with sublime indifference to the aspirations of the peoples or 
 the rights of the former or present rulers. Thus Belgium was 
 forcibly attached to Holland, in utter disregard of Belgian public 
 opinion. Italy was in the same arbitrary way handed over to 
 Austria, with equal disregard of pubUc sentiment. So unwise, in 
 fact, proved the autocratic allies that the edifice they thus labori- 
 ously built was quickly shaken by the hand of revolt; so rudely 
 indeed that it rapidly began to fall to pieces, and in little over 
 half a century had disappeared. 
 
 It was not long before the people began to move. The 
 attempt to re-establish absolute governments shook them out of 
 their sluggish quiet. Revolution lifted its head in the face of the 
 Holy AUiance, its first field being Spain. Ferdinand VII, on 
 returning to his throne, had but one purpose in his weak mind, 
 which was to rule as an autocrat, as his ancestors had done. He 
 swore to govern according to a constitution, and began his reign 
 with a perjury. The patriots had formed a constitution dm-ing 
 his absence, and this he set aside and failed to replace by another. 
 On the contrary, he set out to abolish all the reforms made by 
 Napoleon, and to restore the monasteries, to bring back the Inquisi- 
 tion, and to prosecute the patriots. Five years of this reaction 
 made the state of affairs in Spain so intolerable that the liberals 
 refused to submit to it any longer. In 1820 they rose in revolt, 
 
HOLY ALLIANCE AND ITS UNHOLY WORK 171 
 
 and the king, a coward under all his show of bravery, at once 
 gave way and restored the constitution he had set aside. 
 
 EEVOLUTION IN SPAIN AND NAPLES 
 
 The shock given the Holy Alliance by the news from Spain 
 was quickly followed by another coming from Naples. The Bour- 
 bon king who had been replaced upon the throne of that country, 
 another Ferdinand, was one of the most despicable men of his not 
 greatly esteemed race. His government, while weak, was harshly 
 oppressive. But it did not need a revolution to frighten this royal 
 dastard. A mere general celebration of the victory of the hberals 
 in Spain was enough, and in his alarm he hastened to give his 
 people a constitution similar to that which the Spaniards had 
 gained. 
 
 These awkward affairs sadly disturbed the equanimity of those 
 statesmen who fancied that they had fully restored the divine 
 right of kings, and of the monarchs who held that they were called 
 upon by God to govern their subjects in their own way. Metter- 
 nich, the Austrian advocate of reaction, hastened to call a new 
 Congress, in 1820, and another in 1821. The question he put to 
 these asemblies was:* Should revolution be permitted, or should 
 Europe interfere in Spain and Naples, and pledge herself to uphold 
 everywhere the sacred powers of legitimate monarchs? His old 
 friends of the Holy AlHance backed him up in this suggestion, both 
 Congresses adopted it, a poHcy of repression of revolutions became 
 the program, and Austria was charged to restore what Metternich 
 called ''order" in Naples. 
 
 While those at the head of affairs were thus engaged in formu- 
 lating their views, the demand for liberty and human rights was 
 growing more insistent among the people, secret revolutionary 
 societies were widely formed, and a perilous insurrectionary spirit 
 was evidently abroad. The result was a determination in the 
 minds of the monarchs to proceed against this growing anarchy 
 before it gained too great headway, and to begin by putting down 
 
172 HOLY ALLIANCE AND ITS UNHOLY WORK 
 
 the revolutionists in the two kingdoms in which they had recently 
 triumphed, Spain and Naples. 
 
 WORK OF THE HOLY ALLIANCE IN ITALY 
 
 There was no evident intention to make a distinction between 
 just grievances and inopportune demands. The revolutions in 
 Greece, Spain, Naples and Turin were represented in a circular 
 note "as being of the same origin and worthy of the same fate." 
 If no measure was taken against the Greeks, it was because Russia 
 was interested in that revolt of its coreligionists, since this would 
 give it allies within the Turkish empire. As for Italy, Austria 
 took it upon herself to destroy there "the false doctrines and 
 criminal associations that have called down upon rebellious peoples 
 the sword of justice." 
 
 A numerous army, which was to be followed by one hundred 
 thousand Russians, in case of need, set out from Lombardo-Venetia. 
 At Rieti and Novara Pepe's and Santa Rosa's recruits could not 
 hold out against the veterans of the great wars of the empire, and 
 the Austrians entered Naples, Turin and Messina. Behind them 
 the jails were filled and scaffolds were erected. Austria lent its 
 prisons as well as its soldiers. There were sixteen thousand at one 
 time in the prisons of the two Sicilies, and in 1822 there were also 
 witnessed in the kingdom nine cases of capital punishment for 
 political offenses. In Piedmont all the leaders who could be caught 
 were decapitated — the others were executed in effigy. No insurrec- 
 tion had broken out in the States of the Church, properly so called; 
 yet four hundred persons were imprisoned there, and many were 
 condemned to death, but the Pope commuted the sentence. The 
 notable Piedmontese, Silvio Pelhco, has told with the gentleness of a 
 martyr what tortures were added to captivity by that pitiless policy. 
 
 THE SPANISH REVOLT PUT DOWN 
 
 The Holy Alliance next decided to undertake the same work 
 of repression beyond the Pyrenees. There savage outrages had 
 
HOLY ALLIANCE AND ITS UNHOLY WORK 173 
 
 been perpetrated on both sides. To dispel the suspicions which 
 France had for a moment inspired by its hesitancy regarding 
 Austrian intervention in Italy, Louis XVIII's government asked 
 permission to suppress in Spain agitations that threatened to 
 reach the southern departments of France. England, where 
 irritation was increasing against the pretensions of the Holy Alliance 
 to regulate the affairs of Europe, held aloof, there being much 
 difference of opinion among its statesmen. 
 
 The French army commanded by the Duke of Angouleme 
 entered Spain on April 7, 1823. It had few occasions to fight and 
 encountered serious resistance only at Cadiz, which it besieged. On 
 August 31st it captured by assault the strong position of the 
 Trocadero, and this success brought about the surrender of the city. 
 The army carried its liberal spirit into Spain. Its officers opened 
 the prisons confining men whose crime was the spreading of ideas 
 similar to those of France, and Angouleme sought to prevent acts 
 of violence on the part of a royalist reaction, and to stop arbitrary 
 arrests and executions. 
 
 But Ferdinand did not mean that his saviors should impose 
 conditions on him. The military commissions were implacable. 
 Riego, seriously wounded, was carried to the gibbet on a hurdle 
 drawn by an ass; at one and the same place fifty-two companions 
 of a cabecilla were put to death. A coimter-revolution was effected 
 at Lisbon as well as at Madrid. There the king declared the con- 
 stitution abolished and restored absolute power for a few months. 
 Despite the congratulations sent by the secular rulers and the 
 Pope to the honest but not brilliant French prince who had led 
 this easy campaign, the elder branch of the Bourbons failed to 
 gain enough military glory by it to become reconciled with the 
 country. Men saw in that expedition only French soldiers placed 
 at the service of a knavish and cruel king, and the finances of 
 France saddled with an expense of two hundred millions. But 
 small as it was, success inspired the reactionist ministry with a 
 confidence in their plans, which the elections, held imder a peculiarly 
 
174 HOLY ALLIANCE AND ITS UNHOLY WORK 
 
 restrictive law, further increased by admitting to the Chamber 
 only nineteen Liberal Deputies. 
 
 THE ALLIES GAIN FEEEDOM TOR GREECE 
 
 Only in two regions did the spirit of revolt triumph during 
 this period of reaction. These were Greece and Spanish America. 
 The historic land of Greece had long been in the hands of a des- 
 potism with which even the Holy AlUance was not in sympathy — 
 that of Turkey. Its very name, as a modern country, had almost 
 vanished, and Europe heard with astonishment in 1821 that the 
 descendants of the ancient Greeks had risen against the tyranny 
 under which they had been crushed for centuries. 
 
 The struggle was a bitter one. The sultan was atrocious in 
 his cruelties. In the island of Chios alone he brutally murdered 
 20,000 Greeks. But the spirit of the old Athenians and Spartans 
 was in the people, and they kept on fighting in the face of defeat. 
 For four years this went on, while the Powers of Europe looked 
 on without raising a hand. Some of their people indeed took part, 
 among them Lord Byron, who died in Greece in 1824; but the 
 governments failed to warm up to their duty. 
 
 In fact, the governments, even the British, at first condemned 
 the revolt of the Greek patriots. The view of British statesmen 
 was that the struggle for Greek liberty compromised the existence 
 of Turkey, the preservation of which was thought to be essential 
 to the security of the British empire in India. Evidently self- 
 interest weighed heavier than human rights. 
 
 "British Liberahsm," said Chateaubriand, ''wears the hberty 
 cap in Mexico and the turban at Athens." As for the Holy 
 Alhance, it saw in that insurrection only a revolt, and, by a strange 
 application of the doctrine of Divine right, it pretended that its 
 principle of legitimacy had to protect the throne of the head of 
 the Osmanlis. "Do not say Greeks," Nicholas said one day in 
 1826 in answer to Wellington, who was speaking to him of Eng- 
 land's sympathy for them; "do not say Greeks, but insurgents 
 
HOLY ALLIANCE AND ITS UNHOLY WORK 175 
 
 against the Sublime Porte. I will no more protect their revolt 
 than I would wish to see the Porte protect a sedition among my 
 subjects." 
 
 Yet a few months later these words were superseded by acts 
 far from being in keeping with them. The reason was that opinion 
 in favor of the Hellenes was becoming irresistible; the whole of 
 Liberal Europe espoused a cause heroically supported for national 
 independence and rehgion. Sympathy was aroused, even among 
 the conservatives, by the magical name Greece and by the struggle 
 of Christians against Mussulmans; and in France as well as in 
 England the finger of scorn would have been pointed at him who 
 would not applaud the legendary exploits of Niketas, Bozzaris and 
 Canaris, bold chiefs who led their paHkars against the thickest 
 ranks of the Janissaries and their fireships into the midst of the 
 hostile squadrons. It had become necessary that the politicians 
 should swim with the current of pubUc opinion. Into it Canning 
 easily drew England. This country, seeing Italy subject to Austrian 
 influence, Spain returned to friendship with France, the Orient 
 agitated by Russia's intrigues or threatened by its arms, was grow- 
 ing imeasy for the security of the shores of the Mediterranean, 
 to which higher commerce was about to return. In that sea it 
 had indeed formidable supports in Gibraltar, Malta and the Ionian 
 Islands; but these were fortresses, not provinces, and it was 
 important for the security of the British interests in the Mediter- 
 ranean that the rulers of Russia should not gain the mastery at 
 Constantinople as those of Austria had done at Milan, Rome and 
 Naples, and the Bourbon royal family at Madrid. 
 
 The diversity of opinion and of interests, with the steady 
 pressure upon national politics of an awakened public demand 
 for Greek liberty, reached a desirable result in 1827, when the 
 three most interested Powers, Great Britain, France and Russia, 
 covenanted to put an end to the war of extermination then pro- 
 ceeding in the Peloponnesus, through the barbarity of Ibrahim 
 Pasha, son of the viceroy of Egypt. 
 
176 HOLY ALLIANCE AND ITS UNHOLY WORK 
 
 The allied squadrons of these three Powers attacked the 
 Ottoman fleet in Navarino Bay on October 20, 1827. Wlien the 
 battle was at an end the Ottoman fleet had ceased to exist. The 
 victory had been an easy one, despite the boasting of the victors. 
 It did not bring to an end the determination of the Tm'ks to 
 put down the insurgent Greeks, the maritime war being followed 
 by one on land. Russia declared war against Turkey April 26, 
 1828, and France sent 15,000 troops to the Morea to terminate 
 the persistent Greek question, which then threatened to give rise 
 to national complications. 
 
 The long struggle of the Greeks for liberty, which they would 
 have been unable to gain without external aid, culminated on the 
 3d of February, 1830, when a protocol of the allied Powers proclaimed 
 their mdependence. The Porte, unable longer to continue the 
 struggle against its enemies, recognized Greek independence on 
 April 25, 1830, and Greece was added to the states of Europe. 
 A kingdom was established under Prince Otho of Bavaria, whose 
 rule was for a time practically absolute, years passing before a 
 system of constitutional government was gained. Otho held the 
 throne, with steadily growing unpopularity, until 1863, when he 
 was compelled to abdicate, being succeeded by Prince William 
 George of Denmark as King George. 
 
 LIBERTY FOE SPANISH AMERICA 
 
 The story of the struggle for liberty in Spanish-America, with 
 its gradual attainment during the first quarter of the nineteenth 
 century, does not come within the scope of this work, except as 
 an example of the prevalence of the desire for liberty throughout 
 the civilized world, which in America had replaced the often bar- 
 barous rule of Spain with a series of republics, copies of that of the 
 great exemplar of republican government, the United States. 
 Just here, however, is a matter worthy of consideration, as one 
 of the last manifestations of vitality in the Holy Alliance. 
 
 Not content with its ^'fraternal" work on the European con- 
 
HOLY ALLIANCE AND ITS UNHOLY WORK 177 
 
 tinent, the Holy Alliance turned an observing eye on the great 
 continent across the Atlantic, in which there seemed a promising 
 field for its benevolent interposition. Spain had met with severe 
 reverses in America, retaining of its once vast colonial empire on 
 that continent only the two islands of Cuba and Porto Rico. It 
 naturally desired to regain the lost provinces, and King Ferdinand 
 turned for aid to the great anti-liberal alliance, of which France 
 then constituted a fourth member. The members of the alliance 
 viewed the proposition favorably. It promised to add materially 
 to the territory under their system of government, the God-given 
 one, as they maintained, and also to enable each of them to add 
 to its colonial possessions. The King of Spain, small in mental 
 cahber as he was, did not imagine that the benevolence of the 
 AlHance would stretch to the extent of returning all this terri- 
 tory to him. He knew well that they proposed to pay themselves 
 hberally for any service rendered him, and that he would have to 
 be content with the portion they chose to leave him. If they 
 should undertake to pull his chestnuts from the fire they doubt- 
 less meant to keep a due share of the fruit. 
 
 THE BIRTH OF THE MONROE DOCTRINE 
 
 This very ingenious scheme did not remain a secret. George 
 Canning, British minister for Foreign Affairs, discovered what 
 was in view and did not approve of it. The British realm at that 
 time had an active trade with the former Spanish colonies and this 
 would be sure to decrease materially in the event of the territory 
 of these colonies falling into the hands of the members of the Holy 
 Alliance. He informed the American government of what was in 
 the wind, and suggested that Britain and the United States should 
 join in checking this proposed action. 
 
 It was anything but welcome news to the United States. 
 There was reason to believe that France would clami Cuba for her 
 share of the spoils, thus securing not only a new foothold in America 
 but a rich island very near the United States coast. There was 
 
 12 
 
178 HOLY ALLIANCE AND ITS UNHOLY WORK 
 
 also trouble brewing in the Pacific, where Russia held Alaska and 
 claimed coastal possessions in that locahty reaching nearly to San 
 Francisco, and also declared that it had the right to keep the 
 vessels of other nations out of the North Pacific. 
 
 It was this state of affairs that gave rise to the famous "Mon- 
 roe Doctrine," which in this way, therefore, was a direct outgrowth 
 of the formation and purpose of the Holy AUiance. Canning's 
 suggestion that the United States and Great Britain should join 
 hands in dealing with this project did not appeal to President 
 Monroe, who was an advocate of Washington's suggestion to avoid 
 entangling alliances with any European Power. As it was, then, 
 he acted for the United States alone, under the advice of John 
 Quincy Adams, his secretary of state, and Thomas Jefferson, one 
 of America's shrewdest statesmen. The result of their conference 
 was the issue in 1823 of the "Monroe Doctrine," a declaration of 
 policy that has more than once been effectively applied and 
 which still exists in full force. 
 
 One of the phrases of this celebrated doctrine — "The American 
 continents, by the free and independent condition which they 
 have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered 
 as subjects for future colonization by any European Powers" — 
 was specially directed against the colonizing purposes of Russia. 
 Its concluding phrase reads: "With the governments who have 
 declared their independence and maintain it, and whose inde- 
 pendence we have, on great consideration and on just principles, 
 acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for the pur- 
 pose of oppressing them or controlling in any other manner their 
 destiny by an European Power in any other fight than as the mani- 
 festation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States." 
 
 This evidently was intended to warn off nations in general 
 from meddling in American matters. It was effective so far as the 
 Holy Alliance was concerned. Its projects fell dead, and with them 
 the Alliance itself, for from this time forward it ceased to play 
 a part in European politics. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 The Revolution of 1830 
 
 Its D1SINTEGRA.TING Effect on National Conditions 
 
 Reaction under Charles X — "Down with the Bourbons" — Louis Phihppe on the Throne 
 —Holland and Belgium Divide — Popular Movements in Germany and Italy — Poland 
 in Ai-ms — Prosperity in Great Britain — ^An Intolerable Situation — Representation in 
 Parliament — Lord Russell's Great Speech — ^Effect of the 1830 Revolution — The 
 Struggle for Reform — How Suffrage was Gained — The Corn-Laws Repealed. 
 
 1 
 
 "MIE work of the Holy Alliance outside of Greece had been 
 measurably complete. Revolution, wherever else in Europe 
 it ventured to show its head, had been ruthlessly put 
 down. But though complete in the countries concerned, it was 
 destined to prove temporary. The blessing of liberty, once enjoyed, 
 could not so easily be taken away. 
 
 The people merely bided their time. The good seed sown 
 could not fail to bear fruit in its season. The spirit of revolution 
 was in the air, and any attempt to rob the people of the degree of 
 liberty which they enjoyed was very likely to precipitate a revolt 
 against the tyranny of courts and kings. It came at length in 
 France, that country being the ripest among the nations for revo- 
 lution. Louis XVIII, an easy, good-natured old soul, of kindly dis- 
 position towards the people, passed from life in 1824, and was 
 succeeded by his brother, Count of Artois, as Charles X. 
 
 REACTION UNDER CHARLES X 
 
 The new king had been the head of the ultra-royaUst faction, 
 an advocate of despotism and feudahsm, and quickly doubled the 
 hate which the people bore him. Louis XVIII had been liberal 
 in his pohcy, and had given increased privileges to the people. 
 Under Charles reaction set in. A vast sum of money was voted 
 to the nobles to repay their losses during the Revolution. Steps 
 
 (179) 
 
180 THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 
 
 were taken to muzzle the press and gag the universities. This 
 was more than the Chamber of Deputies was willing to do, and 
 it was dissolved. But the tyrant at the head of the government 
 went on, blind to the signs in the air, deaf to the people's voice. 
 If he could not get laws from the Chamber, he would make them 
 himself in the old arbitrary fashion, and on July 26, 1830, he 
 issued, under the advice of his prime minister, four decrees, which 
 limited the list of voters and put an end to the freedom of the 
 press. Practically, the constitution was set aside, the work of the 
 Revolution ignored, and absolutism re-established in France. 
 
 "down with the bourbons" 
 
 King Charles had taken a step too far. He did not know 
 the spirit of the French. In a moment Paris blazed into insur- 
 rection. Tumult arose on every side. Workmen and students 
 paraded the streets with enthusiastic cheers for the constitution. 
 But under their voices there were soon heard deeper and more 
 ominous cries. "Down with the ministers!" came the demand. 
 And then, as the throng increased and grew more violent, arose 
 the revolutionary slogan, "Down with the Bourbons!" The infatu- 
 ated old king was amusing himself in his palace of St. Cloud, and 
 did not discover that the crown was tottering upon his head. He 
 knew that the people of Paris had risen, but looked upon it as a 
 passing ebullition of French temper. He did not awake to the 
 true significance of the movement until he heard that there had 
 been fighting between his troops and the people, that many of the 
 citizens lay dead in the streets, and that the soldiers had been driven 
 from the city, which remained in the hands of the insurrectionists. 
 
 Then the old imbecile, who had fondly fancied that the Revo- 
 lution of 1789 could be set aside by a stroke of his pen, made 
 frantic efforts to lay the demon he had called into life. He hastily 
 canceled the tyrannical decrees. Finding that this would not 
 have the desired effect, he abdicated the throne in favor of his 
 grandson. But all was of no avail. France had had enough of 
 
THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 181 
 
 him and his house. His envoys were turned back from the gates 
 of Paris unheard. Remembering the fate of Louis XVI, his 
 unhappy brother Charles X turned his back upon France and 
 hastened to seek a refuge in England. 
 
 France has long been the seed bed of revolution. That stren- 
 uous and excitable people, who had won liberty by striking 
 for it with all their strength in 1789, were not to let it be torn 
 from their grasp by an aged imbecile. As the effect of the Revo- 
 lution of 1789 was to stir up all Europe and make itself felt over 
 half the world, the same was the case with the two subsequent 
 revolutions which had their starting point in Paris, those of 1830 
 and 1848. With the former of these we are here concerned. 
 
 It might be supposed that the citizens of Paris, on getting 
 rid of their incapable king, would have decided that they had 
 had sufficient experience of that kind of gentry and have re-estab- 
 lished the republic which Napoleon had set aside. But such was 
 not the event. A meeting of prominent citizens was called, and 
 after deliberating on the situation, they decided that Charles X 
 should be deposed and his heirs declared inehgible to the throne, 
 but that another king should be selected to replace him, the crown 
 being offered to Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans. 
 
 LOUIS PHILIPPE ON THE THRONE 
 
 There had been a Louis Philippe concerned in the Revolution 
 of 1789 and its succeeding events, a radical member of the royal 
 house of Bourbon, who joined the revolutionists under the title of 
 Egalite, took part in many of their movements and voted with 
 the revolutionary tribunal for the death of Louis XVI. Yet the 
 fact of his connection with the hated royal family could not be 
 overlooked and in the end he shared the fate of his royal kins- 
 man, having his own head cut off by the guillotine. 
 
 He left a son, who as a young man served in the army of the 
 Revolution and had been one of its leaders in the important victory 
 of Jemmapes. But when the Terror came he hastened from France, 
 
182 THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 
 
 which had become a very unsafe place for one of his blood. He 
 had the reputation of being liberal in his views, and was the first 
 man thought of for the vacant crown. When the Chamber of 
 Deputies met in August and offered it to him, he did not hesitate 
 to accept. He swore to observe and reign imder the constitution, 
 and took the throne under the title of Louis Philippe, king of the 
 French. Thus speedily and happily ended the second Revolution 
 in France. 
 
 But Paris again proved itself the political center of Europe. 
 The deposition of Charles X was like a stone thrown into the seeth- 
 ing waters of European politics, and its effects spread far and wide 
 beyond the borders of France. The nations had been bound 
 hand and foot by the Congress of Vienna. The people had writhed 
 uneasily in their fetters, bu|b now in more than one locahty they 
 rose in their might to break them, here demanding a greater degree 
 of liberty, there overthrowing the government. 
 
 HOLLAND AND BELGIUM DIVIDE 
 
 The latter was the case in Belgium. Its people, as already 
 stated, had suffered severely from the work of the Congress of 
 Vienna. Without even a pretence of consulting their wishes, their 
 country had been incorporated with Holland as the kingdom of 
 the Netherlands, the two countries being fused into one under a 
 king of the old Dutch House of Orange. The idea was good enough 
 in itself. It was intended to make a kingdom strong enough to 
 help keep France in order. But an attempt to fuse these two states 
 was like an endeavor to mix oil and water. The people of the 
 two countries had long before drifted apart from each other, and 
 had irreconcilable ideas and mterests. Holland was a colonizing 
 and commercial country, Belgium an industrial country; Holland 
 was Protestant, Belgium was Catholic; Holland was Teutonic in 
 blood, Belgium was a mixture of the Teutonic and French, but 
 wholly French in feeling and customs. 
 
 The Belgians, therefore, were generally discontented with the 
 
THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 183 
 
 act of fusion, and in 1830 they imitated the French by a revolt 
 against King William of Holland. A timiult followed in Brussels, 
 which ended in the Dutch soldiers being driven from the city. 
 I^g Wilham, finding that the Belgians insisted on independence, 
 decided to bring them back to their allegiance by force of arms. 
 The Powers of Europe now took the m^atter in hand, and, after 
 some difference of opinion, decided to grant the Belgians the 
 independence they demanded. This was a meddling with his 
 royal authority to which King William did not propose to submit, 
 but when the navy of Great Britain and the army of France 
 approached his borders he changed his mind, and since 1833 Hol- 
 land and Belgium have gone their o^vn way under separate kings. 
 A limited monarchy, with a suitable constitution, was organized 
 for Belgium by the Powers, and Prince Leopold, of the German 
 house of Saxe-Coburg, was placed upon the throne. 
 
 POPULAR MOVEMENTS IN GERMANY AND ITALY 
 
 The spirit of revolution also extended into Germany and 
 Italy, but there with smaller results. Neither in Austria nor 
 Prussia did the people stir, but in many of the smaller German 
 states a demand was made for a constitution on hberal lines, and 
 in every instance the princes had to give way. Each of these 
 states gained a representative form of government, the monarchs 
 of Prussia and Austria alone retaining their old despotic power. 
 It was a step towards popular government, but only a step. 
 
 In Italy there were many signs of revolutionary feeling; but 
 Austria still dominated that peninsula, and Metternich kept a 
 close watch upon the movements of its people. There was much 
 agitation. The great secret society of the Carbonari sought to 
 combine the patriots of all Italy in a grand stroke for hberty and 
 imion, but nothing came from their efforts. In the States of the 
 Church alone the people rose in revolt against their rulers, but 
 they were soon put down by the Austrians, who invaded their 
 territory, dispersed their weak bands, and restored the old tyranny. 
 
184 THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 
 
 The hatred of the Italians for the Austrians grew more intense, 
 but their time had not yet come; they sank back in submission 
 and awaited a leader and an opportunity. 
 
 There was, however, one coimtry in which the revolution in 
 France called forth a more active response, though, unhappily, 
 only to double the weight of the chains under which its people 
 groaned. This was unfortunate Poland; once a great and proud 
 kingdom, now dismembered and swallowed up by the land-greed 
 of its powerful neighbors. It had been in part restored by Napo- 
 leon, in his kingdom of Warsaw, and his work had been in a meas- 
 ure recognized by the Congress of Vienna. The Czar Alexander, 
 kindly in disposition and moved by pity for the unhappy Poles, 
 had re-estabhshed their old kingdom, persuading Austria and 
 Prussia to give up the bulk of their Polish territory in return for 
 equal areas elsewhere. He gave Poland a constitution, its own 
 army, and its own administration, making himself its king, but 
 promising to rule as a constitutional monarch. 
 
 POLAND IN ARMS 
 
 This did not satisfy the Poles. It was not the independence 
 they craved. They could not forget that they had been a great 
 power in Europe when Russia was still the weak and frozen duchy 
 of Muscovy. When the warm-hearted Alexander died and the 
 cold-hearted Nicholas took his place, their discontent grew to 
 dangerous proportions. The news of the outbreak in France was 
 like a firebrand thrown in their midst. In November, 1830, a few 
 young hot-heads sounded the note of revolt, and Warsaw rose in 
 insurrection against the Russians. 
 
 For a time they were successful. Constantine, the Czar's 
 brother, governor of Poland, was frightened by the riot, and deserted 
 the capital, leaving the revolutionists in full control. Towards 
 the frontier he hastened, winged by alarm, while the provinces 
 rose in rebelhon behind him as he passed. Less than a week had 
 elapsed before the Russian power ceased to exist in Poland, 
 
THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 185 
 
 and its people were once more lords of their own land. They 
 set up a provisional government in Warsaw, and prepared to defend 
 themselves against the armies that were sm^e to come. 
 
 What was needed now was unity. A single fixed and reso- 
 lute purpose, under able and suitable leaders, formed the only 
 conceivable condition of success. But Poland was, of all coun- 
 tries, the least capable of such unity. The landed nobility was 
 full of its old feudal notions; the democracy of the city was inspired 
 by modern" sentiments. They could not agree; they quarreled in 
 castle and court, while their hasty levies of troops were marching 
 to meet the Russians in the field. Under such conditions success 
 was a thing beyond hope. 
 
 Yet the Poles fought well. Kosciusko, their former hero, 
 would have been proud of their courage and wilhngness to die 
 for their country. But against the powerful and ably led Russian 
 armies their gallantry was of no avail, and their lack of unity fatal. 
 In May, 1831, they were overwhelmed at Ostrolenka by the Rus- 
 sian hosts. In September a traitor betrayed Warsaw, and the 
 Russian army entered its gates. The revolt was at an end. 
 
 Nicholas the Czar decided that these people had been spoiled 
 by kindness and clemency. They should not be spoiled in that 
 way any longer. Under his harsh decrees the Kingdom of Poland 
 vanished. He ordered that it should be made a Russian province, 
 and held by a Russian army of occupation. The very language 
 of the Poles was forbidden to be spoken, and their religion was 
 to be replaced by the Orthodox Russian faith. Those br^^f months 
 of revolution and independence were fatal to the^ liberty-loving 
 people. Since then, except during their brief revolt in 1863, they 
 have lain in fetters at the feet of Russia, nothing remaining to 
 them but their patriotic memories and their undying aspiration 
 for freedom and independence. Not until 1914 was any hope 
 of regaining their nationality held out to them, when a later 
 Nicholas offered them an autonomous government as a reward 
 if they would give him their loyal aid in the war then prevailing. 
 
186 THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 
 
 PROSPERITY IN GREAT BRITAIN 
 
 The effects of the revolution in Paris did not confine them- 
 selves to the continent of Europe. They crossed the British 
 Channel and made themselves felt in the island kingdom beyond. 
 Before speaking of what took place here a few words on the politi- 
 cal and industrial conditions then existing in that country will be 
 of interest. 
 
 Great Britain, small as it was, had grown, by the opening of 
 the nineteenth century, to be the leading power in Europe. Its 
 industries, its commerce, its enterprise had expanded enormously. 
 It had become the great v/orkshop and the chief distributor of the 
 world. The raw material of the nations flowed through its ports, 
 the finished products of mankind poured from its looms. London 
 became the great money center of the world, and the industrious 
 and enterprising islanders grew enormously rich, while no equal 
 steps of progress and enterprise showed themselves in any of the 
 nations of the continent. 
 
 It was the one power in Europe that persistently defied Napo- 
 leon and escaped the fury of his assaults. It has been shown in 
 former chapters what part it took in the Napoleonic wars, how the 
 final fall of the mighty conqueror was due to a British army, and 
 how his career ended in an island prison imder British rule. 
 
 It cannot be said that the industrial prosperity of Great 
 Britain, while of advantage to her people as a whole, was nec- 
 essarily so to individuals. While one portion of the nation 
 amassed enormous wealth, the bulk of the people sank into the 
 deepest poverty. The factory system brought with it oppression 
 and misery which it would need a century of industrial revolt to 
 overcome. The costly wars, the crushing taxation, the oppressive 
 corn-laws, which forbade the importation of foreign corn, the 
 extravagant expenses of the court and salaries of officials, all con- 
 spired to depress the people. Manufactures fell into the hands of 
 the few, and a vast number of artisans were forced to live from 
 hand to mouth, and to labor for long hours on pinching wages. 
 
THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 187 
 
 Estates were similarly accumulated in the hands of the few, and 
 the small land-owner and trader tended to disappear. Everything 
 was taxed to the utmost it would bear, while government remained 
 blind to the needs and sufferings of the people and made no effort 
 to decrease the prevailing misery. 
 
 Thus it came about that the era of Great Britain's greatest 
 prosperity and supremacy as a world-power was the one of greatest 
 industrial oppression and misery at home, a period marked by 
 rebellious uprisings among the people, to be repressed with cruel 
 and bloody severity. It was a period of industrial transition, in 
 which the government flourished and the people suffered, and in 
 which the seeds of revolt and revolution were widely spread on 
 every hand. 
 
 AN INTOLERABLE SITUATION 
 
 The situation, in fact, had grown intolerable. Parliament 
 continued blind to the condition of the working people. Certainly 
 it showed no indication of alertness to the fact that the poUtical 
 condition had grown desperate. Yet the feeling was widespread 
 that something must be done. If affairs were allowed to go on as 
 they were the people might rise in a revolt that would widen into 
 revolution. A general outbreak seemed at hand. To use the 
 language of the times, the ''Red Cock" was crowing in the rural 
 districts. That is, incendiary fires were being kindled in a hun- 
 dred places. In the centers of manufacture similar signs of dis- 
 content appeared. Tumultuous meetings were held, riots broke 
 out, bloody collisions with the troops took place. Daily and 
 hourly the situation was growing more critical. The people were 
 in that state of exasperation that is the preliminary stage of 
 insurrection. The two things especially demanded were, reform in 
 ParHamentary representation and repeal of the Corn-Laws. Just 
 what is meant by the former must be told at some length, as it 
 referred to a condition of affairs which had long been outgrown. 
 Representation of the people, in truth, once a fact, had long since 
 
188 THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 
 
 become a fiction, one so far removed from the needs of the tunes as 
 to have become a subject for ridicule. 
 
 EEPRESENTATION IN PARLIAMENT 
 
 The British Parliament, it is scarcely necessary to say, is com- 
 posed of two bodies, the House of Lords and the House of Com- 
 mons. The former represents the aristocratic element of the 
 nation. In effect, it represents simply its members, since they hold 
 their seats as a privilege of their titles, and have only their own 
 interests to consider, though the interests of their class go with 
 their own. The latter body is supposed to represent the people, but 
 up to the time with which we are concerned it had never fully 
 done so, and did so now much less than ever, since the right to 
 vote for its members was reserved to a few thousands of the rich. 
 
 In the year 1830, indeed, the House of Commons had almost 
 ceased to represent the people at all. Its seats were distributed in 
 accordance with a system that had scarcely changed in the least 
 for two hundred years. The idea of distributing the members in 
 accordance with the population was scarcely thought of, and a 
 state of affairs had arisen which was as absurd as it was unjust. 
 For during these two hundred years great changes had taken place 
 in England. What were originally mere villages or open plains 
 had become flourishing commercial or manufacturing cities. Man- 
 chester, Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool, and other centers of industry 
 had become seats of great and busy populations. On the other 
 hand, once flourishing towns had decayed, ancient boroughs had 
 become practically extinct. Thus there had been great changes 
 in the distribution of population, but the distribution of seats in 
 Parliament remained the same. 
 
 As a result of this state of affairs the great industrial towns, 
 Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, Leeds, and others, with their 
 hundreds of thousands of people, did not send a single member to 
 Parliament, while places with only a handful of voters were duly 
 represented, and even places with no voters at all sent members 
 
THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 189 
 
 to Parliament. Land-holding lords nominated and elected those, 
 generally selecting the yomiger sons of noble famihes, and thus a 
 large number of the ''representatives of the people" really repre- 
 sented no one but the gentry to whom they owed their places. 
 "Rotten" boroughs these were justly called, but they were 
 retained by the stolid conservatism with which the genuine Briton 
 clings to things and conditions of the past. 
 
 The peculiar state of affairs was picturesquely pointed out by 
 Lord John Russell in a speech in 1831. ''A stranger," he said, 
 ''who was told that this country is unparalleled in wealth and 
 industry, and more civilized and enlightened than any country was 
 before it — that it is a country which prides itself upon its freedom, 
 and which once in seven years elects representatives from its 
 population to act as the guardians and preservers of that freedom 
 — would be anxious and curious to see how that representation is 
 formed, and how the people choose their representatives. 
 
 "Such a person would be very much astonished if he were 
 taken to a ruined mound and told that that mound sent two repre- 
 sentatives to Parhament; if he were taken to a stone wall and told 
 that these niches in it sent two representatives to Parhament; 
 if he were taken to a park where no houses were to be seen and 
 told that that park sent two representatives to Parliament. But 
 he would be still more astonished if he were to see large and 
 opulent towns, full of enterprise and industry and intelligence, con- 
 taining vast magazines of every species of manufacture, and were 
 then told that these towns sent no representatives to Parliament. 
 
 "Such a person would be still more astonished if he were 
 taken to Liverpool, where there is a large constituency, and told, 
 'Here you will have a fine specimen of a popular election.' He 
 would see bribery employed to the greatest extent and in the most 
 unblushing manner; he would see every voter receiving a number 
 of guineas in a bag as the price of his corruption; and after such a 
 
190 THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 
 
 spectacle he would be, no doubt, much astonished that a nation 
 whose representatives are thus chosen, could perform the functions 
 of legislation at all, or enjoy respect in any degree." 
 
 EFFECT OF THE 1830 RE\/OLUTION 
 
 Such was the state of affairs when there came to England the 
 news of the quiet but effective French Revolution of 1830. Its 
 effect was a stern demand for the reform of this mockery miscalled 
 House of Commons, of this lie that claimed to respresent the 
 EngHsh people. We have not told the whole story of the trans- 
 parent falsehood. Two years before no man could be a member of 
 Parliament who did not belong to the Church of England. No 
 Dissenter could hold any public office in the kingdom. The multi- 
 tudes of Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, and other dissenting 
 sects were excluded from any share in the government. The same 
 was the case with the Catholics, few in England, but forming the 
 bulk of the population of Ireland. 
 
 This evil, so far as all but the Catholics were concerned, was 
 removed by Act of Parliament in 1828. The struggle for Catholic 
 liberation was conducted in Ireland by Daniel O'Connell, the most 
 eloquent and patriotic of its orators. He was sneered at by Lord 
 Wellington, then prime minister of Great Britain. But when it 
 was seen that all Ireland was backing her orator the Iron Duke 
 gave way, and a Catholic Rehef Bill was passed in 1829, giving 
 Catholics the right to hold all but the highest offices of the reahn. 
 In 1830, instigated by the revolution in France, the great fight for 
 the reform of Parhamentary representation began. 
 
 The question was not a new one. It had been raised by 
 Cromwell, nearly two hundred years before. It had been brought 
 forward a number of times during the eighteenth century. It was 
 revived in 1809 and again in 1821, but public opinion did not come 
 strongly to its support until 1830. George IV, its strong oppo- 
 nent, died in that year; WilUam IV, a king more in its favor, came 
 to the throne; the government of the bitterly conservative Duke 
 
THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 191 
 
 of Wellington was defeated and Earl Grey, a Liberal minister, took 
 his place; the tinie was evidently ripe for reform, and soon the 
 great fight was on. 
 
 The people of England looked upon the reform of Parliament 
 as a method of restoring to them their lost hberties, and their 
 feelings were deeply enhsted in the event. When, on the 1st of 
 March, 1831, the bill was brought into the House of Commons, 
 the pubhc interest was intense. For hours eager crowds waited in 
 the streets, and when the doors of the Parliament house were 
 opened every inch of room in the galleries was quickly filled, while 
 for hundreds of others no room was to be had. 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR REFORM 
 
 The debate opened with the speech by Lord John Russell 
 from which we have quoted. In the bill offered by him he pro- 
 posed to disfranchise entirely sixty-two of the rotten boroughs, 
 each of which had less than 2,000 inhabitants; to reduce forty- 
 seven others, with less than 4,000 inhabitants, to one member each; 
 and to distribute the 168 members thus unseated among the 
 populous towns, districts, and counties which either had no mem- 
 bers at all, or a number out of all proportion to their population. 
 Also the suffrage was to be extended, the hours for voting short.- 
 ened, and other reforms adopted. 
 
 The bill was debated, pro and con, with all the eloquence then 
 in Parhament. Vigorously as it was presented, the opposing 
 elements were too strong, and its consideration ended in defeat by 
 a majority of eight. Parliament was immediately dissolved by 
 the premier, and an appeal was made to the people. The result 
 showed the strength of the pubhc sentiment, hmited as the suffrage 
 then was. The new Parliament contained a large majority of 
 reformers, and when the bill was again presented it was carried 
 by a majority of one hundred and six. On the evening of its 
 passage it was taken by Earl Grey into the House of Lords, where 
 it was eloquently presented by the prime minister and bitterly 
 
192 THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 
 
 attacked by Lord Brougham, who declared that it would utterly 
 overwhelm the aristocratic part of the House. His view was that 
 of his fellows, and the Reform Bill was thrown out by a majority 
 of forty-one. 
 
 Instantly, on the news of this action of the Lords, the whole 
 country blazed into a state of excitement and disorder only sur- 
 passed by that of civil war. The people were bitterly in earnest in 
 their demand for reform, their feelings being wrought up to an 
 intense pitch of excitement. Riots broke out in all sections of the 
 country. London seethed with excitement. The peers were 
 mobbed in the streets and hustled and assaulted wherever seen. 
 They made their way to the House only thi'ough a throng howling 
 for reform. Those known to have voted against the bill were in 
 peril of their lives, some being forced to fly over housetops to 
 escape the fury of the people. Angry debates arose in the House 
 of Lords in which even the Bishops took an excited part. The 
 Commons was like a bear-pit, a mass of furiously wrangling oppo- 
 nents. England was shaken to the center by the defeat of the bill, 
 and Parliament reflected the sentiment of the people. 
 
 On December 12th Russell presented a third Reform Bill to 
 the House, almost the same in its provisions as those which had 
 been defeated. The debate now was brief, and the result certain. 
 It was felt to be no longer safe to juggle with the people. On the 
 18th the bill was passed, with a greatly increased majority, now 
 amounting to one hundred and sixty-two. To the Lords again it 
 went, where the Tories, led by Lord Wellington, were in a decided 
 majority against it. It had no chance of passage, unless the king 
 would create enough new peers to outvote the opposition. This 
 King William refused to do, and Earl Grey resigned the ministry, 
 leaving the Tories to bear the brunt of the situation. 
 
 HOW SUFFRAGE WAS GAINED 
 
 The result was one barely short of civil war. The people rose 
 in fury, determined upon reform or revolution. Organized unions 
 
THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 193 
 
 sprang up in every town. Threats of marching an army upon 
 London were made. Lord Wellington was mobbed in the streets 
 and was in peril of his life. The maddened populace went so far 
 as to curse and stone the king himself, one stone strildng him in 
 the forehead. The country was indeed on the verge of insurrection 
 against the government, and unless quick action would be taken 
 it was impossible to foresee the result. 
 
 William IV, perhaps with the recent experience of Charles X 
 of France before his eyes, gave way, and promised to create enough 
 new peers to insure the passing of the bill. To escape this unwel- 
 come necessity Wellington and others of the Tories agreed to stay 
 away from Parliament, and the Lords, pocketing their dignity as 
 best they could, passed the bill by a safe majority, and the reform 
 demanded was attained. Similar bills were passed for Scotland 
 and Ireland, and thus was achieved the greatest measure of reform 
 in the history of the British Parliament. It was essentially a 
 revolution, the first great step in the evolution of a truly repre- 
 sentative assembly in Great Britain, and its beneficial effect has 
 been seen in the legislation since that time. 
 
 We may fitly deal here with some later steps taken in the same 
 direction. In 1867 the subject of the extension of the suffrage 
 became the great issue. The demand for it was strenuous, and the 
 Tories, under DisraeU, their leader, were obliged to bring in a bill 
 for this purpose, one which gave the privilege of voting to millions 
 previously disfranchised, making it ahnost universal among the 
 commercial and industrial classes. Nearly twenty years later, in 
 1884, another extension of the suffrage was made, this applying 
 to the agricultural laborers. This ended the great struggle so far 
 as the male element of the population was concerned. Many 
 years were to pass before a great crusade would arise with the pur- 
 pose of giving the Parliamentary franchise to women as well as to 
 men. This is very actively in progress, with no clear indication as 
 to how it will result. It is pursuing a miUtary method which is as 
 yet not promising of favorable results. 
 
 13 
 
194 THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 
 
 THE CORN-LAWS REPEALED 
 
 We must deal more briefly with the second great reform 
 demanded by the people, that for the repeal of the Corn-Laws. 
 
 For centuries commerce in grain had been a subject of legisla- 
 tion. In 1361 its exportation from England was forbidden, and 
 in 1463 its importation was prohibited unless the price of wheat 
 was greater than 6s. 3d. per quarter. As time went on changes 
 were made in these laws, but the tariff charges kept up the price 
 of grain until late in the nineteenth century, and added greatly to 
 the miseries of the working classes. 
 
 The farming land of England was not held by the common 
 people, but by the aristocracy, who fought bitterly against the 
 repeal of the then existing Corn-Laws, which, by laying a large 
 duty on grain, added materially to their profits. But while the 
 aristocrats were benefited, the workers suffered, the price of the 
 loaf being decidedly raised and their scanty fare correspondingly 
 diminished. 
 
 More than once the people rose in riot against these laws, 
 the apostle of the crusade against them being Richard Cobden, one 
 of Britain's greatest orators. He advocated their repeal with a 
 power and influence that in time grew irresistible. He was not 
 affiliated with either of the great parties, but stood apart as an 
 independent Radical, a man with a party of his own, and that 
 party Free Trade. For the crusade against the Corn-Laws 
 widened into one against the whole principle of protection. 
 Backed by the public demand for cheap food, the movement went 
 on, until in 1846 Cobden brought over to his side the government 
 forces under Sir Robert Peel, by whose aid the Corn-Laws were 
 swept away and the ports of England thrown open to the free 
 entrance of food from any part of the world. 
 
 With the repeal of the duties on grain the whole system of 
 protection was dropped and in its place was adopted that system 
 of free trade in which Great Britain stands alone among the 
 nations of the world. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 Europe in Arms in 1848 
 
 Outbreak of Nineteenth Century Democracy 
 
 Liberty, Equality and Fraternity — Reform Outbreak in Paris — ^A Republic Founded — 
 Revolt in Germany and Austria — The Metter,iiich Policy Fails — The Struggle in 
 Vienna and Berlin — A Federal Empire in Germany — Italy Strikes for Freedom — 
 A French Army Occupies Rome — The Hungarian Revolution — Kossuth and the 
 Magyars — How the Conflict Ended. 
 
 THE revolution of 1830 did not bring peace and quiet to 
 France nor to Europe. In France the people grew dis- 
 satisfied with their new monarch; in Europe generally 
 they demanded a greater share of liberty. Louis Philippe delayed 
 to extend the suffrage; he used his high position to add to his great 
 riches; he failed to win the hearts of the French, and was widely 
 accused of selfishness and greed. There were risings of legitimists 
 in favor of the Bourbons, while the repubhcan element was opposed 
 to monarchy. No less than eight attempts were made to remove 
 the king by assassination — all of them failures, but they showed 
 the disturbed state of pubhc feeling. Liberty, equaUty, fraternity 
 became the watchwords of the working classes, socialistic ideas 
 arose and spread, and the industrial element of the various nations 
 became alHed in one great body of revolutionists known as the 
 * * Internationalists. ' ' 
 
 LIBERTY, EQUALITY AND FRATERNITY 
 
 In Germany the demand of the people for pohtical rights grew 
 until it reached a crisis. The radical writings of the "Young 
 Germans," the stirring songs of their poets, the bold utterances 
 of the press, the doctrines of the "Friends of Light" among the 
 Protestants and of the "German Catholics" among the CathoUcs, 
 
 (195) 
 
196 EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 
 
 all went to show that the people were deeply dissatisfied alike 
 with the State and the Church. They were rapidly arousing from 
 their sluggish acceptance of the work of the Congress of Vienna 
 of 1815 and the spirit of hberty was in the air. 
 
 The King of Prussia, Frederick William IV, saw danger ahead. 
 He became king in 1840 and lost no time in trying to make his 
 rule popular by reforms. An edict of toleration was issued, the 
 sittings of the courts were opened to the public, and the Estates 
 of the provinces were called to meet in Berlin. In the convening 
 of a Parhament he had given the people a voice. The Estates 
 demanded freedom of the press and of the state with such eloquence 
 and energy that the king dared not resist them. The people had 
 gained a great step in their progress towards hberty. 
 
 In Italy also the persistent demands of the people met with 
 an encouraging response. The Pope, Pius IX, extended the free- 
 dom of the press, gave a liberal charter to the City^of Rome, and 
 began the formation of an Italian confederacy. In Sicily a revo- 
 lutionary outbreak took place, and the Ejng of Naples was com- 
 pelled to give his people a constitution and a parliament. His 
 example was followed in Tuscany and Sardinia. The tyrannical 
 Duke of Modena was forced to flee from the vengeance of his people, 
 and the throne of Parma became vacant by the death in 1847 of 
 Maria Louisa, the widow of Napoleon Bonaparte, a woman little 
 loved and less respected. 
 
 The Italians were filled with hope by these events. Freedom 
 and the unity of Italy loomed up before their eyes. Only two 
 obstacles stood in their way, the Austrians and the Jesuits, and 
 both of these were bitterly hated. Gioberti, the enemy of the 
 Jesuits, was greeted with cheers, under which might be heard 
 harsh cries of "Death to the Germans." 
 
 Such was the state of affairs at the beginning of 1848. The 
 measure of liberty granted the people only whetted their appetite 
 for more, and over all Western Europe rose an ominous murmur, 
 the voice of the people demanding the rights of which they had 
 
EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 197 
 
 so long been deprived. In France this demand was growing dan- 
 gerously insistent; in Paris, the center of European revolution, 
 it threatened an outbreak. Reform banquets were the order of 
 the day in France, and one was arranged for in Paris to signalize 
 the meeting of the Chambers. 
 
 REFORM OUTBREAK IN PARIS 
 
 Guizot, the historian, who was then minister of foreign affairs, 
 had deeply offended the liberal party of France by his reactionary 
 poUcy. The government threw fuel on the fire by forbidding the 
 banquet and taking steps to suppress it by miUtary force. The 
 people were enraged by tliis false step and began to gather in 
 excited groups. Throngs of them — artisans, students, and tramps — 
 were soon marching through the streets, with shouts of "Reform! 
 Down with Guizot!" The crowds rapidly increased and grew 
 more violent. Those in favor of peace and order were too weak to 
 cope with them; the soldiers were loath to do so; soon barricades 
 were erected and fighting began. 
 
 For two days this went on. Then the king, alarmed at the 
 situation, dismissed Guizot and promised reform, and the people, 
 satisfied for the time and proud of their victory, paraded the 
 streets with cheers and songs. All now might have gone well but 
 for a hasty and violent act on the part of the troops. About ten 
 o'clock at night a shouting and torch-bearmg throng marched 
 through the Boulevards, singing and waving flags. Reaching the 
 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they halted and called for its illumina- 
 tion. The troops on duty there interfered, and, on an insult to 
 their colonel and the firing of a shot from the mob, they replied 
 with a volley, before which fifty-two of the people fell killed and 
 wounded. 
 
 This reckless and sanguinary deed was enough to turn revolt 
 into revolution. The corpses were carried on biers through the 
 streets by the infuriated people, the accompanying torch-bearers 
 shouting: "To arms! they are murdering us!" At midnight the 
 
198 EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 
 
 tocsin call rang from the bells of Notre Dame; the barricades, 
 which had been partly removed, were restored; and the next morn- 
 ing, February 24, 1848, Paris was in arms. In the struggle that 
 followed they were quickly victorious, and the capital was in 
 their hands. 
 
 A REPUBLIC FOUNDED 
 
 Louis Philippe followed the example of Charles X, abdicated 
 his throne and fled to England. After the fate of Louis XVI no 
 monarch was willing to wait and face a Paris mob. The kingdom 
 was overthrown, and a republic, the second which France had 
 known, was estabhshed, the aged Dupont de I'Eure being chosen 
 president. The poet Lamartine, the sociaHst Louis Blanc, the 
 statesmen Ledru-Rollin and Arago became members of the Cabi- 
 net, and all looked forward to a reign of peace and prosperity. 
 The socialists tried the experiment of establishing national work- 
 shops in which artisans were to be employed at the expense of the 
 state, with the idea that this would give work to all. 
 
 Yet the expected prosperity did not come. The state was 
 soon deeply in debt, many of the people remained imemployed, 
 and the condition of industry grew worse day by day. The 
 treasury proved incapable of paying the state artisans, and the 
 public workshops were closed. In June the trouble came to a 
 crisis and a new and sanguinary outbreak began, instigated by the 
 hungry and disappointed workmen, a^nd led by the advocates of 
 the ''Red Repubhc," who acted with ferocious brutality. Gen- 
 eral Brea and the Archbishop of Paris were murdered, and the 
 work of slaughter grew so horrible that the National Assembly, 
 to put an end to it, made General Cavaignac dictator and com- 
 missioned him to put down the revolt. 
 
 A terrible struggle ensued between the mob and the troops, 
 ending in the suppression of the revolt and the arrest and banish- 
 ment of many of its ringleaders. Ten or twelve thousand people 
 had been killed. The National Assembly adopted a republican 
 
EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 199 
 
 constitution, under which a single legislative chamber and a 
 president to be elected every four years were provided for. The 
 Assembly wished to make General Cavaignac president, but the 
 nation, bhnded by their faith in the name of the great conqueror, 
 elected by an almost unanimous vote his nephew, Louis Napoleon, 
 a man who had suffered a long term of imprisonment for his several 
 attempts against the reign of the late king. He had hurried to 
 France on learning of the outbreak, offered himself as a candidate 
 for the Presidency, and the magic of his name served to carry hun 
 triumphantly into the office. The revolution, for the time being, 
 was at an end, and France was a repubhc again. 
 
 REVOLT IN GERMANY AND AUSTRIA 
 
 The effect of this revolution in France spread far and wide 
 through Europe, where, as stated, the seeds of revolt had been 
 widely sown. Outbreaks occurred in Italy, Poland, Switzerland 
 and Ireland, and in Germany the revolutionary fever burned hot. 
 Baden was the first state to yield to the demands of the people for 
 freedom of the press, a parliament and other reforms, and went so 
 far as to aboUsh the imposts still remaining from feudal times. 
 The other minor states followed its example. In Saxony, Wtirtem- 
 berg and other states class abuses were abolished, liberals given 
 prominent positions under government, the suffrage and the legis- 
 lature reformed, and men of Hberal sentiment summoned to discuss 
 the formation of new constitutions. 
 
 But it was in the great despotic states of Germany — Prussia 
 and Austria — that the Hberals gained the most complete and 
 important victory, and went farthest in overthrowing autocratic 
 rule and establishing constitutional government. The notable 
 Austrian statesman who had been a leader in the Congress of 
 Vienna and who had suppressed liberaUsm in Italy, Prince Met- 
 ternich, was still, after more than thirty years, at the head of 
 affairs in Vienna. He controlled the policy of Austria; his word 
 was law in much of Germany; time had cemented his authority. 
 
200 EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 
 
 and he had done more than any other man in Europe in main- 
 taining despotism and building a dam against the rising flood of 
 Uberal sentiment. 
 
 THE METTEENICH POLICY FAILS 
 
 But the hour of the man who had destroyed the work of 
 Napoleon was at hand. lie failed to recognize the spirit of the age 
 or to perceive that liberalism was deeply penetrating Austria. To 
 most of the younger statesmen of Europe the weakness of his 
 policy and the rottenness of his system were growing apparent, and 
 it was evident that they must soon fall before the onslaught of the 
 advocates of freedom. 
 
 An incitement was needed, and it came in the news of the 
 Paris revolution. At once a hot excitement broke out everywhere 
 in Austria. From Hungary came a vigorous demand for an inde- 
 pendent parliament, reform of the constitution, decrease of taxes, 
 and reUef from the burden of the national debt of Austria. From 
 Bohemia, whose rights and privileges had been seriously interfered 
 with in the preceding year, came similar demands. In Vienna 
 itself the popular outcry for increased privileges grew insistent. 
 
 The excitement of the people was aggravated by their distrust 
 of the paper money of the realm and by a great depression in 
 conoLmerce and industry. Daily more workmen were thrown out 
 of employment, and soon throngs of the hungry and discontented 
 gathered in the streets. Students, as usual, led away by their 
 boyish love of excitement, were the first to create a disturbance, 
 but others soon joined in, and the affair quickly became serious. 
 
 The old system was evidently at an end. The poUcy of Met- 
 ternich could restrain the people no longer. Lawlessness became 
 general, excesses were committed by the mob, the dwelhngs of 
 those whom the populace hated were attacked and plundered, the 
 authorities were resisted with arms, and the danger of an over- 
 throw of the government grew imminent. The press, which had 
 gained freedom of utterance, added to the peril of the situation by 
 
EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 201 
 
 its inflanunatory appeals to the people, and by its violence checked 
 the progress of the reforms which it demanded. Metternich, by 
 his system of restraint, had kept the people in ignorance of the 
 first principles of political affairs, and the hberties which they now 
 asked for showed them to be unadapted to a liberal government. 
 The old minister, whose system was falling in ruins about him, 
 fled from the country and sought a refuge in England, that haven 
 of political failures. 
 
 THE STRUGGLE IN VIENNA AND BERLIN 
 
 In May, 1848, the emperor, alarmed at the threatening state 
 of affairs, left his capital and withdrew to Innsbruck. The tidings 
 of his withdrawal stirred the people to passion, and the outbreak 
 of mob violence which followed was the fiercest and most dan- 
 gerous that had yet occurred. Gradually, however, the tumult 
 was appeased, a constitutional assembly was called into being and 
 opened by the Archduke John, and the Emperor Ferdinand 
 re-entered Vienna amid the warm acclamations of the people. 
 The outbreak was at an end. Austria had been converted from 
 an absolute to a constitutional monarchy. 
 
 In Berlin the spirit of revolution became as marked as in 
 Vienna. The king resisted the demands of the people, who soon 
 came into confhct with the soldiers, a fierce street fight breaking 
 out and continuing with violence for two weeks. The revolu- 
 tionists demanded the removal of the troops and the formation 
 of a citizen militia, and the king, alarmed at the dangerous crisis 
 in affairs, at last assented. The troops were accordingly with- 
 drawn, the obnoxious ministry was dismissed, and a citizen-guard 
 was created for the defense of the city. Three days afterwards 
 the king promised to govern as a constitutional monarch, an 
 assembly was elected by universal suffrage, and to it was given the 
 work of preparing a constitution for the Prussian state. Here, as 
 in Austria, the revolutionists had won the day and irresponsible 
 government was at an end. 
 
202 EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 
 
 A FEDERAL EMPIRE IN GERMANY 
 
 Elsewhere iii Germany radical changes were takuig place. 
 King Louis of Bavaria, who had deeply offended his people, 
 resigned in favor of his son. The Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt did 
 the same. Everywhere the Hberals were in the ascendant, and 
 were gaining freedom of the press and constitutional government. 
 The formation of Gemiany into a federal empire was proposed and 
 adopted, and a National Assembly met at Frankfort on May 
 18, 1848. It included many of the ablest men of Germany. Its 
 principal work was to organize a imion under an irresponsible 
 executive, who was to be surrounded by a responsible ministry. 
 The Archduke John of Austria was selected to fill this new but 
 brief imperial position, and made a solemn entry into Frankfort 
 on the 11th of July. 
 
 All this was not enough for the ultra-radicals. They deter- 
 mined to foimd a German republic, and their leaders, Hecker and 
 Struve, called the people to arms. An outbreak took place in 
 Baden, but it was quickly suppressed, and the republican move- 
 ment came to a speedy end. In the north war broke out between 
 Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein, united duchies with a large Ger- 
 man population, which desired to be freed from Danish rule and 
 annexed to Germany, and in consequence called for German aid. 
 But just then the new German Union was in no condition to come 
 to their assistance, and Prussia preferred diplomacy to war, with 
 the result that Demnark came out victorious from the contest. 
 As will be seen in a later chapter, Prussia, under the energetic 
 leadership of Bismarck, came, a number of years afterwards, to 
 the aid of these discontented duchies, and they were finally torn 
 from Danish control. 
 
 ITALY STRIKES FOR FREEDOM 
 
 While these exciting events were taking place in the north, 
 Italy was swept with a storm of revolution from end to end. Met- 
 ternich was no longer at hand to keep it in check, and the whole 
 
EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 203 
 
 peninsula seethed with revolt. Sicily rejected the rule of the 
 Bourbon king of Naples, chose the Duke of Genoa, son of Charles 
 Albert of Sardinia, for its king, and during a year fought for 
 Uberty. This patriotic effort of the Sicihans ended in failure. 
 The Swiss mercenaries of the Neapohtan king captured Syracuse 
 and brought the island into subjection, and the tyrant hastened to 
 aboUsh the constitution which he had been frightened into granting 
 in his hour of extremity. 
 
 In the north of Italy war broke out between Austria and 
 Sardinia. Milan and Venice rose against the Austrians and drove 
 out their garrisons, throughout Lombardy the people raised the 
 standard of independence, and Charles Albert of Sardinia called 
 his people to arms and invaded that country, striving to free it 
 and the neighboring state of Venice from Austrian rule. For a 
 brief season he was successful, pushing the Austrian troops to the 
 frontiers, but the old Marshal Radetzky defeated him at Verona 
 and compelled him to seek safety in flight. The next year he 
 renewed his attempt, but with no better success. Depressed by 
 his failure, he resigned the crown to his son Victor Emmanuel, who 
 made a disadvantageous peace with Austria. Venice held out for 
 several months, but was finally subdued, and Austrian rule was 
 restored in the north. 
 
 Meanwhile the pope, Pius IX, offended his people by his 
 unwillingness to aid Sardinia against Austria. He promised to 
 grant a constitutional government and convened an Assembly in 
 Rome, but the democratic people of the state were not content 
 with feeble concessions of this kind. Rossi, prime minister of the 
 state, was assassinated, and the pope, filled with alann, fled in 
 disguise, leaving the Papal dominion to the revolutionists, who at 
 once proclaimed a repubhc and confiscated the property of the 
 Church. 
 
 Mazzini, the leader of ''Young Italy," the ardent revolu- 
 tionist who had long worked in exile for Italian independence, 
 entered the Eternal City, and with him Garibaldi, long a pohtical 
 
204 EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 
 
 refugee in America and a gallant partisan leader in the recent war 
 with Austria. The arrival of these celebrated revolutionists filled 
 the democratic party in Rome with the greatest enthusiasm, and 
 it was resolved to defend the States of the Church to the last 
 extremity, viewing them as the final asyliun of Italian liberty. 
 
 A FRENCH ARMY OCCUPIES ROME 
 
 In this extremity the pope called on France for aid. That 
 country responded by sending an army, which landed at Civita- 
 Vecchia and marched upon and surrounded Rome. The new- 
 comers declared that they came as friends, not as foes; it was 
 not their purpose to overthrow the republic, but to defend the 
 capital from Austria and Naples. The leaders of the insurgents 
 in Rome did not trust their professions and promises and refused 
 them admittance. A fierce struggle followed. The republicans 
 defended themselves stubbornly. For weeks they defied the 
 efforts of General Oudinot and his troops. But in the end they 
 were forced to yield, a conditional submission was made, and the 
 French soldiers occupied the city. Garibaldi, Mazzini, and others 
 of the leaders took to flight, and the old conditions were gradually 
 resumed under the controlling influence of French bayonets. For 
 years afterwards the French held the city as the alHes and guard 
 of the pope. 
 
 THE HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION 
 
 The revolutionary spirit, which had given rise to war in Italy, 
 yielded a still more resolute and sanguinary conflict in Hungary, 
 whose people were divided against themselves. The Magyars, 
 the descendants of the old Huns, who demanded governmental 
 institutions of their own, separate from those of Austria, though 
 under the Austrian monarch, were opposed by the Slavonic part of 
 the population, and war began between them. Austrian troops 
 were ordered to the aid of Jellachich, the ruler of the Slavs of 
 Croatia in South Himgary, but their departure was prevented by 
 
EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 205 
 
 the democratic people of Vienna, who rose in violent insurrection, 
 induced by their sympathy with the Magyars. 
 
 The whole city was quickly in tumult, an attack was made on 
 the arsenals, and the violence became so great that the emperor 
 again took to flight. War in Austria followed. A strong army 
 was sent to subdue the rebellious city, which was stubbornly 
 defended, the students' club being the center of the revolutionary 
 movement. Jellachich led his Croatians to the aid of the emperor's 
 troops, the city was surrounded and besieged, salhes and assaults 
 were of daily occurrence, and for a week and more a bloody conflict 
 continued day and night. Vienna was finally taken by storm, the 
 troops forcing their way into the streets, where shocking scenes 
 of murder and violence took place. On November 21, 1848, 
 JeUachich entered the conquered city, martial law was proclaimed, 
 the houses were searched, the prisons filled with captives, and the 
 leaders of the insurrection put to death. 
 
 KOSSUTH AND THE MAGYARS 
 
 Shortly afterwards the Emperor Ferdinand abdicated the 
 throne in favor of his youthful nephew, Francis Joseph, who at 
 once dissolved the constitutional assembly and proclaimed a new 
 constitution and a new code of laws. Himgary was still in arms, 
 and offered a vigorous opposition to the Austrians, who now 
 marched to put down the insurrection. They found it no easy 
 task. The fiery eloquence of the orator Kossuth roused the Mag- 
 yars to a desperate resistance, Polish leaders came to their support, 
 foreign volunteers strengthened their ranks, Gorgey, their chief 
 leader, showed great military skill, and the Austrians were driven 
 out and the fortresses taken. The independence of Hungary was 
 now proclaimed, and a government estabUshed imder Kossuth as 
 provisional president. 
 
 The repulse of the Austrians nerved the young emperor to 
 more strenuous exertions. The aid of Russia was asked, and the 
 insurgent state invaded on three sides, by the Croatians from 
 
206 EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 
 
 the south, the Russians from the north, and the Austrians, under 
 the brutal General Haynau, from the west. 
 
 The conflict continued for several months, but quarrels 
 between the Hungarian leaders weakened their armies, and in 
 August, 1849, Gorgey, who had been declared dictator, surrendered 
 to the invaders, Kossuth and the other leaders seeking safety in 
 flight. Haynau made himself infamous by his cruel treatment of 
 the Hungarian people, particularly by his use of the lash upon 
 women. His conduct raised such widespread indignation that 
 he was roughly handled by a party of brewers, on his visit to 
 London in 1850. 
 
 HOW THE CONFLICT ENDED 
 
 With the fall of Hungary the widespread revolutionary move- 
 ment of 1848 came to an end. The German Union had already 
 disappeared. There were various other disturbances, besides those 
 we have recorded, but finally all the states settled down to peace 
 and quiet. Its results had been great in increasing the pohtical 
 privileges of the people of Western Europe, and with it the reign of 
 despotism in that section of the continent came to an end. 
 
 The greatest hero of the war in Hungary was undoubtedly 
 Louis Kossuth, whose name has remained famihar among those 
 of the patriots of his century. From Hungary he made his way 
 to Turkey, where he was imprisoned for two years at Kutaieh, 
 being finally released through the intervention of the governments 
 of Great Britain and the United States. He then visited England, 
 where he was received with enthusiastic popular demonstrations 
 and made several admirable speeches in the English language, of 
 which he had excellent command. In the autumn of 1851 he 
 came to the United States, where he had a flattering reception and 
 spoke on the wrongs of Hungary to enthusiastic audiences in the 
 principal cities. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 Russia and the Crimean War 
 
 Outcome of Slavic Ambitions in the Near East 
 
 Turkey the "Sick Man" of Europe — Oppression of the Christians — England and 
 
 France Declare War — Invasion of the Crimea — The Siege of Sebastopol — Charge of 
 
 the Light Brigade — The Gallant Six Hundred — Tennyson's Famous Poem — Sebastopol 
 
 Taken— The Treaty of Paris. 
 
 )1 MONG the most interesting phases of niaeteenth-century 
 A-\ history is that of the conflict between Russia and Turkey, 
 "*■ -^ a struggle for dominion that came down from the pre- 
 ceding centuries, and still seems only temporarily laid aside for 
 final settlement in the years to come. In the eighteenth century 
 the Turks proved quite able to hold their own against all the 
 power of Russia and all the armies of Catharine the Great, and 
 they entered the nineteenth century with their ancient dominion 
 largely intact. But they were declining in strength while Russia 
 was growing, and long before 1900 the empire of the Sultan would 
 have become the prey of the Czar had not the other Powers of 
 Europe come to the rescue. The Czar Nicholas designated the 
 Sultan as the ''sick man" of Europe, and such he and his empire 
 had truly become. 
 
 TURKEY THE ''siCK MAN" OF EUROPE 
 
 The ambitious designs of Russia found abundant warrant in 
 the cruel treatment of the Christian people of Turkey. A number 
 of Christian kingdoms lay under the Sultan's rule, in the south 
 inhabited by Greeks, in the north by Slavs; their people treated 
 always with harshness and tyranny; their every attempt at revolt 
 repressed with savage cruelty. We have seen how the Greeks 
 rebelled against their oppressors in 1821, and, with the aid of 
 
 (207) 
 
208 RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 
 
 Europe, won their freedom in 1829. Stirred by this struggle, 
 Russia declared war against Turkey in 1828, and in the treaty 
 of peace signed at Adrianople in 1829 secured not only the inde- 
 pendence of Greece, but a large degree of home rule for the north- 
 ern principalities of Servia, Moldavia, and Wallachia. Turkey 
 was forced in a measure to loosen her grip on Christian Europe. 
 But the Russians were not satisfied with this. They had got next 
 to nothing for themselves. England and the other Western Powers, 
 fearful of seeing Russia in possession of Constantinople, had forced 
 her to release the fruits of her victory. It was the first step in that 
 jealous watchfulness of England over Constantinople which was 
 to have a more decided outcome in later years. The new-born 
 idea of maintaining the balance of power in Europe stood in 
 Russia's way, the nations of the West viewing in alarm the threat- 
 ening growth of the great Muscovite Empire. 
 
 OPPRESSION OF THE CHRISTIANS 
 
 The ambitious Czar Nicholas looked upon Turkey as his 
 destined prey, and waited with impatience a sufficient excuse to 
 send his armies again to the Balkan Peninsula, whose mountain 
 barrier formed the great natural bulwark of Turkey in the north. 
 Though the Turkish government at this time avoided direct oppres- 
 sion of its Christian subjects, the fanatical Mohammedans were 
 difficult to restrain, and the robbery and murder of Christians was 
 of common occurrence. A source of hostility at length arose from 
 the question of protecting these ill-treated peoples. By favor of old 
 treaties the Czar claimed a certain right to protect the Christians 
 of the Greek faith. France assumed a similar protectorate over 
 the Roman Catholics of Palestine, but the greater number of Greek 
 Christians in the Holy Land, and the powerful support of the 
 Czar, gave the latter the advantage in the frequent quarrels which 
 arose in Jerusalem between the pilgrims from the East and the 
 West. 
 
 Nicholas, instigated by his advantage in this quarter, deter- 
 
RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 209 
 
 mined to declare himself the protector of all the Christians in the 
 Turkish Empire, a claim which the Sultan dared not admit if he 
 wished to hold control over his Mohammedan subjects. War was 
 in the air, and England and France, resolute to preserve the 
 *' balance of power," in June, 1853, sent their fleets to the Dar- 
 danelles as useful lookers-on. 
 
 ENGLAND AND FRANCE DECLARE WAR 
 
 The Sultan had already rejected the Russian demand, and 
 Nicholas lost no time in sending an army, led by Prince Gortscha- 
 koff, with orders to cross the Pruth and take possession of the 
 Turkish provinces on the Danube. The gauntlet had been thrown 
 down. War was inevitable. The EngUsh newspapers demanded 
 of their government a vigorous poUcy. The old Turkish party in 
 Constantinople was equally urgent in its demand for hostihties. 
 At length, on October 4, 1853, the Sultan declared war against 
 Russia unless the Danubian principalities were at once evacuated. 
 Instead of doing so, Nicholas ordered his generals to invade the 
 Balkan territory, and on the other hand France and England 
 entered into alUance with the Porte and sent their fleets to the 
 Bosporus. Shortly afterwards the Russian Admiral Nakhimof 
 surprised a Tm-kish squadron in the harbor of Sinope, attacked it, 
 and — though the Turks fought with the greatest courage — the 
 fleet was destroyed and nearly the whole of its crews were slain. 
 
 This turned the tide in England and France, which declared 
 war in March, 1854, while Prussia and Austria maintained a wait- 
 ing attitude. No event of special importance took place early in 
 the war. In April Lord Raglan, with an EngHsh army of 20,000 
 men, landed in Turkey and the siege of the Russian city of Odessa 
 was begun. Meanwhile the Russians, who had crossed the 
 Danube, found it advisable to retreat and withdraw across the 
 Pruth, on a threat of hostilities from Austria and Prussia unless 
 the principahties were evacuated. 
 
 The French had met with heavy losses in an advance from 
 11 
 
210 RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 
 
 Varna, and the British fleet had made an expedition against St. 
 Petersburg, but had been checked before the powerful fortress of 
 Kronstadt. Such was the state of affairs in the summer of 1854, 
 when the aUies determined to carry the war into the enemy's 
 territory, attack the maritime city of Sebastopol in the Crimea, 
 and seek to destroy the Russian naval power in the Black Sea. 
 
 INVASION OF THE CRIMEA 
 
 Of the allied armies, 15,000 men had already perished. With 
 the remaining forces, rather more than 50,000 British and French 
 and 6,000 Turks, the fleet set sail in September across the Black 
 Sea, and landed near Eupatoria on the west coast of the Crimean 
 peninsula, on the 4th of September, 1854. Southward from Eupa- 
 toria the sea forms a bay, into which, near the ruins of the old 
 town of Inkermann, the little river Tschernaja pours. On its south- 
 ern side lay the fortified town of Sebastopol, on its northern side 
 strong fortifications were raised for the defense of the anchored 
 fleet of the allies. Farther north the western mountain range is inter- 
 sected by the river Alma, the heights over which Prince Menshikoff 
 governor of the Crimea, garrisoned with an army of 38,000 men. 
 
 Against the latter the allies first directed their attack, and, in 
 spite of the strong position of the Russians on the rocky slopes, 
 Menshikoff was compelled to retreat, owing his escape from entire 
 destruction only to the want of cavalry in the army of the allies. 
 This dearly bought and bloody battle on the Alma gave rise to 
 hopes of a speedy termination of the campaign; but the allies, 
 weakened and wearied by the severe struggle, delayed a further 
 attack, and Menshikoff gained^ time to strengthen his garrison, and 
 to surround Sebastopol with strong fortifications. When the allies 
 approached the town they were soon convinced that any attack 
 on such formidable defenses would be fruitless, and that they 
 must await the arrival of fresh reinforcements and ammunition. 
 The English took up their position on the Bay of Balaklava, and 
 the French to the west, on the Kamiesch. 
 
RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 211 
 
 THE SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL 
 
 There now commenced a siege of a kind seldom occurring in 
 the history of the world. The first attempt to storm the city by a 
 united attack of the land army and the fleet showed the resistance 
 to be much more formidable than had been expected by the alhes. 
 A portion of the Russian fleet, now useless, was sunk to obstruct 
 entrance to the harbor. Between fifteen and twenty thousand 
 sailors, under Admirals Kornilof, Istomin and Nakhimof, all three 
 of whom were to perish defending the city, reinforced the garrison. 
 The population of the city had been reduced from forty-five thou- 
 sand to twelve thousand souls. Colonel Todleben, manager of the 
 defense, could thus, with very considerable effective forces and 
 material — the fleet alone had furnished eight hundred guns — ably 
 create a whole system of earthworks which, while improvised, were 
 none the less effective. The siege of Sebastopol was, then, less a 
 siege than the struggle of an army defending its positions against 
 another reduced to attacking them by the usual besieging processes. 
 During the siege there were nearly fifty miles of galleries and 
 trenches dug by the allies. 
 
 On the north side, which it had been impossible to invest, the 
 Russians received everything they needed and kept in constant 
 relations with the army, which held the country and sought on 
 several occasions to make the invaders raise the siege. The Anglo- 
 French, giving up the idea of attacking from the north, crossed the 
 Tchernaia to make an assault on Sebastopol from the south. They 
 installed themselves on the Chersonesus plateau, a natural fortress 
 from which they could resist diversions coming from without, and 
 took possession of Kamiesch and Balaklava bays, through which 
 they could secure provisions much more easily than their adver- 
 saries, who were reduced to having everything brought by inter- 
 minable convoys. 
 
 Marshal Saint-Amaud died of cholera on September 27th 
 and was succeeded by the incompetent Canrobert. His colleague, 
 Lord Raglan, an old man of sixty-six and a veteran of the Napo- 
 
212 RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 
 
 leonic wars, could not make his dignity compensate for his head- 
 strong incapacity. 
 
 The siege was destined to absorb for a year the resources of 
 the belligerents. Accordingly the other operations became of minor 
 importance. In the Black Sea, on April 22d, the allied fleet had 
 bombarded the miUtary port of Odessa, but respected the city and 
 the conomercial harbor. The Russians themselves destroyed their 
 posts on the coast near the Caucasus. In the Baltic, after despair- 
 ing of an attack on Kronstadt, a landing was made on the Aland 
 islands, where an unfinished fortress was seized (August 16th). 
 In 1855 Sveaborg was bombarded. Other not very profitable 
 expeditions were sent to the White Sea and Pacific coast. 
 
 CHAEGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE 
 
 In October Menshikoff, reinforced, tried to interrupt the siege 
 by attacking Balaklava. Eight days after the beginning of siege 
 operations the British were surprised in Tiheir strong position near 
 Balaklava by General Liprandi, with a considerable Russian force. 
 This engagement was rendered notable by the mad but heroic 
 "Charge of the Light Brigade," which has become famous in song 
 and story. The purpose of this assault on the part of the Russians 
 was to cut the line of communication of the alUes, by capturing 
 the redoubts that guarded them, and thus to enforce a retreat by 
 depriving the enemy of suppHes. 
 
 The day began with a defeat of the Turks and the capture by 
 the Russians of several of the redoubts. Then a great body of 
 Russian cavalry, 3,000 strong, charged upon the Ninety-third 
 Highlanders, who were drawn up in line to receive them. There 
 was comparatively but a handful of these gallant Scotchmen, 
 550 all told, but they have made themselves famous in history as 
 the invincible "thin, red Une." 
 
 Sir Colin Campbell, their noble leader, said to them: "Re- 
 member, lads, there is no retreat from here. You must die where 
 you stand." 
 
RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 213 
 
 "Aye, aye, Sir Colin," shouted the sturdy Highlanders, "we 
 will do just that." 
 
 They did not need to. The murderous fire from their "thin, 
 red line" was more than the Russians cared to endure, and they 
 were driven back in disorder. 
 
 The British cavalry completed the work of the infantry. On 
 the serried mass of Russian horsemen charged Scarlett's Heavy 
 Brigade, greatly inferior to them in nmnber, but inspired with a 
 spirit and courage that carried its bold horsemen through the 
 Russian columns with such resistless energy that the great body of 
 Muscovite cavalry broke and fled — 3,000 completely routed by 
 800 gallant dragoons. 
 
 And now came the unfortunate but world-famous event of 
 the day. It was due to a mistaken order. Lord Raglan, thinking 
 that the Russians intended to carry off the guns captured in the 
 Turkish redoubts, s(ent an order to the brigade of light cavalry to 
 "advance rapidly to the front and prevent the enemy from carrying 
 off the guns." 
 
 Lord Lucan, to whom the command was brought, did not 
 understand it. Apparently, Captain Nolan, who conveyed the 
 order, did not clearly explain its purport. 
 
 "Lord Raglan orders that the cavalry shall attack imme- 
 diately," he said, impatient at Lucan's hesitation. 
 
 "Attack, sir; attack what?" asked Lucaa. 
 
 "There, my lord, is your enemy; there are your guns," said 
 Nolan, with a wave of his hand towards the hostile lines. 
 
 The guns he appeared to indicate were those of a Russian 
 battery at the end of the valley, to attack which by an unsup- 
 ported cavalry charge was sheer madness. Lucan rode to Lord 
 Cardigan, in command of the cavalry, and repeated the order. 
 
 "But there is a battery in front of us and guns and riflemen 
 on either flank," said Cardigan. 
 
 "I know it," answered Lucan. "But Lord Raglan will have 
 it. We have no choice but to obey." 
 
214 RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 
 
 ''The brigade will advance," said Cardigan, without further 
 hesitation. 
 
 THE GALLANT SIX HUNDRED 
 
 In a moment more the "gallant six hundred" were in motion 
 — going in the wrong direction, as Captain Nolan is thought to 
 have perceived. At all events he spurred his horse across the 
 front of the brigade, waving his sword as if with the intention to 
 set them right. But no one understood him, and at that instant 
 a fragment of shell struck him and hurled him dead to the earth. 
 There was no further hope of stopping the mad charge. 
 
 On and on went the devoted Light Brigade, their pace increas- 
 ing at every stride, headed straight for the Russian battery half a 
 league away. As they went fire was opened on them from the 
 guns in flank. Soon they came within range of the guns in front, 
 which also opened a raking fire. They were enveloped in "a zone 
 of fire, and the air was filled with the rush of shot, the bursting of 
 shells, and the moan of bullets, while amidst the infernal din the 
 work of death went on, and men and horses were incessantly 
 dashed to the ground." 
 
 But no thought of retreat seems to have entered the minds of 
 those brave dragoons and their gallant leader. Their pace 
 increased; they reached the battery and dashed in among the 
 guns; the gunners were cut down as they served their pieces. 
 Masses of Russian cavalry standing near were charged and forced 
 back. The men fought madly in the face of death until the word 
 came to retreat. 
 
 Then, emerging from the smoke of the battle, a feeble rem- 
 nant of the "gallant six hundred" appeared upon the plain, com- 
 prising one or two large groups, though the most of them were in 
 scattered parties of two or three. One group of about seventy 
 men cut their way through three squadrons of Russian lancers. 
 Another party of equal strength broke through a second inter- 
 cepting force. Out of some 647 men in all, 247 were killed and 
 
RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 215 
 
 wounded, and nearly all the horses were slain. Lord Cardigan, 
 the fii'st to enter the battery, was one of those who came back 
 alive. The whole affair had occupied no more than twenty 
 minutes. But it was a twenty minutes of which the British nation 
 has ever since been proud, and which Tennyson has made famous 
 by one of the most spirit-stirring of his odes. The French General 
 Bosquet fairly characterized it by his often quoted remark: "C'est 
 magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre." (It is magnificent, but 
 it is not war.) 
 
 Tennyson's famous poem 
 
 Half a league, half a league, 
 Half a league onward, 
 All in the valley of death 
 
 Rode the six hundred. 
 "Forward, the Light Brigade! 
 Charge for the guns!" he said. 
 Into the valley of death, 
 
 Rode the six hundred. 
 
 "Forward, the Light Brigade!" 
 Was there a man dismayed? 
 Not though the soldiers knew 
 
 Some one had blimdered: 
 Theirs not to make reply, 
 Theirs not to reason why, 
 Theirs but to do and die; 
 Into the vallej'- of death. 
 
 Rode the six hundred. '' 
 
 Cannon to right of them, 
 Cannon to left of them, 
 Cannon in front of them, 
 
 Volleyed and thundered: 
 Stormed at with shot and shell, 
 Boldly they rode and well: 
 Into the jaws of death, 
 Into the mouth of hell. 
 
 Rode the six hundred. 
 
 Flashed all their sabres bare, 
 Mashed as they tiu-ned in air, 
 Sab'ring the gunners there, 
 
216 RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR ^ 
 
 Charging an army, while 
 
 All the world wondered: 
 Plunged in the battery smoke, 
 Right through the line they broke, 
 Cossack and Russian 
 Reeled from the sabre-stroke, 
 
 Shattered and simdered. 
 Then they rode back — but not, 
 
 Not the six hundred. 
 
 Cannon to right of them, 
 Cannon to left of them. 
 Cannon behind them, 
 
 Volleyed and thundered. 
 Stormed at with shot and shell. 
 While horse and hero fell. 
 They that had fought so well. 
 Came through the jaws of death, 
 Back from the mouth of hell. 
 All that was left of them, 
 
 Left of six himdred. 
 
 When can their glory fade? 
 O, the wild charge they made! 
 
 All the world wondered. 
 Honor the charge they made! 
 Honor the Light Brigade, 
 
 Nobje six hundred! 
 
 The battle of Balaklava was decided in favor of the allies, and 
 on the 5th of November, when Menshikoff had obtained fresh 
 reinforcements, the murderous battle of Inkermann was fought 
 under the eyes of the two Grand Princes Nicholas and Michael, 
 and after a mighty struggle was won by the alUed armies. Fight- 
 ing in the ranks were two other princely personages, the Duke of 
 Cambridge and Prince Napoleon, son of Jerome, former King 
 of Westphalia. 
 
 SEBASTOPOL TAKEN 
 
 These battles in the field brought no changes in the state of 
 affairs. The siege of Sebastopol went on through the winter of 
 1854-55, during which the allied armies suffered the utmost misery 
 
RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 217 
 
 and privation, partly the effect of climate, largely the result of 
 fraud and incompetency at home. Sisters of Mercy and self- 
 sacrificing English ladies — chief among them the noble Florence 
 Nightingale — strove to assuage the sufferings brought on the 
 soldiers by cold, hunger, and disease, enemies which proved more 
 fatal than the sword. 
 
 In the year 1855 the war was carried on with increased energy. 
 Sardinia Joined the alHes and sent them an army of 15,000 men. 
 Austria broke with Russia and began preparations for war. And 
 in March the obstinate Czar Nicholas died and his milder son 
 Alexander took his place. Peace was demanded in Russia, yet 
 25,000 of her sons had fallen and the honor of the nation seemed 
 involved. The war went on, both sides increasing their forces. 
 Month by month the alUes more closely invested the besieged city. 
 After the middle of August the assault became ahnost incessant, 
 cannon balls dropping Uke an unceasing storm of hail in forts 
 and streets. 
 
 On the 5th of September began a terrific bombardment, con- 
 tinuing day and night for three days, and sweeping down more 
 than 5,000 Russians on the ramparts. At length, as the hour of 
 noon struck on September 8th, the attack, of which this play of 
 artillery was the prelude, began, the French assailing the Mala- 
 koff, the British the Redan, these being the most formidable of the 
 defensive works of the town. The French assault was successful 
 and Sebastopol became untenable. That night the Russians blew 
 up their remaining forts, sunk their ships of war, and marched out 
 of the townj leaving it as the prize of victory to the allies. 
 
 THE TREATY OF PARIS 
 
 Britain, Turkey and Piedmont would have liked to continue 
 the war, as they saw in it prospects of gain. The British were 
 already contemplating a decisive expedition against Kronstadt, 
 and Sweden had just signed a treaty with the alUes (November 
 21st). But Napoleon III wanted no more of it. He was driven 
 
218 RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 
 
 to this resolution by domestic reasons, and also by the desire to 
 become aUied with Russia, in order to satisfy with its aid (as was 
 actually to happen) the ItaUan Utopias of which he already inti- 
 mated he had been dreaming. Russia was far from being con- 
 quered, but its finances were in a most deplorable condition, and 
 peace was necessary to it. Austria, whose weakness after the 
 Hungarian crisis, and fear of Prussia, where Bismarck was already 
 concocting his plans, had kept neutral, made the way easy for 
 negotiations to be opened. 
 
 As regards France and England the negotiations were con- 
 fined to vague promises, and to Russia they proposed the acceptance 
 of guarantees to which the conclusion of peace was subordinate. 
 When the capture of Kars by the Russians (November 27th) had 
 brought a degree of satisfaction to their national pride that made 
 it more easy for them to yield, Austria decided on submitting to 
 them an ultimatum which it knew would be accepted, a course 
 advised also by Prussia. 
 
 The tenns of peace were agreed upon in the Paris congress 
 (February 25 to March 30, 1856). The independence and integrity 
 of Turkey were declared to be of European interest, and any con- 
 flict which should arise between the Ottoman empire and one of 
 the signing Powers was to justify the mediation of the others. The 
 Straits treaty was renewed, the free navigation of the Danube 
 assured, and an international commission entrusted with seeing to 
 the maintenance of the necessary works at its estuary. To Moldavia 
 was to be added a portion of Russian Bessarabia, so that Russia 
 would not touch on the great river. The Russian protectorate 
 over the principalities was abolished. The Aland islands in the 
 Baltic were neutralized. But the chief clause was that relating to 
 the Black Sea, from which the war vessels of all nations were ex- 
 cluded. The Sultan once more proclaimed religious liberty, ac- 
 knowledged the civil equality of all his subjects, and admitted 
 Christians to military service— promises that were not be be kept. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 The Ambition of Louis Napoleon 
 The Final Overthrow of Napoleonism 
 
 The Coup d'6tat of 1851 — From President to Emperor — The Empire ia Peace — War 
 
 With Austria — The Battle of Magenta — Possession of Lombardy — French Victory at 
 
 Solferino — Treaty of Peace — Invasion of Mexico — End of Napoleon's Career. 
 
 THE name of Napoleon is a name to conjure with in France. 
 Two generations after the fall of Napoleon the Great the 
 people of that country had practically forgotten the misery 
 he had brought them, and remembered only the glory with which 
 he had crowned the name of France. When, then, a man who has 
 been designated as Napoleon the Little offered himself for their 
 suffrages, they cast their votes almost unanimously in his favor. 
 
 Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, to give this personage his 
 full name, was a son of Louis Bonaparte, once king of Holland, and 
 Hortense de Beauharnais, and had been recognized by Napoleon 
 as, after his father, the direct successor to the throne. This he 
 made strenuous efforts to obtain, hoping to dethrone Louis 
 Phihppe and install himself in his place. In 1836, with a few 
 followers, he made an attempt to capture Strasbourg. His effort 
 failed and he was arrested and transported to the United States. 
 In 1839 he published a work entitled "Napoleonic Ideas," which 
 was an apology for the ambitious acts of the first Napoleon. 
 
 The growing unpopularity of Louis Philippe tempted Louis 
 Napoleon to make a second attempt to invade France. He did it 
 in a rash way almost certain to end in failure. Followed by about 
 fifty men, and bringing with him a tame eagle, which was expected 
 to perch upon his banner as the harbinger of victory, he sailed 
 from England in August, 1840, and landed at Boulogne. This 
 desperate and foolish enterprise proved a complete failure. The 
 
 (219) 
 
220 THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 
 
 soldiers whom the would-be usurper expected to join his standard 
 arrested him, and he was tried for treason by the House of Peers. 
 This time he was not dealt with so leniently as before, but was 
 sentenced to imprisonment for life and was confined in the Castle 
 of Ham. From this fortress he escaped in disguise in May, 1846, 
 and made his way to England. 
 
 The revolution of 1848 gave the restless and ambitious adven- 
 turer a more promising opportunity. He returned to France, was 
 elected to the National Assembly, and on the adoption of the 
 republican constitution offered himseK as a candidate for the 
 presidency of the new repubhc. And now the magic of the name 
 of Napoleon told. General Cavaignac, his chief competitor, was 
 supported by the sohd men of the country, who distrusted the 
 adventurer; but the people rose almost solidly in his support, 
 and he was elected president for four years by 5,562,834 votes, 
 against 1,469,166 for Cavaignac. 
 
 The new President of France soon showed his ambition. He 
 became engaged in a contest with the Assembly and aroused the 
 distrust of the Repubhcans by his autocratic remarks. In 1849 he 
 still further offended the democratic party by sending an army to 
 Rome, which put an end to the repubhc in that city. He sought 
 to make his cabinet officers the pHant instruments of his will, and 
 thus caused De Tocqueville, the celebrated author, who was 
 minister for foreign affairs, to resign. "We were not the men to 
 serve him on those terms," said De Tocqueville, at a later time. 
 
 The new-made president was feeling his way to imperial 
 dignity. He could not forget that his illustrious uncle had made 
 himself emperor, and his ambition instigated him to the same 
 course. A violent controversy arose between him and the 
 Assembly, which body had passed a law restricting imiversal suf- 
 frage, thus reducing the popular support of the president. In June, 
 1850, it increased his salary at his request, but granted the increase 
 only for one year — an act of distrust which proved a new source of 
 discord. 
 
THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 221 
 
 THE "coup d'etat" OF 1851 
 
 Louis Napoleon meanwhile was preparing for a daring act. 
 He secretly obtained the support of the army leaders and pre- 
 pared covertly for the boldest stroke of his life. On the 2d of 
 December, 1851 — the anniversary of the establishment of the 
 first empire and of the battle of AusterUtz — ^he got rid of his 
 opponents by means of the memorable cowp d'etat, and seized the 
 supreme power of the state. 
 
 The most influential members of the Assembly had been 
 arrested during the preceding night, and when the hour for the 
 session of the House came the men most strongly opposed to the 
 usmper were in prison. Most of them were afterwards exiled, 
 some for hfe, some for shorter terms. This act of outrage and 
 violation of the pHghted faith of the president roused the sociaUsts 
 and repubhcans to the defense of their threatened liberties, 
 insurrections broke out in Paris, Lyons, and other towns, street 
 barricades were built, and severe fighting took place. But Napo- 
 leon had secured the army, and the revolt was suppressed with 
 blood and slaughter. Baudin, one of the deposed deputies, was 
 shot on the barricade in the Faubourg St. Antoine, while waving 
 in his hand the decree of the constitution. He was afterwards 
 honored as a martyr to the cause of republicanism in France. 
 
 The usurper had previously sought to gain the approval of 
 the people by hberal and charitable acts, and to win the good will 
 of the civic authorities by numerous progresses through the 
 interior. He now posed as a protector and promoter of national 
 prosperity and the rights of the people, and sought to lay upon the 
 Assembly all the defects of his administration. By these means, 
 which aided to awaken the Napoleonic fervor in the state, he was 
 enabled safely to submit his acts of violence and bloodshed to the 
 approval of the people. The new constitution offered by the 
 president was put to vote, and was adopted by the enormous 
 majority of more than seven milHon votes. By its terms Louis 
 Napoleon was to be president of France for ten years, with power 
 
222 THE AMBITION OF LOUIB NAPOLEON 
 
 equal to that of a monarch, and the Parliament was to consist of 
 two bodies, a Senate and a Legislative House, which were given 
 only nominal power. 
 
 FROM PRESIDENT TO EMPEROR 
 
 Tliis was as far as Napoleon dared to venture at that time. 
 A year later, on December 1, 1852, having meanwhile firmly 
 cemented his position in the state, he passed from president to 
 emperor, again by a vote of the people, of whom, according to the 
 official report, 7,824,189 cast their votes in his favor. That this 
 report told the truth few or none beUeved, but it served the 
 usurper's purpose. 
 
 Thus ended the second French republic, by an act of usurpa- 
 tion of the basest and most unwarranted character. The partisans 
 of the new emperor were rewarded with the chief offices of the 
 state; the leading republicans langliished in prison or in exile for 
 the crime of doing their duty to their constituents; and Armand 
 Marrast, the most zealous champion of the republic, died of a 
 broken heart from the overthrow of all his efforts and aspirations. 
 The honest soldier and earnest patriot, Cavaignac, in a few years 
 followed him to the grave. The cause of liberty in France 
 seemed lost. 
 
 The crowning of a new emperor of the Napoleonic family in 
 France naturally filled Europe with apprehensions. But Napo- 
 leon III, as he styled himself, was an older man than Napoleon I, 
 and seemingly less Ukely to be carried away by ambition. His 
 favorite motto, ''The Empire is peace," aided to restore quietude, 
 and gradually the nations began to trust in his words: "Francs 
 wishes for peace; and when France is satisfied the world is quiet." 
 
 Warned by one of the errors of his uncle, he avoided seeking a 
 wife in the royal families of Europe, but allied himself with a 
 Spanish lady of noble rank, the young and beautiful Eugenie de 
 Montijo, duchess of Teba. At the same time he proclaimed that, 
 "A sovereign raised to the throne by a new principle should remain 
 
THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 223 
 
 faithful to that principle, and in the face of Europe frankly accept 
 the position of a parvenu, which is an honorable title when it is 
 obtained by the public suffrage of a great people. For seventy 
 years all princes' daughters married to rulers of France have been 
 unfortunate; only one, Josephine, was remembered with affection 
 by the French people, and she was not born of a royal house." 
 
 The new emperor continued his efforts as president to win 
 the approval of the people by public works. He recognized the 
 necessity of aiding the working classes as far as possible, and pro- 
 tecting them from poverty and wretchedness. During a dearth 
 in 1853 a ^'baking fund" was organized in Paris, the city con- 
 tributing fimds to enable bread to be sold at a low price. Dams 
 and embankments were built along the rivers to overcome the 
 effects of floods. New streets were opened, bridges built, railways 
 constructed, to increase internal traffic. Splendid buildings were 
 erected for municipal and government purposes. Paris was given 
 a new aspect by pulling down its narrow lanes, and building wide 
 streets and magnificent boulevards — the latter, as was charged, for 
 the purpose of depriving insurrection of its lurking places. The 
 great exhibition of arts and industries in London was followed in 
 1854 by one in France, the largest and finest seen up to that time. 
 Trade and industry were fostered by a reduction of tariff charges, 
 joint stock companies and credit associations were favored, and 
 in many ways Napoleon III worked wisely and well for the 
 prosperity of France, the growth of its industries, and the improve- 
 ment of the condition of its people. 
 
 THE EMPIRE IS PEACE 
 
 But the new emperor, while thus actively engaged in labors 
 of peace, by no means lived up to the spirit of his motto, "The 
 Empire is peace." An empire founded upon the army needs to 
 give employment to that army. A monarchy sustained by the 
 votes of a people athirst for glory needs to do something to appease 
 that thirst. A throne filled by a Napoleon could not safely ignore 
 
224 THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 
 
 the "Napoleonic Ideas," and the first of these might be stated as 
 "The Empire is war." And the new emperor was by no means 
 satisfied to pose simply as the "nephew of his uncle." He pos- 
 sessed a large share of the Napoleonic ambition, and hoped by 
 miUtary glory to surromid his throne with some of the luster of 
 that of Napoleon the First. 
 
 Whatever his private views, it is certain that France under 
 his reign became the most aggressive nation of Europe, and the 
 overweening ambition and self-confidence of the new emperor led 
 him to the same end as his great uncle, that of disaster and 
 overthrow. He was evidently bent on playing a leading part in 
 European poHtics, showing the world that one worthy to bear the 
 name of Napoleon was on the throne, and this ambition led him to 
 acts that mainly served to demonstrate his incapacity. 
 
 The very beginning of Louis Napoleon's career of ambition, as 
 president of the French Republic, was signaUzed by an act of 
 mihtary aggression, in sending an army to Rome and putting an 
 end to the new ItaUan republic. These troops were kept there 
 until 1866, and the aspirations of the Itahan patriots were held in 
 check until that year. Only when United Italy stood menacingly 
 at the gates of Rome were these foreign troops withdrawn. They 
 had accomplished nothing other than to retard for a time the 
 inevitable union of the Italian states into a single kingdom. 
 
 In 1854, Napoleon alhed himself with the British and the Turks 
 against Russia, and sent an army to the Crimea, which played an 
 effective part in the great struggle in that peninsula. The troops 
 of France had the honor of rendering Sebastopol untenable, carry- 
 ing by storm one of its two great fortresses and turning its guns 
 upon the city. 
 
 WAR WITH AUSTRIA 
 
 The next act of aggression of the French emperor was against 
 Austria. As the career of conquest of Napoleon I had begun 
 with an attack upon the Austrians in Italy, Napoleon III attempted 
 
THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 225 
 
 a similar enterprise, and with equal success. He had long been 
 cautiously preparing in secret for hostilities with Austria, thus 
 to emulate his great uncle, but lacked a satisfactory excuse for 
 declaring war. This came in 1858 from an attempt at assassina- 
 tion. Felice Orsini, a fanatical Italian patriot, incensed at Napo- 
 leon from his failing to come to the aid of Italy, launched three 
 explosive bombs against his carriage. The effect was fatal to many 
 of the people in the street, though the intended victim escaped. 
 Orsini won sympathy while in prison by his patriotic sentiments 
 and the steadfastness of his love for his country. '^ Remember 
 that the Itahans shed their blood for Napoleon the Great," he 
 wrote to the emperor. "Liberate my coimtry, and the blessings of 
 twenty-five miUions of people will follow you to posterity." 
 
 Louis Napoleon had once been a member of a secret political 
 society of Italy; he had taken the oath of initiation; his failure to 
 come to the aid of that country when in power constituted him a 
 traitor to his oath and one doomed to death; the act of Orsini was 
 apparently the work of the society. That he was deeply moved by 
 the attempted assassination is certain, and the result of his combined 
 fear and ambition was soon to be shown by a movement in favor of 
 ItaUan independence. 
 
 On New Year's Day, 1859, while receiving the diplomatic 
 corps at the Tuileries, Napoleon addressed the following significant 
 words to the Austrian ambassador: "I regret that our relations 
 are not so cordial as I could wish, but I beg you to report to the 
 Emperor that my personal sentiments towards him remain 
 unaltered." 
 
 Such is the masked way in which diplomats annoimce an 
 intention of war. The meaning of the threatening words was 
 soon shown, when Victor Emmanuel, shortly afterwards, announced 
 at the opening of the Chambers in Turin that Sardinia could no 
 longer remain indifferent to the cry for help which was rising from 
 all Italy. Ten years had passed since the defeat of the Sardinians 
 by an Austrian army on the plains of Lombardy, and the end for 
 
 16 
 
226 THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 
 
 the time of their hopes of a free and united Italy. During that 
 time they had cherished a hope of retribution, and the words of 
 Napoleon and Victor Enmianuel made it evident to them that an 
 alhance had been made with France and that the hour of vengeance 
 was at hand. 
 
 Austria was ready for the contest. Her finances, indeed, were 
 in a serious state, but she had a large army in Lombardy. This was 
 increased, Lombardy was declared in a state of siege, and every 
 step was taken to guard against assault from Sardinia. Delay was 
 disadvantageous to Austria, as it would permit her enemies to com- 
 plete their preparations, and on April 23, 1859, an ultimatum came 
 from Vienna, demanding that Sardinia should put her army on 
 a peace footing or war would ensue. 
 
 THE AUSTRIANS ADVANCE 
 
 A refusal came from Turin. Immediately Field-marshal 
 Gyulai received orders to cross the Ticino. Thus, after ten years 
 of peace, the beautiful plains of Northern Italy were once more 
 to endure the ravages of war. This act of Austria was severely 
 criticized by the neutral Powers, which had been seeking to allay 
 the trouble. Napoleon took advantage of it, as an aid to his pur- 
 poses, and accused Austria of breaking the peace by invading the 
 territory of his ally, the king of Sardinia. 
 
 The real fault committed by Austria, under the circumstances, 
 was not in precipitating war, which could not well be avoided in the 
 temper of her antagonists, but in putting, through court favor and 
 privileges of rank, an incapable leader at the head of the army. 
 Old Radetzky, the victor in the last war, was dead, but there were 
 other able leaders who were thrust aside in favor of the Hungarian 
 noble Franz Gyulai, a man without experience as commander- 
 in-chief of an army. 
 
 By his uncertain and dilatory movements Gyulai gave the 
 Sardinians time to concentrate an army of 80,000 men around the 
 fortress of Alessandria, and lost all the advantage of being the first 
 
THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 227 
 
 in the field. In early May the French army reached Italy, partly 
 by way of the St. Bernard Pass, partly by sea; and Garibaldi, with 
 his mountaineers, took up a position that would enable him to attack 
 the right wing of the Austrians. 
 
 Later in the month Napoleon himself appeared, his presence 
 and the name he bore inspiring the soldiers with new valor, while 
 his first order of the day, in which he recalled the glorious deeds 
 which their fathers had done on those plains under his great uncle, 
 roused them to the highest enthusiasm. Wliile assuming the title 
 of commander-in-chief, he was wise enough to leave the conduct 
 of the war to his abler subordinates, MacMahon, Niel, and others. 
 
 The Austrian general, having lost the opportunity to attack, 
 was now put on the defensive, in which his incompetence was equally 
 manifested. Being quite ignorant of the position of the foe, he sent 
 Count Stadion, with 12,000 men, on a reconnaissance. An encounter 
 took place at Montebello on May 20th, in which, after a sharp 
 engagement, Stadion was forced to retreat. Gyulai directed his 
 attention to that quarter, leaving Napoleon to march unmolested 
 from Alessandria to the invasion of Lombardy. Gyulai now, 
 aroused by the danger of Milan, began his retreat across the Ticino, 
 which he had so uselessly crossed. 
 
 The road to Milan crossed both the Ticino River and the 
 Naviglio Grande, a broad and deep canal a few miles east of the 
 river. Some distance farther on lies the village of Magenta, the 
 seat of the first great battle of the war. Sixty years before, on 
 those Lombard plains, Napoleon the Great had first lost, and 
 then, by a happy chance, won the famous battle of Marengo. The 
 Napoleon now in command was a very different man from the 
 mighty soldier of the year 1800, and the French escaped a dis- 
 astrous rout only because the Austrians were led by sl still worse 
 general. Some one has said that victory comes to the army that 
 makes the fewest blunders. Such seems to have been the case 
 in the battle of Magenta, where miUtary genius was the one 
 thing wanting. 
 
228 THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 
 
 The French pushed on, crossed the river without finding a 
 man to dispute the passage — other than a much-surprised customs 
 official — and reached an undefended bridge across the canal. 
 The high road to Milan seemed deserted by the Austrians. But 
 Napoleon's troops were drawn out in a preposterous line, straddling 
 a river and a canal, both difficult to cross, and without any defen- 
 sive positions to hold against an attack in force. He supposed that 
 the Austrians were stretched out in a similar long line. This was 
 not the case. Gyulai had all the advantages of position, and 
 might have concentrated his army and crushed the advanced corps 
 of the French if he had known his situation and his business. As 
 it was, between ignorance on the one hand and indecision on the 
 other, the battle was fought with about equal forces in the field 
 on either side. 
 
 The first contest took place at Buffalora, a village on the 
 canal, where the French encountered the Austrians in force. Here 
 a bloody struggle went on for hours, ending in the capture of the 
 place by the Grenadiers of the Guard, who held on to it after- 
 wards with stubborn courage. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF MAGENTA 
 
 General MacMahon, in command of the advance, had his 
 orders to march forward, whatever happened, to the church-tower 
 of Magenta, and, in strict obedience to orders, he pushed on, 
 leaving the grenadiers to hold their own as best they could at Buf- 
 falora, and heedless of the fact that the reserve troops of the army 
 had not yet begun to cross the river. It was the 5th of June, and 
 the day was well advanced when MacMahon came in contact 
 with the Austrians at Magenta, and the great contest of the day 
 began. 
 
 It was a battle in which the commanders on both sides, with 
 the exception of MacMahon, showed lack of military skill and 
 the soldiers on both sides the staunchest courage. The Austrians 
 seemed devoid of plan or system, and their several divisions were 
 
KING EDWARD Vn 
 
 He succeeded to the British throne January 22, 1901, after the death of his 
 mother, Queen Victoria, and reigned until his death on May 6, 1910. 
 
THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 229 
 
 beaten in detail by the French. On the other hand, General 
 Camou, in command of the second division of MacMahon's corps, 
 acted as Desaix had done at the battle of Marengo, marched at 
 the soimd of the distant cannon. But, unhke Desaix, he moved 
 so dehberately that it took him six hours to make less than five 
 miles. He was a tactician of the old school, imbued with the idea 
 that every march should be made in perfect order. 
 
 At half -past four MacMahon, with his uniform in disorder 
 and followed by a few officers of his staff, dashed back to hurry 
 up this dehberate reserve. On the way thither he rode into a body 
 of Austrian sharpshooters. Fortune favored him. Not dreaming 
 of the presence of the French general, they saluted him as one 
 of their own conunanders. On his way back he made a second 
 narrow escape from capture by the Uhlans. 
 
 The dnuns now beat the charge, and a determined attack was 
 made by the French, the enemy's main colimm being taken between 
 two fires. Desperately resisting, it was forced back step by step 
 upon Magenta. Into the town the columns rolled, and the fight 
 became fierce aroimd the church. High in the tower of this edifice 
 stood the Austrian general and his staff, watching the fortunes of 
 the fray; and from this point he caught sight of the four regiments 
 of Camou, advancing as regularly as if on parade. They were 
 not given the chance to fire a shot or receive a scratch, eager as 
 they were to take part in the fight. At sight of them the Austrian 
 general ordered a retreat and the battle was at an end. The 
 French owed their victory largely to General Mellinet and his 
 Grenadiers of the Guard, who held their own like bull-dogs at 
 Buffalora while Camou was advancing with the deliberation of 
 the old military rules. 
 
 MacMahon and Mellinet and the French had won the day. 
 Victor Emmanuel and the Sardinians did not reach the ground 
 imtil after the battle was at an end. For his services on that day 
 of glory for France MacMahon was made Marshal of France and 
 Duke of Magenta. 
 
230 THE AMBITION OF I.OUIS NAPOLEON 
 
 POSSESSION OF LOMBARDY 
 
 The prize of the victory of Magenta was the possession of 
 Lombardy. Gyulai, unable to collect his scattered divisions, gave 
 orders for a general retreat. Milan was evacuated with precipitate 
 haste, and the garrisons were withdrawn from all the towns, leav- 
 ing them to be occupied by the French and Itahans. On the 8th 
 of June Napoleon and Victor Emmanuel rode into Milan side by 
 side, amid the loud acclamations of the people, who looked upon 
 this victory as an assurance of Italian freedom and unity. Mean- 
 while the Austrians retreated without interruption, not halting 
 until they arrived at the Mincio, where they were protected by 
 the famous Quadrilateral, consisting of the four powerful fortresses 
 of Peschiera, Mantua, Verona, and Leguano, the mainstay of the 
 Austrian power in Italy. 
 
 The French and Italians slowly pursued the retreating Aus- 
 trians, and on the 23d of June bivouacked on both banks of the 
 Chiese River, about fifteen miles west of the Mincio. The Emperor 
 Francis Joseph had recalled the incapable Gyulai, and, in hopes 
 of inspiring his soldiers with new spirit, himself took command. 
 The two emperors, neither of them soldiers, were thus pitted against 
 each other, and Francis Joseph, eager to retrieve the disaster at 
 Magenta, resolved to quit his strong position of defense in the 
 Quadrilateral and assume the offensive. 
 
 FRENCH VICTORY AT SOLFERINO 
 
 At two o'clock in the morning of the 24th the allied French 
 and Italian army resumed its march. Napoleon's orders for the 
 day being based upon the reports of his reconnoitering parties and 
 spies. These led him to beHeve that, although a strong detach- 
 ment of the enemy might be encountered west of the Mincio, the 
 main body of the Austrians was awaiting him on the eastern side 
 of the river. But the French intelUgence department was badly 
 served. The Austrians had stolen a march upon Napoleon. 
 Undetected by the French scouts, they had recrossed the Mincio, 
 
THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 231 
 
 and by nightfall of the 23d their leading columns were occupymg 
 the ground on which the French were ordered to bivouac on the 
 evening of the 24th. The intention of the Austrian emperor, now 
 commanding his anny in person, had been to push forward rapidly 
 and fall upon the allies before they had completed the passage of 
 the river Chiese. But this scheme, like that of Napoleon, was 
 based on defective information. The allies broke up from their 
 bivouacs many hours before the Austrians expected them to do 
 so, and when the two anmes came in contact early in the morn- 
 ing of the 24th of June the Austrians were quite as much taken 
 by surprise as the French. 
 
 The Austrian army, superior in nmnbers to its opponents, 
 was posted in a half-circle between the Mincio and Chiese, with 
 the intention of pressing forward from these points upon a center. 
 But the line was extended too far, and the center was compara- 
 tively weak and without reserves. Napoleon, who that morning 
 received complete intelhgence of the position of the Austrian 
 army, accordingly directed his chief strength against the enemy's 
 center, which rested upon a height near the village of Solferino. 
 
 Here, on the 24th of June, after a murderous conflict, in which 
 the French commanders hurled continually renewed masses against 
 the decisive position, while on the other side the Austrian reinforce- 
 ments failed through lack of unity of plan and decision of action, 
 the heights were at length won by the French troops in spite of 
 heroic resistance on the part of the Austrian soldiers; the Austrian 
 line of battle being cut through, and the army thus divided into 
 two separate masses. A second attack which Napoleon promptly 
 directed against Cavriano had a similar result; for the commands 
 given by the Austrian generals were confused and had no general 
 and definite aim. 
 
 The fate of the battle was already in a great measure decided, 
 when a tremendous storm broke forth that put an end to the 
 combat at most points, and gave the Austrians an opportunity 
 to retire in order. Only Benedek, who had twice beaten back the 
 
232 THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 
 
 Sardinians at various points, continued the struggle for some 
 hours longer. On the French side Marshal Niel had pre-eminently 
 distinguished himself by acuteness and bravery. It was a day of 
 bloodshed, on which two great powers had measiu'ed their strength 
 against each other for twelve hom-s. The Austrians had to lament 
 the loss of 13,000 dead and wounded, and left 9,000 prisoners in 
 the enemy's hands; on the side of the French and Sardinians the 
 number of killed and wounded was even greater, for repeated at- 
 tacks had been made upon well-defended heights, but the number 
 of prisoners was not nearly so great. 
 
 TREATY OF PEACE 
 
 The victories in Italy filled the French people with the warm- 
 est admiration for their emperor, they thinking, in their enthu- 
 siasm, that a true successor of Napoleon the Great had come to 
 bring glory to their arms. Italy also was full of enthusiastic hope, 
 fancying that the freedom and unity of the Italians was at last 
 assured. Both nations were, therefore, bitterly disappointed in 
 learning that the war was at an end, and that a hasty peace had 
 been arranged between the emperors which left the hoped-for 
 work but half achieved. 
 
 Napoleon estimated his position better than his people. 
 Despite his victories, his situation was one of danger and difficulty. 
 The army had suffered severely in its brief campaign, and the 
 Austrians were still in possession of the Quadrilateral, a square 
 of powerful fortresses which he might seek in vain to reduce. And 
 a threat of serious trouble had arisen in Germany. The victorious 
 career of a new Napoleon in Italy was alarming. It was not 
 easy to forget the past. The German powers, though they had 
 declined to come to the aid of Austria, were armed and ready, 
 and at any moment might begin a hostile movement upon the 
 Rhine. 
 
 Napoleon, wise enough to secure what he had won, without 
 hazarding its loss, arranged a meeting with the Austrian emperor, 
 
THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 233 
 
 whom he found quite as ready for peace. The terms of the truce 
 arranged between them were that Austria should abandon Lom- 
 bardy to the Une of the Mincio, ahnost its eastern boundary, and 
 that Italy should form a confederacy under the presidency of the 
 pope. In the treaty subsequently made only the first of these con- 
 ditions was maintained, Lombardy passing to the king of Sardinia. 
 He received also the small states of Central Italy, whose tyrants 
 had fled, ceding to Napoleon, as a reward for his assistance, the 
 realm of Savoy and the city and territory of Nice. 
 
 INVASION OF MEXICO 
 
 Napoleon III had now reached the summit of his career. In 
 the succeeding years the French were to learn that they had put 
 their faith in a hollow emblem of glory, and he was to lose the 
 prestige he had falsely gained at Magenta and Solferino. His fii'st 
 serious mistake was when he yielded to the voice of ambition, and, 
 taking advantage of the occupation of the Americans in their 
 civil war, sent an army to invade Mexico. 
 
 The ostensible purpose of this invasion was to collect a debt 
 which the Mexicans had refused to pay, and Great Britain and Spain 
 were induced to take part in the expedition. But their forces were 
 withdrawn when they found that Napoleon had other purposes in 
 view, and his army was left to fight its battles alone. After some 
 sanguinary engagements, the Mexican army was broken into a 
 series of guerilla bands, incapable of facing his well-drilled troops, 
 and Napoleon proceeded to reorganize Mexico as an empire, placing 
 the Archduke Maximilian of Austria on the throne. 
 
 All went well while the people of the United States were fighting 
 for their national union, but when their war was over the ambitious 
 French emperor was soon taught that he had committed a serious 
 error. He was given plainly to understand that the French troops 
 could only be kept in Mexico at the cost of a war with the United 
 States, and he foimd it convenient to withdraw them early in 1867. 
 They had no sooner gone than the Mexicans were in arms against 
 
234 THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 
 
 Maximilian, whose rash acceptance of the advice of the clerical 
 party and determination to remain quickly led to his capture and 
 execution as a usurper. Thus ended in utter failure the most 
 daring effort to ignore the "Monroe Doctrine." 
 
 END OF napoleon's CAREEE 
 
 The inaction of Napoleon during the wars which Prussia fought 
 with Denmark and Austria gave further blows to his prestige in 
 France, and the opposition to his policy of personal government 
 grew so strong that he felt himself obliged to submit his policy to a 
 vote of the people. He was sustained by a large majority, perhaps 
 obtained by the methods familiar to politicians. Certainly he 
 perceived that his power was sinking. He was obliged to loosen the 
 reins of government at home, in spite of the fact that the yielding 
 of increased liberty to the people would diminish his own control. 
 Finally, finding himself failing in health, confidence and reputation, 
 he yielded to advisers who convinced him that the only hope for 
 his dynasty lay in a successful war. As a result he undertook the 
 war of 1870 against Prussia. The story of this war will be given 
 in a subsequent chapter. All that need be said here is that it proved 
 the utter incompetence of Napoleon III in military matters, he 
 being completely deceived in the condition of the French army 
 and unwarrantably ignorant of that of the Germans. The con- 
 ditions were such that victory for France was impossible, France 
 losing its second empire and Napoleon his throne. He died two 
 years later, an exile in England, that place of shelter for the royal 
 refugees of France. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 Garibaldi and Italian Unity 
 
 Power of Austria Broken 
 
 The Carbonari — Mazzini and Garibaldi — Cavour, the Statesman — The Invasion of 
 Sicily — Occupation of Naples — Victor Emmanuel Takes Command — Watchword of 
 the Patriots — Garibaldi Marches Against Rome — Battle of Ironclads — Final Act of 
 
 Italian Unity. 
 
 FROM the time of the fall of the Roman Empire until late 
 in the nineteenth century, a period of some fourteen hun- 
 dred years, Italy remained disunited, divided up among 
 a series of states, small and large, hostile and peaceful, while its 
 territory was made the battle-field of the surrounding Powers, the 
 helpless prey of Germany, France and Spain. Even the strong 
 hand of Napoleon failed to bring it unity, and after his fall its 
 condition was worse than before, for Austria held most of the north 
 and exerted a controlling power over the remainder of the penin- 
 sula, so that the fair form of liberty fled in dismay from its shores. 
 But the work of Napoleon had inspired the patriots of Italy 
 with a new sentiment, that of union. Before the Napoleonic era 
 the thought of a united Italy scarcely existed, and patriotism 
 meant adherence to Sardinia, Naples, or some other of the many 
 kingdoms and duchies. After that era union became the watch- 
 word of the revolutionists, who felt that the only hope of giving 
 Italy a position of dignity and honor among the nations lay in 
 making it one country under one ruler. The history of the nine- 
 teenth century in Italy is the record of the attempt to reach this 
 end, and its successful accomplishment. And on that record the 
 names of two men most prominently appear, Mazzini, the inde- 
 fatigable conspirator, and Garibaldi, the valorous fighter; to whose 
 names should be added that of the eminent statesman, Count 
 
 (235) 
 
236 GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 
 
 Cavour, and that of the man who reaped the benefit of their patriotic 
 labors, Victor Emmanuel, the first king of united Italy. 
 
 THE CAEBONARI 
 
 The basis of the revolutionary movements in Italy was the 
 secret poUtical association known as the Carbonari, formed early 
 in the nineteenth century and including members of all classes in 
 its ranks. In 1814 this powerful society projected a revolution in 
 Naples, and in 1820 it was strong enough to invade Naples with 
 an army and force from the king an oath to observe the new con- 
 stitution which it had prepared. The revolution was put down 
 in the following year by the Austrians, acting as the agents of the 
 "Holy Alhance" — the compact of Austria, Prussia and Russia. 
 
 An ordinance was passed condemning any one who should 
 attend a meeting of the Carbonari to capital pimishment. But 
 the society continued to exist, despite this severe enactment, and 
 was at the basis of many of the outbreaks that took place in Italy 
 from 1820 onward. Mazzini, Garibaldi, and all the leading patriots 
 were members of this powerful organization, which was daring 
 enough to condemn Napoleon III to death, and ahnost to succeed 
 in his assassination, for his failure to live up to his obligations as a 
 member of the society. 
 
 MAZZINI AND GARIBALDI 
 
 Giuseppe Mazzini, a native of Genoa, became a member of 
 the Carbonari in 1830. His activity in revolutionary movements 
 caused him soon after to be proscribed, and in 1831 he sought 
 Marseilles, where he organized a new political society called "Young 
 Italy," whose watchword was "God and the People," and whose 
 basic principle was the union of the several states and kingdoms 
 into one nation, as the only true foundation of ItaUan Hberty. 
 This purpose he avowed in his writings and pursued through exile 
 and adversity with inflexible constancy, and it is largely due to 
 the work of this earnest patriot that Italy today is a single king- 
 
o 
 
 w 
 O 
 
 d 
 o 
 
 Hi 
 
 H 
 
Leon Gambetta. 
 
 M. Armand Fallieres. 
 
 Adolphe Thiers. Ferdinand De Lesseps. 
 
 EMINENT MEN OF MODERN FRANCE 
 
GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 237 
 
 dom instead of a medley of separate states. Only in one particular 
 did he fail. His persistent purpose was to establish a republic, 
 not a monarchy. 
 
 While Mazzini was thus working with his pen, his compatriot, 
 Giuseppe Garibaldi, was working as earnestly with his sword. This 
 daring soldier, a native of Nice and reared to a life on the sea, 
 was banished as a revolutionist in 1834, and the succeeding four- 
 teen years of his life were largely spent in South America, in whose 
 wars he played a leading part. 
 
 The revolution of 1848 opened Italy to these two patriots, 
 and they hastened to return; Garibaldi to offer his services to 
 Charles Albert of Sardinia, by whom, however, he was treated with 
 coldness and distrust. Mazzini, after founding the Roman republic 
 in 1849, called upon Garibaldi to come to its defense, and the latter 
 displayed the greatest heroism in the contest against the NeapoUtan 
 and French invaders. He escaped from Rome on its capture by 
 the French, and, after many desperate conflicts and adventures 
 with the Austrians, was again driven into exile, and ia 1850 became 
 a resident of New York. For some tune he worked in a manufac- 
 tory of candles on Staten Island, and afterwards made several 
 voyages on the Pacific. 
 
 The war in 1859 of Napoleon III and Victor Emmanuel against 
 the Austrians in Lombardy opened a new and promising channel 
 for the devotion of Garibaldi to his native land. Being appointed 
 major-general and commissioned to raise a volunteer corps, he 
 organized the hardy body of mountaineers called the ''Hunters 
 of the Alps," and with them performed prodigies of valor on the 
 plains of Lombardy, winning victories over the Austrians at Varese, 
 Como and other places. In his ranks was his fellow-patriot Mazzini. 
 
 The success of the French and Sardinians in Lombardy during 
 this war stirred Italy to its center. The grand duke of Tuscany 
 fled to Austria. The duchess of Parma sought refuge in Switzer- 
 land. The duke of Modena found shelter in the Austrian camp. 
 Everywhere the brood of tyrants took to flight. Bologna threw 
 
238 GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 
 
 off its allegiance to the pope, and proclaimed the king of Sardinia 
 dictator. Several other towns in the States of the Church did the 
 same. In the terms of the truce between Louis Napoleon and 
 Francis Joseph the rulers of these realms were to resume their 
 reigns if the people would permit. But the people would not 
 permit, and these minor states were all annexed to Sardinia, which 
 country was greatly expanded as a result of the war. 
 
 CAVOUR THE STATESMAN 
 
 It will not suflSce to give all the credit for these revolutionary 
 movements to Mazzini, the organizer, Garibaldi, the soldier, and 
 the ambitious monarchs of France and Sardinia. More important 
 than king and emperor was the eminent statesman, Coimt Cavour, 
 prime minister of Sardinia from 1852. It is to this able man that 
 the honor of the unification of Italy most fully belongs, though he 
 did not live to see it. He sent a Sardinian army to the assistance 
 of France and England in the Crimea in 1855, and by this act gave 
 his state a standing among the Powers of Europe. He secured 
 Hberty of the press and favored toleration in religion and freedom 
 of trade. He rebelled against the dominion of the papacy, and 
 devoted his abilities to the liberation and unity of Italy, undis- 
 mayed by the angry fulminations from the Vatican. The war of 
 1859 was his work, and he had the satisfaction of seeing Sardinia 
 increased by the addition of Lombardy, Tuscany, Parma and 
 Modena. A great step had been taken in the work to which he had 
 devoted his life. 
 
 THE INVASION OF SICILY 
 
 The next step in the great work was taken by Garibaldi, who 
 now struck at the powerful kingdom of Naples and Sicily in the 
 south. It seemed a difficult task. Francis II, the son and successor 
 of the infamous "King Bomba," had a well-organized army of 
 150,000 men. But his father's tyranny had filled the land wuth 
 secret societies, and fortunately at this time the Swiss mercenaries 
 
GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 239 
 
 were recalled home, leaving to Francis only his native troops, many 
 of them disloyal at heart to his cause. This was the critical inter^'^al 
 which Mazzini and Garibaldi chose for their work. 
 
 At the beginning of April, 1860, the signal was given by separate 
 insurrections in Messina and Palermo. These were easily sup- 
 pressed by the troops in garrison; but though both cities were 
 declared in a state of siege, demonstrations took place bj'^ which 
 the revolutionary chiefs excited the public mind. On the 6th of 
 May, Garibaldi started with two steamers from Genoa with about 
 a thousand ItaUan volunteers, and on the 11th landed near Marsala, 
 on the west coast of Sicily. He proceeded to the mountains, and 
 near Salemi gathered round him the scattered bands of the free 
 corps. By the 14th his army had increased to 4,000 men. He 
 now issued a proclamation, in which he took upon himself the 
 dictatorship of Sicily, in the name of Victor Emmanuel, king of 
 Italy. 
 
 After waging various successful combats under the most 
 difficult circumstances. Garibaldi advanced upon the capital, 
 announcing his arrival by beacon-fires kindled at night. On the 
 27th he was in front of the Porta Termina of Palermo, and at once 
 gave the signal for the attack. The people rose in mass, and 
 assisted the operations of the besiegers by barricade-fighting in 
 the streets. In a few hours half the town was in Garibaldi's 
 hands. But now General Lanza, whom the young king had dis- 
 patched with strong reinforcements to Sicily, furiously bom- 
 barded the insurgent city, so that Palermo was reduced almost 
 to a heap of ruins. 
 
 At this juncture, by the intervention of an English admiral, 
 an armistice was concluded, which led to the departure of the 
 Neapolitan troops and war vessels and the surrender of the town 
 to Garibaldi, who thus, with a band of 5,000 badly armed fol- 
 lowers, had gained a signal advantage over a regular army of 
 25,000 men. This event had tremendous consequences, for it 
 showed the utter hollowness of the Neapolitan government, while 
 
240 GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 
 
 Garibaldi's fame was everywhere spread abroad. The glowing 
 fancy of the ItaUans beheld in him the national hero before whom 
 every enemy would bite the dust. This idea seemed to extend 
 even to the Neapolitan court itself, where all was doubt, confusion 
 and dismay. The king hastily summoned a hberal ministry, and 
 offered to restore the constitution of 1848, but the general verdict 
 was, ''too late," and his proclamation fell flat on a people who 
 had no trust in Bourbon faith. 
 
 The arrival of Garibaldi in Naples was enough to set in blaze 
 all the combustible materials in that state. His appearance there 
 was not long delayed. Six weeks after the surrender of Palermo 
 he marched against Messina. On the 21st of July the fortress of 
 Melazzo was evacuated, and a week afterwards all Messina except 
 the citadel was given up. 
 
 OCCUPATION OF NAPLES 
 
 Europe was astounded at the remarkable success of Gari- 
 baldi's handful of men. On the mainland his good fortune was 
 still more astonishing. He had hardly landed — ^which he did 
 almost in the face of the Neapolitan fleet — ^when Reggio was sur- 
 rendered and its garrison withdrew. His progress through the 
 south of the kingdom was like a triumphal procession. At the 
 end of August he was at Cosenza; on the 5th of September at 
 Eboli, near Salerno. No resistance appeared. His very name 
 seemed to work like magic on the population. The capital had 
 been declared in a state of siege, and on September 6th the king 
 took to flight, retiring, with the 4,000 men still faithful to him, 
 behind the Voltumo. The next day Garibaldi, with a few fol- 
 lowers, entered Naples, whose populace received him with frantic 
 shouts of welcome. 
 
 The remarkable achievements of Garibaldi filled all Italy 
 with overmastering excitement. He had declared that he would 
 proclaim the kingdom of Italy from the heart of its capital city, 
 and nothing less than this would content the people. The position 
 
GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 241 
 
 of the pope had become serious. He refused to grant the reforms 
 suggested by the French emperor, and threatened with excom- 
 munication any one who should meddle with the domain of the 
 Church. Money was collected from faithful Cathohcs throughout 
 the world, a smnmons was issued calling for recruits to the holy 
 army of the pope, and the exiled French General Lamoriciere was 
 given the chief command of the troops, composed of men who 
 had flocked to Rome from many nations. It was hoped that the 
 name of the celebrated French leader would have a favorable 
 influence on the troops of the French garrison of Rome. 
 
 The settlement of the perilous situation seemed to rest with 
 Louis Napoleon. If he had let Garibaldi have his way the latter 
 would, no doubt, have quickly ended the temporal sovereignty 
 of the pope and made Rome the capital of Italy. But Napoleon 
 seems to have arranged with Cavour to leave the king of Sardinia 
 free to take possession of Naples, Umbria and the other provinces, 
 provided that Rome and the '^ patrimony of St. Peter" were left 
 intact. 
 
 VICTOR EMMANUEL TAKES COMMAND 
 
 At the beginning of September two Sardinian army corps, 
 under Fanti and Cialdini, marched to the borders of the states 
 of the Church. Lamoriciere advanced against Cialdini with his 
 motley troops, but was quickly defeated, and on the following 
 day was besieged in the fortress of Ancona. On the 29th he and 
 the garrison surrendered as prisoners of war. On the 9th of 
 October Victor Enomanuel arrived and took command. There 
 was no longer a papal army to oppose him, and the march south- 
 ward proceeded without a checli. 
 
 The object of the king in assiuning the chief conunand was 
 to complete the conquest of the kingdom of Naples, in conjunction 
 with Garibaldi. For though Garibaldi had entered the capital in 
 triumph, the progress on the line of the Voltumo had been slow; 
 and the expectation that the Neapolitan army would go over to 
 
 16 
 
242 GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 
 
 the inraders in a mass had not been realized. The great majority 
 of the troops remained faithful to the flag, so that Garibaldi, 
 although his irregular bands amounted to more than 25,000 men, 
 could not hope to drive away King Francis, or to take the fortresses 
 of Capua and Gaeta, without the help of Sardinia. Against the 
 diplomatic statesman Cavour, who fostered no illusions, and saw 
 the conditions of affairs in its true light, the simple, honest Gari- 
 baldi cherished a deep aversion. He could never forgive Cavour 
 for having given up Nice, Garibaldi's native town, to the French. 
 On the other hand, he felt attracted toward the king, who, in his 
 opinion, seemed to be the man raised up by Providence for the 
 liberation of Italy. 
 
 Accordingly, when Victor Emmanuel entered Sessa, at the 
 head of his army, Garibaldi was easily induced to place his dicta- 
 torial power in the hands of the king, to whom he left the com- 
 pletion of the work of the union of Italy. After greeting Victor 
 Emmanuel with the title of King of Italy, and giving the required 
 resignation of his power, with the words, ''Sire, I obey," he 
 entered Naples, riding beside the king; and then, after recom- 
 mending his companions in arms to his majesty's special favor, he 
 retired to his home on the island of Caprera, refusmg to receive a 
 reward, in any shape or form, for his services to the state and 
 its head. 
 
 The progress of the Sardinian army compelled Francis to 
 give up the line of the Volturno, and he eventually took refuge, 
 with his best troops, in the fortress of Gaeta. On the maintenance 
 of this fortress hung the fate of the kingdom of Naples. Its 
 defense is the only bright point in the career of the feeble Francis, 
 whose courage was aroused by the heroic resolution of his young 
 wife, the Bavarian Princess Mary. For three months the defense 
 continued. But no European Power came to the aid of the king, 
 disease appeared with scarcity of food and of munitions of war, 
 and the garrison was at length forced to capitulate. The fall of 
 Gaeta was practically the completion of the great work of the 
 
GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 243 
 
 unification of Italy. Only Rome and Venice remained to be added 
 to the united kingdom. On February 18, 1861, Victor Emmanuel 
 assembled at Turin the deputies of all the states that acknowledged 
 his supremacy, and in their presence assumed the title of King of 
 Italy, which he was the first to bear. In four months afterwards 
 Count Cavour, to whom this great work was largely due, died. 
 He had lived long enough to see the purpose of his life practically 
 accomplished. 
 
 WATCHWORD OF THE PATRIOTS 
 
 Great as had been the change which two j'^ears had made, the 
 patriots of Italy were not satisfied. 'Tree from the Alps to the 
 Adriatic!" was their cry; ''Rome and Venice!" became the watch- 
 word of the revolutionists. Mazzini, who had sought to found a 
 republic, was far from content, and the agitation went on. 
 Garibaldi was drawn into it, and made bitter complaint of the 
 treatment his followers had received. In 1862, disheartened at 
 the inaction of the king, he determined to undertake against Rome 
 an expedition like that which he had led against Naples two 
 years before. 
 
 In Jime he sailed from Genoa and landed at Palermo, where 
 he was quickly joined by an enthusiastic party of volunteers. 
 They supposed that the government secretly favored their design, 
 but the king had no idea of fighting against the French troops in 
 Rome and arousing international complications, and he energetic- 
 ally warned all Italians against taking part in revolutionary 
 enterprises. 
 
 GARIBALDI MARCHES AGAINST ROME 
 
 But Garibaldi persisted in his design. When his way was 
 barred by the garrison of Messina he turned aside to Catania, 
 where he embarked with 2,000 volmiteers, declaring he would enter 
 Rome as a victor, or perish beneath its walls. He landed at Melito 
 on the 24th of August, and threw himself at once, with his fol- 
 
244 GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 
 
 lowers, into the Calabrian mountains. But his enteiprise was 
 quickly and disastrously ended. General Cialdini despatched a 
 division of the regular army, under Colonel Pallavicino, against the 
 volmiteer bands. At Aspromonte, on the 28th of August, the 
 two forces came into collison. A chance shot was followed by 
 several volleys from the regulars. Garibaldi forbade his men to 
 return the fire of their fellow-subjects of the Italian kingdom. He 
 was wounded, and taken prisoner with his followers, a few of whom 
 had been slain in the short combat. A government steamer car- 
 ried the wounded chief to Varignano, where he was held in a sort 
 of honorable imprisonment, and was compelled to undergo a 
 tedious and painful operation for the healing of his woimd. He 
 had at least the consolation that all Em-ope looked with sympathy 
 and interest upon the unfortunate hero; and a general sense of 
 reUef was felt when, restored to health, he was set free, and 
 allowed to return to his rocky island of Caprera. 
 
 Victor Emmanuel was seeking to accomphsh his end by safer 
 means. The French garrison of Rome was the obstacle in his 
 way, and this was finally removed through a treaty with Louis 
 Napoleon in September, 1864, the emperor agreeing to withdraw 
 his troops during the succeeding two years, in which the pope was 
 to raise an army large enough to defend his dominions. Florence 
 was to replace Turin as the capital of Italy. This arrangement 
 created such disturbances in Turin that the king was forced to 
 leave that city hastily for his new capital. In December, 1866, 
 the last of the French troops departed from Rome, in despite of the 
 efforts of the pope to retain them. By their withdrawal Italy was 
 freed from the presence of foreign soldiers for the first time prob- 
 ably in a thousand years. 
 
 In 1866 came an event which reacted favorably for Italy, 
 though her part in it was the reverse of triumphant. This was the 
 war between Prussia and Austria. Italy was in aUiance with 
 Prussia, and Victor Emmanuel hastened to lead an army across 
 the Mincio to the invasion of Venetia, the last Austrian province 
 
GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 245 
 
 in Italy. Garibaldi at the same time was to invade the Tyrol 
 with his volunteers. The enterprise ended in disaster. The 
 Austrian troops, imder the Archduke Albert, encountered the 
 Italians at Custozza and gained a brilliant victory, despite the 
 much greater numbers of the Itahans. 
 
 Fortunately for Italy, the Austrians had been imsuccessful in 
 the north, and the emperor, with the hope of gaining the alUance 
 of France and breaking the compact between Italy and Prussia, 
 decided to cede Venetia to Louis Napoleon. His purpose failed. 
 All Napoleon did in response was to act as a peacemaker, while 
 the Italian king refused to recede from his alUance. Though the 
 Austrians were retreating from a coimtry which no longer belonged 
 to them, the invasion of Venetia by the Italians continued, and 
 several conflicts with the Austrian army took place. 
 
 BATTLE OF IRONCLADS 
 
 But the most memorable event of this brief war occurred on 
 the sea — the greatest battle of ironclad ships in the period between 
 the American Civil War and the Japan-China contest. Both coun- 
 tries concerned had fleets on the Adriatic. Italy was the strongest 
 in naval vessels, possessing ten ironclads and a considerable number 
 of wooden ships. Austria's ironclad fleet was seven in number, 
 plated with thin iron and with no very heavy guns. In addition 
 there was a number of wooden vessels and gunboats. But in com- 
 mand of this fleet was an admiral in whose blood was the iron which 
 was lacking on his ships, Tegetthoff, the Dewey of the Adriatic. 
 Inferior as his ships were, his men were thoroughly drilled in the use 
 of the guns and the evolutions of the ships, and when he sailed it 
 was with the one thought of victory. 
 
 Persano, the ItaUan admiral, as if despising his adversary, 
 engaged in siege of the fortified island of Lissa, near the Dalmatian 
 coast, leaving the Austrians to do what" they pleased. What they 
 pleased was to attack him with a fury such as has been rarely seen. 
 Early on July 20, 1866, when the Italians were preparing for a com- 
 
246 GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 
 
 bined assault of the island by land and sea, their movement was 
 checked by the signal displayed on a scouting frigate: ''Suspicious- 
 looking ships are in sight." Soon afterwards the Austrian fleet 
 appeared, the ironclads leading, the wooden ships in the rear. 
 
 The battle that followed has had no parallel before or since. 
 The whole Austrian fleet was converted into rams. Tegetthoff 
 gave one final order to his captains: "Close with the enemy and 
 ram everything grey." Grey was the color of the Italian ships. 
 The Austrian were painted black, so as to prevent any danger of 
 error. 
 
 Fire was opened at two miles distance, the balls being wasted 
 in the waters between the fleets. "Full steam ahead," signaled 
 Tegetthoff. On came the fleets, firing steadily, the balls now begin- 
 ning to tell. "Ironclads will ram and sink the enemy," signaled 
 Tegetthoff. It was the last order he gave until the battle was won. 
 
 Soon the two lines of ironclads closed amid thick clouds of 
 smoke. Tegetthoff, in his flagship, the Ferdinand Max, twice ram- 
 med a grey ironclad without effect. Then, out of the smoke, loomed 
 up the tall masts of the Re d'ltalia, Persano's flagship in the begin- 
 ning of the fray. Against this vessel the Ferdinand Max rushed 
 at full speed, and struck her fairly amidships. Her sides of iron 
 were crushed in by the powerful blow, her tall masts toppled over, 
 and down beneath the waves sank the great ship with her crew of 
 600 men. The next minute another Italian ship came rushing upon 
 the Austrian, and was only avoided by a quick turn of the hebn. 
 
 One other great disaster occurred to the Italians. The Palestro 
 was set on fire, and the pumps were put actively to work to drown 
 the magazine. The crew thought the work had been successfully 
 performed, and that they were getting the fire under control, when 
 there suddenly came a terrible burst of flame attended by a roar 
 that drowned all the din of the battle. It was the death knell of 
 400 men, for the Palestro had blown up with all on board. 
 
 The great ironclad turret ship and ram of the Italian fleet, the 
 Affondatore, to which Admiral Persano had shifted his flag, far the 
 
GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 247 
 
 most powerful vessel in the Adriatic, kept outside of the battle- 
 line, and was of Uttle service in the fray. It was apparently afraid 
 to encounter Tegetthoff's terrible rams. The battle ended with 
 the Austrian fleet, wooden vessels and all, passing practically 
 unharmed through the Italian lines into the harbor of Lissa, leaving 
 death and destruction in their rear. Tegetthoff was the one Aus- 
 trian who came out of that war with fame. Persano on his return 
 home was put on trial for cowardice and incompetence. He was 
 convicted of the latter and dismissed from the navy in disgrace. 
 
 FINAL ACT OF ITALIAN UNITY 
 
 But Italy, though defeated by land and sea, gained a valuable 
 prize from the war, for Napoleon ceded Venetia to the Italian 
 king, and soon afterwards Victor Emmanuel entered Venice in 
 triumph. Thus was completed the second act in the unification 
 of Italy. 
 
 The national party, with Garibaldi at its head, still aimed at 
 the possession of Rome, as the historic capital of the peninsula. 
 In 1867 he made a second attempt to capture Rome, but the papal 
 army, strengthened with a new French auxiliary force, defeated his 
 badly armed volunteers, and he was taken prisoner and held captive 
 for a time, after which he was sent back to Caprera. This led to the 
 Frerch army of occupation bemg returned to Civita Vecchia, 
 where it was kept for several, years. 
 
 The final act came as a consequence of the Franco-German 
 war of 1870, which rendered necessary the withdrawal of the 
 French troops from Italy. The pope was requested to make a 
 peaceful abdication. As he refused this, the States of the Church 
 were occupied up to the walls of the capital, and a three hours' 
 cannonade of the city sufficed to bring the long strife to an end. 
 Rome became the capital of Italy, and the whole peninsula, for 
 the first time since the fall of the ancient Roman empire, was con- 
 centrated into a single nation, under one king. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 The Expansion of Germany 
 
 Beginnings of Modern World Power 
 
 William I of Prussia — Bismarck's Early Career — The Schleswig-Holstein Question — 
 Conquest of the Duchies — Bismarck's Wider Views — War Forced on Austria — The 
 War in Italy — ^Austria's Signal Defeat at Sadowa — The Treaty of Prague — Germany 
 
 after 1866. 
 
 ^HE effort made in 1848 to unify Germany had failed for 
 two reasons — ^first, because its promoters had not suffi- 
 ciently clear and precise ideas, and, secondly, because they 
 lacked material strength. Until 1859 reaction against novelties 
 and their advocates dominated in Germany and even Prussia as 
 well as in Austria. The ItaUan war, as was easily foreseen, and as 
 wary counselors had told Napoleon III, revived the agitation in 
 favor of unity beyond the Rhine. After September 16, 1859, it 
 had its center in the national circle of Frankfort and its manifesto 
 in the proclamation which this issued on September 4, 1860, a 
 proclamation whose terms, though in moderate forms, clearly 
 announced the design of excluding Austria from Germany. It was 
 the object of those favoring unity, but with more decision than in 
 1848, to place the group of German states under Prussia's imperial 
 direction. The accession of a new king, Wilham I, who was 
 already in advance called William the Conqueror, was likely to 
 bring this project to a successful issue. The future German 
 emperor's predecessor, Frederick Wilham IV, with the same ambi- 
 tion as his brother, had too many prejudices and too much con- 
 fusion in his mind to be capable of reahzing it. Becoming insane 
 towards the close of 1857, he had to leave the government to 
 William, who, officially regent after October 7, 1858, became king 
 on January 2, 1861. 
 
 (248) 
 
THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 249 
 
 WILLIAM I OF PRUSSIA 
 
 The new sovereign was almost sixty-four years old. The son 
 of Frederick William III and Queen Louisa, while yet a child he 
 had witnessed the disasters of his country and his home, and then 
 as a young man had had his first experience of aims towards the 
 close of the Napoleonic wars. Obliged to flee during the revolt 
 of 1848, he had afterwards, by his pro-English attitude at the time 
 of the Crimean war, won the sympathies of the Liberals, who 
 joyfully acclaimed his accession. To lower him to the rank of a 
 party leader was to judge him erroneously. William I was above 
 all a Prussian prince, serious, industrious, and penetrated with a 
 sense of his duties to the state, the first of which, according to the 
 men of his house, has ever been to aggrandize it; and he was also 
 imbued with the idea that the state was essentially incarnate in 
 him. 
 
 ''I am the first king," he said at his coronation, "to assume 
 power since the throne has been surrounded with modem institu- 
 tions, hut I do not forget that the crown comes from God." 
 
 He had none of the higher talents that mark great men, but he 
 possessed the two essential quahties of the head of a state — firm- 
 ness and judgment. He showed this by the way in which he chose 
 and supported those who built up his greatness, and this merit is 
 rarer than is generally supposed. A soldier above all, he saw that 
 Prussia's ambitions could be realized only with a powerful army. 
 
 Advised by Von Moltke, the army's chief of staff after 1858, 
 and Von Roon, the great administrator, who filled the office of min- 
 ister of war, he changed the organization of 1814, which had become 
 insufi&cient. Instead of brigades formed in war time, half of m^en 
 in active service and half of reserves, regiments were now recruited 
 by a three (instead of a two) years' service and reinforced in case 
 of need by the classes of reserves. The Landwehr, divided into two 
 classes (twenty-five to thirty-two years and thirty-two to thirty- 
 nine), was grouped separately. This system gave seven hundred 
 thousand trained soldiers, Prussia having then seventeen million 
 
250 THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 
 
 inhabitants. This was more than either France or Austria had. 
 The armament was also superior. Frederick William I had already 
 said that the first result to be obtained in this direction was 
 celerity in firing. This was assured by the invention of the 
 needle gun. 
 
 Bismarck's early career 
 
 Such a transformation entailed heavy expenses. The Prussian 
 Chamber, made up for the most part of Liberals, did not appre- 
 ciate its utility. Moreover, it was not in favor of increasing the 
 number of officers, because they were recruited from the nobiUty. 
 After having yielded with bad grace in 1860, the deputies refused 
 the grants in 1861 and 1862. It was at this time that Bismarck 
 was called to the ministry (September 24, 1862). Otto von Bis- 
 marck-Schonhausen, bom April 1, 1815, belonged by birth to 
 that minor Prussian nobility, rough and reahstic, but faithful and 
 disciplined, which has ever been one of the Prussian state's sources 
 of strength. After irregular studies at the University of Gottingen, 
 he had entered the administration, but had not been able to stay 
 in it, and had lived on his rather moderate estates until 1847. 
 The diet of that year, to which he had been elected, brought him 
 into prominence. There he distinguished himself in the Junker 
 (poor country squires') party by his marked contempt for the 
 Liberalism then in vogue and his insolence to the Liberals. Fred- 
 erick William IV entrusted him with representing Prussia at 
 Frankfort, where he assumed the same attitude towards the 
 Austrians (1851-59). 
 
 He was afterward ambassador at St. Petersburg, and had Just 
 been sent to Paris in the same capacity when he became prime 
 minister. 
 
 His character was a marked one. In it was evident a taste 
 for sarcastic raillery and a sort of frankness, apparently brutal, 
 but really more refined than cruel. His qualities were those 
 of all great politicians, embracing energy, decision and realism; 
 
THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 251 
 
 that is, talent for appreciating all things at their effective value 
 and for not letting himself be duped either by appearances, by 
 current theories, or by words. Very unfavorably received by the 
 parliament, he paid little heed to the furious opposition of the 
 deputies, causing to be promulgated by ordinance the budget 
 which they refused him, suppressing hostile newspapers, treating 
 his adversaries with studied insolence, and declaring to them that, 
 if the Chamber had its rights, the king also had his, and that force 
 must settle the matter in such a case. To get rid of these barren 
 struggles, he took advantage of the first incident of foreign politics. 
 The Schleswig-Holstein question furnished him with the desired 
 opportunity. 
 
 THE SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN QUESTION 
 
 This was the first of the various important questions of inter- 
 national policy in which Bismarck became concerned. The united 
 provinces of Schleswig-Holstein, lying on the northern border of 
 Denmark, had long been notable as a source of continual strife 
 between Germany and Denmark. The majority of the inhabitants 
 of Schleswig were Danes, but those of Holstein were very largely 
 Germans, and the question of their true national affiliation lay 
 open from the time of their original union in 1386. It became^ 
 insistent after the middle of the nineteenth century. 
 
 The treaty of London in 1852 had maintained the imion of 
 Holstein with Denmark, but did not put a definite end to the 
 demands of the Germans, who held that it was a constituent part 
 of Germany. The quarrel was renewed in 1855 over a coimnon 
 constitution given by King Frederick VII to all his states. This 
 was abolished in 1858, and afterwards the Danes sought to grant 
 complete autonomy to the duchies of Schleswig and Lauenburg, 
 this movement being with the purpose of making more complete 
 the union of Schleswig with their country. This step, taken in 
 1863, led to a protest from the Gei-man diet. 
 
 In all this there was food for an indefinite contest, for, on the 
 
252 THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 
 
 one hand, Schleswig did not form a part of the Confederation, but, 
 on the other, certain historical bonds attached it to Holstein, and 
 its population was mixed. The death of Frederick VII (November 
 15, 1863), who was succeeded by a distant relative. Christian IX, 
 further complicated the quarrel. The duke of Augustenburg 
 claimed the three duchies, though he had previously renounced 
 them. The German diet, on its part, wanted the Danish constitu- 
 tion abohshed in Schleswig. 
 
 The dream of the petty German states hostile to Prussia, and 
 especially of the Saxon minister. Von Beust, was to strengthen 
 their party by the creating of a new duchy. Bismarck admirably 
 outplayed everybody. He knew that the great Powers were at 
 odds with one another over Poland. He, on the contrary, could 
 count on Russia's friendship and the personal aid of Queen 
 Victoria, whom Prince Albert had completely won over to pro- 
 German ideas. He used England to make Christian IX consent 
 to the occupation of Holstein, which, he said, was in reality an 
 acknowledgment of that king's rights. At this stage, had the 
 Danes yielded to the necessities of the situation and withdrawn 
 from Schleswig under protest, the European Powers would prob- 
 ably have intervened and a congress would have restored Schles- 
 wig to the Danish reahn. Bismarck prevented this by a cunning 
 stratagem, making the Copenhagen government believe that Great 
 Britain had taken a step hostile to that government. There was 
 no truth in this, but it succeeded in inducing Denmark to remain 
 defiant. As a consequence, on the 1st of February 1864, the 
 combined forces of Prussia and Austria crossed the Eider and 
 invaded the province. 
 
 It was a movement to regain to Germany a section held to be 
 non-Danish in population and retained by Denmark against the 
 traditions and the will of its people. Austria, which did not wish 
 to appear less German than Prussia, though the matter did not 
 directly appeal to that country, joined in the movement, being 
 drawn into it by Bismarck's shrewd policy. 
 
THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 253 
 
 It was not the original intention to go beyond the borders 
 of the duchies and invade Denmark, but when Christian IX tried 
 to resist the invasion this was done. The Danewerk and the 
 Schlei were forced, and the Danish army was defeated at Flens- 
 burg and driven back into Dueppel, which was taken by assault. 
 A conference of the great Powers, opened at London (April 25th 
 to June 25th), brought about no result. Napoleon III did not 
 refuse to act, but he wanted as a condition that England would 
 promise him something more than its moral support, which it 
 refused to do. Finally Jutland was invaded and conquered, and 
 Von Moltke was already preparing for a landing in Fuenen when 
 Christian IX gave up all the duchies by the Vienna preliminaries 
 (August 1st), confirmed by treaty on October 30th following. 
 
 CONQUEST OF THE DUCHIES 
 
 The fate of the conquest remained to be decided upon. Bis- 
 marck settled it, after a pretence of investigation, by concluding 
 that the rights of King Christian over the duchies were far superior 
 to those of the Duke of Augustenburg, who had a hereditary claim, 
 and that as Prussia and Austria had won them from the king by 
 conquest, they had become the lawful owners. An agreement 
 was made in which Holstein was assigned to Austria and Schleswig 
 to Prussia, and for the time the question seemed settled. 
 
 Bismarck's wider views 
 
 This was far from being the case. Bismarck held views of 
 far more expanded scope. He wanted to exclude Austria from 
 the German confederation, and to do so desired war with that 
 country as the only practical means of gaining his ends. In 1865 
 he made the significant remark that a single battle in Bohemia 
 would decide everything and that Prussia would win that battle. 
 A remark like this was indicative" of the purpose entertained and 
 the events soon to follow. 
 
 In such a war, however, it was important to secure the 
 
254 THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 
 
 neutrality of France. The alert Prussian statesman had akeady 
 assured himself of that of Russia. To gain France to his side he 
 held an interview with Napoleon III at Biarritz in October, 1865. 
 The cunning diplomat offered the emperor an alliance with a view 
 to the extension of Prussia and Italy, by means of which France 
 would take Belgium. Napoleon saw very clearly that the offer 
 was chimerical, but he believed that Prussia if fighting alone 
 would be rapidly crushed, and that the alliance of Italy would aid 
 him in protracting the war, thus enabling him to intervene as a 
 peacemaker and to impose a vast rearrangement of territory, the 
 most essential provision of which would be the exchange of Venetia 
 for Silesia. Whatever Napoleon's views, Bismarck saw that he 
 was safe from any interference on the part of Trance, and returned 
 with the fixed design of driving Austria to the wall. 
 
 WAR FORCED ON AUSTRIA 
 
 He found the desired pretext in the Holstein question and the 
 Jar more serious one of reforming the federal government. On 
 January 24, 1866, he reproached the Austrian government with 
 favoring in Holstein the pretensions of the Duke of Augustenburg. 
 The grievance soon became envenomed by complaints and ulterior 
 measures. In April Bismarck denounced the so-called offensive 
 measures which Austria was taking in Bohemia and which, in short, 
 were only precautionary. Yet at the same time he himself was 
 signing with Italy a treaty, concluded for three months, by virtue 
 of which Victor Emmanuel was to declare war against Austria 
 as soon as Prussia itself had done so. 
 
 Bismarck, now invited to lay the Austrian-Prussian dispute 
 before the diet, answered by asking that an assembly elected by 
 universal suffrage be called to discuss the question of federal 
 reform. And when Austria offered to disarm in Bohemia if Prussia 
 would do so on its part, Bismarck demanded, in addition, dis- 
 armament in Venetia, a condition he knew to be imacceptable. 
 On May 7, 1866, he declared he would not accept the diet's inter- 
 
THE EXPANSION 9F GERMANY 255 
 
 vention in the duchies question, and on the 8th ordered the mobili- 
 zation of the Prussian army. 
 
 Napoleon III at this juncture proposed the holding of a con- 
 gress for settUng the duchies question and that of federal reform. 
 Thiers had warned him m vain, in an admirable speech delivered 
 on May 3d, that France had everything to lose by aiding in 
 bringing about the unity of Germany. The emperor obstinately 
 persisted, proposing to tear up those treaties of 1815 which, two 
 years before, he had childishly declared to be no longer in existence. 
 His proposition of a congress, however, failed through the refusal 
 of Austria and the petty states to take part in it. He next signed 
 with Austria a secret treaty by which the latter promised to cede 
 Venetia after its first victory and on condition of being indenmi- 
 fied at Prussia's expense. By a strange inconsistency the French 
 emperor proposed at the same time to make Prussia more homo- 
 geneous in the north. 
 
 Bismarck acted in a far clearer manner than the French emperor. 
 On June 5th, General von Gablenz, the Austrian governor of Hoi- 
 stein, convened the states of that country, Austria declaring that 
 the object of this measure was to enable the federal diet to settle 
 the question. A German force under General Manteuffel at once 
 invaded the duchy and, having far superior forces at his disposal, 
 took possession of it. On the 10th, Prussia asked the different 
 German States to accept a new constitution based on the exclu- 
 sion of Austria, the election of a parUament by universal suffrage, 
 the creation of a strong federal power and a common army. The 
 diet answered by voting the federal execution against Prussia. 
 Thereupon the Prussian envoy, Savigny, withdrew, declaring that 
 his sovereign ceased to recognize the Confederation. 
 
 Events proved how correctly Bismarck had judged in his 
 confidence in Prussia's military strength. The Prussian forces 
 amounted to 330,000 men, who were to be aided in the south by 
 240,000 Itahans. Austria had 335,000 troops and its Gennan 
 allies 146,000. Generally the last named had little zeal. 
 
256 THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 
 
 The Austrian government acted slowly, while its adversary 
 vigorously assumed the offensive. On June 16th, after an unavail- 
 ing notice, the Prussian troops invaded Saxony and occupied it 
 without resistance, the Saxon army withdrawing to Bohemia. 
 The same was the case in Hesse, whose grand duke was taken pris- 
 oner, while his army joined the Bavarians. Still less fortunate 
 was the kmg of Hanover, who did not even save his army, which, 
 also retreating towards the south, was surrounded and obliged to 
 capitulate at Langensalza (June 29th). 
 
 In the south the Prussian General Vogel von Falkenstein, who 
 had but 57,000 men against over a 100,000, took advantage of the 
 fact that his adversaries had separated into two masses, the one at 
 Frankfort and the other at Meiningen, to beat them separately, 
 the Bavarians at Kissingen (July 10th) and the Prince of Hesse, 
 commanding the other army, at Aschaffenburg (July 14th). On 
 the 16th the Prussians entered Frankfort, which they overwhelmed 
 with requisitions and contributions. General Manteuffel, Falken- 
 stein's successor, then drove the federal armies from the line of the 
 Tauber, where they had united, back to Wiirzburg. On the 
 28th an armistice was concluded. 
 
 THE WAR IN ITALY 
 
 The ItaUans had been less successful. Archduke Albert, who 
 commanded in Venetia, had only 70,000 men, but they were Croa- 
 tian Slavs, that is, Austria's best troops. Confronting him, Victor 
 Emmanuel commanded 124,000 men on the Chiese and Cialdini 
 80,000 in the neighborhood of Ferrara. They proved unable to 
 act together. Cialdini let himself be kept in check by a mere 
 handful of troops, while the Austrian archduke attacked the Italian 
 royal army at Custozza. Serious errors in tactics and panic in an 
 Italian brigade, which fled before three platoons of lancers that had 
 the audacity to charge it, gave victory to the Austrians. Cialdini 
 had remained behind the Po. Garibaldi, who had undertaken, with 
 36,000 men, to conquer the Trent region, defended by only 13,000 
 
THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 257 
 
 regulars and 4,000 militia under General von Kuhn, found himself 
 not only repulsed in every attack, but, had it not been for the 
 evacuation of Venetia, his adversary would have pursued him on 
 Italian territory. The important events which took place at sea 
 have been described in the preceding chapter. 
 
 AUSTRIA'S SIGNAL DEFEAT OF SADOWA 
 
 It was not on these events that the outcome of the war was to 
 depend, but on the victory or defeat of the chief Austrian army. 
 The forces of the two Powers on the Silesian and Saxon frontier 
 were almost equal; but the Austrian commander-in-chief, Benedek, 
 brave and brilhant as a division leader, proved unequal to his present 
 task. He dallied in Moravia until June 16th, while the Prussians 
 entered Bohemia in two separate masses, one on each side of the 
 Riesen Gebirge. Benedek wavered and blundered. He sent only 
 60,000 men against 150,000 under Prince Frederick Charles, and 
 they suffered four defeats in as many days (June 26-29th). At the 
 same time he had made the same mistake in regard to the Prince 
 Royal, who won in over half a dozen skirmishes. During the follow- 
 ing night, June 29-30th, the second Prussian army reached the Elbe. 
 
 Benedek's incapacity was now completely demonstrated. He 
 telegraphed to the emperor io make peace at any cost, and retreated 
 on Olmiitz. Then he changed his mind and decided to fight, 
 seeking to throw the blame for his own errors on his subordinates. 
 The battle-field chosen by him was near the village of Sadowa, 
 and here his army, though sadly demoralized, fought with much 
 bravery. The Austrians, whom their general had notified of the 
 imminent battle only in the middle of the night, had fortified 
 the slopes and villages as best they could. At eight in the morning 
 Frederick Charles began the attack by crossing the Bistritz. 
 Benedek's center resisted, but the right and left wings lost ground. 
 At hah past eleven the Prussians were losing ground and seemed 
 ready to retreat. At this critical moment the army of the Prince 
 Royal appeared, coming from the north. 
 
258 THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 
 
 The second and sixth Austrian corps, obliged to confront 
 the new troops with a flank march under the fire of the Prussian 
 artillery, could not hold out long, and about three o'clock the strong- 
 est Austrian position was lost. It was necessary at any cost to 
 regain it, but all efforts failed against their own intrenchments, 
 defended by the captors with desperate energy. At half past four 
 retreat became necessary. Half of the Austrian army escaped with- 
 out much difficulty; but the rest, three army corps, driven towards 
 the Elbe by the entire victorious army, would have been annihi- 
 lated but for the devotedness of the cavalry and the artillerymen. 
 These formed successive fire lines, and continuing to shoot until 
 the muzzles of their guns were reached, saving the infantry from 
 destruction through dint of dying at their posts. Despite this 
 diversion it was a frightful rout, which cost the vanquished 40,000 
 men and 187 pieces of artillery. The Prussians lost only 10,000 
 dead and wounded. 
 
 THE TREATY OF PRAGUE 
 
 The Austrians tried to fall back on Vienna, but only three 
 corps out of eight reached there, as the Prussian army by a rapid 
 march had forced the others to seek refuge at Presburg. On 
 July 18th the Prussian armies were concentrated on the Russbach. 
 Archduke Albert, recalled from Italy, had taken command of 
 the troops covering Vienna, but the internal condition of the 
 empire, where Hungary was in agitation, was too disquieting for 
 it to be possible, without aid, to continue the war. This aid Napo- 
 leon III could and should have furnished. The French army had 
 suffered from the expedition to Mexico. Yet it would have been 
 possible to put a hundred thousand men on foot immediately, and, 
 later on, Bismarck acknowledged that this would have sufficed to 
 change the result. But Napoleon III was ill and swayed between 
 opposing influences. Prince Napoleon, whom he heeded very 
 much, was decidedly in favor of Prussia. Accordingly, no step 
 was taken but an offer of mediation. Then he had the weakness, 
 
THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 259 
 
 in spite of his minister, Drouyn de Lhuys, to consent to the annexa- 
 tions which Prussia wished to bring about in northern Germany. 
 He asked, however, that Austria lose only Venetia, but it was 
 precisely Bismarck's will that had, and not without difficulty, 
 persuaded King WilUam that he must not, by territorial demands, 
 compromise the alliance which he afterwards realized. 
 
 On July 26th the peace preliminaries of Nikolsburg were signed. 
 Austria paid a considerable indemnity, abandoned its former posi- 
 sition in Germany, acknowledged the extension of Prussian authority 
 to the line of the Main and the annexations which Prussia would 
 deem it to its purpose to make. The three Danish duchies were 
 hkewise abandoned. It was stipulated only that the inhabitants 
 of northern Schleswig should be consulted as to their wish to be 
 restored or not to Denmark, which was never done. The definitive 
 treaty was signed on August 25th at Prague. As for Italy, Francis 
 Joseph had ceded Venetia to Napoleon III, who was to transmit 
 it to Victor Emmanuel, but the Italians protested loudly against 
 the idea of being satisfied with so little. They wanted in addi- 
 tion at least the Trent country. "Have you, then," Bismarck 
 said to them, "lost another battle to claim a province more?" 
 On August 10th the preliminaries of peace were signed on that 
 side. The final treaty, that of Vienna, was concluded on October 
 3, 1866. 
 
 GERMANY AFTER 1866J 
 
 Prussia, now master of Germany, annexed Hanover, Hesse- 
 Cassel, Nassau and the city of Frankfort, which mcreased its 
 population by four and a half milHons. The rest of the northern 
 states as far as the Main were to form under its direction the 
 Confederation of Northern Germany (proclaimed July 1, 1867), 
 with a constitution exactly the same as that of the German empire 
 of today. As for the southern states, they remained independent, 
 but signed mihtary agreements which connected them with Prussia. 
 Napoleon III tried in vain to obtain a compensation for that 
 
260 THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 
 
 enoiTQOus increase of power. To the first overtures which he made 
 to this end (he wanted the Palatinate) Bismarck answered with a 
 flat refusal and a tlnreat of war. He added, however, that he 
 would consent to an enlargement of France from Belgium, a pro- 
 ject which he was afterwards careful to mention as coming from 
 the Paris cabinet. 
 
 Bismarck had succeeded in humbling Austria and reducing 
 its importance among the great Powers of Europe, and had expanded 
 Prussia alike on the north and south and made it decisively the 
 ruling nation in Central Europe. As we have seen, it had con- 
 cluded military agreements with the states of southern Germany. 
 It held them also in another manner, namely, by means of the 
 ZoUverein, signed anew on June 4, 1867. But it was as yet far 
 from having brought about a peaceful realization of unity. The 
 southern states, not merely the sovereigns only, but the peoples 
 as well, had always shown little taste for Prussian leadership, and 
 after 1866 this feehng was very visible. It was for that reason 
 that Bismarck had need of a war against France to strengthen 
 his position. Union against the foreigner was the cement with 
 which he hoped to complete political unity. Such a war came 
 near breaking out in 1867 in relation to Luxembourg. Napoleon 
 III keenly desired to have at least that country as compensation for 
 Prussia's aggrandizements, and the king of Holland was disposed 
 to cede his rights for a consideration. But Bismarck, after having 
 secretly approved of the bargain, officially declared his opposition 
 to it. Napoleon, hampered at one and the same time by the Paris 
 Exposition of that year and by the bad condition of his army, 
 was too happy to escape from embarrassment, since it was evident 
 that the Prussians were not willing to evacuate the fortress of 
 Luxembourg, by obtaining with the aid of the other Powers that 
 the Uttle duchy be declared neutral and the walls of its capital 
 destroyed. 
 
 In spite of this arrangement, it remained certain to everybody 
 that a conflict would break out in a short time between France 
 
S;; 
 
 o 
 
 c+ 13 
 
 a ►^ 
 
 
mtk - 
 
 •fi a 
 
 
 ^ M 
 
 
 <U C 
 
 
 n'l-C 
 
 
 
 
 ^^ cu 
 
 
 
 
 a-o 
 
 
 
 
 rt 
 
 
 
 
 u C 
 
 
 t^'^ 
 
 
 ■S'« 
 
 
 ^•c 
 
 
 a sh 
 
 
 nj 
 
 
 xr> o 
 
 xn 
 
 
 
 ^ G 
 
 I*' 
 
 OJ ^i 
 
 u 
 
 X, M 
 
 Pd 
 
 H o 
 
 b-l 
 
 & 
 
 
 M ^42 
 
 r^M CS 
 
 
 ■'gi', a.«VK v>ffflg-1. 
 
 H o o 
 P5 t; o 
 
 ^ a 
 
 W (U 
 
 -So 
 ; ^'i 
 
 1. o3 ^ 
 
 -5 a 
 
 H a, 
 
 G 
 03 
 
THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 261 
 
 and Prussia. We have seen what reasons Bismarck had for the 
 methods pursued by him and those projected. Napoleon Ill's 
 government, justly censured by opinion for the weakness which 
 it had shown in 1866 and constantly losing its authority, was 
 destined to fall into the first trap its adversary would set for it. 
 Wliat this trap was and the momentous events to which it led will 
 be described in the next chapter. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 The Franco-Prussian War 
 
 Birth of the German Empire and the French Republic 
 
 Causes of Hostile Relations — Discontent in France — War wth Prussia Declared — 
 Self-deception of the French — ^First Meeting of the Armies — ^The Stronghold of Metz — 
 Mars-la-Tour and Gravelotte — Napoleon III at Sedan — The Emperor a Captive; 
 France a Republic — Bismarck Refuses Intervention — Fall of the Fortresses — Gambetta 
 in Command — Defiant Spirit of the French — ^The Struggle Continued — Operations 
 Before Paris — Fighting in the South — The War at an End. 
 
 IN 1866 the war between the two great powers of Germany, in 
 which most of the smaller powers were concerned, led to more 
 decided measm-es, in the absorption by Prussia of the weaker 
 states, the formation of a North German League among the 
 remaining states of the north, and the offensive and defensive 
 alhance with Prussia of the south German states. By the treaty 
 of peace with Austria, that power was excluded from the German 
 League, and Prussia remained the dominant power in Germany. 
 A constitution for the League was adopted in 1867, providing 
 for a Diet, or legislative council of the League, elected by the 
 direct votes of the people, and an army, which was to be imder 
 the command of the Prussian king and subject to the military 
 laws of Prussia. Each state in the League bound itself to supply 
 a specified sum for the. support of the army. 
 
 Here was a union with a backbone — an army and a budget — 
 and Bismarck had done more in the five years of his ministry in 
 forming a united Germany than his predecessors had done in fifty 
 years. But the idea of union and alliance between kindred states 
 was then widely in the air. Such a union had been practically 
 completed in Italy, and Hungary in 1867 regained her ancient 
 rights, which had been taken from her in 1849, being given a 
 separate government, with Francis Joseph, the emperor of Austria, 
 
 (2d2) 
 
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 263 
 
 as its king. It was natural that the common blood of the Germans 
 should lead them to a political confederation, and equally natural 
 that Prussia, which so overshadowed the smaller states in strength, 
 should be the leading element in the alliance. 
 
 Yet, though Prussia had concluded military agreements with 
 the states of southern Germany and held them also by means of 
 the Zollverein, this was far from bringing about a peaceful realiza- 
 tion of unity. The southern states, not merely the sovereigns only, 
 but the peoples, have always had little taste for Prussian leader- 
 ship, and after 1866 this feeling was very visible. For this reason 
 Bismarck felt it important to instigate a war against France. 
 Union against the foreigner was to complete political unity. This 
 subject has been dealt with in the preceding chapter, and we need 
 here merely to repeat that warlike sentiments were in the air in 
 1867, in regard to the desire of Napoleon III to add to his empire 
 the Uttle duchy of Luxembourg and Bismarck's opposition to this 
 desire. France was not then in a favorable condition for war, and 
 the matter was finally settled by declaring Luxembourg a 
 neutral state and ordering the walls around its capital to be 
 destroyed. 
 
 CAUSES OF HOSTILE EELATIONS 
 
 In spite of this settlement, it remained certain to everybody 
 that a conflict would break out in a short time between France 
 and Prussia. We have seen what reasons Bismarck had for such 
 a war. Napoleon Ill's government, justly censmred by opinion 
 for the weakness which it had shown in 1866, was eager to re- 
 trieve the fault it had then committed. Yet the weakness of the 
 administration continued and prevented it from adopting the indis- 
 pensable military measures that it should have done. The 
 enemies of power were declaiming against standing armies, which 
 they declared useless. The government deputies were afraid to 
 dissatisfy their constituents by aggravating the burdens of the 
 service. Marshal Niel, minister of war, tried indeed to adopt 
 
264 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 
 
 measures with a view to the seemingly inevitable conflict. He 
 caused to be elaborated a plan of campaign, a system of transpor- 
 tation by railway, an arrangement for the chief places of the east 
 to be armed with rifled cannon. But the Chamber grudged him 
 the appropriations for the increase of the army, asking him if 
 "he wished to make France a vast barracks." ''Take care," 
 he answered the opposition, "lest you make it a vast cemetery." 
 Accordingly, when the mobile national guard had been created, 
 made up of all the young men who had not been drawn by lot, 
 organization was given to it only on paper, and it was never drilled. 
 Leboeuf, who succeeded Niel in August, 1869, abandoned, more- 
 over, most of his predecessor's plans. He even neglected to do 
 anything towards carrying out on the eastern frontier any of the 
 works of defense already recommended as urgent by the gen- 
 erals of the Restoration. 
 
 And thus time passed on mitil the eventful year 1870. By that 
 year Prussia had completed its work among the North German 
 states and was ready for the issue of hostilities, if this should be 
 necessary. On the other hand. Napoleon, who had found his 
 prestige in France from various causes decreasing, felt obliged in 
 1870 to depart from his policy of personal rule and give that country 
 a constitutional government. This proposal was submitted to a 
 vote of the people and was sustained by an immense majority. 
 He also took occasion to state that "peace was never more assured 
 than at the present time." This assurance gave satisfaction to the 
 world, yet it was a false one, for war was probably at that moment 
 assured. 
 
 DISCONTENT IN FRANCE 
 
 There were alai^ming signs in France. The opposition to Napo= 
 leonism was steadily gaining power. A bad harvest was threatened 
 — a serious source of discontent. The parUament was discussing the 
 reversal of the sentence of banishment against the Orleans family. 
 These indications of a change in public sentiment appeared to call 
 
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 265 
 
 for some act that would aid in restoring the popularity of the 
 emperor. And of all the acts that could be devised a national war 
 seemed the most promising. If the Rhine frontier, which every 
 Frenchman regarded as the natm-al boundary of the empire, could 
 be regained by the arms of the nation, discontent and opposition 
 would vanish, the name of Napoleon would win back its old prestige, 
 and the reign of Bonapartism would be firmly established. 
 
 Acts speak louder than words, and the acts of Napoleon were 
 not in accord with his assurances of peace. Extensive mihtary 
 preparations began, and the forces of the empire were strengthened 
 by land and sea, while great trust was placed in a new weapon, of 
 murderous powers, called the mitrailleuse, the predecessor of the 
 machine gun, and capable of discharging twenty-five balls at 
 once. 
 
 CAUSES OF HOSTILE RELATIONS 
 
 On the other hand, there were abundant indications of dis- 
 content in Germany, where a variety of parties inveighed against the 
 rapacious policy of Prussia, and where Bismarck had sown a deep 
 crop of hate. It was beUeved in France that the minor states would 
 not support Prussia in a war. In Austria the defeat of 1866 rankled, 
 and hostihties against Prussia on the part of France seemed certain 
 to win sympathy and support in that composite empire. Colonel 
 Stoffel, the French miUtary envoy at Berhn, declared that Prussia 
 would be found abundantly prepared for a struggle; but his warnings 
 went unheeded in the French Cabinet, and the warlike preparations 
 continued. 
 
 Napoleon did not have to go far for an excuse for the war upon 
 which he was resolved. One was prepared for him in that potent 
 somce of trouble, the succession to the throne of Spain. In that 
 country there had for years been no end of trouble, revolts, Carlist 
 risings, wars and rumors of wars. The government of Queen Isa- 
 bella, with its endless intrigues, plots and alternation of despotism 
 and anarchy, and the pronounced immorality of the queen, had 
 
266 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 
 
 become so distasteful to the people that finally, after several years 
 of revolts and armed risings, she was driven from her throne by a 
 revolution, and for a time Spain was without a monarch and was 
 ruled on republican principles. 
 
 But this arrangement did not prove satisfactory. The party 
 in opposition looked around for a king, and negotiations began 
 with a distant relative of the Prussian royal family, Leopold of 
 Hohenzollern. Prince Leopold accepted the ofifer, and informed the 
 king of Prussia of his decision. 
 
 The news of this event caused great excitement in Paris, and 
 the Prussian government was advised of the painful feeling to which 
 the incident had given rise. The answer from Berlin that the 
 Prussian government had no concern in the matter, and that Prince 
 Leopold was free to act on his own account, did not allay the 
 excitement. The demand for war grew violent and clamorous, the 
 voices of the feeble opposition in the Chambers were drowned, 
 and the journalists and war partisans were confident of a short 
 and glorious campaign and a triumphant march to Berlin. 
 
 The hostile feeling was reduced when King William of Prussia, 
 though he declined to prohibit Prince Leopold from accepting the 
 crown, expressed his concurrence with the decision of the prince 
 when he withdrew his acceptance of the dangerous offer. This 
 decision was regarded as sufficient, even in Paris; but it did not 
 seem to be so in the palace, where an excuse for a declaration of 
 war was ardently desired. The emperor's purpose was en- 
 hanced by the influence of the empress, and it was finally declared 
 that the Prussian king had aggrieved France in permitting the prince 
 to become a candidate for the throne without consulting the French 
 Cabinet. 
 
 WAR WITH PRUSSIA DECLARED 
 
 Satisfaction for this shadowy source of offense was demanded, 
 but Edng WilUam firmly refused to say any more on the subject 
 and declined to stand in the way of Prince Leopold if he should 
 
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 267 
 
 again accept the offer of the Spanish throne. This refusal was 
 declared to be an offense to the honor and a threat to the safety 
 of France. The war party was so strongly in the ascendant that all 
 opposition was now looked upon as lack of patriotism, and on the 
 15th of July the Prime Minister Ollivier announced that the reserves 
 were to be called out and the necessary measures taken to secure 
 the honor and seciu*ity of France. When the declaration of war was 
 hurled against Prussia the whole nation seemed in harmony with 
 it and pubHc opinion appeared for once to have become a unit 
 throughout France. 
 
 Rarely in the history of the world has so trivial a cause given 
 rise to such stupendous military and political events as took place 
 in France in a brief interval following this blind leap into hostilities. 
 Instead of a triumphant march to Berlin and the dictation of peace 
 from its palace, France was to find itself in two months' time with- 
 out an emperor or an army, and in a few months more completely 
 subdued and occupied by foreign troops, while Paris had been made 
 the scene of a terrible siege and a frightful communistic riot, and 
 a republic had succeeded the empire. It was such a series of events 
 as have seldom been compressed within the short interval of half 
 a year. 
 
 In truth Napoleon and his advisers were blinded by their hopes 
 to the true state of affairs. The army on which they depended, 
 and which they assmned to be in a high state of efficiency and dis- 
 cipline, was lacking in almost every requisite of an efficient force. 
 The first Napoleon had been his own minister of war. The third Na- 
 poleon, when told by his war minister that "not a single button was 
 wanted on a single gaiter," took the words for the fact, and hurled 
 an army without supplies and organization against the most thor- 
 oughly organized army the world had ever known. That the French 
 were as brave as the Germans goes without saying; they fought 
 desperately, but from the first confusion reigned in their movements, 
 while military science of the highest kind dominated those of the 
 Germans, 
 
268 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 
 
 Napoleon was equally mistaken as to the state of affairs in 
 Germany. The disunion upon which he counted vanished at the 
 first threat of war. All Germany felt itseK threatened and joined 
 hands in defense. The declaration of war was received there with 
 as deep an enthusiasm as in France and excited a fervent eagerness 
 for the struggle. The new popular song, Die Wacht am Rhein 
 (''The Watch on the Rhine"), spread rapidly from end to end of the 
 country, and indicated the resolution of the German people to 
 defend to the death the frontier stream of their country. 
 
 SELF-DECEPTION OF THE FRENCH 
 
 The French looked for a parade march to Berlin, even fixing 
 the day of their entrance into that city — ^August 15th, the emperor's 
 birthday. On the contrary, they failed to set their foot on German 
 territory, and soon found themselves engaged in a death struggle 
 with the invaders of their own land. In truth, while the Prussian 
 diplomacy was conducted by Bismarck, the ablest statesman 
 Prussia had ever known, the movements of the army were directed 
 by far the best tactician Europe then possessed, the famous Von 
 Moltke, to whose strategy the rapid success of the war against 
 Austria had been due. In the war with France Von Moltke, though 
 too old to lead the armies in person, was virtually commander- 
 in-chief, and arranged those masterly combinations which overthrew 
 all the power of France in so remarkably brief a period. Under his 
 directions, from the moment war was declared everything worked 
 with clock-like precision. It was said that Von Moltke had only 
 to touch a bell and all went forward. As it was, the Crown Prince 
 Frederick fell upon the French while still imprepared, won the 
 first battle, and steadily held the advantage to the end, the French 
 being beaten by the strategy that kept the Germans in superior 
 strength at all decisive points. 
 
 But to return to the events of war. On July 23, 1870, the 
 Emperor Napoleon, after making his wife Eugenie regent of France, 
 set out with his son at the head of the army, full of high hopes of 
 

 o 
 w 
 
 > 
 
 I— I 
 
 > 
 
Fr 
 
 C5 
 
 o . 
 
 O o3 
 
 a" 
 
 73 
 
 CD o3 
 
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 269 
 
 victory and triuinpli. By the end of July King William had also 
 set out from Berlin to join the armies that were then in rapid motio;i 
 towards the frontier. 
 
 The emperor made his way to Metz, where was stationed his 
 main anny, about 200,000 strong, under Marshals Bazaine and 
 Canrobert and General Bourbaki. Further east, under Marshal 
 MacMahon, the hero of Magenta, was the southern army, of about 
 100,000 men. A third army occupied the camp at Chalons, while 
 a well-manned fleet set sail for the Baltic, to blockade the harbors 
 and assail the coast of Germany. The German army was likewise 
 in th-i'ee divisions, the first, of 61,000 men, imder General Steinmetz; 
 the second, of 206,000 men, under Prince Frederick Charles; and 
 the third, of 180,000 men, under the crown prince and General 
 Blumenthal. The king, commander-in-chief of the whole, was 
 in the center, and with him the general staff under the guidance of 
 the alert Von Moltke. Bismarck and the minister of war Von 
 Roon were also present, an,d so rapid was the movement of these 
 great forces that in two weeks after the order to march was given 
 300,000 armed Germans stood in rank along the Rhine. 
 
 FIRST MEETING OF THE ARMIES 
 
 The two armies first came together on August 2d, near Saar- 
 briick, on the frontier line of the hostile kingdoms. It was the one 
 success of the French, for the Prussians, after a fight in which both 
 sides lost equally, retired in good order. This was proclaimed by 
 the French papers as a brilHant victory, and filled the people with 
 undue hopes of glory. It was the last favorable report, for they were 
 quickly overwhelmed with tidings of defeat and disaster. 
 
 Weissenburg, on the borders of Rhenish Bavaria, had been 
 invested by a division of MacMahon's army. On August 4th the 
 right wing of the army of the Crown Prince Frederick attacked 
 and repulsed this investing force after a hot engagement, in which 
 its leader. General Douay, was killed, and the loss on both sides 
 was heavy. Two days later occurred a battle which decided the 
 
270 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 
 
 fate of the whole war, that of Worth-Reideshofen, where the army 
 of the crown prince met that of MacMahon, and aiter a desperate 
 struggle, which continued for fifteen hours, completely defeated 
 him, with very heavy losses on both sides. MacMahon retreated 
 in haste towards the army at Chalons, while the crown prince took 
 possession of Alsace, and prepared for the reduction of the fortresses 
 on the Rhine, from Strasburg to Belfort. On the same day as that 
 of the battle of Worth, General Steinmetz stormed the heights of 
 Spicheren, and, though at great loss of life, drove Frossard from thc^e 
 heights and back upon Metz. 
 
 The occupation of Alsace was followed by that of Lorraine, by 
 the Prussian army under King WiUiam, who took possession of 
 Nancy and the country surrounding on August 11th. These two 
 provinces had at one time belonged to Germany, and it was the aim 
 of the Prussians to retain them as the chief anticipated prize of 
 the war. Meanwhile the world looked on in amazement at the 
 extraordinary rapidity of the German success, which, in two weeks 
 after Napoleon left Paris, had brought his power to the verge of 
 overthrow. 
 
 THE STRONGHOLD Or METZ 
 
 Tov/ards the Moselle River and the strongly fortified town of 
 Metz, 180 miles northeast of Paris, around which was concentrated 
 the main French force, all the divisions of the Geiman army now 
 advanced, and on the 14th of August they gained a victory at 
 Colombey-Nouilly which drove their opponents back from the 
 open field towards the fortified city. 
 
 It was Moltke's opinion that the French proposed to make their 
 stand before this impregnable fortress, and fight there desperately 
 for victory. But, finding less resistance than he expected, he 
 concluded, on the 15th, that Bazaine, in fear of bemg cooped up 
 within the fortress, meant to march towards Verdun, there to join 
 his forces with those of MacMahon and give battle to the Germans 
 in the plain. 
 
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 271 
 
 The astute tactician at once determined to make every effort 
 to prevent such a concentration of his opponents, and by the evening 
 of the 15th a cavalry division had crossed the Moselle and reached 
 the village of Mars-la-Tour, where it bivouacked for the night. 
 It had seen troops in motion towards Metz, but did not know 
 vv^hether these formed the rear-guard of the French army or its van- 
 guard in its march towards Verdun. 
 
 In fact, Bazainehad not yet got away with his army. All the 
 roads from Metz were blocked with heavy baggage, and it was 
 impossible to move so large an army with expedition. The time 
 thus lost by Bazaine was diligently improved by Frederick Charles, 
 and on the morning of the 16th the Brandenburg army corps, one 
 of the best and bravest in the Gennan army, had followed the 
 cavalry and come within sight of the Verdun road. It was quickly 
 perceived that a French force was before them, and some pre- 
 liminary skirmishing developed the enemy in such strength as to 
 convince the leader of the corps that he had in his front the whole 
 or the greater part of Bazaine's anny, and that its escape from Metz 
 had not been achieved. 
 
 They were desperate odds with which the brave Brandenburgers 
 had to contend, but they had been sent to hold the French until 
 reinforcements could arrive, and they were determined to resist 
 to the death. For nearly six hours they resisted, with unsurpassed 
 courage, the fierce onslaughts of the French, though at a cost of 
 Hfe that perilously depleted the gallant corps. Then, about four 
 o'clock in the afternoon. Prince Frederick Charles came up with 
 reinforcements to their support and the desperate contest became 
 more even. 
 
 MARS-LA-TOUR AND GRAVELOTTE 
 
 Gradually fortmie decided in favor of the Germans, and by 
 the time night had come they were practically victorious, the field 
 of Mars-la-Tour, after the day's struggle, remaining in their hands. 
 But they were utterly exhausted, their horses were worn out, and 
 
272 THE FRANCO-PRtJSSIAN WAR 
 
 most of their ammunition was spent, and though their impetuous 
 commander forced them to a new attack, it led to a useless loss of 
 life, for their powers of fighting were gone. They had achieved 
 their purpose, that of preventing the escape of Bazaine, though at 
 a fearful loss, amounting to about 16,000 men on each side. "The 
 battle of Vionville [Mars-la-Tour] is without a parallel in military- 
 history," said Emperor William, "seeing that a single army corps, 
 about 20,000 men strong, hung on to and repulsed an enemy more 
 than five times as munerous and well equipped. Such was the glo- 
 rious deed done by the Brandenburgers, and the.Hohenzollems will 
 never forget the debt they owe to their devotion." 
 
 Two days afterwards (August 16th), at Gravelotte, a village 
 somewhat nearer to Metz, the armies, somewhat recovered from the 
 terrible struggle of the 14th, met again, the whole German army 
 being now brought up, so that over 200,000 men faced the 140,000 
 of the French. It was the great battle of the war. For four hours 
 the two armies stood fighting face to face, without any special 
 result, neither being able to drive back the other. The French 
 held their ground and died. The Prussians dashed upon them and 
 died. Only late in the evening was the right wing of the French 
 army broken, and the victory, which at five o'clock remained uncer- 
 tain, was decided in favor of the Germans. More than 40,000 men 
 lay dead and wounded upon the field, the terrible harvest of those 
 nine hours of conflict. That night Bazaine withdrew his army 
 behind the fortifications at Metz. His effort to join MacMahon 
 had ended in failure. 
 
 It wag the fixed purpose of the Prussians to detain him in 
 that stronghold, and thus render practically useless to France 
 its largest army. A siege was to be prosecuted, and an army of 
 150,000 men was extended around the town. The fortifications 
 were far too strong to be taken by assault, and all depended on 
 a close blockade. On August 31st Bazaine made an effort to 
 break through the German lines, but was repulsed. It became now 
 a question of how long the provisions of the French would hold out. 
 
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 273 
 
 NAPOLEON III AT SEDAN 
 
 The French emperor, who had been with Bazaine, had left 
 his army before the battle of Mars-la-Tour, and was now with 
 MacMahon at Chalons. Here lay an army of 125,000 infantry 
 and 12,000 cavalry. On it the Germans were advancing, in doubt 
 as to what movement it would make, whether back towards Paris 
 or towards Metz for the reUef of Bazaine. They sought to place 
 themselves in a position to check either. The latter movement 
 was determined on by the French, but was carried out in a dubious 
 and uncertain manner, the time lost giving abundant opportunity 
 to the Germans to learn what was afoot and to prepare to prevent 
 it. As soon as they were aware of MacMahon's intention of pro- 
 ceeding to Metz they made speedy preparations to prevent his 
 reheving Bazaine. By the last days of August the army of the 
 crown prince had reached the right bank of the Aisne, and the 
 fourth division gained possession of the line of the Meuse. On 
 August 30th the French under General de Failly were attacked 
 by the Germans at Beaumont and put to flight with heavy loss. 
 It was evident that the hope of reaching Metz was at an end, 
 and MacMahon, abandoning the attempt, concentrated his army 
 around the frontier fortress of Sedan. 
 
 This old town stands on the right bank of the Meuse, in an 
 angle of territory between Luxembourg and Belgium, and is sur- 
 rounded by meadows, gardens, ravines, ditches and cultivated 
 fields; the castle rising on a cliff-like eminence to the southwest 
 of the place. MacMahon had stopped here to give his weary men 
 a rest, not to fight, but Von Moltke decided, on observing the 
 situation, that Sedan should be the grave-yard of the French army. 
 "The trap is now closed, and the mouse in it," he said, with a 
 chuclde of satisfaction. 
 
 Such proved to be the case. On September 1st the Bavarians 
 won the village of Bazeille, after hours of bloody and desperate 
 struggle. During this severe fight Marshal MacMahon was so 
 seriously wounded that he was obliged to surrender the chief com- 
 
 18 
 
274 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 
 
 mand, first to Ducrot, and then to General Wimpffen, a man of 
 recognized bravery and cold calculation. 
 
 Fortune soon showed itseK in favor of the Germans. To 
 the northwest of the town, the North German troops invested the 
 exits from St. Meuges and Fleigneux, and directed a fearful fixe 
 of artillery against the French forces, which, before noon, were 
 so hemmed in the valley that only two insufficient outlets to the 
 south and north remained open. But General Wimpffen hesitated 
 to seize either of these routes, the open way to Illy was soon closed 
 by the Prussian goiard corps, and a murderous fire v/as now directed 
 from all sides upon the French, so that, after a last energetic 
 struggle, they gave up all attempts to force a passage, and in 
 the afternoon beat a retreat towards Sedan. In this small town 
 the whole army of MacMahon was collected by evening, and there 
 prevailed in the streets and houses an unprecedented disorder and 
 confusion, which was still further increased when the German 
 troops from the surrounding heights began to shoot down upon 
 the fortress, and the town took fire in several places. 
 
 SUKBENDER OF NAPOLEON's ARMY 
 
 That an end might be put to the prevailing misery. Napoleon 
 now commanded General Wimpffen to capitulate. The flag of 
 truce already v/aved on the gates of Sedan when Colonel Bronsart 
 appeared, and in the name of the king of Prussia demanded the 
 surrender of the army and fortress. He soon returned to head- 
 quarters, accompanied by the French General Reille, v^rho pre- 
 sented to the king a written message from Napoleon: "As I may 
 not die in the midst of my army, I lay my sword in the hands of 
 your majesty." King WilHam accepted it with an expression of 
 sympathy for the hard fate of the emperor and of the French 
 army which had fought so bravely imder his own eyes. The con- 
 clusion of the treaty of capitulation was placed in the hands of 
 Wimpffen, who, accompanied by General Castelnau, set out for 
 Donchery to negotiate with Moltke and Bismarck. No attempts, 
 
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 275 
 
 however, availed to move Moltke from his stipulation for the sm-- 
 render of the whole army at discretion; he granted a short respite, 
 but if this expired without surrender, the bombardment of the 
 town was to begin anew. 
 
 At six o'clock in the morning the capitulation was signed 
 and was ratified by the Idng at his headquarters at Vendresse (2d 
 September). Thus the world beheld the incredible spectacle of 
 an army of 83,000 men surrendering themselves and their weapons 
 to the victor, and being carried off as prisoners of war to Germany. 
 Only the officers who gave their written word of honor to take 
 no further part in the present war with Germany were penxdtted 
 to retain their arms and personal property. Probably the assur- 
 ance of Napoleon, that he had sought death on the battle-field but 
 had not found it, was Uterally true; at any rate, the fate of the 
 unhappy man, bowed down as he was both by physical and mental 
 suffering, was so solemn and tragic that there was no room for 
 hypocrisy, and that he had exposed himself to personal danger 
 was admitted on all sides. Accompanied by Count Bismarck, he 
 stopped at a small and mean-looking laborer's inn on the road to 
 Donchery, where, sitting down on a stone seat before the door, 
 with Count Bismarck, he declared that he had not desired the war, 
 but had been driven to it through the force of public opmion; 
 and afterwards the two proceeded to the httle castle of Bellevue, 
 near Frenois, to join King WilHam and the crown prince. A 
 telegram to Queen Augusta thus describes the interview: ''What 
 an impressive moment was the meeting with Napoleon! He was 
 cast down, but dignified in his bearing. I have granted hhn 
 Wilhelmshohe, near Cassel, as his residence. Our meeting took 
 place in a Httle castle before the western glacis of Sedan." 
 
 THE EMPEROR A CAPTIVE; FRANCE A REPUBLIC 
 
 The locking up of Bazaine in Metz and the capture of Mac- 
 Mahon's army at Sedan were events fatal to France. The struggle 
 continued for months, but it was a fight agaiast hope. The subse- 
 
276 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 
 
 quent evfents of the war consisted of a double siege, that of Metz 
 and that of Paris, with various minor sieges, and a desperate but 
 hopeless effort of France in the field. As for the empire of Napo- 
 leon III, it was at an end. The tidings of the terrible catastrophe 
 at Sedan filled the people with a fury that soon became revolution- 
 ary. While Jules Favre, the repubUcan deputy, was offering a 
 motion in the Assembly that the emperor had forfeited the crown, 
 and that a provisional government should be established, the 
 people were thronging the streets of Paris with cries of "Deposi- 
 tion! Republic!" On the 4th of September the Assembly had 
 its final meeting. Two of its prominent members, Jules Favre 
 and Gambetta, sustained the motion for deposition of the emperor, 
 and it was carried after a stormy session. They then made their 
 way to the senate-chamber, where, before a thronging audience, 
 they proclaimed a republic and named a government for the national 
 defense. At its head was General Trochu, miUtary commandant 
 at Paris. Favre was made minister of foreign affairs; Gambetta, 
 minister of the interior; and other prominent members of the 
 Assembly filled the remaining cabinet posts. The legislature was 
 dissolved, the Palais de Bourbon was closed, and the Empress 
 Eugenie quitted the Tuileries and made her escape with a few 
 attendants to Belgium, whence she sought a refuge in England. 
 Prince Louis Napoleon made his way to Italy, and the swarm of 
 courtiers scattered in all directions; some faithful followers of 
 the deposed monarch seeking the castle of Wilhelmshohe, where 
 the unhappy Louis Napoleon occupied as a prison the same beauti- 
 ful palace and park in which his uncle Jerome Bonaparte had 
 once passed six years in a life of pleasure. The second French 
 Empire was at an end; the third French Republic had begun — 
 one that had to pass through many changes and escape many dan- 
 gers before it would be firmly established. 
 
 ''Not a foot's breadth of our country nor a stone of our for- 
 tresses shall be surrendered," was Jules Favre's defiant proclama- 
 tion to the invaders, and the remainder of the soldiers in the 
 

 51 
 
 " en 
 
 1 
 
 
 CT) 
 
 ^ 3 (D 
 
 "tJ 
 
 ►^ tn 
 
 g 
 
 t-" <J 
 
 
 p p S. 
 
 s" 
 
 t3 c+ ti 
 
 J;;^_ 
 
 e. re 
 
 0- 
 
 tn 
 
 ti 
 
 ttS. 
 
 ^ 
 
 <-+ 
 
 
 E+m 
 
 
 3 
 
 ft) o 
 
 
 
 
 2§^ 
 
 
 P. o 
 
 
 >-*• 
 
 
 pj en 
 
 
 a3 
 
 
 ,^.f" 
 
 
 ^ CD 
 
 !^ 
 
 > 
 
 SSg- 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ en' 
 
 
 
 \0 t-+ 
 
 o 
 
 ^2. 
 
 W 
 
 p o 
 
 
 
 05- 
 
 ^ 
 
 t^v^ 
 
 
 (T> 
 
 c+ 
 
 h-l 
 
 3 ^ 
 
 1— ( 
 
 1— 1 ^ 
 
 > 
 
 1— 13 
 - 
 
 H 
 
 
 H 
 
 
 W 
 
 ^^ 
 
 > 
 
 a" 
 
 f^ 
 
 2.HH 
 
 W 
 
 2 3 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 »=d 
 
 0^ 
 
 03 
 
 V. ^ 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 f 
 
 ^; 
 
 k 
 
 w 
 
 fD 0) 
 
 S 
 
 S-J^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 B0 
 
 
 - 3 
 
 
 5 (D 
 
 
 ►! 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 p ^ 
 
 
 sii 
 
 
 o^o 
 
 
 ?t- 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 Crq 
 
 
 i-i 1— 1 
 
 
 fl> - 
 
 
 ^8 
 
 
 < 
 
 
 o">9 
 
 
 c+ p: 
 
 
 o> 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 < <^ 
 
 
 ^ 5^ 
 
 
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 277 
 
 field were collected in Paris, and strengthened with all available 
 reinforcements. Every person capable of bearing arms was enrolled 
 in the national army, which soon numbered 400,000 men. There 
 was need of haste, for the victors at Sedan were already marching 
 upon the capital, inspired with high hopes from their previous 
 astonishing success. They knew that Paris was strongly fortified, 
 being encircled by powerful lines of defense, but they trusted that 
 hunger would soon bring its garrison to terms. The same result 
 was looked for at Metz, and at Strasbourg, which was also besieged. 
 
 Thus began at three main points and several minor ones a 
 military siege the difficulties, dangers, and hardships of which 
 surpassed even those of the winter campaign in the Crimea. 
 Exposed at the fore-posts to the enemy's balls, chained to arduous 
 labor m the trenches and redoubts, and suffering from the effects 
 of bad weather, and insufficient food and clothing, the German 
 soldiers were compelled to undergo great privations and sufferings 
 before the fortifications; while many fell m the frequent sldrmishes 
 and sallies, many succumbed to typhus and epidemic disease. 
 
 No less painful and distressmg was the condition of the be- 
 sieged. While the garrison soldiers on guard were constantly 
 compelled to face death in nocturnal saUies, or led a pitiable 
 existence m damp huts, having inevitable surrender constantly 
 before their eyes, and disarmament and imprisonment as the 
 reward of all their struggles and exertions, the citizens in the towns, 
 the women and children, were in constant danger of being shivered 
 to atoms by the fearful shells, or of bemg buried imder falling walls 
 and roofs; and the poorer part of the population saw with dismay 
 the gradual diminution of the necessaries of life, and were often 
 compelled to pacify their hunger with the flesh of horses, and dis- 
 gusting and unwholesome food. 
 
 BISMARCK REFUSES INTERVENTION 
 
 The republican government possessed only a usurped power, 
 and none but a freely elected national assembly could decide as 
 
278 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 
 
 to the fate of the French nation. Such an assenably was there- 
 fore summoned for the 16th of October. Three members of the 
 government — Cremieux, Fourichon, and Glais-Bizoin — ^w'^ere des- 
 patched before the entire blockade of the city had been effected, 
 to Tours, to maintain communication with the provinces. An 
 attempt was also made at the same time to induce the great Powers 
 wliich had not taken part in the war to organize an intervention, 
 as hitherto only America, Switzerland and Spain had sent official 
 recognition. For this important and delicate mission the old 
 statesman and historian Thiers was selected, and, in spite of his 
 three-and-seventy years, immediately set out on the journey to 
 London, St. Petersburg, Vienna and Florence. Count Bismarck, 
 however, in the name of Prussia, refused any intervention in 
 internal affairs. In two despatches to the ambassadors of foreign 
 courts, the chancellor declared that the war, begun by the Emperor 
 Napoleon, had been approved by the representatives of the nation, 
 and that thus all France was answerable for the result. Germany 
 was obliged, therefore, to demand guarantees which should secure 
 her in future against attack, or, at any rate, render attack more 
 difficult. Thus a cession of territory on the part. of France was 
 laid down as the basis of a treaty of peace. The neutral powers 
 were also led to the behef that if they fostered in the French any 
 hope of iatervention, peace would only be delayed. The mission 
 of Thiers, therefore, yielded no useful result, while the direct 
 negotiation which Jules Favre conducted with Bismarck proved 
 equally unavailing. 
 
 FALL OF THE FORTRESSES 
 
 Soon the beleaguered fortresses began to fall. On the 23d of 
 September the ancient town of Toul, in Lorraine, was forced to 
 capitulate, after a fearful bombardment; and on the 27th Stras- 
 bourg, in danger of the terrible results of a stormuig, after the havoc 
 of a dreadful artillery fire, hoisted the white flag, and surrendered 
 on the following day. The supposed impregnable fortress of Metz 
 
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 279 
 
 held out little longer. Hunger did what cannon were incapable 
 of doing. The successive sallies made by Bazaine proved unavail- 
 ing, though, on October 7th, his soldiers fought with desperate 
 energy, and for hours the air was full of the roar of cannon and 
 mitrailleuse and the rattle of musketry. But the Germans with- 
 stood the attack unmoved, and the French were forced to with- 
 draw into the town. 
 
 Bazaine then sought to negotiate with the German leaders 
 at Versailles, offering to take no part in the war for three months 
 if permitted to withdraw. But Bismarck and Moltke would Hsten 
 to no terms other than unconditional surrender, and these terms 
 were finally accepted, the besieged army having reached the brink 
 of starvation. It was with horror and despair that France learned, 
 on the 30th of October, that the citadel of Metz, with its fortifi- 
 cations and arms of defense, had been yielded to the Germans, 
 and its army of more than 150,000 men had surrendered as pris- 
 oners of war. 
 
 This hasty surrender at Metz, a still greater disaster to France 
 than that of Sedan, was not emulated at Paris, which for four 
 months held out against all the efforts of the Germans. On the 
 investment of the great city. King William removed his head- 
 quarters to the historic palace of Versailles, setting up his homely 
 camp-bed in the same apartments from which Louis XIV had 
 once issued his despotic edicts and commands. Here Count Bis- 
 marck conducted his diplomatic labors and Moltke issued his 
 directions for the siege, which, protracted from week to week and 
 month to month, gradually transformed the beautiful neighbor- 
 hood, with its prosperous villages, superb country houses, and 
 enchanting parks and gardens, into a scene of sadness and 
 desolation. 
 
 PARIS IS BESIEGED 
 
 In spite of the vigorous efforts made by the commander-m- 
 chief Trochu, both by continuous firing from the forts and by 
 
280 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 
 
 repeated sallies, to prevent Paris from being surrounded, and to 
 force a way through the trenches, his enteiprises were rendered 
 fruitless by the watchfulness and strength of the Germans. The 
 blockade was completely accomplished; Paris was surrounded 
 and cut off from the outer world; even the underground telegraphs, 
 through which communication was for a time secretly maintained 
 v/ith the provinces, were by degrees discovered and destroyed. 
 But to the great astonishment of Europe, which looked on with 
 keenly pitched excitement at the mighty struggle, the siege con- 
 tinued for months without any special progress being observable 
 from without or any lessening of resistance from within. On 
 account of the extension of the forts, the Germans were compelled 
 to remain at such a distance that a bombardment of the towTi at 
 first appeared impossible; a storming of the outer works would, 
 moreover, be attended with such sacrifices that the hmnane tem- 
 per of the Idng revolted from such a proceeding. The guns of 
 greater force and carrying power which were needed from Ger- 
 many, could only be procured after long delay on account of the 
 broken lines of railway. Probably also there was some hesitation 
 on the German side to expose the beautiful city, regarded by so 
 many as the "metropoUs of civilization," to the risk of a bom- 
 bardment, in which works of art, science, and a historical past 
 would meet destruction. Nevertheless, the declamations of the 
 French at the vandalism of the northern barbarians met with 
 assent and sympathy from most of the foreign Powers. 
 
 Determination and courage falsified the calculations at Ver- 
 sailles of a quick cessation of the resistance. The republic offered 
 a far more energetic and determined opposition to the Prussian 
 arms than the empire had done. The government of the national 
 defense still declaimed with stern reiteration: ''Not a foot's 
 breadth of our country; not a stone of our fortresses!" and posi- 
 tively rejected all proposals of treaty based on territorial conces- 
 sions. Faith in the invincibihty of the republic was rooted as an 
 indisputable dogma in the hearts of the French people. The 
 
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 281 
 
 victories and the commanding position of France from 1792 to 
 1799 were regarded as so entirely the necessary result of the 
 Revolution, that a conviction prevailed that the formation of a 
 republic, with a national army for its defense, would have an 
 especial effect on the rest of Europe. Therefore, instead of sum- 
 moning a constituent Assembly, which, in the opinion of Prussia 
 and the other foreign Powers, would alone be capable of offering 
 security for a lasting peace, it was decided to continue the revo- 
 lutionary movements, and to follow the same course which, in the 
 years 1792 and 1793, had saved France from the coalition of the 
 European Powers. It was held that a revolutionary dictatorship 
 such as had once been exercised by the Convention and the mem- 
 bers of the Committee of Public Safety, must again be revived, 
 and a youthful and hot-blooded leader was alone needed to stir 
 up popular feelmg and set it in motion. 
 
 To fill such a part no one was better adapted than the advo- 
 cate Gambetta, who emulated the career of the leaders of the 
 Revolution, and whose soul glowed with a passionate ardor of 
 patriotism. In order to create for himself a free sphere of action, 
 and to initiate some vigorous measure in place of the well-rounded 
 phrases and eloquent proclamations of his colleagues Trochu and 
 Jules Favre, he quitted the capital in an air-balloon and entered 
 into communication with the Government delegation at Tours, 
 which through him soon obtained a fresh impetus. His next most 
 important task was the liberation of the capital from the besieg- 
 ing German army, and the expulsion of the enemy from the 
 ''sacred" soil of France. For this purpose he summoned, v/ith 
 the authority of a minister of war, all persons capable of bearing 
 arms up to forty years of age to take active service, and despatched 
 them into the field; he imposed war-taxes, and terrified the tardy 
 and refractory with threats of punishment. Every force was put 
 in motion; all France was transformed into a great camp. 
 
 A popular war was now to take the place of a soldiers' v/ar, 
 and what the soldiers had failed to effect must be accomplished 
 
282 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 
 
 by the people; France must be saved, and the world freed from 
 despotism. To promote this object, the whole of France, with 
 the exception of Paris, was divided into four general governments, 
 the headquarters of the different governors being Lille, Le Mans, 
 Bourges, and Besangon. Two armies, from the Loire and from 
 the Sonmie, were to march simultaneously towards Paris, and, 
 aided by the sallies of Trochu and his troops, were to drive the 
 enemy from the country. Energetic attacks were now attempted 
 from time to time, in the hope that v/hen the armies of rehef arrived 
 from the provinces, it might be possible to effect a coahtion; but 
 all these efforts were constantly repulsed after a hot struggle by 
 the besieging German troops. At the same time, during the 
 month of October, the territory between the Oise and the Lower 
 Seine was scoured by reconnoitering troops, mider Prince Albrecht, 
 the southeast district was protected by a Wtirtemberg detachment 
 through the successful battle near Nogent on the Seine, while a 
 division of the third army advanced towards the south accom- 
 panied by two cavalry divisions. A more unfortunate circum- 
 stance, however, for the Parisians was the cutting off of all com- 
 munication with the outer world, for the Germans had destroyed 
 the telegraphs. But even this obstacle was overcome by the 
 inventive genius of the French. By means of pigeon letter-carriers 
 and air-balloons, they were always able to maintain a partial 
 though one-sided and imperfect commmiication with the prov- 
 inces, and the aerostatic art was developed and brought to per- 
 fection on this occasion in a manner which had never before been 
 considered possible. 
 
 DEFIANT SPIRIT OP THE FRENCH 
 
 The whole of France, and especially the capital, was already 
 in a state of intense excitement when the news of the capitulation 
 of Metz came to add fresh fuel to the flame. Outside the walls 
 Gambetta was using heroic efforts to increase his forces, bringing 
 Bedouin horsemen from Africa and inducing the stern old revo- 
 
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 283 
 
 lutionist Garibaldi to come to his aid; and Thiers was opening 
 fresh negotiations for a truce. Inside the walls the Red Republic 
 raised the banners of insurrection and attempted to drive the 
 government of national defense from power. 
 
 This effort of the dregs of revolution to inaugurate a reign of 
 terror failed, and the provisional government felt so elated with 
 its victory that it determined to continue at the head of affairs 
 and to oppose the calhng of a chamber of national representatives. 
 The members proclaimed oblivion for what had passed, broke off 
 the negotiations for a truce beg-un by Thiers, and demanded a 
 vote of confidence. The indomitable spirit shown by the French 
 people did not, on the other hand, inspire the Germans with a 
 very lenient or conciliatory temper. Bismarck declared in a 
 despatch the reasons why the negotiations had failed: ''The 
 incredible demand that we should surrender the fruits of aU our 
 efforts diu"ing the last two months, and should go back to the 
 conditions which existed at the beginning of the blockade of Paris, 
 only affords fresh proof that in Paris pretexts are sought for refusing 
 the nation the right of election." Thiers mournfully declared the 
 failure of his undertaking, but in Paris the popular voting resulted 
 in a ten-fold majority in favor of the government and the policy 
 of postponement. 
 
 After the breaking off of the negotiations, the world antici- 
 pated some energetic action towards the besieged city. The efforts 
 of the enemy were, however, principally directed to drawing the 
 iron girdle still tighter, enclosing the giant city more and more 
 closely, and cutting off every means of communication, so that at 
 last a surrender might be brought about by the stern necessity of 
 starvation. That this object would not be accomplished as 
 speedily as at Metz, that the city of pleasure, enjoyment, and 
 luxury would withstand a siege of four months, had never been 
 contemplated for a moment. It is true that, as time went on, all 
 fresh meat disappeared from the market, with the exception of 
 horse-flesh; that white bread, on which Parisians place such value, 
 
284 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 
 
 was replaced by a baked compound of meal and bran; that the 
 stores of dried and salted food began to decline, until at last rats, 
 dogs, cats, and even animals from the zoological gardens were 
 prepared for consumption at restaurants. 
 
 Yet, to the amazement of the world, all these miseries, hard- 
 ships, and sufferings were courageously borne, nocturnal watch 
 was kept, sallies were undertaken, and cold, hunger, and wretched- 
 ness of all kinds were endured with an indomitable steadfastness 
 and heroism. The courage of the besieged Parisians was also 
 animated by the hope that the military forces in the provinces 
 would hasten to the aid of the hard-pressed capital, and that 
 therefore an energetic resistance would afford the rest of France 
 sufficient time for rallying all its forces, and at the same time 
 exhibit an elevating example. In the cariying out of this plan, 
 neither Trochu nor Gambetta was wanting in the requisite energy 
 and circumspection. The former organized sallies from time to 
 time, in order to reconnoiter and discover whether the army of 
 relief was on its way from the provinces; the latter exerted all his 
 powers to bring the Loire army up to the Seine. But both erred 
 in undervaluing the German war forces; they did not believe that 
 the hostile army would be able to keep Paris in a state of blockade, 
 and at the same time engage the armies on the south and north, 
 east and west. They had no conception of the hidden, inexhaus- 
 tible strength of the Prussian army organization — of a nation in 
 arms which could send forth constant reinforcements of battalions 
 and recruits, and fresh bodies of disciplined troops to fill the gaps 
 left in the ranks by the wounded and fallen. There could be no 
 doubt as to the termination of this terrible war, or the final victory 
 of German energy and discipline. 
 
 THE STEUGGLE CONTINUED 
 
 Throughout the last months of the eventful year 1870, the 
 northern part of France, from the Jura to the Channel, from the 
 Belgian frontier to the Loire, presented the aspect of a wide battle- 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 ^' ^ 
 
 "', '^--- . 
 
 
 Aii 
 
 1 
 
 l: 
 
 '■ 
 
 ^^E j^^H 
 
 
 
 "" -^"C 
 
 ^Hk -^^ 
 
 p 
 
 ll: 
 
 V. 
 
 *^ 
 
 HIHh 
 
 
 ■aferi% ,.>.-..:. liJill 
 
 i' "'" 
 
 
 1 
 
 ^ 
 
 m. • ' 
 
 
 
 :■ % 
 
 
 .(Ji,V- '/ :,■ 
 
 o 
 
 CO 
 
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 285 
 
 field. Of the troops that had been set free by the capitulation of 
 Metz, a part remained behind in garrison, another division 
 marched northwards in order to invest the provinces of Picardy 
 and Normandy, to restore communication with the sea, and to 
 bar the road to Paris, and a third division joined the second amiy, 
 whose commander-in-chief. Prince Frederick Charles, set up his 
 headquarters at Troyes. Different detachments were despatched 
 against the northern fortresses, and by degrees Soissons, Verdun, 
 Thionville, Ham, where Napoleon had once been a prisoner, Pfalz- 
 burg and Montmedy, all fell into the hands of the Prussians, thus 
 opening to them a free road for the suppUes of provisions. The 
 garrison troops were all carried off as prisoners to Germany; the 
 towns — ^most of them in a miserable condition — ^fell into the 
 enemy's hands; many houses were mere heaps of ruins and ashes, 
 and the larger part of the inliabitants were suffering severely from 
 poverty, hunger and disease. 
 
 The greatest obstacles were encountered in the northern part 
 of Alsace and the mountainous districts of the Vosges and the 
 Jura, where irregular warfare, under Garibaldi and other leaders, 
 developed to a dangerous extent, while the fortress of Langres 
 afforded a safe retreat to the guerilla bands. Lyons and the 
 neighboring town of St. Etienne became hotbeds of excitement, the 
 red flag being raised and a despotism of terror and violence estab- 
 Hshed. Although many divergent elements made up this army of 
 the east, all were imited in hatred of the Germans. 
 
 Thus, during the cold days of November and December, when 
 General Von Treskow began the siege of the important fortress of 
 Belfort, there burst forth a war around Gray and Dijon marked 
 by the greatest hardships, perils and privations to the invaders. 
 Here the Germans had to contend with an enemy much superior 
 in number, and to defend themselves against continuous firing 
 from houses, cellars, woods and thickets, while the impoverished 
 soil yielded a miserable subsistence, and the broken railroads cut 
 off' freedom of communication and of reinforcement. 
 
286 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 
 
 The whole of the Jura district, intersected by hilly roads as 
 far as the plateau of Langres, where, in the days of Csesar, the 
 Romans aiid Gauls were wont to measure their strength with each 
 other, formed during November and December the scene of action 
 of numerous encounters which, in conjunction with sallies from the 
 garrison at Belfort, inflicted severe injury on Werder's troops. 
 Dijon had repeatedly to be evacuated; and the nocturnal attack 
 at Chattillon, 20th November, by Garibaldians, when one hmidred 
 and twenty Landwehr men and Hussars perished miserably, and 
 seventy horses were lost, affording a striking proof of the dangers 
 to which the German army was exposed in this hostile country; 
 although the revolutionary excesses of the turbulent population of 
 the south diverted to a certain extent the attention of the National 
 Guard, who were compelled to turn their weapons against an 
 internal enemy. 
 
 By means of the revolutionary dictatorship of Gambetta the 
 whole French nation was drawn into the struggle, the annihilation 
 of the enemy being represented as a national duty, and the war 
 assuming a steadily more violent character. The indefatigable 
 patriot continued his exertions to increase the army and unite the 
 whole south and west against the enemy, hoping to bring the army 
 of the Loire to such dimensions that it would be able to expel the 
 invaders from the soil of France. But these raw recruits were 
 poorly fitted to cope with the highly disciplined Germans, and their 
 early successes were soon followed by defeat and discouragement, 
 while the hopes entertained by the Paris garrison of succor from 
 the south varnished as news of the steady progress of the Germans 
 was received. 
 
 OPERATIONS BEFORE PARIS 
 
 During these events the war operations before Paris continued 
 iminterruptedly. Moltke had succeeded, in spite of the difficulties 
 of transport, in procuring an immense quantity of ammunition, 
 and the long-delayed bombardment of Paris was ready to begin. 
 
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 287 
 
 Having stationed with all secrecy twelve batteries with seventy- 
 six guns around Mont Avron, on Christmas-day the firing was 
 directed with such success against the fortified eminences, that 
 even in the second night the French, after great losses, evacuated 
 the important position, the "key of Paris," which was immediately 
 taken possession of by the Saxons. Terror and dismay spread 
 throughout the distracted city when the eastern forts, Rosny, 
 Nogent and Noisy, were stormed amid a tremendous volley of 
 firing. Vainly did Trochu endeavor to rouse the failing courage 
 of the National Guard; vainly did he assert that the government 
 of the national defense would never consent to the humiliation of 
 a capitulation; his own authority had already waned; the news- 
 papers already accused him of incapacity and treachery, and 
 began to cast every aspersion on the men who had presumptuously 
 seized the govermnent, and yet were not in a position to effect the 
 defense of the capital and the country. After the new year the 
 bombardment of the southern forts began, and the terror in the 
 city daily increased, though the violence of the radical journals 
 kept in check any hint of surrender or negotiation. Yet in spite 
 of fog and snow-storms the bombardment was systematically con- 
 tinued, and with every day the destructive effect of the terrible 
 missiles grew more pronounced. 
 
 Trochu was blamed for having undertaken only small sallies, 
 v/hich could have no result. The conunander-in-chief ventured 
 no opposition to the party of action. With the consent of the 
 mayors of the twenty arrondissements of Paris a council of war 
 v/as held. The threatening famine, the firing of the enemy, and 
 the excitement prevailing among the adherents of the red repubhc 
 rendered a decisive step necessary. Consequently, on the 19tii of 
 January, a great sally was decided on, and the entire armed forces 
 of the capital were sunomoned to arms. Early in the morning, a 
 body of 100,000 men marched in the direction of Meudon, Sevres 
 and St. Cloud for the decisive conflict. The left wing was com- 
 manded by General Vinoy, the right by Ducrot, while Trochu 
 
288 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 
 
 from the watch-tower directed the entire struggle. With great 
 courage Vinoy dashed forward with his column of attack towards 
 the fifth army corps of General Kirchbach, and succeeded in 
 capturing the Montretout entrenchment, through the superior 
 number of his troops, and in holding it for a time. But when 
 Ducrot, delayed by the barricades in the streets, failed to come 
 to his assistance at the appointed time, the attack was driven 
 back after seven hours' fierce fighting by the besieging troops. 
 Having lost 7,000 dead and wounded, the French in the evening 
 beat a retreat, which almost resembled a flight. On the following 
 day Trochu demanded a truce, that the fallen National Guards, 
 whose bodies strewed the battle-field, might be interred. The 
 victors, too, had to render the last rites to many a brave soldier. 
 Thirty-nine officers and six hundred and sixteen soldiers v/ere given 
 in the list of the slain. 
 
 Entire confidence had been placed by the Parisians in the 
 great sally. When the defeat, therefore, became Imown in its full 
 significance, vv^hen the number of the fallen was found to be far 
 greater even than had been stated in the first accounts, a dull 
 despair took pjossession of the famished city, which next broke 
 forth into violent abuse against Trochu, 'Hhe traitor." Capitula- 
 tion now seemed imminent; but as the commander-in-chief had 
 declared that he would never coimtenance such a disgrace, he 
 resigned his post to Vinoy. Threatened by bombardment from 
 without, terrified within by the pale specter of famine, paralyzed 
 and distracted by the violent dissensions among the people, and 
 without prospect of effective aid from the provinces, what 
 remained to the proud capital but to desist from a conffict the 
 continuation of which only increased the unspeakable misery, 
 without the smallest hope of dehverance? Gradually, therefore, 
 there grew up a resolution to enter into negotiations with the 
 enemy; and it was the minister, Jules Favre, who had been fore- 
 most with the cry of "no surrender" four months before, who was 
 now compelled to take the first step to deliver his country from 
 
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 289 
 
 complete ruin. It was probably the bitterest hour in the hfe of 
 the brave man, who loved France and hberty with such a sincere 
 affection, when he was conducted through the German outposts to 
 his interview with Bismarck at Versailles. He brought the pro- 
 posal for a convention, on the strength of which the garrison was 
 to be permitted to retire with military honors to a part of France 
 not hitherto invested, on promising to abstain for several months 
 from taking part in the struggle. But such conditions were posi- 
 tively refused at the Prussian headquarters, and a surrender was 
 demanded as at Sedan and Metz. Completely defeated, the 
 minister returned to Paris. At a second meeting on the following 
 day, it was agreed that from the 27th, at twelve o'clock at night, 
 the firing on both sides should be discontinued. This was the 
 preluninary to the conclusion of a three weeks' truce, to await the 
 summons of a National Assembly, with which peace might be 
 negotiated. 
 
 FIGHTING IN THE SOUTH 
 
 The war was at an end so far as Paris was concerned. But 
 it continued in the south, where frequent defeat failed to depress 
 Gambetta's indomitable energy, and where new troops constantly 
 replaced those put to rout. Garibaldi, at Dijon, succeeded in 
 doing what the French had not done during the war, in capturing 
 a Prussian banner. But the progress of the Germans soon 
 rendered his position untenable, and, finding his exertions unavail- 
 ing, he resigned his command and retired to his island of Caprera. 
 Two disasters completed the overthrow of France. Bourbaki's 
 anny, 85,000 strong, became shut in, with scanty food and ammu- 
 nition, among the snow-covered valleys of the Jura, and to save 
 the disgrace of capitulation it took refuge on the neutral soil of 
 Switzerland; and the strong fortress of Belfort, which had been 
 defended with the utmost courage against its besiegers, finally 
 yielded, with the stipulation that the brave garrison should march 
 out with the honors of war. Nothing now stood in the way of an 
 
 19 
 
290 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 
 
 extension of the truce. On the suggestion of Jules Favre, the 
 National Assembly elected a commission of fifteen members, which 
 was to aid the chief of the executive, and his ministers, Picard and 
 Favre, in the negotiations for peace. That cessions of territory 
 and indemnity of war expenses would have to be conceded had 
 long been aclaiowledged in principle; but protracted and excited 
 discussions took place as to the extent of the former and the 
 amount of the latter, while the demanded entry of the German 
 troops into Paris met with vehement opposition. But Count 
 Bismarck resolutely insisted on the cession of Alsace and German 
 Lorraine, including Metz and Diedenhofen. Only with difficulty 
 were the Germans persuaded to separate Belfort from the rest of 
 Lorraine, and leave it still in the possession of the French. In 
 respect to the expenses of the war, the sum of five milliards of 
 francs ($1,000,000,000) was agreed upon, of which the first milliard 
 was to be paid in the year 1871, and the rest in a stated period. 
 The stipulated entry into Paris also — so bitter to the French 
 national pride — wsiS only partially carried out; the western side 
 only of the city was to be traversed in the march of the Prussian 
 troops, and again evacuated in two days. On the basis of these 
 conditions, the preliminaries of the Peace of Versailles were con- 
 cluded on the 26th of February between the Imperial Chancellor 
 and Jules Favre. Intense excitement prevailed when the terms of 
 the treaty became known; they were dark days in the annals of 
 French history. But in spite of the opposition of the extreme 
 Republican party, led by Quinet and Victor Hugo, the Assembly 
 recognized by an overpowering majority the necessity for the 
 Peace, and the preliminaries were accepted by 546 to 107 votes. 
 Thus ended the mighty war between France and Germany — a war 
 which has had few equals in the history of the world. 
 
 THE WAR AT AN END 
 
 Had King William received no indemnity in cash or territory 
 from France, he must still have felt himself amply repaid for the 
 
THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 291 
 
 cost of the brief but sanguinary war, for it brought him a power 
 and prestige with which the astute diplomatist Bismarck had long 
 been seeking to invest his name. Political changes move slowly 
 in times of peace, rapidly in times of war. The whole of Ger- 
 many, with the exception of Austria, had sent troops to the con- 
 quest of France, and every state, north and south ahke, shared in 
 the pride and glory of the result. South and North Germany 
 had marched side by side to the battle-field, every difference of 
 race or creed forgotten, and the honor of the German fatherland 
 the sole watchv/ord. The time seemed to have arrived to close 
 the breach between north and south, and obliterate the line of the 
 Main, which had divided the two sections. North Germany was 
 united under the leadership of Prussia, and the honor in which 
 all alike shared now brought South Germany into line for a 
 similar union. 
 
 The first appeal in this direction came from Baden. Later in 
 the year plenipotentiaries sought Versailles from the kingdoms of 
 Bavaria and Wiirtemberg and the grand duchies of Baden and 
 Hesse, their purpose being to arrange for and define the conditions 
 of union betv/een the South and the North German states. For 
 weeks this momentous question filled all Germany with excite- 
 ment and public opinion was in a state of high tension. The 
 scheme of union was by no means universally approved, there 
 being a large party in opposition, but the majority in its favor in 
 Chambers proved sufficient to enable Bismarck to carry out 
 his plan. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 Bismarck and the New German Empire 
 
 Building the Bulwarks of the Twentieth-Century Nation 
 
 Bismarck as a Statesman — Uniting the German States — William I Crowned at Versailles 
 
 — A Significant Decade — The Problem of Church Power — Progress of Socialism — 
 
 William II and the Resignation of Bismarck — Old Age Insurance — Political and 
 
 Industrial Conditions in Germany. 
 
 rT^HROUGHOUT the various events narrated in the two 
 I preceding chapters the hand of Bismarck was everywhere 
 -^ visible. He had proved himself a statesman of the highest 
 powers, and these powers were devoted without stint to the aggran- 
 dizement of Prussia. As for the surrounding nations and their 
 rights and immunities, these did not count as against his pohcies. 
 Conscience did not trouble him. The slaughter of thousands of 
 men on the battle-field did not disturb his equanimity. He was 
 unalterably fixed in his purposes unscrupulous in the means em- 
 ployed, shrewd, keen and far-sighted in his measures, Europe 
 being to him but a great chess-board, on which bis hand moved 
 Idngs, knights, and pawns with mechanical inflexibihty. To him 
 the end justified the means, however lacking in justice or mercy 
 these means might prove. 
 
 Denmark was despoiled to extend the territory of Prussia 
 to the north. Austria, Bismarck's unwary accomphce in this act 
 of spoliation, was robbed of its share of the spoils, and drawn into 
 a war in which it met with disastrous defeat, the prestige of Prussia 
 being vastly increased on the field of Sadowa. Subsequently came 
 the great struggle with France, fomented by his wiles and ending 
 in triumph for his policies. So far all had gone well for him, the 
 final outcome of his schemes resulting in the unification of the 
 mmor German states into one powerful empire. 
 
 (292) 
 
BISMARCK AND THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 293 
 
 BISMARCK AS A STATESMAN 
 
 It was in the formation of the modern German Empire that 
 the far-sighted plans of Bismarck cuhninated. King WilHam was 
 a tool in his hands for this purpose, moving as he suggested and 
 doing as he wished. The states of Germany, aside from Austria, 
 had actively participated in the recent war, the steps towards 
 unification which had been taken during the few preceding years 
 having now reached the point in which a complete amalgamation 
 might be effected. 
 
 The Holy Roman Empire, which had lasted throughout the 
 medieval period in some phase of strength and power, at times 
 predominant, at times little more than a title, had received its 
 death-blow from the hands of Napoleon and vanished from the 
 historic stage. It was Bismarck's design to restore the Germ-an 
 Empire — not the old, moth-eaten fiction of the past, but an entirely 
 new one — and give Prussia the position it had earned, that of the 
 great center of German racial unity. In this project Austria, long 
 at the head of the old empire, was to have no part, the imperial 
 dignity being conferred upon the venerable King William of Prussia, 
 a monarch whose birth dated back to the eighteenth century, and 
 who had lived throughout the Napoleonic wars. 
 
 UNITING THE GERMAN STATES 
 
 Near the close of 1870 Bismarck concluded treaties with the 
 ambassadors of the South German States, in which they agreed to 
 accept the constitution of the North German Union. These 
 treaties were ratified, after some opposition from the "patriots" of 
 the lower house, by the legislatures of the four states involved. 
 The next step in the proceeding was a suggestion from the king of 
 Bavaria to the other princes that the imperial crown of Germany 
 should be offered to King William of Prussia. 
 
 When the North German Diet at Berlin had given its consent 
 to the new constitution, a congratulatory address was despatched to 
 the Pmssian monarch at Versailles. It announced to the aged 
 
294 BISMARCK AND THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 
 
 hero-king the nation's wish that he should accept the new dignity. 
 He repHed to the deputation in solemn audience that he accepted 
 the imperial dignity which the German nation and its princes had 
 offered him. On the 1st of January, 1871, the new constitution was 
 to come into operation. 
 
 WILLIAM I CROWTSTED AT VERSAILLES 
 
 The solemn assumption of the imperial office did not take place, 
 however, until the 18th of January, the day on which, one hundred 
 and seventy years before, the new emperor's ancestor, Frederick I, 
 had placed the Prussian crown on his head at Konigsberg, and thus 
 laid the basis of the growing greatness of his house. It was an 
 ever-memorable coincidence that, in the superb-mirrored hall of 
 the Versailles palace, where since the days of Richelieu so many 
 plans had been concocted for the humiliation of Germany, King 
 William should now proclaim himself German em^peror. After 
 the reading of the imperial proclamation to the German people 
 by Count Bismarck, the Grand Duke led a cheer, in which the 
 whole assembly joined amid the singing of national hymns. Thus 
 the important event had taken place which again summoned the 
 German Empire to life, and made over the imperial crown with 
 renewed splendor to another royal house. Barbarossa's old legend, 
 that the dominion of the empire was, after long tribulation, to 
 pass from the Hohenstaufen to the HohenzoUern, was now ful- 
 filled; the dream long aspired after by German youth had now 
 become a reahty and a living fact. 
 
 The tidings of the conclusion of peace with France, whose 
 preliminaries were completed at Frankfort on the 10th of May, 
 1871, filled all Germany with joy, and peace festivals on the most 
 splendid scale extended from end to end of the new empke, in all 
 parts of which an earnest spirit of patriotism was shown, while 
 Germans from all regions of the world sent home expressions of 
 warm sympathy with the new national organization of their 
 fatherland. 
 
BISMARCK AND THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 295 
 
 A SIGNIFICANT DECADE 
 
 The decade Just completed had been one of remarkable politi- 
 cal ohanges in Europe, unsurpassed in significance during any other 
 period of equal length. The temporal dominion of the pope had 
 vanished and all Italy had been united under the rule of a single 
 king. The empire of France had been overthrown and a republic 
 estabUshed in its place, while that coimtry had sunk greatly in 
 prominence among the European states. Austria had been 
 utterly defeated in war, had lost its last hold on Italy and its 
 position of influence among the German states. And all the 
 remaining German lands had united into a great and powerful 
 empire, promising to gain such extraordinary military strength that 
 the surrounding nations looked on in doubt, full of vague fears 
 of trouble from this new and potent power introduced into 
 their midst. 
 
 Bismarck, however, showed an earnest desire to maintain 
 international peace and good relations, seeldng to win the con- 
 fidence of foreign governments, while at the same time improving 
 and increasing that mihtary force which had been proved to be so 
 mighty an engine of war. 
 
 In the constitution of the new empire two legislative bodies, 
 ah'eady possessed by the Confederation of North German States, 
 were provided for — the Bundesrath or Federal Council, whose mem- 
 bers are annually appointed by the respective state governments, 
 and the Reichstag or representative body, whose members are 
 elected by universal suffrage for a period of three years, an annual 
 session being required. Germany, therefore, in its present 
 organization, is practically a federal union of states, each with its own 
 powers of internal government, and with a common legislature ap- 
 proximating to oar Senate and House of Representatives. But this 
 did not make the German emperor a parliamentary monarch. From 
 the fact that the consent of both assemblies was necessary to 
 change the law, he governed as he pleased and had no other min- 
 isterial representative than the high chancellor of the empire. 
 
296 BISMARCK AND THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 
 
 depending solely on the sovereign. After 1870 he was in the em- 
 pire what he had been previously in Prussia, the essential repre- 
 sentative of the country and the supreme head of the military forces. 
 
 The remaining incidents of Bismarck's remarkable career may 
 be briefly given. It consisted largely in a struggle with the 
 Catholic Church organization, which had attained to great power 
 in Germany, and was aggressive to an extent that roused the 
 vigorous opposition of the chancellor of the empire, who was not 
 willing to acknowledge any power in Germany other than that 
 of the emperor. 
 
 King Frederick WilHam IV, the predecessor of the reigning 
 monarch, had made active efforts to strengthen the Catholic 
 Church in Prussia, its clergy gaining greater privileges in that 
 Protestant state than they possessed in any of the Catholic states. 
 They had established everywhere in North Germany their con- 
 gregations and monasteries, and by their control of public educa- 
 tion seemed in a fair way eventually to make Catholicism supreme 
 in the empire. 
 
 THE PROBLEM OF CHURCH POWER 
 
 This state of affairs Bismarck set himself energetically to 
 reform. The minister of rehgious affairs was forced to resign, 
 and his place was taken by Falk, a sagacious statesman, who 
 introduced a new school law, bringing the whole educational system 
 under state control, and carefully regulating the power of the 
 clergy over religious and moral education. This law met with 
 such violent opposition that all the personal influence of Bismarck 
 and Falk were needed to carry it, and it gave such deep offense 
 to the pope that he refused to receive the German ambassador. 
 He declared the Falk law invahd, and the German bishops united 
 in a declaration against the chancellor. Bismarck retorted by a 
 law expelling the Jesuits from the empire. 
 
 In 1873 the state of affairs became so embittered that the 
 rights and liberties of the citizens seemed to need protection against 
 
BISMARCK AND THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 297 
 
 a priesthood armed with extensive powers of discipline and excom- 
 munication. In consequence Bismarck introduced, and by his 
 eloquence and influence carried, what were known as the May 
 Laws. These required the scientific education of the Catholic 
 clergy, the confirmation of clerical appointments by the state, and 
 the formation of a tribunal to consider and revise the conduct of 
 the bishops. 
 
 These enactments precipitated a bitter contest between Church 
 and State, while the pope declared the May Laws null and void 
 and threatened with excommunication all priests who should sub- 
 mit to them. The State retorted by withdrawing its financial sup- 
 port from the Catholic Church and abolishing those clauses of the 
 constitution under which the Church claimed independence of the 
 State. Pope Pius IX died m 1878, and on the election of Leo 
 XIII attempts were made to reconcile the existing differences. 
 The reconciliation was a victory for the Church, since the May Lav/s 
 ceased to be operative, the church revenues were restored and tlie 
 control of the clergy over education in considerable measure was 
 regained. New concessions were granted in 1886 and 1887, and 
 Bismarck felt himself beaten in his long conflict with his clerical 
 opponents, who had proved too strong and deeply entrenched for him. 
 
 PROGRESS OF SOCIALISM 
 
 Economic questions became also prominent, the revenues of 
 the empire requiring some change in the system of free trade and 
 the adoption of protective duties, v/hiie the railroads were acquired 
 as public property by the various states of the empire. Mean- 
 while the rapid grovvth of socialism excited apprehension, which 
 was added to when two attempts were made on the fife of the 
 emperor. These v/ere attributed to the socialists, and severe 
 laws for the suppression of sociahsm were enacted. Bismarck 
 also sought to cut the ground from under the feet of the socialists 
 by an endeavor to improve the condition of the working classes. 
 In 1881 laws were passed compelling employers to insure theii 
 
298 BISMARCK AND THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 
 
 workmen in case of sickness or accident, and in 1888 a system of 
 compulsory insurance against death and old age was introduced. 
 None of these measures, however, checked the growth of socialism, 
 which very actively continued. 
 
 In 1882 a meeting was arranged by the chancellor between 
 the emperors of Germany, Russia, and Austria, which was looked 
 upon in Europe as a pohtical alUance. In 1878 Russia drifted 
 somewhat apart from Germany, but in the following year an 
 alliance of defense and offense was concluded with Austria, and 
 a similar alhance at a later date with Italy. This, which still 
 continues, is known as the Triple Alliance. In 1877 Bismarck 
 announced his intention to retire, being worn out with the great 
 labors of his position. To this the emperor, who felt that his state 
 rested on the shoulders of the '^Iron Chancellor," would not listen, 
 though he gave him indefinite leave of absence. 
 
 On March 9, 1888, Emperor William died. He was ninety 
 years of age, having been born in 1797. He was succeeded by his 
 son Frederick, then incurably ill from a cancerous affection of the 
 throat, which carried him to the grave after a reign of ninety-nine 
 days. His oldest son, William, succeeded on June 15, 1888, as 
 WiUiam II. 
 
 WILLIAM II AND THE RESIGNATION OF BISMARCK 
 
 The liberal era which was looked for under Frederick was 
 checked by his untimely death, his son at once returning to the 
 policy of WilUam I and Bismarck. He proved to be far more 
 positive and dictatorial in disposition than his grandfather, with 
 decided and vigorous views of his own, which soon brought him 
 into conflict with the equally positive chancellor. The result was 
 a rupture with Bismarck, and his resignation (a virtual dismissal) 
 from the premiership in 1890. The young emperor proposed to 
 be his own minister and subsequently devoted himseK in a large 
 measure to the increase of the army and navy, a poHcy which 
 brought him into frequent conflicts with the Reichstag, whose 
 
BISMARCK AND THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 299 
 
 rapidly growing socialistic membership was in strong opposition 
 to this development of miUtarism. 
 
 The old statesman, to whom Germany owed so much, was 
 deeply aggrieved by this lack of gratitude on the part of the self- 
 opinionated young emperor, in view of his great services to the 
 state. The wound rankled deeply, though a seeming reconciUa- 
 tion took place. But the political career of the great Bismarck 
 was at an end, and he died on July 30, 1898. It is an interesting 
 coincidence that almost at the same time died the equally great, 
 but markedly different, statesman of England, William Ewart 
 Gladstone. Count Cavour, the third great European statesman 
 of the latter haK of the nineteenth century, had completed his work 
 and passed away nearly forty years before. 
 
 The career of William II soon became one of much interest 
 and some alarm to the other nations of Europe. His eagerness for 
 the development of the army and navy, and the energy with which 
 he pushed forward its organization and sought to add to its strength, 
 seemed significant of warlike intentions, and there was dread that 
 this energetic young monarch might break the peace of Europe, if 
 only to prove the irresistible strength of the military machine he 
 had formed. But as years went on the apprehensions to which 
 his early career and expressions gave rise were quieted, and the fear 
 that he would plunge Europe into war vanished. The army and 
 navy began to appear rather a costly plaything of the active young 
 man than an engine of destruction, while it tended in considerable 
 measure to the preservation of peace by rendering Germany a power 
 dangerous to go to war with. 
 
 The speeches with which the emperor began his reign showed 
 an exaggerated sense of the imperial dignity, though his later career 
 indicated far more judgment and good sense than the early display 
 of overweening self-importance promised, and the views of William 
 II eventually came to command far more respect than they did 
 at first. He showed himself a man of exuberant energy. Despite 
 a permanent weakness of his left arm and a serious affection of the 
 
300 BISMARCK AND THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 
 
 ear, he early became a skilful horseman and an untiring hunter, 
 as well as an enthusiastic yachtsman, and there were few men in the 
 empire more active and enterprising than the Kaiser. 
 
 OLD AGE INSURANCE 
 
 A principal cause of the break between William and Bismarck 
 was the imperial interference with the lav/s for the suppression of 
 socialism. As already stated, the old chancellor had established a 
 system of compulsory old age insurance, through which worlimen 
 and their employers — aided by the state — were obliged to provide 
 for the support of artisans after a certain age. The system seems 
 to have v/orked satisfactorily, but socialism of a more radical kind 
 grew in the empire far more rapidly than the emperor approved of, 
 and he vigorously, though unsuccessfully, endeavored to prevent 
 its increase. Another of his favorite measures, a religious education 
 bill, he was obliged to withdrav/ on account of the opposition it 
 excited. On more than one occasion he came into sharp conflict 
 with the Reichstag concerning increased taxation for the army 
 and navy, and a strong party against his autocratic methods sprang 
 up, and forced him more than once to recede from warmly-cherished 
 measures. 
 
 POLITICAL AND INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS IN GERMANY 
 
 It may be of interest here to say something concerning the 
 organization of the German empire. The constitution of this empire, 
 as adopted ilpril 16, 1871, proposes to '^form an eternal union 
 for the protection of the reann and the care of the welfare of the 
 German people," and places the supreme direction of military and 
 political affairs in the King of Prussia, under the title of Deutscher 
 Kaiser (German emperor). The war-making powers of the emperor, 
 hov/ever, are restricted, since he is required to obtain the consent 
 of the Bundesrath (the Federal Council) before he can declare war 
 otherwise than for the defense of the realm. His authority as 
 emperor, in fact, is much less than that which he exercises as King 
 
BISMARCK AND THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 301 
 
 of Prussia, since the imperial legislature is independent of him, 
 he having no power of veto over the laws passed by it. His actual 
 militar}^ power, however, is practically supreme, as demonstrated 
 in the opening events of the war of 1914. 
 
 The legislature, as stated, consists of two bodies, the Bundes- 
 rath, representing the states of the union, whose members, 58 in 
 number, are chosen for each session by the several state governments ; 
 and the P.eichstag, representing the people, whose members, 397 
 in number, are elected by universal suffrage for periods of five years. 
 The German union, as constituted in 1914, comprised four king- 
 doms, six grand duchies, five duchies, seven principalities, three 
 sovereign cities, and the Reichsland of Alsace-Lorraine; twenty- 
 six separate states in all. It included all the German peoples of 
 Europe with the exception of those of Austria. 
 
 The progress of Germany within the modern period has been 
 veiy great. The population of the states of the empire, 24,831,000 
 at the end of the Napoleonic wars, had become, a century later, over 
 04,000,000, having added 40,000,000 to the roll of inhabitants. The 
 country, once divided into an unwieldy multitude of states, oftei\ 
 of minute proportions, has become consoHdated into the number 
 above named, each of these possessing some degree of imiportance. 
 These, as combined into a federal union, or empire, have an area 
 of 208,830 square miles, of v/hich Prussia holds the lion's share, its 
 area being 134,605 square miles. 
 
 The presidency of the empire belongs to the king of Prussia 
 and is hereditary in his family. Besides the Imperial Parliament, 
 each state has its own special legislature and laws, but railroads 
 regarded as necessary for the defense of Germany or the facilitating 
 of general communications may come under a law of the empirp, 
 even against the opposition of the members of the confederation 
 whose territory is traversed. The states have their respective 
 armies, but it is the emperor who disposes of them^ ; he appoints the 
 heads of the contingents, approves the generals, and has the right 
 to establish fortresses over the v/hole territory of the empire. 
 
302 [BISMARCK AND THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 
 
 The wealth of the German empire has grown in a far greater 
 area than its population, it having developed into the most active 
 manufacturing country in Europe. Agriculture has similarly 
 advanced, and one of its chief products, that of the sugar beet, has 
 enormously increased, beet-root sugar being among its chief indus- 
 trial yields. In addition, Germany has grown to be one of the most 
 active commercial nations of the earth. Thus it has taken a place 
 among the most active productive and commercial countries, its 
 wealth and importance being correspondingly augmented. These 
 particulars are of interest as showing the standing of Germany at 
 the outbreak of the war of 1914 and indicating its degree of ability 
 to bear the fearful strain of so great a war. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 Gladstone as an Apostle of Reform 
 
 Great Britain Becomes a World Power 
 
 Gladstone and Disraeli — Gladstone's Famous Budget — A Suffrage Reform Bill — 
 Disraeli's Reform Measure — Irish Church DisestabUshment — ^An Irish Land Bill — 
 Desperate State of Ireland — The Coercion BiU — War in Africa — Home Rule for 
 
 Ireland 
 
 IT is a fact of much interest, as showing the growth of the 
 human mind, that Wilham Ewart Gladstone, the great advo- 
 cate of Enghsh Liberalism, made his first pohtical speech in 
 vigorous opposition to the Reform Bill of 1831. He was then a 
 student at Oxford University, but this boyish address had such 
 an effect upon his hearers, that Bishop Wordsworth felt sure the 
 speaker would "one day rise to be Prime Minister of England." 
 This prophetic utterance may be mated with another one, by 
 Archdeacon Denison, who said: ''I have just heard the best speech 
 I ever heard in my life, by Gladstone, against the Reform BiU. 
 But, mark my words, that man will one day be a Liberal, for he 
 argued against the Bill on hberal grounds." 
 
 Both these far-seeing men hit the mark. Gladstone became 
 Prime Minister and the leader of the Liberal Party in England. 
 Yet he had been reared as a Conservative, and for many years 
 he marched under the banner of Conservatism. His political 
 career began in the first Reform Parhament, in January, 1833. 
 Two years afterward he was made an under-secretary in Sir Robert 
 Peel's Cabinet. It was under the same premier that he first 
 became a full member of the cabinet, m 1845, as Secretary of 
 State for the Colonies. He was still a Tory in home politics, but 
 had become a Liberal in his commercial ideas, and was Peel's right- 
 hand man in carrying out his great commercial policy. 
 
 (303) 
 
304 GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 
 
 The repeal of the Corn-Laws was the work for which his 
 cabinet had been formed, and Gladstone, as the leading free- 
 trader in the Tory ranks, was called to it. As for Cobden, the 
 apostle of free-trade, Gladstone admired him inunensely. "I do 
 not know," he said in later years, "that there is in any period a 
 man v/hose public career and life were nobler or more admirable. 
 Of course, I except Washington. Washington, to my mind, is 
 the purest figure in history." As an advocate of free trade Glad- 
 stone first came into connection with another noble figure, that 
 of John Bright, who v/as to remain associated with him during 
 most of his career. In 1857 he first took rank as one of the great 
 moral forces of modern times. In that year he visited Naples, 
 where he saw the barbarous treatment of pohtical prisoners under 
 the government of the infamous King Bomba, and described them 
 in letters whose indignation was breathed in such tremendous tones 
 that England was stirred to its depths and all Europe awakened. 
 These thrilling epistles gave the cause of Itahan freedom an impetus 
 that had much to do with its subsequent success, and gained for 
 Gladstone the warmest veneration of patriotic Italians. 
 
 GLADSTONE AND DISRAELI 
 
 In 1852 he first came into opposition with the man against 
 v/hom he was to be pitted during the remainder of his career, 
 Benjamin Disraeli, who had made himself a power in Parhament, 
 and in that year became Chancellor of the Exchequer in Lord 
 Derby's Cabinet and leader of the House of Commons. The 
 revenue budget introduced by him showed a sad lack of financial 
 ability, and called forth sharp criticisms, to which he replied in 
 a speech made up of scoffs, gibes and biting sarcasms, so daring 
 and audacious in character as almost to intimidate the House. 
 As he sat down Mr. Gladstone rose and launched forth into an 
 oration which became historic. He gave voice to that indignation 
 which lay suppressed beneath the cowed feeling which for the 
 moment the Chancellor of the Exchequer's performance had left 
 
GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 305 
 
 among his hearers. In a few minutes the House was wildly cheer- 
 ing the intrepid champion who had rushed into the breach, and 
 when Mr. Gladstone concluded, having torn to shreds the proposals 
 of the budget, a majority followed him into the division lobby, 
 and Mr. Disraeli found his government beaten by niaeteen votes. 
 Such was the first great encounter between the two rivals. 
 
 Gladstone's famous budget 
 
 In the cabinet that followed, headed by Lord Aberdeen, 
 Gladstone succeeded Disraeli as Chancellor of the Exchequer, a 
 position in which he was to make a great mark. In April, 1853, 
 he introduced his first budget, a marvel of ingenious statesman- 
 ship, in its highly successful effort to equalize taxation. It remitted 
 various taxes which had pressed hard upon the poor and restricted 
 business, and replaced them by applying the succession duty to 
 real estate, increasing the duty on spirits, and extending the 
 income tax. 
 
 Taken altogether, and especially in its expedients to equalize 
 taxation, this first budget of Mr. Gladstone may be justly called 
 the greatest of the century. The speech in which it was intro- 
 duced^and expounded created an extraordinary impression on the 
 House and the country. For the first time in Parliament figures 
 were made as interesting as a fairy tale; the dry bones of statistics 
 were invested with a new and potent life, and it was shown hov\^ 
 the yearly balancing of the national accounts might be directed 
 by and made to promote the profoundest and most fruitful prm- 
 ciples of statesmanship. With such lucidity and picturesqueness 
 was this financial oratory rolled forth that the dullest intellect 
 could follow with pleasure the complicated scheme; and for five 
 hours the House of Commons sat as if it were under the sway of 
 a magician's wand. When Mr. Gladstone resumed his seat, it 
 was felt that the career of the coalition ministry was assured by 
 the genius that was discovered in its Chancellor of the Exchequer. 
 It was, indeed, to Gladstone's remarkable oratorical powers 
 
 20 
 
306 GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 
 
 that much of his success as a statesman was due. No man of his 
 period was his equal in swaying and convincing his hearers. His 
 rich and musical voice, his varied and animated gestures, his 
 impressive and vigorous delivery, great fluency, and wonderful 
 precision of statement, gave him a power over an audience which 
 few men of the century have enjoyed. His sentences, indeed, were 
 long and involved, growing more so as his years advanced, but 
 their fine choice of words, rich rhetoric, and eloquent delivery car- 
 ried away all that heard him, as did his deep earnestness and 
 intense conviction of the truth of his utterances. 
 
 Meanwhile his Liberalism had been steadily growing, reach- 
 ing its culmination in 1865, when the Tory University of Oxford, 
 which he had long represented, rejected him as its member, unable 
 longer to swallow his ultra views. The rejection was greeted by 
 him as a compliment. He at once offered himself as a candidate 
 for South Lancashire and in the opening of his speech at Man- 
 chester said: "At last, my friends, I am come among you; to use 
 an expression which has become very famous and is not likely to 
 be forgotten, 'I am come among you unmuzzled.' " 
 
 Unmuzzled he indeed was, free at last to give the fullest 
 expression to his Liberal faith. In 1866 he became, for the first 
 time in his career, leader of the House of Commons — Lord Russell, 
 the Prune Minister, being in the House of Lords. Many of his 
 friends feared for him in this difficult position; but the event 
 proved that they had no occasion for alarm, he showing himself 
 one of the most successful leaders the House had ever had. 
 
 A SUFFRAGE REFORM BILL 
 
 His first important duty in this position was to introduce the 
 new Suffrage Reform Bill, a measure to extend the franchise in 
 counties and boroughs that would have added about 400,000 
 voters to the electorate. In the debate that followed Gladstone 
 and Disraeli were again pitted against each other in a grand 
 oratorical contest. Disraeli taunted him with his youthful speech 
 
GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 307 
 
 at Oxford against the Reform Bill of 1831. Gladstone retorted by 
 scoring his opponent for clinging to a conservatism which he gloried 
 in having been strong enough to reject. He ended with this stir- 
 ring prediction: 
 
 "You cannot fight against the future. Time is on our side. 
 The great social forces which move onwards in their might and 
 majesty, and which the tumult of our debates does not for a moment 
 impede or disturb, those great social forces are against you: thej 
 are marshaled on our side; and the banner which we now carry 
 into this fight, though perhaps at some moment it may droop over 
 our sinking heads, yet it soon again will float in the eye of Heaven, 
 and it will be borne by the firm hands of the united people of the 
 three kingdoms, perhaps not to an easy, but to a certain, and 
 to a not far distant, victory." 
 
 He was right in saying that it would not be a distant victory. 
 Disraeli and his party defeated the bill, but the people rose in a 
 vigorous demand for it, ten thousand of them marching past Glad- 
 stone's house, singing odes in honor of "the People's William." 
 John Bright, an eloquent orator and strenuous advocate of moral 
 reform and political progress, joined Gladstone in his campaign. 
 Through the force of their eloquence the tide of public opinion 
 rose to such a height that the new Derby-Disraeli ministry was 
 obliged to bring in a bill similar in purpose to that which it had 
 overthrown. 
 
 Disraeli's reform measure 
 
 This Tory bill proved satisfactory to Gladstone in its general 
 features. He had won a great victory in forcing its introduction. 
 But he proposed so many changes in its details — all of them yielded 
 in committee — that a satirical lord remarked that nothing of the 
 original bill remained but its opening word "Whereas." As 
 thus modified, it was more Uberal than the measure that had been 
 defeated, and the people gave full credit for it to Gladstone, whom 
 they credited with giving them their right to vote. 
 
308 GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 
 
 The two potent political champions, Gladstone and Disraeli, 
 soon after attained the sununit height of British pohtical ambition. 
 In February, 1868, the failing health of Lord Derby forced him to 
 resign the ministry, and Disraeh succeeded him as Prime Minister, 
 thus the ''Asian Mystery," as he had been entitled, gained the 
 highest office in the British government. He did not hold this 
 office long. His party was defeated on the question of the disestab- 
 lishment of the Irish Church, and on December 4th of the same year 
 Gladstone took his place. Thus, after thirty-five years of public 
 life, Gladstone had attained the post in which he was to spend 
 most of his later life. 
 
 Bishop Wilberforce, who met him in this hour of triumph, 
 wrote thus of him in his journal: "Gladstone as ever great, earnest 
 and honest; as unlike the tricky Disraeli as possible. He is so 
 delightfully true and the same; just as full of interest in every good 
 thing of every kind." 
 
 The period which followed the election of 1868 — the period 
 of the Gladstone Administration of 1868-74 — ^has been called "the 
 golden age of Liberalism." It was certainly a period of great 
 reforms. The first, the most heroic, and probably — taking all the 
 results into account — the most completely successful of these, was 
 the disestablishment of the Irish Church. 
 
 IRISH CHURCH DISESTABLISHMENT 
 
 Any interference with the prerogatives or absoluteness of an 
 established church institution is sure to arouse vigorous opposition. 
 The DisestabHshment Bill, introduced on the 1st of March, 1869, 
 was greeted in Ireland with the wildest protests from those interested 
 in the Establishment. One synod, with a large assumption of 
 inspired knowledge, denounced it as "highly offensive to the Al- 
 mighty God." A martial clergyman offered to "kick the Queen's 
 crown into the Boyne," if she assented to any such measure. An- 
 other proposed to fight with the Bible in one hand and the sword 
 in the other. 
 
GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 309 
 
 These wild outbreaks of theological partisanship had no effect on 
 Gladstone, whose speech was one of the greatest marvels amongst 
 his oratorical achievements. His chief opponent declared that, 
 though it lasted three hours, it did not contain a redundant word. 
 The scheme which it unfolded — a scheme which withdrew the tem- 
 poral establishment of a Church in such a manner that the Church 
 was benefited, not injured, and which lifted from the backs of an 
 oppressed people an intolerable burden — ^was a triumph of creative 
 genius. 
 
 Disraeh's speech in opposition to this measure was referred 
 to by the London Times as "fiimsiness reheved by spangles." 
 After a debate in which Mr. Bright made one of his most famous 
 speeches, the bill was carried by a majority of 118. Before this 
 strong manifestation of the popular will the House of Lords, which 
 deeply disliked the bill, felt obliged to give way, and passed it by 
 a majority of seven. 
 
 AN IRISH LAND BILL 
 
 In 1870 Mr. Gladstone introduced his Irish Land Bill, a meas- 
 ure of reform which ParHament had for years refused to grant. 
 By it the tenant was given the right to hold his farm as long as 
 he paid his rent, and received a claim upon the improvement made 
 by himself and his predecessors — a tenant-right which he could sell. 
 This bill was triumphantly carried; and another important Liberal 
 measure, Mr. Forster's Education Bill, became law. 
 
 Other liberal measures were passed, but the tide which had 
 set so long in this direction tiurned at last, the government was 
 defeated in 1873 on a bill for University Education, and in a sub- 
 sequent election the Liberal party met with defeat. Gladstone at 
 once resigned and was succeeded by Disraeh. Two years later the 
 latter was raised to the peerage by the Queen under the title of the 
 Earl of Beaconsfield. Gladstone was not in the field for honors 
 of this type. He much preferred to inherit the title of a distin- 
 guished predecessor, that of "The Great Commoner." During 
 
310 GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 
 
 his recess from office he occupied himself in literary labors and as 
 a critical commentator upon the foreign policy of Disraeli, which 
 plunged the country into a Zulu war which Gladstone denounced 
 as ''one of the most monstrous and indefensible in our history," 
 and an Afghan war which he described as a national crime. 
 
 These and other acts of Tory policy in time brought liberalism 
 again into the forefront, an election held in 1880 resulted in a great 
 Liberal victory, Disraeli (then Lord Beaconsfield) resigned, and 
 Gladstone was once again called to the head of the ministry. In 
 the new administration the foreign policy, the meddling in the 
 concerns of the East, which had held precedence over domestic 
 affairs under the preceding administration, vanished from sight, 
 and the Irish question again became prominent. Ireland had now 
 gained an able leader, Charles Stewart Pamell, founder of the 
 Irish Land League, a trade union of Irish farmers, and its affairs 
 could no longer be consigned to the background. 
 
 Gladstone, in assmning control of the new government, was 
 quite unaware of the task before him. When he had completed 
 his work with the Church and the Land bills ten years before, he 
 fondly fancied that the Irish question was definitely settled. The 
 Home Rule movement, which was started in 1870, seemed to him 
 a wild delusion which would die away of itself. In 1884 he said: 
 ''I frankly admit that I had had much upon my hands connected 
 with the doings of the Beaconsfield Government in every quarter 
 of the world, and I did not know— no one knew — the severity of 
 the crisis that was already swelling upon the horizon, and that 
 shortly after rushed upon us like a flood." 
 
 DESPERATE STATE OF IRELAND 
 
 . He was not long in discovering the gravity of the situation, 
 of which the House had been warned by Mr. Pamell. The famine 
 had brought its crop of misery, and, while the charitable were seek- 
 ing to relieve the distress, many of the landlords were turning adrift 
 their tenants for non-payment of rents. The Irish party brought 
 
GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 311 
 
 in a Bill for the Suspension of Evictions, which the government 
 replaced by a similar one for Compensation for Disturbance. This 
 was passed with a large majority by the Commons, but was rejected 
 by the Lords, and Ireland was left to face its misery without relief. 
 The state of Ireland at that moment was too critical to be 
 dealt with in this manner. The rejection of the Compensation for 
 Disturbance Bill was, to the peasantry whom it had been intended 
 to protect, a message of despair, and it was followed by the usual 
 symptom of despair in Ireland, an outbreak of agrarian crime. On 
 the one hand over 17,000 persons were evicted; on the other there 
 was a dreadful crop of murders and outrages. The Land League 
 sought to do what Parliament did not; but in doing so it came in 
 contact with the law. Moreover, the revolution — for revolution 
 it seemed to be — grew too formidable for its control; the utmost 
 it succeeded in doing was in some sense to ride without directing 
 the storm. The first decisive step of Mr. Forster, the chief secretary 
 for Ireland, was to strike a blow at the Land League. In November 
 he ordered the prosecution of Mr. Parnell, Mr. Biggar, and several 
 of the officials of the organization, and before the year was out he 
 announced his intention of introducing a Coercion BiU. This step 
 threw the Irish members under Mr. Parnell and the Liberal Govern- 
 ment into relations of definitive antagonism. 
 
 THE COERCION BILL 
 
 Mr. Forster introduced his Coercion Bill on January 24, 1881. 
 It was a formidable measure, which enabled the chief secretary, 
 by signing a warrant, to arrest any man on suspicion of having 
 committed a given offense, and to imprison him without trial at 
 the pleasure of the government. It practically sufpended the 
 liberties of Ireland. The Irish members exhausted every resource 
 of parhamentary action in resisting it, and their tactics resulted in 
 several scenes unprecedented in parhamentary history. In order 
 to pass the bill it was necessary to suspend them in a body several 
 times. Mr. Gladstone, with manifest pain, found himself, as leader 
 
312 GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 
 
 of the House; the agent bj^ whom this extreme resolve had to be 
 executed. 
 
 The Coercion Bill passed, Mr. Gladstone introduced his Land 
 Bill of 1881, which was the measure of conciliation intended to 
 balance the measure of repression. This was really a great and 
 sweeping reform, whose dominant feature was the introduction 
 of the novel and far-reaching principle of the state stepping m 
 between landlord and tenant and fixing the rents. The bill had 
 some defects, as a series of amending acts, which were subsequently 
 passed by both Liberal and Tory governments, proved; but, apart 
 from these, it was on the whole the greatest measure of land reform 
 ever passed for Ireland by the Imperial Parliament. 
 
 But Ireland was not yet satisfied. Parnell had no confidence 
 in the good intentions of the government, and took steps to test 
 its honesty, which so angered Mr. Forster that he arrested Mr. 
 Parnell and several other leaders and pronounced the Land League 
 an illegal body. Forster was well-meaning but mistaken. He 
 fancied that by locking up the ring-leaders he could bring quiet 
 to the country. On the contrary, affairs were soon far worse than 
 ever, crime and outrage spreading widely. In despair, Mr. Forster 
 released Parnell and resigned. All now seemed hopeful; coercion 
 had proved a failure; peace and quiet were looked for; when, 
 four days afterward, the whole country was horrified by a terrible 
 crime. The nev/ Secretary for Ireland, Lord Cavendish, and the 
 under-secretary, Mr. Burke, were attacked and hacked to death 
 with knives in Phoenix Park. Everywhere panic and indignation 
 arose. A new Coercion Act was passed without delay. It was 
 vigorously put into effect, and a state of virtual war between Eng- 
 land and Ireland again came into existence. 
 
 WARS IN AFRICA 
 
 Meanwhile Great Britain had been brought back, into the tide 
 of foreign affairs. Events were taking place abroad which must 
 here be dealt with briefly. The ambitious Briton, who loves to 
 
GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 313 
 
 carry the world on his shoulders, had made the control of the Suez 
 Canal an excuse for meddling with the government of Egypt. The 
 immediate results were a revolution that drove Ismail Pasha from 
 his throne, and a revolt of the people under an ambitious leader 
 named Ai'abi Pasha, who seized Alexandria and drove out the 
 British, many of whom were killed. 
 
 Gladstone, who deprecated war, now found himself with a 
 conflict thrust upon his hands. The British fleet bombarded Alex- 
 andria, and the British army occupied it after it had been half 
 reduced to ashes. Soon after General Wolseley defeated Arabi 
 and his army and the insurrection ended. A sequel to this affair 
 was a formidable outbreak in the Soudan, under El Mahdi, a 
 Mohammedan fanatic, who captured the city of Khartoum and killed 
 the famous General Gordon. Years passed before Upper Egypt 
 was reconquered, it being recovered only at the close of the century. 
 Since then Egypt has remained under British control. 
 
 There were serious troubles also in South Africa. The Brit- 
 ish of Cape Colony had pushed their way into the Boer settlement 
 of the Transvaal, claiming jurisdiction over it. The vahant Dutch 
 settlers broke into war, and dealt the invaders a signal defeat at 
 Majuba Hill. This was the opening step in a series of occurrences 
 which led to the later Boer war, in which the British, with great 
 loss, conquered the Boers, followed in later years by a practical 
 reconquest of the country by its Boer inhabitants in peaceful 
 ways. 
 
 Such were the wars of the Gladstone administration, events 
 of V/'hich he did not approve, but into which he was irresistibly 
 drawn. At home the Irish question continued in the forefront. 
 The African v/ars having weakened the administration, a vigorous 
 assault was made on it by the Irish party in 1885, and it fell. But 
 its demise was a very brief one. After a short experience of a 
 Tory ministry under Lord Salisbury, Parnell's party ralKed to 
 Gladstone's side, the new govermnent was defeated, and on February 
 1, 1886, Gladstone became Prime Minister for the third time. 
 
314 GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 
 
 HOME RULE FOR IRELAND 
 
 During the brief interval his opinions had suffered a great 
 revolution. He no longer thought that Ireland had all it could 
 justly demand. He returned to power as an advocate of a most 
 radical measure, that of Home Rule for Ireland, a restoration of 
 that separate Parliament which it had lost in 1800. He also had 
 a scheme to buy out the Irish landlords and establish a peasant 
 IDroprietary by state aid. His new views were revolutionary in 
 character, but he did not hesitate — ^he never hesitated to do what 
 his conscience told him was right. On April 8, 1886, he intro- 
 duced to Parliament his Home Rule Bill. 
 
 The scene that afternoon was one of the most remarkable in 
 Parliamentary history. Never before was such interest manifested 
 in a debate by either the public or the members of the House. 
 In order to secure their places, members arrived at St. Stephen's 
 at six o'clock in the morning, and spent the day on the premises; 
 and, a thing quite unprecedented, members who could not find 
 places on the benches filled up the floor of the House with rows of 
 chairs. The strangers', diplomats', peers', and ladies' galleries 
 were filled to overflowing. Men begged even to be admitted to 
 the ventilating passages beneath the floor of the chamber that 
 they might in some sense be witnesses of the greatest feat in the 
 lifetime of an illustrious old man of eighty. Around Palace Yard 
 an enormous crowd surged, waiting to give the veteran a welcome 
 as he drove up from Downing Street. 
 
 Mr. Gladstone arrived in the House, pale and still panting 
 from the excitement of his reception in the streets. As he sat 
 there the entire Liberal party — ^with the exception of Lord Hart- 
 ington, Sir Henry James, Mr. Chamberlain and Sir George Trev- 
 elyan — and the Nationalist members, by a spontaneous impulse, 
 sprang to their feet and cheered him again and again. The speech 
 which he dehvered was in every way worthy of the occasion. It 
 expounded, with marvelous lucidity and a noble eloquence, a 
 tremendous scheme of constructive legislation — the re-establishment 
 
GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 315 
 
 of a legislature in Ireland, but one subordinate to the Imperial 
 Parliament, and hedged round with every safeguard which could 
 protect the unity of the Empire. It took three hours in delivery, 
 and was listened to throughout with the utmost attention on ever^^ 
 side of the House. At its close all parties united in a tribute of 
 admiration for the genius which had astonished them with such 
 an exhibition of its powers. 
 
 Yet it is one thing to cheer an orator, another thing to vote 
 for a revolution. The bill was defeated — as it was almost sure 
 to be. Mr. Gladstone at once dissolved Parliament and appealed 
 to the country in a new election, with the result that he was 
 decisively defeated. His bold declaration that the contest was one 
 between the classes and the masses turned the aristocracy against 
 him, while he had again roused the bitter hatred of his opponents. 
 
 Gladstone, the ''Grand Old Man," a title which he had nobly 
 won, returned to power in 1892, after a period of wholesale coercion 
 in Ireland. He was not to remain there long. He brought in a 
 new Home Rule Bill, supported it with much of his old vigor, and 
 had the intense satisfaction of having it passed, with a majority 
 of thirty-four. It was defeated in the House of Lords, and Home 
 Rule still remains the prominent issue in Ireland, which it has 
 divided into two camps, Protestant Ulster being in revolt against 
 the Catholic provinces. 
 
 With this great event the public career of the Grand Old Man 
 came to an end. The burden had grown too heavy for his reduced 
 strength. In March, 1894, to the consternation of his party, he 
 announced his intention of retiring from public life. The Queen 
 offered, as she had done once before, to raise him to the peerage 
 as an earl, but he declined the proffer. His own plain name was a 
 title higher than that of any earldom in the kingdom. 
 
 On May 19, 1898, William Ewart Gladstone laid down the 
 burden of his life as he had already done that of labor. The noblest 
 figure in legislative life of the nineteenth century had passed away 
 from earth. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 The French Republic 
 
 Struggles of a New Nation 
 
 The Republic Organized — The Commune of Paris — Instability of the Government — 
 Thiers Proclaimed President — Punishment of the Unsuccessful Generals — McMahon 
 a Royalist President — Bazaine's Sentence and Escape — Gr^vy, Gambetta and Boulanger 
 —Despotism of the Army Leaders — The Dreyfus Case — Church [and State — The 
 
 Moroccan Controversy. 
 
 IT has been already told how the capitulation of the French army 
 at Sedan and the captivity of Loms Napoleon were followed 
 in Paris by the overthrow of the empire and the formation 
 of a republic, the third in the history of French pohtical changes. 
 A provisional government was formed, the legislative assembly 
 was dissolved, and all the court paraphernalia of the imperial 
 establishment disappeared. The new government was called in 
 Paris the "Government of Lawyers," most of its members and 
 officials belonging to that profession. At its head was General 
 Trochu, in command of the army in Paris; among its chief mem- 
 bers were Jules Favre and Gambetta. While upright in its mem- 
 bership and honorable in its purposes, it was an arbitrary body, 
 formed by a coup d'etat like that by which Napoleon had seized 
 the reins of power, and not destined for a long existence. 
 
 THE REPUBLIC ORGANIZED 
 
 The news of the fall of Metz and the surrender of Bazaine and 
 his army served as a fresh spark to the inflammable public feeling 
 of France. In Paris the Red Republic raised the banner of 
 insurrection against the government of the national defense and 
 endeavored to revive the spirit of the Commune of 1793. The 
 insurgents marched to the senate-house, demanded the election of 
 
 (316) 
 
THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 317 
 
 a municipal council which should share power with the govern- 
 ment, and proceeded to imprison Trochu, Jules Favre, and their 
 associates. This, however, was but a temporary success of the 
 Commune, and the provisional government continued in existence 
 until the end of the war, when a national assembly was elected by 
 the people and the temporary government was set aside. Gam- 
 betta, the dictator, ''the organizer of defeats," as he was sar- 
 castically entitled, lost liis power, and the aged statesman and 
 historian, Louis Thiers, was chosen as chief of the executive depart- 
 ment of the new government. 
 
 The treaty of peace with Germany, including, as it did, the loss 
 of Alsace and Lorraine and the payment of an indemnity of 
 $1,000,000,000, roused once more the fierce passions of the radicals 
 and the masses of the great cities, who passionately denounced the 
 treaty as due to cowardice and treason. The dethroned emperor 
 added to the excitement by a manifesto, in which he protested 
 against his deposition by the assembly and called for a fresh elec- 
 tion. The final incitement to insurrection came when the Assembly 
 decided to hold its sessions at Versailles instead of in Paris, whose 
 unruly populace it feared. 
 
 THE COMMUNE OF PARIS 
 
 In a moment all the revolutionary elements of the great city 
 were in a blaze. The social democratic "Conomune," elected from 
 the central committee of the National Guard, renounced obe- 
 dience to the government and the National Assembly, and broke 
 into open revolt. An attempt to repress the movement merely 
 added to its violence, and all the riotous populace of Paris sprang 
 to arms. A new war was about to be inaugurated in that city 
 which had just suffered so severely from the guns of the Germans, 
 and around which German troops were still encamped. 
 
 The government had neglected to take possession of the 
 cannon on Montmartre; and now, when the troops of the line, 
 instead of firing on the insurrectionists, went over in crowds to 
 
318 THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 
 
 their side, the supremacy over Paris fell into the hands of the 
 wildest demagogues. A fearful civil war conmienced, and in the 
 same forts which the Germans had shortly before evacuated firing 
 once more resounded; the houses, gardens, and villages around 
 Paris were again surrendered to destruction; the creations of art, 
 industry, and civilization were endangered, and the abodes of 
 wealth and pleasure were transformed into dreary wildernesses. 
 
 The wild outbreaks of fanaticism on the part of the Conunune 
 recalled the scenes of the revolution of 1789, and in these spring 
 days of 1871 Paris added another leaf to its long history of crime 
 and violence. The insurgents, roused to fury by the efforts of 
 the government to suppress them, murdered two generals, Lecomte 
 and Thomas, and fu-ed on the unarmed citizens who, as the "friends 
 of order," desired a reconciUation with the authorities at Versailles. 
 They formed a govermnent of their own, extorted loans from wealthy 
 citizens, confiscated the property of religious societies, and seized 
 and held as hostages Archbishop Darboy and many other distin- 
 guished clergymen and citizens. 
 
 Meanwhile the investing French troops, led by Marshal Mac- 
 Mahon, gradually fought their way through the defenses and into 
 the suburbs of the city, and the speedy surrender of the anarchists 
 in the capital became inevitable. This necessity excited their 
 passions to the most violent extent, and, with the wild fury of 
 savages, they set themselves to do all the damage they could to 
 the historical monuments of Paris. The noble Vendome column, 
 the symbol of the warlike renown of France, was torn down from 
 its pedestal and hurled prostrate into the street. The most historic 
 buildings in the city were set on fire, and either partially or entirely 
 destroyed. Among these were the Tuileries, a portion of the Louvre, 
 the Luxembourg, the Palais Royal, the Elysee, etc.; while several 
 of the imprisoned hostages, foremost among them Darboy, Arch- 
 bishop of Paris, and the universally respected minister Daguerry, 
 were shot by the infuriated mob. Such crimes excited the Ver- 
 sailles troops to terrible vengeance, when they at last succeeded 
 
THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 319 
 
 in repressing the rebellion. They made their way along a bloody 
 course; human life was counted as nothing; the streets were stained 
 with blood and strewn with corpses, and the Seine once more ran 
 red betv/een its banks. When at last the Commune surrendered, 
 the judicial courts at Versailles began their work of retribution. 
 The leaders and participators in the rebellion who could not save 
 themselves by flight were shot by hundreds, confined in fortresses, 
 or transported to the colonies. For more than a year the imprison- 
 ments, trials, and executions continued, military courts being estab- 
 Hshed which excited the world for months by their wholesale con- 
 demnations to exile and to death. The carnival of anarchy was 
 followed by one of pitiless revenge. 
 
 INSTABILITY OF THE GOVERNMENT 
 
 The Republican government of France, which had been 
 accepted in an emergency, was far from carrying with it the sup- 
 port of the whole of the Assembly or of the people, and the aged, 
 but active and keen-witted Thiers had to steer through a medley 
 of opposing interests and sentiments. His government was con- 
 sidered, alike by the Monarchists and the Jacobins, as only provis- 
 ional, and the Bourbons and Napoleonists on the one hand and 
 the advocates of ''liberty, equality and fraternity" on the other, 
 intrigued for its overthrow. But the German armies still remained 
 on French soil, pending the payment of the costs of the war; and 
 the astute chief of the executive power possessed moderation enough 
 to pacify the passions of the people, to restrain their hatred of the 
 Germans, which was so boldly exhibited in the streets and in the 
 courts of justice, and to quiet the clamor for a war of revenge. 
 
 The position of parties at home was confused and distracted, 
 and a disturbance of the existing order could only lead to anarchy 
 and civil war. Thiers was thus the indispensable man of the mo- 
 ment, and so much was he himself impressed by the consciousness of 
 this fact, that many times, by the threat of resignation, he brought 
 the opposing elements in the Assembly to hajmony and compHance. 
 
320 THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 
 
 This occurred even during the siege of Paris, when the forces of 
 the government were in conflict with the Commune. In the Assem- 
 bly there was shown an inclination to moderate or break through the 
 sharp centralization of the government, and to procure some auton- 
 omy for the provinces and towns. When, therefore, a new scheme 
 was discussed, a large part of the Assembly demanded that the 
 mayors should not, as formerly, be appointed by the government, 
 but be elected by the town councils. Only with difficulty was 
 Thiers able to effect a compromise, on the strength of which the 
 government was permitted the right of appointment for all towns 
 numbering over twenty thousand. 
 
 In the elections for the councils the Moderate Republicans 
 proved triumphant. With a supple dexterity, Thiers knew how 
 to steer between the Democratic-Republican party and the Mon- 
 archists. When Gambetta endeavored to establish a "league of 
 Republican towns," the attempt was forbidden as illegal; and 
 when the decree of banishment against the Bourbon- and Orleans 
 princes was set aside, and the latter returned to France, Thiers 
 knew how to postpone the entrance of the Due d'Aumale and 
 Prince de Joinville, who had been elected deputies, into the Assembly 
 at least until the end of the year. 
 
 THIERS PROCLAIMED PRESIDENT 
 
 The brilliant success of the national loan went far to strengthen 
 the position of Thiers. The high offers for a share in this loan, 
 which indicated the inexhaustible wealth of the nation and the 
 solid credit of France abroad, promised a rapid payment of the war 
 indemnity, the consequent evacuation of the country by the Ger- 
 man army of occupation, and a restoration of the disturbed finances 
 of the state. The foolish manifesto of the Count de Chambord, 
 who declared that he had only to return with the white banner to 
 be made sovereign of France, brought ail practical men to the side 
 of Thiers, and he had, during the last days of August, 1871, the tri- 
 umph of being proclaimed ''President of the Erench Repubhc." 
 
THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 321 
 
 The new president aimed, next to the hberation of the garri- 
 soned provinces from the German troops of occupation, at the reor- 
 ganization of the French army. Yet he could not bring himself 
 to the decision of enforcing in its entirety the principle of general 
 armed service, such as had raised Prussia from a state of depression 
 to one of military regeneration. Universal military service in France 
 was, it is true, adopted in name, and the army was increased to an 
 inmiense extent, but under such conditions and limitations that 
 the richer and more educated classes could exempt themselves from 
 service in the army; and thus the active forces, as before, consisted 
 of professional soldiers. And when the minister for education, 
 Jules Simon, introduced an educational law based on liberal prin- 
 ciples, he experienced on the part of the clergy such violent oppo- 
 sition that the government dropped the measure. 
 
 In order to place the army in the condition which Thiers 
 desired, an increase in the military budget was necessary, and 
 consequently an enhancement of the general revenues of the state. 
 For this purpose a return to the tariff system, which had been abol- 
 ished under the empire, was proposed, but excited so great an 
 opposition in the Assembly that six months passed before it could 
 be carried. The new organization of the army, undertaken with 
 a view of placing France on a level in military strength with her 
 late conqueror, was now eagerly undertaken by the president. 
 An active army, with five years' service, was to be added to a ''terri- 
 torial army," a kind of militia. And so great was the demand on 
 the portion of the nation capable of bearing arms that the new 
 French army exceeded in numbers that of any other nation. 
 
 But all the statesmanship of Thiers could not overcome the 
 anarchy in the Assembly, where the forces for monarchy and repub- 
 licanism were bitterly opposed to each other. Gambetta, in order 
 to rouse public opinion in favor of democracy, made several tours 
 through the country, his extravagance of language giving deep 
 offense to the Monarchists, while the opposed sections of the Assem- 
 bly grew wider and more violent in their breach. 
 
 21- 
 
322 THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 
 
 PUNISHMENT OF THE UNSUCCESSFUL GENERALS 
 
 Indisputable as were the valuable services which Thiers had 
 rendered to France, by the foundation of public order and authority, 
 the creation of a regular army, and the restoration of a solid financial 
 system, yet all these services met with no recognition in the face 
 of the party jealousy and political passions prevailing among the 
 people's representatives at Versailles. More and more did the 
 Royalist reaction gain ground, and, aided by the priests and by 
 national hatred and prejudice, endeavor to bring about the destruc- 
 tion of its opponents. Against the Radicals and Liberals, among 
 whom even the Voltairean Thiers was included, superstition and 
 fanaticism were let loose, and against the Bonapartists was directed 
 the terrorism of court-martial. 
 
 The French could not rest with the thought that their mih- 
 tary supremacy had been broken by the superiority of the Prusso- 
 German arms; their defeats could have proceeded only from the 
 treachery or incapacity of their leaders. To this national prejudice 
 the Government decided to bow, and to offer a sacrifice to the popu- 
 lar passion. And thus the world beheld the lamentable spectacle 
 of the conamanders who had surrendered the French fortresses to 
 the enemy being subjected to a trial by court-martial under the 
 presidency of Marshal Paraguay d'Hilliers, and the majority of 
 them, on account of their proved incapacity or weakness, deprived 
 of their military honors, at a moment when all had cause to reproach 
 themselves and endeavor to raise up a new structure on the ruins 
 of the past. Even Ulrich, the once celebrated commander of 
 Strasburg, whose name had been given to a street in Paris, was 
 brought under the censure of the coiu-t-martial. But the chief 
 blow fell upon the commander-in-chief of Metz, Marshal Bazaine, 
 to whose ^'treachery" the whole misfortune of France was attributed. 
 E'or months he was retained a prisoner at Versailles, while prepara- 
 tions were made for the great court-martial spectacle, which, in 
 the following year, took place under the presidency of the Due 
 d'Aumale. 
 
THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 323 
 
 MACMAHON A ROYALIST PRESIDENT 
 
 The result of the party division in the Assembly was, in May, 
 1873, a vote of censure on the ministry, which induced them to 
 resign. Their resignation was followed by an offer of resignation on 
 the part of Thiers, who experienced the unexpected slight of having 
 it accepted by the majority of the Assembly, the monarchist Mac- 
 Mahon, Marshal of France and Duke of Magenta, being elected 
 President in his place. Thiers had just performed one of his greatest 
 services to France, by paying off the last instalment of the war 
 indemnity and relieving the soil of his country of the hated 
 German troops. 
 
 The party now in power at once began to lay plans to carry 
 out their cherished purpose of placing a Legitimist long upon the 
 throne, this honor being offered to the Count de Chambord, grand- 
 son of Charles X. He, an old man, unfitted for the thorny seat 
 offered him, and out of all accord with the spirit of the times, put 
 a sudden end to the hopes of his partisans by his medieval con- 
 servatism. Their purpose was to establish a constitutional govern- 
 ment, under the tri-colored flag of revolutionary France; but the 
 old Bourbon gave them to understand that he would not consent 
 to reign under the Tricolor, but must remain steadfast to the white 
 banner of his ancestors; he had no desire to be "the legitimate 
 king of revolution." 
 
 This letter shattered the plans of his supporters. No man 
 with ideas like these would be tolerated on the French throne. 
 There was never to be in France a King Henry V. The Monarch- 
 ists, in disgust at the failure of their schemes, elected MacMahon 
 president of the republic for a term of seven years, and for the tune 
 being the reign of repubhcanism in France was made secure. 
 
 While MacMahon was thus being raised to the pinnacle of 
 honor, his former comrade Bazaiue was imprisoned in another part 
 of the palace at Versailles, awaiting trial on the charge of treason 
 for the surrender of Metz. In the trial, in which the whole world 
 took a deep interest, the efforts of the prosecution were directed to 
 
324 THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 
 
 prove that the conquest of France was solely due to the treachery 
 of the Bonapartist marshal. Despite all that could be said in his 
 defense, he was found guilty by the court-martial, sentenced to 
 degradation from his rank in the army, and to death. 
 
 bazaine's sentence and escape 
 
 A letter which Prince Frederick Charles wrote in his favor 
 only added to the wrath of the people, who cried aloud for his exe- 
 cution. But, as though the judges themselves felt a twinge of 
 conscience at the sentence, they at the same time signed a petition 
 for pardon to the president of the republic. MacMahon thereupon 
 commuted the punishment of death into a twenty years' imprison- 
 ment, remitted the disgrace of the formahties of amiUtary degra- 
 dation, without canceling its operation, and appointed as the 
 prisoner's place of confinement the fortress on the island of St. 
 Marguerite, opposite Cannes, known in connection with the '4ron 
 mask." Bazaine's wealthy Mexican wife obtained permission to 
 reside near him, with her family and servants, in a pavilion of the 
 sea-fortress. This afforded her an opportunity of bringing about 
 the freedom of her husband in the following year with the aid of 
 her brother. After an adventurous escape, by letting himself 
 down with a rope to a Genoese vessel, Bazaine fled to Holland, and 
 then offered his services to the republican government of Spain. 
 
 In 1875 the constitution under which France is now governed 
 was adopted by the republicans. It provides for a legislature of 
 two chambers; one a chamber of deputies elected by the people, 
 the other a senate of 300 members, 75 of whom are elected by the 
 National Assembly and the others by electoral colleges in the depart- 
 ments of France. The two chambers unite to elect a president, who 
 has a term of seven years. He is commander-in-chief of the army, 
 appoints all officers, receives all ambassadors, executes the laws, 
 and appoints the cabinet, which is responsible to the Senate and 
 House of Deputies — thus resembling the cabinet of Great Britain 
 instead of that of the United States. 
 
03 
 
 a 
 o 
 
 3 
 
 w 
 
 
 fe 
 
 S3 
 
 
 o 
 
 -u 
 
 
 1— 1 
 
 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 
 
 <J 
 
 
 
 fe 
 
 ■+^ 
 
 
 HH 
 
 fl 
 
 
 t/3 
 
 Pi 
 
 
 P^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 (H 
 
 
 
 (-H 
 
 O 
 
 
 <J 
 
 ^j 
 
 
 pq 
 
 13 
 
 
 W 
 
 X2 
 
 
 o 
 
 CD 
 
 
 >^ 
 
 -^ . 
 
 
 g 
 
 "^2 
 
 
 (K 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 fe; 
 
 
 |-3 
 
 o 
 
 
 ■■g^' 
 
 2 
 
 
 03^ 
 
 £ 
 
 
 ^ if^ 
 
 
 
 CUTS 
 
 O 
 
 
 c 
 
 
 fe § 
 
 c 
 
 
 •73 -(J 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 13 4> 
 
 S 
 
 
 gc^ 
 
 ■w 
 
 
 Ph O 
 
 
 
 mjn 
 
 r^.SS 
 
 o^ 
 
THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 325 
 
 This constitution was soon ignored by the arbitraiy president, 
 who forced the resignation of a cabinet which he could not control, 
 and replaced it by another responsible to himseK instead of to the 
 Assembly. His act of autocracy roused a violent opposition. 
 Gambetta moved that the representatives of the people had no con- 
 fidence in a cabinet which was not free in its actions and not repub- 
 lican in its principles. The sudden death of Thiers, whose last 
 writing was a defense of the republic, stirred the heart of the nation 
 and added to the excitement, which soon reached fever heat. In 
 the election that followed the republicans were in so great a major- 
 ity over the conservatives that the president was compelled either 
 to resign or to govern according to the constitution. He accepted 
 the latter and appointed a cabinet composed of republicans. But 
 the acts of the legislature, which passed laws to prevent arbitrary 
 action by the executive and to secularize education, so exasperated 
 the old soldier that he finally resigned from his high office. 
 
 gr:eivy, gambetta and boulanger 
 
 Jules Grevy was elected president in his place, and Gambetta 
 was made president of the House of Deputies. Subsequently he 
 was chosen presiding minister in a cabinet composed wholly of his 
 own creatures. His career in this high office was a brief one. The 
 Chambers refused to support him in his arbitrary measures and he 
 resigned in disgust. Soon after the self-appointed dictator, who had 
 played so prominent a part in the war with Germany, died from a 
 wound whose origin remained a mystery. 
 
 The constitution was revised in 1884, the republic now declared 
 permanent and final, and Grevy again elected president. General 
 Boulanger, the minister of war in the new government, succeeded 
 in making himself highly popular, many looking upon him as a 
 coming Napoleon, by whose genius the repubfic would be 
 overthrown. 
 
 In 1887 Gr^vy resigned, in consequence of a scandal in high 
 circles, and was succeeded by Sadi-Carnot, grandson of a famous 
 
326 THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 
 
 general of the first republic. Under the new president two striking 
 events took place. General Boulanger managed to lift himself into 
 great prominence, and gain a powerful following in France. Carried 
 away by seK-esteem, he defied his superiors, and when tried and 
 found guilty of the offense, was strong enough in France to overthrow 
 the ministry, to gain re-election to the Chamber of Deputies, and 
 to defeat a second ministry. 
 
 But his reputation was declinuig. It received a serious blow 
 through a duel he fought with a lawyer, in which the soldier was 
 wounded and the lawyer escaped unhurt. The next cabinet was 
 hostile to his intrigues, and he fled to Brussels to escape arrest. 
 Tried by the Senate, sitting as a High Court of Justice, he was 
 found guilty of plotting against the state and sentenced to unpris- 
 onment for life. His career soon after ended in suicide and his 
 party disappeared. 
 
 THE PANAMA CANAL SCANDAL 
 
 The second event spoken of was the Panama Canal affair. 
 De Lesseps, the maker of the Suez Canal, had undertaken to exca- 
 vate a similar one across the Isthmus of Panama, but the work was 
 managed with such wild extravagance that vast sums were spent 
 and the poor investors widely ruined, while the canal remained a 
 half-dug ditch. At a later date this affair became a great scandal, 
 dishonest bargains in connection with it were abundantly unearthed, 
 bribery was shown to have been common in high places, and France 
 was shaken to its center by the startling exposure. De Lesseps, 
 fortunately for him, escaped imprisonment by death, but others 
 of the leaders in the enterprise were condemned and punished. 
 
 In the succeeding years perils manifold threatened the existence 
 of the French Repubhc. A moral decline seemed to have sapped the 
 foundations of public virtue, and the new mihtary organization 
 rose to a dangerous height of power, becoming a monster of ambition 
 and iniquity which overshadowed and portended evil to the state. 
 The spirit of a,narchy, which had been so strikingly displayed in the 
 
THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 327 
 
 excesses of the Parisian Commune, was shown later in various 
 instances of death and destruction by the use of dynamite bombs, 
 exploded in Paris and elsewhere. But its most striking example 
 was in the murder of President Carnot, who was stabbed by an 
 anarchist in the streets of Lyons. This assassination, and the dis- 
 heartening exposures of dishonesty in the Panama Canal Case 
 trials, stirred the moral sentiment of France to its depths, and made 
 many of the best citizens despair of the permanency of the republic. 
 
 DESPOTISM OF THE ARMY LEADERS 
 
 But the most alarming threat came from the army, which had 
 grown in power and prominence until it fairly overtopped the state, 
 while its leaders felt competent to set at defiance the civil authorities. 
 Tliis despotic army was an outgrowth of the Franco-Prussian war. 
 The terrible punishment which the French had received in that war, 
 and in particular the loss of Alsace and Lorraine, filled them with 
 bitter hatred of Germany and a burning desire for revenge. Yet 
 it was evident that their mihtary organization was so imperfect 
 as to leave them helpless before the army of Germany, and the first 
 thing to be done was to place themselves on a level in mihtary 
 strength with their foe. To this President Thiers had earnestly 
 devoted himself, and the work of army organization went on until 
 all France was virtually converted into a great camp, defended by 
 powerful fortresses, and the whole male population of the country 
 were practically made part of the army. 
 
 The final result of this was the development of one of the most 
 complete and well-appointed military estabhshments in Europe. 
 The immediate cause of the reorganization of the army gradually 
 passed away. As time went on the intense feeling against Germany 
 softened and the danger of war decreased. But the army became 
 more and more dominant in France, and, as the centurj^ neared 
 its end, the autocratic position of its leaders was revealed by a 
 startling event, which showed vividly to the world the moral deca- 
 dence of France and the controlling influence and dominating power 
 
328 THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 
 
 of the members of the General Staff. This was the celebrated 
 Dreyfus Case, the cause celebre of the period. At the time con- 
 cerned it excited the utmost interest, stirring France to its center, 
 and attracting the earnest attention of the world. It aroused indig- 
 nation as well as interest, and years passed before it lost its hold on 
 public attention. It can be dealt with here only with great brevity. 
 
 THE DKEYFUS CASE 
 
 Albert Dreyfus, an Alsatian Jew and a captain in the Four- 
 teenth Regiment of Artillery of the French army, detailed for ser- 
 vice at the Information Bureau of the Minister of War, was arrested 
 October 15, 1894, on the charge of having sold mihtary secrets to a 
 foreign power. The following letter was said to have been found 
 at the German embassy by a French detective, in what was declared 
 to be the handv/riting of Dreyfus : 
 
 ''Having no news from you I do not know what to do. I send 
 you in the meantime the condition of the forts. I also hand you 
 the principal instructions as to firing. If you desire the rest I shall 
 have them copied. The document is precious. The instructions 
 have been given only to the officers of the General Staff. I leave 
 for the maneuvers." 
 
 Previous to the arrest of Dreyfus, the editor of the Libre Parole 
 had been carrying on a violent anti-semitic agitation in his paper. 
 He now raved about the Jews in general, declared Dreyfus guilty of 
 selling army secrets to the Germans, and by his crusade turned 
 pubhc opinion in Paris strongly against the accused. 
 
 As a result of this assault and the statement that the letter 
 was in the handwriting of the accused, he was tried before a military 
 court, which sat behind closed doors, kept parts of the indictment 
 from the knowledge of the prisoner and his lawyer, and in other 
 ways manifested a lack of fairness. 
 
 As a result of this secret trial the accused was found guilty and 
 condemned to be degraded from his military rank, and by a special 
 act of the Chamber of Deputies was ordered to be imprisoned for 
 
THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 329 
 
 life in a penal settlement on Devil's Island, off the coast of French 
 Guiana, a tropical region, desolate and malarious in character. 
 The sentence was executed with the most cruel harshness. During 
 part of his detention Dreyfus was locked in a hut, surrounded by an 
 iron cage, on the island. This was done on the plea of possible 
 attempts at rescue. He was allowed to send and receive only such 
 letters as had been transcribed by one of his guardians. 
 
 He denied, and never ceased to deny, his guilt. The letters he 
 wrote to his counsel after the trial and after his disgrace are most 
 pathetic assertions of his innocence, and of the hope that ultimately 
 justice would be done him. His wife and family continued to deny 
 his guilt, and used every influence to get his case reopened. 
 
 The whole affair in time excited a strong suspicion that Drey- 
 fus had been used as a scapegoat for some one higher up and had been 
 unjustly condemned, the fact of his being a Jew being used to excite 
 prejudice against him. Many eminent literary men of France 
 advocated the revision of a sentence which did not appeal to the 
 sense of justice of the best element of France. 
 
 It was declared that military secrets continued to leak out 
 after Dreyfus's arrest, and that the handwriting of the letter found 
 was closely similar to that of Count Ferdinand Esterhazy, an 
 officer -^- in the French army, of noble Hungarian descent. This 
 matter was so ventilated that some action became necessary and 
 Esterhazy was tried secretly by court-martial, the trial ending in 
 acquittal. 
 
 At this juncture Emile Zola, the celebrated novelist, stepped 
 into the fray as a defender of Dreyfus, writing a notable letter to 
 President Faure, in which he accused the members of the court- 
 martial of acquitting Esterhazy imder order of their chiefs, who 
 would not admit that a military court of France could possibly 
 make a mistake. 
 
 This letter led to the arrest and trial of Zola and of the editor 
 who published it. Their trials were conducted m a secret manner 
 and they were found guilty and sentenced to a heavy fine and a 
 
330 THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 
 
 year's imprisonment. Zola escaped imprisonment by absenting 
 himself from France. 
 
 By this time the interest of the whole world was enhsted in the 
 case, the action of the French com-ts was everywhere condemned, 
 and in the end it was deemed advisable to bring Dreyfus back to 
 France and accord him a new trial. This trial, which lasted from 
 August 7 to September 7, 1899, indicated that he had been convicted 
 on the most fhmsy and uncertain evidence, largely conjectural in 
 character, while there was strong evidence in his favor. Yet the 
 judges of the court-martial seemed biased against him, and by a 
 vote of three judges to two, he was again found guilty — "of treason, 
 with extenuating circumstances," as if treason could be extenuated. 
 
 The whole affair was a transparent travesty upon justice, and 
 the method by which it was conducted tlu-ew into a strong Hght 
 the faulty character of the French method of trial. The result, 
 indeed, was so flagrantly unsatisfactory that no further punishment 
 was inflicted upon the accused, and in July, 1906, his case -was 
 brought before the Court of Appeals, with the result that he was 
 acquitted and restored to his rank in the army. 
 
 CHURCH AND STATE 
 
 Later events of interest in French history had to do with the 
 status of the Cathohc Church in France and with the relations of 
 France, Germany and Spain to Morocco, the latter more than once 
 threatening war. The union of Church and State in France, wliich 
 had only before been broken during the turbulent period of the 
 Revolution, was definitely abrogated by a law of December 19, 
 1905, proclaiming the separation of Church and State in that 
 country. By this, and a supplementary act in 1907, the Cathohc 
 Church was put on the same footing in the repubhc as the Protestant 
 and Jewish congregations. The use of church buildings, which had 
 been the property of the State since the Revolution, was granted 
 only under conditions which the Pope refused to accept, and religious 
 liberty made a radical advance in France. 
 
THE FRENCH REPUBLIC - 331 
 
 THE MOROCCO CONTROVERSY 
 
 Meanwhile troubles had arisen on the borders of Algeria 
 between the French army of occupation and the unruly Moroccan 
 tribes beyond the boundary. The efforts of France to abate these 
 disturbances, which found support in the British government, 
 aroused opposition in Germany, which objected to the claim of 
 France to a predominant interest in Morocco. The affau* went 
 so far that Emperor WilHam II visited Tangier, had a conference 
 with the representatives of the Sultan, and was reported to have 
 agreed to enforce the integrity of Morocco. The friction that 
 resulted was allayed by a conference of the Powers held at Algeciras, 
 Spain, in 1905, and the trouble was temporarily settled by a series 
 of resolutions establishing a number of reforms in Morocco, the 
 privileged position of France along the Moroccan-Algerian frontier 
 being acknowledged. 
 
 Disturbances continued, however, and the murder of a French 
 doctor by the tribesmen in March, 1907, led to the occupation of 
 a Moroccan town by French troops. Later in the year a more 
 serious affair took place at the port of Casablanca, which was 
 raided by insurgent tribesmen and Exuropean laborers and others 
 were massacred. A French force landed on August 7th and a des- 
 perate fight took place, during which nearly every inhabitant of 
 the town was killed and wounded or had fled, the dead alone 
 numbering thousands. 
 
 In 1911 matters in Morocco grew serious, there being severe 
 fighting by Spanish troops in the Spanish concession around Alcazar, 
 while tribal outbreaks against Fez, the Sultan's capital, brought 
 a French mihtary expedition to that point. By this, communica- 
 tion between the capital and the coast was estabhshed, the French 
 government undertaking to organize the Sultan's army and carry 
 out certain works of pubUc improvement. 
 
 These movements revived the suspicions of Germany and that 
 country took the decisive step of sending a war vessel to Agadir, a 
 southern port of Morocco, with the ostensible purpose of protecting 
 
332 THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 
 
 the persons and property of German subjects. This act led to the 
 suspicion in France that Germany meant more than she said, and 
 that her real purpose was to gain a permanent hold on Moroccan 
 territory. There was heated talk of war, as there usually is in such 
 cases, but the a;ffair was, in the end, amicably adjusted. 
 
 It became known that France wished to secure a free hand in 
 Morocco, outside of the coastal provinces held by Spain, and was 
 willing in return to concede to Germany a considerable amount of 
 territory in French Congo. The agreement finally reached, with 
 the assent of the other Powers, especially Spain, which had a vital 
 interest in the problem, was that France should be given a protec- 
 torate over Morocco, and in return should cede to Germany a region 
 in French Congo, in equatorial Africa, of about 230,000 square 
 kilometers, containing a population of from 600,000 to 1,000,000, 
 and adjoining the German district of Kamerun, France retaining 
 certain transit privileges in the region. 
 
 Thus ended a source of dispute which had more than once 
 threatened war. It ended greatly to the advantage of France, 
 whose interests in Morocco far outweighed any advantages likely 
 to arise from her holdings in central Africa. Behind all this lay the 
 probabiUty that her influence in and hold upon Morocco would 
 increase until eventually it would develop into a virtual, perhaps 
 an actual, sovereignty over that country. 
 
S ^H 
 
 
 <w S-^ 
 
 
 fD a> ro 
 
 
 
 
 erma 
 ps be 
 battl 
 
 
 
 
 n> P 
 
 
 
 
 
 t3 ^ P 
 
 M 
 
 !sd 
 
 ?+■ c+ 5i' 
 
 1^ 
 
 -1 ^ <^ 
 a> Q (/I 
 
 > 
 ^ 
 
 P G-'rt 
 
 
 eciall 
 sma] 
 ches 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 W 
 
 CI- '— ^ 
 
 s 
 
 3 0) 3 
 
 
 
 £; p B 
 
 
 
 t^P CfQ 
 
 
 • O-^-. 
 
 W 
 
 w 3 
 
 
 
 
 s 
 
 CT^O 
 
 
 
 
 
 ? ° 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 >rr 
 
 
 
 3 5D 
 
 ^ 
 
 w 
 
 r) 
 
 !^ 
 
 >-! 
 
 
 
 tn 
 
 H 
 
 P 
 
 w 
 
 <; 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 ro 
 
 
 
 !-+ 
 
 W 
 
 P_ 
 
 H 
 
 ty 
 
 w 
 
 
 w 
 
 3 
 
 
 r+ 
 
 w 
 
 l^' 
 
 !^ 
 
 
 w 
 
2-^ 
 
 
 
 . ft 
 g ft 
 
 ^^ 
 
 ^^ 
 
 EC 
 
 "I 
 
 O ft 
 ^;^ 
 
 
 0"^ 
 
 o 
 
 ;3 
 
 Oq^ 
 
 tX3 fH 
 ^■-H CO 
 
 O fH (U 
 
 'Pa 
 
 '^ s =« 
 'J^ 2-g 
 
 o -t^ S 
 
 •5. 02 ro 
 ts oj +^ 
 
 a>^ o 
 
 ^ o3 S 
 ft 
 
 .2 =?>> 
 -^ g ft 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 Great Britain and Her Colonies 
 
 How England Became Mistress of the Seas 
 
 Great Britain as a Colonizing Power — Colonies in the Pacific Region — Colonization 
 
 in Africa — British Colonies in Africa — The Mahdi Rebellion in Egypt — Gordon at 
 
 Khartoum — Suppression of the Mahdi Revolt — Colonization in Asia — The British in 
 
 India — Colonies in America — Development of Canada — Progress in Canada. 
 
 IN the era preceding the nineteenth century Spain, France, and 
 Great Britain were the great colonizing Powers, the last 
 named being the latest in the field, but rapidly rising to 
 become the most important. 
 
 The active Powers in colonization within the nineteenth 
 century were the great rivals of the preceding period, Great Britain 
 and France, though the former gained decidedly the start, and its 
 colonial empire today surpasses that of any other nation of man- 
 kind. It is so enormous, in fact, as to dwarf the parent kingdom, 
 which is related to its colonial dominion, so far as comparative 
 size is concerned, as the small brain of the elephant is related to 
 its great body. 
 
 Other Powers, not heard of as colonizers in the past, have 
 since come into this field, though too late to obtain any of the 
 great prizes. These are Germany and Italy, the latter having 
 recently added to its acquisitions by the conquest of Tripoh. But 
 there is a great Power still to name, which in its way stands as a 
 rival to Great Britain, the empire of Russia, whose acquisitions in 
 Asia have gro"9\m enormously in extent. These are not colonies in 
 the ordinary sense, but rather results of the expansion of an empire 
 through warlike aggression. Yet they are colonial in the sense of 
 absorbing the excess population of European Russia. The great 
 territory of Siberia was gained by Russia before the nineteenth 
 
 (333) 
 
334 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 
 
 century, though within recent years the Russian dominion in Asia 
 has greatly increased, and has now become enormous, extending 
 from the Arctic Ocean to the borders of Afghanistan, Persia and 
 the Asiatic empire of Turkey. 
 
 GREAT BRITAIN AS A COLONIZING POWER 
 
 With this prehminary review we may proceed to consider the 
 history of colonization within the recent period. And first we 
 must take up the results of the colonial enterprise of Great Britain, 
 as much the most important of the whole. In addition to Hindu- 
 stan, in which the dominion of Great Britain now extends to 
 Afghanistan and Thibet in the north, the British acquisitions in 
 Asia now include Burmah and the west-coast region of Indo-China, 
 with the Straits Settlements in the Malay peninsula, and the 
 island of Ceylon, acquired in 1802 from Holland. 
 
 In the eastern seas Great Britain possesses another colony of 
 vast dimensions, the continental island of Australia, which, with 
 its area of nearly 3,000,000 square miles, is three-fourths the size 
 of Europe. The first British settlement was made here in 1788, 
 at Port Jackson, the site of the present thriving city of Sydney, 
 and the island was long maintained as a penal settlement, convicts 
 being sent there as late as 1868. It was the discovery of gold in 
 185lJto which AustraHa owed its great progress. The incitement 
 of the yellow metal drew the enterprising thither by thousands, until 
 the population of the colony is now more than 4,000,000, and 
 is still growing at a rapid rate. There are other valuable 
 resources besides that of gold. Of its cities, Melbourne, the 
 capital of Victoria, with its suburbs, has more than 500,000 popula- 
 tion; Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, 600,000, while 
 there are other cities of rapid growth. Austraha is the one impor- 
 tant British colony obtained without a war. In its human beings, 
 as in its animals generally, it stood at a low level of development, 
 and it was taken possession of without a protest from the savage 
 inhabitants. 
 
GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 335 
 
 COLONIES IN THE PACIFIC KEGION 
 
 The same cannot be said of the inhabitants of New Zealand, 
 an important group of islands lying southeast of Australia, which was 
 ac"quired by Great Britain as a colony in 1840. The Maoris, as 
 the people of these islands call themselves, are of the bold and 
 sturdy Polynesian race, a brave, generous, and warlike people, 
 who have given their new lords and masters no little trouble. 
 A series of wars with the natives began in 1843 and continued 
 until 1869, since which time the colony has enjoyed peace. It can 
 have no more trouble with the Maoris, since there are said to be 
 few more Maoris. They have vanished before the ''white man's 
 face." At present this colony is one of the most advanced 
 politically of any region on the face of the earth, so far as attention 
 to the interests of the masses of the people is concerned, and its 
 laws and regulations offer a useful object lesson to the remainder 
 of the world. 
 
 In addition to those great island dominions in the Pacific, 
 Great Britain possesses the Fiji Islands, the northern part of Borneo, 
 and a large section of the extensive island of Papua or New Guinea, 
 the remainder of which is held by Holland and Germany. In addi- 
 tion there are various coaling stations on the islands and coasts 
 of Asia. In the Mediterranean its possessions are Gibraltar, Malta 
 and Cyprus, and in America the great colony of Canada, a consider- 
 able number of the islands of the West Indies, and the districts of 
 British Honduras and British Guiana. 
 
 The history of colonization in two of the continents, Asia and 
 Africa, presents certain features of singularity. Though laiown 
 from the most ancient times, while America was quite unknown 
 until four centuries ago, the striking fact presents itself that at an 
 early date in the nineteenth century the continents of North and 
 South America had been largely explored from coast to center, while 
 the interior of Asia and Africa remained in great part unknown. 
 This fact in regard to Asia was due to the hostile attitude of its 
 people, which rendered it dangerous for any European traveler 
 
336 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 
 
 to attempt to penetrate its interior. In the case of Africa it was due 
 to the inhospitaHty of nature, which had placed the most serious 
 obstacles in the way of those who sought to enter it beyond the 
 coast regions. This state of affairs continued until the latter half 
 of the century, within which period there was a remarkable change 
 in the aspect of affairs, both continents being penetrated in all 
 directions and their walls of isolation completely broken down. 
 
 COLONIZATION IN AFRICA 
 
 Africa is not only now well known, but the exploration of its 
 interior has been followed by political changes of the most revolu- 
 tionary character. It presented a virgin field for colonization, of 
 which the land-hungry nations of Europe hastened to avail them- 
 selves, dividing up the continent between them until, by the end 
 of the century, the partition of Africa was practically complete. 
 It is one of the most remarkable circumstances in history that a 
 well-known continent remained thus so long unexplored to serve 
 in our own days as a new field for the outpouring of the nations. 
 The occupation of Africa by Europeans, indeed, began earlier. 
 The Arabs had held the section north of the Sahara for many cen- 
 turies, Portugal claimed — but scarcely occupied — large sections east 
 and west, and the Dutch had a thriving settlement in the south. 
 But the exploration and division of the bulk of the continent waited 
 for the nineteenth century, and the greater part of the work of 
 partition took place within the final quarter of that century. 
 
 In this work of colonization Great Britain and France stand 
 foremost in energy and success. Today the British possessions and 
 protectorates in Africa embrace 2,132,840 square miles; or, if we 
 add Egypt and the Egyptian Soudan — ^practically British territory — 
 the area occupied or claimed amounts to 2,446,040 square miles. 
 The claims of France, including a large area of the Sahara desert, 
 are much larger, covering 4,000,000 square miles. Germany lays 
 claim to 930,000; Italy, to 591,000; Portugal, to 800,000; Spam, 
 to 86,600; the Congo Free State, to 800,000; and Turkey to the 
 
GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 337 
 
 363,200 square miles of Egypt. The parts of Africa unoccupied 
 or unclaimed by Europeans are a portion of the Desert of Sahara, 
 which no one wants; Abyssinia, still independent; Morocco, a 
 French protectorate; and Liberia, a state over which rests the 
 shadow of protection of the United States. 
 
 BRITISH COLONIES IN AFRICA 
 
 Of the British colonial possessions in Africa the most important 
 is that in the far south, extending now from Cape Town to Lake 
 Tanganyika, and including an immense area replete with natural 
 resources and capable of sustaining a very large population. This 
 region, originally settled in the Cape Town region by the Dutch, 
 was acquired by the British as a result of an European war. Sub- 
 sequently the Boers — descendants of the Dutch settlers — ^made their 
 way north, beyond the British jurisdiction, and founded the new 
 colonies of the Transvaal RepubHc and the Orange Free State. 
 The British of Cape Town at a later date followed them north, 
 settHng Natal, defeating the Zulu blacks and acquiring new terri- 
 tory, and eventually coming into hostile contact with the Boers. 
 
 Defeated at first by the latter, a war of conquest broke out in 
 1899, ending in 1902 with the overthrow of the Boer republics, after 
 a brave and vigorous resistance on their part. Under the ambitious 
 leadership of Cecil Rhodes and others, British dominion in South 
 Africa was extended northward over the protectorates of Rhodesia 
 and Basutoland, reaching, as stated, as far north as Lake Tanganyika 
 and embracing an area of about 1,300,000 square miles. Other 
 British colonial possessions in that continent include the large 
 province of British East Africa, covering 520,000 square miles, 
 a large area in Somaliland and possessions on the west coast of 
 150,000 square miles area. To these, in a minor sense of possession, 
 should be added Egypt, now extending to British East Africa. 
 
 We have mentioned the respective regions held by other 
 European nations in Africa, France surpassing Great Britain in 
 colonial area though not in population. Among the French African 
 
 22 
 
338 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 
 
 possessions are included the great island of Madagascar, lying off 
 the east coast of the continent. Mention should be made here of 
 the extensive and promising Congo Free State, under the suzerainty 
 of Belgium. Covering eight hundred thousand square miles, it 
 comprises the populous and richly agricultural center of Africa, 
 its vast extension of navigable waters yielding communication 
 through its every part. 
 
 The occupation of Africa, at least that part of it which became 
 British territory, was not consummated without hostile activities. 
 The most recent of these was the long war between the Boer and 
 British armies, the final success being a costly and not very profit- 
 able triumph of the British arms. Of other hostile relations may 
 be mentioned the invasion of Abyssinia by a British army in 1867, 
 the suppression of the revolt of Arabi Pasha in 1879, and the series 
 of events arising from the Mahdist outbreak in 1880. 
 
 THE MAHDI REBELLION IN EGYPT 
 
 The latter events call for some mention; and need to be pre- 
 ceded by a statement of how Britain became dominant in Egypt. 
 That country had broken loose in large measure from the rule of 
 Turkey during the reign of the able and ambitious Mehemet Ali, 
 who was made viceroy in 1840. In 1876 the independence of Egypt 
 was much increased, and its rulers were given the title of khedive, 
 or king. > The powers of the kliedives steadily increased, and in 
 1874-75 Ismail Pasha greatly extended the Egyptian territory, 
 annexing the Soudan as far as Darfur, and finally to the shores of 
 the lately discovered Victoria Nyanza. Egypt thus embraced the 
 valley of the Nile practically to its source, presenting an aspect 
 of immense length and great narrowness. 
 
 Soon after, the finances of the country became so involved that 
 they were placed under European control, and the growth of EngHsh 
 and French influence led to the revolt of Arabi Pasha. This was 
 repressed by Great Britain, which bombarded Alexandria and 
 defeated the Egyptians, France taking no part. As a result the 
 
GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 339 
 
 co-ordinate influence of France ended, and Great Britain was left as 
 the practical ruler of Egypt, which position she still maintains. 
 
 In 1880 began an important series of events. A Mohammedan 
 prophet arose m the Soudan, claiming to be the Mahdi, a Messiah 
 of the Mussulmans. A large body of devoted believers soon gathered 
 around him, and he set up an independent sultanate in the desert, 
 defeating four Egyptian expeditions sent against him, and cap- 
 turing El Obeid, the chief city of Kordofan, which he made his 
 capital in 1883. 
 
 The effort to subdue the outbreak proved a long and arduous 
 one, and was accomplished only after many years and much loss to 
 the British and Egyptian forces. No time was lost in sending an 
 army against the fanatical Arabs. This was led by an EngUsh 
 officer known as Hicks Pasha. He fell into a Mahdist ambush at 
 El Obeid, and after a desperate struggle, lasting three days, his 
 force was almost completely annihilated. Hicks being the last to die. 
 Very few of his men escaped to tell the tale of their defeat. 
 
 Other expeditions of Egyptian troops sent against Osman 
 Digna (''Osman the Ugly"), a lieutenant of the Mahdi, similarly 
 met with defeat, and the Mahdists invested and besieged the towns 
 of Sinkat and Tokar. 
 
 To reheve these towns, Baker Pasha, a daring and able British 
 leader, was sent Vvdth a force of 3,650 men. Unfortunately, his 
 troops were mainly Egyptian, and the result of preceding expeditions 
 had inspired these with a more than wholesome fear of the Mah- 
 dists. They met a partj^ of the latter, only about 1,200 strong, at 
 a point south of Suakim, on the Red Sea. Instantly the Egyptians 
 broke into a panic of terror and were surrounded and butchered in 
 a frightful slaughter. 
 
 ''Inside the square," said an eye-witness, "the state of affairs 
 was almost indescribable. Cavalry, infantry, mules, camels, 
 falling baggage and dying men were crushed into a struggling, 
 surging mass. The Eg^^tians were shrieking madly, hardly at- 
 tempting to run away, but trying to shelter themselves one behind 
 
340 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 
 
 another." "The conduct of the Egyptians was simply disgraceful," 
 said another officer. ''Armed with rifle and bayonet;^ they allowed 
 themselves to be slaughtered, without an effort at self-defense, by 
 savages inferior to them in numbers and armed only with spears 
 and swords." 
 
 Baker and his staff officers, seeing affairs were hopeless, charged 
 the enemy and cut their way through to the shore, but of the total 
 force two-thirds were left dead or wounded on the field. Such 
 was the "massacre" of El Teb, which was followed four days 
 afterwards by the capture of Sinkat and slaughter of its garrison. 
 
 To avenge this butchery. General Graham was sent from Cairo 
 with reinforcements of British troops. These advanced upon 
 Osman and defeated him in two engagements, the last a crushing 
 one, in which the British lost only 200 men, while the Arab loss, 
 in killed alone, numbered over 2,000. 
 
 GORDON AT KHARTOUM 
 
 These events took place in 1884 and in the same year General 
 Charles Gordon — the famous Chinese Gordon — ascended the Nile 
 to Khartoum, to relieve the Egyptian garrison of that city. He 
 failed in this, the Arabs of the Soudan flocking to the standard of 
 the Mahdi in such multitudes that Khartoum was cut off from all 
 conomunication with the north, leaving Gordon and the garrison 
 in a position of dire peril. 
 
 It became necessary to send an expedition for their relief, 
 this being led by Lord Wolseley, the hero of the Zulu and Ashanti 
 wars. This advanced in two sections, a desert and a river column. 
 Two furious attacks were made by the Mahdists on the desert 
 troops, both being repulsed with heavy loss. On reaching the river, 
 they proceeded in steamers which Gordon had sent down the Nile 
 to meet them. But there was unavoidable delay, and when the 
 vicinity of Khartoum was reached, on January 28, 1885, it was 
 learned that the town had been taken and Gordon killed two days 
 before. All his men, 4,000 in number, were killed with him. 
 
u 
 
 w 
 
 ^ 
 
 HH 
 
 
 t/2 
 
 
 W 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 73 
 
 > 
 
 i'N 
 
 < 
 
 d 
 
 >■ 
 
 CB 
 
 r" 
 
 o 
 
 f« 
 
 
 Ki 
 
 
 
 tr 
 
 »— 1 
 
 o 
 
 S 
 
 ►1 
 
 
 p 
 
 > 
 
 ff 
 
 o 
 
 H 
 
 ^■i 
 
 HH 
 
 (ITQ 
 
 o 
 
 « 
 
 ^ 
 
GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 341 
 
 SUPPEESSION OF THE MAHDI REVOLT 
 
 After this misfortune the Arabs v/ere left in possession for nearly 
 twelve years, no other expedition being sent until 1896, while it was 
 not until 1898 that the Anglo-Egyptian forces reached the vicinity of 
 Khartoum. They were commanded by General Kitchener, one of 
 the ablest of British soldiers. His men were well drilled and very 
 different in character from those led by Baker Pasha. They met 
 the Arabs at Omdurman, near Khartoum, and gave them a crushing 
 defeat, more than 10,000 of them falling, while the British loss was 
 only about 200. This ended the Arab resistance and the Soudan 
 was restored to Egypt, fourteen years after it had been taken by the 
 Mahdi. 
 
 Brief mention of the holdings of other nations in Africa must 
 suffice. Germany has large areas in East Africa and Southwest 
 Africa, with smaller holdings elsewhere. The possessions of France 
 extend from Algeria and Tunis southward over the Sahara and 
 the Soudan, with holdings on the east and west coasts. Por- 
 tugal has large, feebly held districts in the south-central coast 
 region, and Italy holds small districts on the Red Sea and Somahland 
 and the recently acquired Tripoli. Spain's holdings are on the 
 coast of Morocco and the Sahara. 
 
 COLONIZATION IN ASIA 
 
 The colonizing enterprise in Asia within recent years has been 
 contined to Great Britain, France and Russia, which nations have 
 gained large possessions in that great continent. Russia has made 
 its v/ay during several centmies of conquest over Siberia and Cen- 
 tral Asia, until its immense possessions have encroached upon Persia 
 and Afghanistan in the south and China in the east. At present, 
 while the dominion of Russia in Europe comprises about 2,000,000 
 square miles, that in Asia is more than 6,500,000 square miles, the 
 total area of this colossal empire being more than equal in area to 
 the entire continent of North America. 
 
 The possessions of other nations in Asia are, aside from small 
 
342 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 
 
 holdings on the Chinese coast, in the south of that continent. Hol- 
 land has a group of rich islands in the Indian Ocean, Portugal some 
 small holdings, and France a large area in Indo-China, gained by 
 invasion and conquest. This includes Cambodia, Cochin-China 
 and Tonquin, won by hard fighting since 1862. 
 
 Great Britain, in addition to the extensive peninsula of India, 
 with the neighboring rich island of Ceylon, has of late years acquired 
 the fertile plains of Burmah, now included in its Empire of India, 
 the whole covering an area of nearly 2,000,000 square miles. Its 
 other Asiatic possessions include Hong Kong, in China; the Straits 
 Settlements and other Malay states; Borneo and Sarawak, and 
 Aden and Socotra, in Arabia. 
 
 THE BRITISH IN INDIA 
 
 The British control of India began with the founding of commer- 
 cial settlements early in the seventeenth century. Areas of land 
 were gradually acquired, and rivalry began later between England 
 and France for the control of Indian territory. The power of the 
 British East India Company in India was largely extended by the 
 military operations of the famous Lord Clive, and under Warren 
 Hastings, a later governor of unscrupulous character, received new 
 accessions. 
 
 During the nineteenth century many accessions of territory 
 were made, the one threat to British dominion in the peninsula 
 being the great Sepoy rebelUon, or Indian Mutiny, which needed 
 all the resources of the Company to overcome. The most impor- 
 tant event that succeeded was the taking over the powers of govern- 
 ment, so far exercised by the East India Company, and vesting 
 them in the Crown, which assumed full control of the now immense 
 holdings of the Company. Subsequently came the raising of India 
 to the dignity of an empire, and the adding to the title of Queen 
 Victoria the further title of Empress of India. Since that period 
 the establishment of British dominion in India has become almost 
 complete, extending to the Himalayas in the north, and over 
 
GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 343 
 
 Baluchistan in the west and Burmah in the east. As a result 
 India, Canada and Australia have become the great trio of semi- 
 continental British colonial possessions, India being far the richest 
 and most populous of them all. 
 
 COLONIES IN AMERICA 
 
 We have next to deal with the British colonial possessions in 
 America, including the great Dominion of Canada and Newfound- 
 land, and the minor holdings of British Guiana, British Honduras, 
 and the several islands of Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbadoes, the 
 Bahamas and the Bermudas. Of these Canada is the only one 
 that calls for notice here. 
 
 Occupying the northern section of the western hemisphere lies 
 Great Britain's most extended colony, the vast Dominion of Canada, 
 which covers an iimnense area of the earth's surface, surpassing 
 that of the United States, and nearly equal to the whole of Europe. 
 Its population, however, is not in accordance with its dimensions, 
 though of late it is growing rapidly, being now over 7,000,000. 
 The bleak and inhospitable character of much the greater part of 
 its area is likely to debar this region from ever having any other 
 than a scanty nomad population, fur animals being its principal 
 useful product. It is, however, always unsafe to predict. The 
 recent discovery of gold in a part of this region, that traversed by 
 the Klondike River, has brought miners by the thousands to that 
 wintry realm, and it would be very unwise to declare that the remain- 
 der of the great northern region contains no treasures for the crav- 
 ing hands of man. So far as the fertile regions of Manitoba, Alberta 
 and Saskatchewan are concerned, the recent demonstration of their 
 great availability as wheat-producing territory has added immensely 
 to our conception of the national wealth of Canada, which promises 
 to become one of the great wheat-growing regions of the earth. 
 
 First settled by the French in the seventeenth century, this 
 country came under British control in 1763, as a result of the great 
 struggle between the two active colonizing powers for dominion in 
 
344 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 
 
 America. The outcome of this conquest is the fact that Canada, 
 like the other colonies of Great Britain, possesses a large alien popu- 
 lation, in this case of French origin. 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF CANADA 
 
 At the opening of the nineteenth century the population of 
 Canada was small, and its resources were only slightly developed. 
 Its people did not reach the million mark until about 1840, though 
 after that date the tide of immigration flowed thither with consid- 
 erable strength and the population grew Vt^ith some rapidity. In 
 1791 the original province of Quebec had been divided into Upper 
 and Lower Canada, a political separation which by no means gave 
 satisfaction, but led to severe political conflicts. As a result an 
 act of union took place, the provinces being reunited in 1840. 
 
 Upper Canada, at the opening of the eighteenth centur^^, was 
 only sHghtly developed, the country being a vast forest, without 
 towns, without roads, and practically shut out from the remainder 
 of the world. The sparse population endured much suffering, which, 
 in 1788, deepened into a destructive famine, long remembered as a 
 terrible visitation. But it began to grow with the new century, 
 numbers crossed the Niagara River from the States to the fertile 
 lands beyond, immigrants crossed the waters from Great Britain and 
 France, Toronto was made the capital city, and the population of the 
 province soon rose to 30,000 in number. Lower Canada, however, 
 with its old cities of Quebec and Montreal, and its flourishing settle- 
 ments along the St. Lawrence River, continued the most populous 
 section of the country, though its people were almost exclusively 
 of French origin. The strength of the British population lay in the 
 upper province. 
 
 In time the confederation which existed between the two larger 
 provinces of Canada became unfitted to serve the purposes of 
 the entire colony. The maritime provinces began to discuss the 
 question of local federation, and it was finally proposed to unite 
 all British North America into one general union. This was done 
 
GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 345 
 
 in 1867, the British Parhament passing an act which created the 
 "Dominion of Canada." The new confederation included Ontario 
 (Upper Canada), Quebec (Lower Canada), New Brunswick and 
 Nova Scotia. Four years later Manitoba and British Columbia 
 were included, and Prince Edward's Island in 1874. Since then 
 other additions have been made. A parhament was formed con- 
 sisting of a Senate of life members chosen by the prime minister 
 and an Assembly elected by the people. 
 
 The important questions which have arisen in Canada since 
 the dates above given have had largely to do with its relations to 
 the United States and its people. One of the most troublesome of 
 these was that relating to the productive fisheries on the banks of 
 Nevvrfoundland and the coasts of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. 
 For years the problem of the rights of American fishermen in these 
 regions excited controversy. Several partial settlements have been 
 made and in 1877 the sum of $15,000,000 was awarded to Great 
 Britain in payment for the privileges granted to the United States. 
 A treaty was signed in 1888 for the settlement of this vexatious 
 question, and in 1912 a decision of The Hague tribunal decided 
 it to the satisfaction of both parties. 
 
 The discovery of gold on the Klondike River in 1896 developed 
 another problem, that of the true boundary betvv^een Alaska and 
 Canada. At first, under the beUef that the gold region was in 
 Alaska, it brought a rush of American miners to that region. But 
 it was soon found that the mining region was in Canada and the 
 mining laws imposed by the Canadian authorities were bitterly 
 objected to by the American miners. The question of boundary 
 has since been definitely settled and the present boundary line 
 marked out by a scientific commission. 
 
 The industrial development of the country within recent years 
 has been great. Agriculturally the development of the fertile 
 wheat fields of the middle v*^est is of the most promising character, 
 while railway progress has been liighly encouraging. The building 
 of the Canadian Pacific Railway was a remarkable enterprise at 
 
346 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 
 
 the time of its construction. Recently Canada is approaching 
 a position of rivalry with the United States in this particular, a 
 new transcontinental line, the Grand Trunk Pacific, having been com- 
 pleted in 1914, while the Canadian Northern is rapidly progressing. 
 
 PROGRESS IN CANADA 
 
 Railways have spread like a network over the rich agricultural 
 territory along the southern border land of the Dominion, from ocean 
 to ocean, and are now pushing into the deep forest land and rich 
 mineral and agricultural regions of the interior and the northwest, 
 their total length in 1914 approaching 30,000 miles. 
 
 These roads have been built largely under different forms of 
 government aid, such as land grants, cash subsidies, loans, the 
 issue of debentures, and the guarantee of bonds of interest. 
 
 In manufacturing industry almost every branch of production 
 is to be found, the progressive enterprise of the people of the 
 Dominion being great, and a large proportion of the goods they need 
 being made at home. The best evidence of the enterprise of Canada 
 in manufacture is shown by the fact that she exports many thousand 
 dollars worth of goods annually more than she buys — England 
 being her largest customer and the United States second on the list. 
 
 Not only is the outside world largely ignorant of the importance 
 of Canada, but many of her own people fail to realize the greatness 
 of the country they possess. Its area of more than three and one- 
 half millions of square miles — one-sixteenth of the entire land sur- 
 face of the earth — ^is great enough to include an immense variety 
 of natural conditions and products. This area constitutes forty 
 per cent of the far extended British empire, while its richness of soil 
 and resources in forest and mineral wealth are as yet almost 
 untouched, and its promise of future yield is immense. The dimen- 
 sions of the dominion guarantee a great variety of natural attrac- 
 tions. There are vast grass-covered plains, thousands of square 
 miles of untouched forest lands, multitudes of lakes and rivers, great 
 and small, and mountains of the wildest and grandest character, 
 
GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 347 
 
 whose natural beauty equals that of the far-famed Alpine peaks. 
 In fact, the Canadian Pacific Railway is becoming a route of pil- 
 grimage for the lovers of the beautiful and sublime, its mountain 
 scenery being unrivaled upon the continent. 
 
 In several conditions the people of Canada, while preserving 
 the general features of English society, are much more free and 
 untrammeled. The caste system of Great Britain has gained little 
 footing in this new land, where nearly every farmer is the owner 
 of the soil which he tills, and the people have a feeling of indepen- 
 dence unknown to the agricultural population of European coun- 
 tries. There has been great progress also in many social questions. 
 The liquor traffic, for instance, is subject to the local option restric- 
 tion; religious liberty prevails; education is practically free and 
 unsectarian; the franchise is enjoyed by all citizens; members of 
 the parliament are paid for their services; and though the executive 
 department of the government is under the control of a governor- 
 general appointed by the Crown, the laws of Canada are made by 
 its own statesmen, and a state of practical independence prevails. 
 Recognizing this, and respecting the liberty-loving spirit of the 
 people. Great Britain is chary in interfering with any question of 
 Canadian policy, or in any sense in attempting to limit the freedom 
 of her great transatlantic colony. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 The Open Door in China and Japan 
 
 Development of World Power in the East ' 
 
 Warlike Invasions of China — Commodore Perry and His Treaty — Japan's Rapid 
 Progress — Origin of the China-Japan War — The Position of Korea — Li Hung Chang 
 and the Empress — How Japan Began War — The Chinese and Japanese Fleets — The 
 Battle of the Yalu — Preparing for Battle — How the Ships Fought — Perils of the Com- 
 manders — Capture of V/ei Hai Wei — Europe Invades China — The Boxer Outbreak — 
 Russian Designs in Manchuria — Japan Begins War on Russia — ^The Aimies Meet — 
 Port Arthur Taken — Russian Fleet Defeated — China Becomes a Republic. 
 
 ,SIA, the greatest of the continents and the seat of the 
 earhest civihzations, yields us the most remarkable phenom- 
 enon in the history of mankind. In remote ages, while 
 Europe lay plunged in the deepest barbarism, certain sections of 
 Asia were marked by surprising activity in thought and progress. 
 In three far-separated regions — China, India, and Babylonia — 
 and in a fourth on the borders of Asia — ^Egypt — civilization rose 
 and flourished for ages, v/hile the savage and the barbarian roamed 
 over all other regions of the earth. A still more extraordinary fact 
 is, that during the more recent era, that of European civilization, 
 Asia rested in the most sluggish conservatism, sleeping while 
 Europe and America were actively moving, content with its ancient 
 knowledge while the people of the West were pursuing nev/ knowl- 
 edge into its most secret lurking places. 
 
 And this conservatism seemed an almost immovable one. 
 For a century England has been pouring new thought and new 
 enterprise into India, yet the Hindus cling stubbornly to their 
 remotely ancient beliefs and customs, though they show some 
 signs of a political awakening. For half a century Europe has been 
 hammering upon the gates of China, but not until recently did 
 this sleeping nation show any signs of waking to the fact that the 
 
 (348) 
 
5" 
 
 orq 
 
 
 1 
 
 ►-1 
 
 > 
 
 S* 
 
 fl) 
 
 
 «a 
 
 pid 
 
 ^t 
 
 r^ 
 
 
 fD 
 
 p 
 
 g 
 
 ►1 
 
 c+- 
 
 s 
 
 0.0 
 
 •S 
 
 ft 
 
 CJ 
 
 a- 
 
 en 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 o 
 
 1 
 
 K+> 
 
 « 
 
 O 
 
 B^ 
 
 
 
 ►1 
 
 
 B" 
 
 Si 
 
 ?: 
 
 
 t^ 
 
 >ri 
 
 3 
 
 t 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 P 
 
 •-1 
 
 
 
 
 en 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 cr 
 
 
 r+ 
 
 2. 
 
 
 3 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 a> 
 tn 
 
 1" 
 
 
 d- 
 
 
 
 13*P 
 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 
 g 
 
 p 
 
 S 
 
 3 
 
 
 >-H 
 
 5 
 
 H 
 
 a* 
 
 ? 
 
 S 
 
 0) 
 
 
 
 g 
 
 C! 
 
 
 
 3' 
 
 s 
 
 q' 
 
 O 
 
 > 
 o 
 
 ^ 
 
 P 
 
 o 
 
 a 
 
 
 c+_ 
 
 »— ( 
 
 3 
 
 o' 
 
 
 O 
 
 p 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 13 
 
 >C1 
 
 ^ 3 
 
 !^ 
 
 0) 
 
 (T) 
 
 
 p 
 
 a 
 
 ^ 
 
 'S 
 
 fii 
 
 ft 
 
 i 
 
 s- > 
 
 p 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 
 e: 
 
 O 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 tn 
 
 
 
 O^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Bt 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 S' 
 
 
 
 >-t 
 
 
 
 v> 
 
 
 
 r+ 
 
 
 
 C3* 
 
 
 
 C 
 
 
 
 tn 
 
 
 
 fU 
 
 
 
 J3 
 
 
 
 g 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 "5 
 
 
 
 "O 
 
 
 Cu 
 
 ^ 
 ^ 
 
 o 
 

 ^ 
 ^ 
 
 
 0) 
 
 ni 
 
 
 0) g 
 
 C R 
 
 -l-J 
 
 1 
 
 Gl 
 
 ^ 
 
 c 
 
 03 
 
 
 n 
 
 rn 
 
 +-> 
 
 ^ 
 
 Tl 
 
 O 
 
 
 O 
 
 4-5 
 
 , 
 
 rn 
 
 crt 
 
 '•"' 
 
 CJ 
 
 
 
 
 -rt 
 
 rl 
 
 
 fl) 
 
 S.6 
 
 >. 
 
 fl) 
 
 |-< 
 
 
 < 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 03 
 
 
 !h 
 
 -1-2 
 
 10 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 pq' 
 
 b 
 
 
 ;3 
 
 H 
 
 <D 
 
 
 B 
 
 
 n3 
 
 
 ti 
 
THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 349 
 
 world was moving around it. As regards the other early civiliza- 
 tions — Babylonia and Egypt — they long ago were utterly swamped 
 under the tide of Turldsh barbarism and exist only in their ruins. 
 Persia, once a great and flourishing empire, likewise sank under 
 the flood of Arabian and Turldsh invasion, and today seems in 
 danger of being swallowed up in the tide of Russian and British 
 ambition. Such was the Asia upon which the nineteenth century 
 dawned, and such it remains in some measure today, though in 
 parts of its vast area modern civilization has gained a firm foothold. 
 This is especially the case with the island empire of Japan, a 
 nation the people of which are closely allied in race to those of China, 
 yet who have displayed a greater progressiveness and a marked 
 readiness to avail themselves of the resources of modern civilization. 
 The development of Japan has taken place within a brief period. 
 Previous to that time it was as resistant to western influences as 
 China continued until a later date. They were both closed nations, 
 prohibiting the entrance of modern ideas and peoples, proud of 
 their own form of civilization and their own institutions, and sternly 
 resolved to keep out the disturbing influences of the restless West. 
 As a result, they remained locked against the new civiHzation until 
 after the nineteenth century was weU advanced, and China's 
 disposition to avail itself of the results of modern invention was not 
 manifested until the century was near its end. 
 
 WARLIKE INVASION OF CHINA 
 
 China, with its estimated population of 300,000,000, attained 
 to a considerable measure of civilization at a very remote period, 
 but until very recently made almost no progress during the Chris- 
 tian era, being content to retain its old ideas, methods and insti- 
 tutions, v/iiich its people looked upon as far superior to those of 
 the western nations. Great Britain gained a foothold in China 
 as early as the seventeenth century, but the persistent attempt 
 to flood the country with the opium of India, in disregard of the 
 laws of the land, so angered the emperor that he had the opium 
 
350 THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 
 
 of the British stores at Canton, worth $20,000,000, seized and 
 destroyed. This led to the "Opium War" of 1840, in which China 
 was defeated and was forced in consequence to accept a much 
 greater degree of intercourse with the world, five ports being made 
 free to the world's com^merce and Hong Kong ceded to Great Britain. 
 In 1856 an arbitrary act of the Chinese authorities at Canton, in 
 forcibly boarding a British vessel in the Canton River, led to a 
 new war, in which the French joined the British and the allies 
 gained fresh concessions from China. In 1859 the war was renewed, 
 and Peking was occupied by the British and French forces in 1860, 
 the emperor's summer palace being destroyed. 
 
 These wars had their effect in largely breaking down the Chinese 
 wall of seclusion and opening the empire more fully to foreign 
 trade and intercourse, and also in compelling the emperor to receive 
 foreign ambassadors at his court in Peking. In this the United 
 States was among the most successful of the nations, from the 
 fact that it had always maintained friendly relations with China. 
 In 1876 a short railroad was laid, and in 1877 a telegraph line was 
 established. During the remainder of the century the telegraph 
 service was widely extended, but the building of railroads was 
 strongly opposed by the government, and not until the centmy 
 had reached its end did the Chinese awaken to the importance of 
 this method of transportation. They did, however, admit steam 
 traffic to their rivers, and purchased some powerful ironclad naval 
 vessels in Europe. 
 
 COMMODOEE PEREY AND HIS TREATY 
 
 The isolation of Japan was maintained longer than that of 
 China, trade with that country being of less importance, and 
 foreign nations knowing and caring less about it. The United 
 States has the credit of breaking down its long and stubborn 
 seclusion and setting in train the remarkably rapid development 
 of the island empire. In 1854 Commodore Perry appeared with 
 an American fleet in the bay of Yeddo, and, by a show of force 
 
THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 351 
 
 and a determination not to be rebuffed, he induced the author- 
 ities to make a treaty of commercial intercourse with the United 
 States. Other nations quickly demanded similar privileges, and 
 Japan's obstinate resistance to foreign intercourse was at an end. 
 The result of this was revolutionary in Japan. For centuries 
 the Shogun, or Tycoon, the principal military noble, had been 
 dominant in the empire, and the Mikado, the true emperor, rele- 
 gated to a position of obscurity. But the entrance of foreigners 
 disturbed conditions so greatly — ^by developing parties for and 
 against seclusion — that the Mikado was enabled to regain his 
 long-lost power, and in 1868 the ancient form of government was 
 restored, the nobles being relegated to their original rank and 
 their semi-feudal system overthrown. 
 
 japan's rapid progress 
 
 The Japanese quickly began to show a striking activity in the 
 acceptance of the results of western civilization, alike in regard 
 to objects of conmaerce, inventions, and industries, and to political 
 organization. The latter advanced so rapidly that in 1889 the 
 old despotic government was, by the voluntary act of the emperor, 
 set aside and a limited monarchy established, the country being 
 given a constitution and a legislature, with universal suffrage for 
 all men over twenty-five. This act is of remarkable interest, it 
 being doubtful if history records any similar instance of a monarch 
 decreasing his authority without appeal or pressure from his people. 
 It indicates a liberal spirit that could hardly have been looked 
 for in a nation that had so recently opened its doors. It was, 
 however, probably the result of a previous compact with the nobles 
 who aided the Mikado to regain his throne. Today, Japan differs 
 little from the nations of Europe and America in its institutions and 
 industries, and from being among the most backward, has taken its 
 place among the most advanced nations of the world. 
 
 The Japanese army has been organized upon the European 
 system, and armed with the most modern style of weapons, the 
 
352 THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 
 
 German method of drill and organization being adopted. Its 
 navy consists of about two hundred war vessels, built in the dock- 
 yards of Europe and America, or captured in its two recent 
 wars, while a number of more powerful ships are in process of 
 building. Railroads have been widely extended; telegraphs run 
 everywhere; education is in an advancing stage of development, 
 embracing an imperial university at Tokio, and institutions in which 
 foreign languages and science are taught; and in a hundred ways 
 Japan is progressing at a rate which is one of the greatest marvels 
 of the twentieth century. This is particularly notable in view of the 
 longer adherence maintained by the neighboring empire of China 
 to its old customs, and the slowness with which it yielded to the 
 influx of new ideas. 
 
 OEIGIN OF THE CHINA-JAPAN WAE 
 
 As a result of this difference in progress between the two nations 
 we have to describe a remarkable event, one of the most striking 
 evidences that could be given of the practical advantage of modern 
 civihzation. Near the end of the centmy war broke out between 
 China and Japan, and there was shown to the v/orld the singular 
 circumstance of a nation of 40,000,000 people, armed with modern 
 implements of war, attacking a nation of 300,000,000 — equally 
 brave, but with its army organized on an ancient system — and 
 defeating it as quickly and completely as Germany defeated France 
 in the Franco-German War. This war, which represents a com- 
 pletely new condition of affairs in the continent of Asia, is of 
 sufficient interest and importance to speak of at some length. 
 
 Between China and Japan lay the kingdom of Korea, separated 
 by rivers from the former and by a strait of the ocean from the 
 latter, and claimed as a vassal state by both, yet preserving its 
 independence as a state against the pair. Japan invaded this coun- 
 try at two different periods in the past, but failed to conquer it. 
 China has often invaded it, with the same result. Thus it remained 
 practically independent until near the end of the nineteenth 
 
THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 353 
 
 century, when the question of predominance in it became a cause 
 of war between the two rival empires. 
 
 Korea long pursued the sam.e pohey as China and Japan, 
 locking its ports against foreigners so closely that it became known 
 as the Hermit Nation and the Forbidden Land. But it was forced 
 to give way, like its neighbors. The opening of Korea was due to 
 Japan. In 1876 the Japanese did to this secluded kingdom what 
 Commodore Perry had done to Japan twenty-two years before. 
 They sent a fleet to Seoul, the Korean capital, and by threat of war 
 forced the government to open to trade the port of Fusan. In 
 1880 Chemulpo was made an open port. Later on the United 
 States sent a fleet there which obtained similar privileges. Soon 
 afterwards most of the nations of Europe were admitted to trade, 
 and the isolation of the Hermit Nation was at an end. Less than 
 ten years had sufhced to break down an isolation which had lasted 
 for centuries. In less than twenty years after — ^in the year 1899 — 
 an electric trolley railway was put in operation in the streets of 
 Seoul — a remarkable evidence of the great change in Korean pohcy. 
 
 THE POSITION OF KOREA 
 
 Korea was no sooner opened to foreign intercourse than China 
 and Japan becam^e rivals for influence in that country — a rivalry 
 in which Japan showed itself the more active. The Koreans became 
 divided into tv/o factions, a progressive one that favored Japan, 
 and a conservative one that favored China. Japanese and Chinese 
 soldiers Vv- ere landed upon its soil, and the Chinese aided their party, 
 which was in ascendency among the Koreans, to drive out the 
 Japanese troops. War was threatened, but it was averted by a 
 treaty in 1885 under which both nations agreed to v/ithdi-aw their 
 troops and to send no officers to drill the Korean soldiers. 
 
 The war, thus for the time averted, came nine years afterwards, 
 in consequence of an insurrection in Korea. The people of that 
 country were discontented. They were oppressed with taxes and 
 by tyranny, and in 1894 the follov/ers of a new religious sect broke 
 
 23 
 
354 THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 
 
 out in open revolt. Their numbers rapidly increased until they were 
 20,000 strong, and they defeated the government troops, captured 
 a provincial city, and put the capital itself in danger. The Min 
 (or Chinese) faction was then at the head of affairs in the kingdom 
 and called for aid from China, which responded by sending some 
 two thousand troops and a number of war vessels to Korea. Japan, 
 jealous of any such action on the part of China, responded by sur- 
 rounding Seoul with soldiers, several thousands in number. 
 
 Disputes followed. China claimed to be suzerain of Korea 
 and Japan denied it. Both parties refused to withdraw their 
 troops, and the Japanese, finding that the party in power was acting 
 against them, advanced on the capital, drove out the officials, and 
 took possession of the palace and the king. A new government, 
 made up of the party that favored Japan, was organized, and a 
 revolution was accomplished in a day. The new authorities declared 
 that the Chinese were intruders and requested the aid of the 
 Japanese to expel them. War was close at hand. 
 
 LI HUNG CHANG AND THE EMPRESS 
 
 China was at that time under the leadership of a statesman 
 of marked ability, the famous Li Hung Chang, who, from, being 
 made viceroy of a province in 1870, had risen to be the prime 
 minister of the empire. At the head of the empire was a woman, 
 the Dowager Empress Tsu Tsi, who had usurped the power of the 
 young emperor and ruled the state. It was to these two people 
 in power that the war was due. The dowager empress, blindly 
 ignorant of the power of the Japanese, decided that these ''insolent 
 pigmies" deserved to be chastised. Li, her right-hand man, was of 
 the same opinion. At the last moment, indeed, doubts began 
 to assail his mind, into which came a dim idea that the army and 
 navy of China were not in shape to meet the forces of Japan. But 
 the empress was resolute. Her sixtieth birthday was at hand 
 and she proposed to celebrate it magnificently; and what better 
 decorations could she display than the captured banners of these 
 
l-H 
 
 |-! Er . 
 [^'<! W 
 
 o n> 
 cum ^ 
 
 ^ & 2 
 ^^ £ 
 
 o o W 
 
 p 3 O 
 en rl- « 
 
 CD g 
 
 l-H fD 
 
 ?3 
 
 2.S* 
 

 ^:^ 
 
 
 B 05 
 -P 1-1 
 
 
 rC » 
 
 
 Mt*< 
 
 
 «c 
 
 
 
 
 ,^ CO 
 
 
 a: a 
 
 
 2 SiC 
 
 
 B ^ 
 
 
 ^<1 
 
 
 1^ ^ 
 
 
 ■5 >^ 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 %6 
 
 o 
 
 n^-t^ 
 
 s 
 
 Vi 
 
 
 :2!^i 
 
 a 
 
 S=^ 
 
 o 
 
 o b 
 
 ^ 
 
 .^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 TS O 
 
 M 
 
 ^g 
 
 u 
 
 t>^"!;? 
 
 <3 
 
 ^ 2 
 
 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
 M 
 
 'S."^ 
 
 u 
 
 ■^ s 
 
 s 
 
 pq.-S 
 
 o 
 
 .gi^ 
 
 M 
 
 02 fl 
 
 H 
 
 ;3 o 
 
 
 o3 +2 
 
 
 ^ -3 
 
 
 03 O 
 
 
 
 
 +=■?. 
 
 
 c-i 
 
 
 S o 
 
 
 
 
 bX) OQ 
 
 
 0) += 
 
 
 rt ^, 
 
 
 - a 
 
 
 rTS'SC 
 
 
 
 
 ■ti ^ 
 
 
 i5i 
 
THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 355 
 
 insolent islanders? So it was decided to present a bold front, and, 
 instead of the troops of China being removed, reinforcements were 
 sent to the force at Asan. 
 
 HOW JAPAN BEGAN WAR 
 
 There followed a startling event. On July 25th three Japanese 
 men-of-war, cruising in the Yellow Sea, came in sight of a transport 
 loaded with Chinese troops and convoyed by two ships of the Chinese 
 navy. The Japanese admiral did not know of the seizure of Seoul 
 by the land forces, but he took it to be his duty to prevent Chinese 
 troops from reaching Korea, so he at once attacked the warships 
 of the enemy, with such effect that they were quickly put to flight. 
 Then he sent orders to the transport that it should put about and 
 follow his ships. 
 
 This the Chinese generals refused to do. They trusted to the 
 fact that they were on a chartered British vessel and that the British 
 flag flew over their heads. The daring Japanese admiral troubled 
 his soul little about this foreign standard, but at once opened fire 
 on the transport, and with such effect that in half an hour it went 
 to the bottom, carrying with it one thousand men. Only about 
 one hundred and seventy escaped. 
 
 On the same day that this terrible act took place on the waters 
 of the sea, the Japanese left Seoul en route for Asan. Reaching 
 there, they attacked the Chinese in their intrenchments and drove 
 them out. Three days afterwards, on August 1, 1894, both 
 countries issued declarations of war. 
 
 Of the conflict that followed, the most interesting events were 
 those that took place on the waters, the land campaigns being 
 an unbroken series of successes for the well-organized and amply- 
 armed Japanese troops over the medieval army of China, which 
 went to war fan and umbrella in hand, with antiquated weapons 
 and obsolete organization. The principal battle was fought at 
 Ping Yang on September 15th, the Chinese losing 16,000 killed, 
 wounded and captured, while the Japanese loss was trifhng. In 
 
356 THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 
 
 November the powerful fortress of Port Arthur was attacked by 
 army and fleet, and surrendered after a two days' siege. Then the 
 armies advanced until they were in the vicinity of the Great Wall, 
 with the soil and capital of China not far before them. 
 
 THE CHINESE AND JAPANESE FLEETS 
 
 With this brief review of the land operations, we must return 
 to the movements of the fleets. Backward as the Chinese 
 were on land, they were not so on the sea. Li Hung Chang, a born 
 progressive, had vainly attempted to introduce railroads into China, 
 but he had been more successful in regard to ships, and had pur- 
 chased a navy more powerful than that of Japan. The heaviest 
 ships of Japan were cruisers, whose armor consisted of deck and 
 interior lining of steel. The Chinese possessed two powerful battle- 
 ships, with 14-inch iron armor and turrets defended with 12-inch 
 armor, each carrying four 12-inch guns. Both navies had the advan- 
 tage of European teaching in drill, tactics, and seamanship. The 
 Ting Yuen, the Cliinese flagship, had as virtual commander an 
 experienced German officer named Von Hanneken; the Chen 
 Yuen, the other big ironclad, was handled by Commander McGiffen, 
 formerly of the United States navy. Thus commanded, it was 
 expected in Europe that the superior strength of the Chinese 
 ships would ensure them an easy victory over those of Japan. The 
 event showed that this was a decidedly mistaken view. 
 
 It was the superior speed and the large number of rapid-fire 
 guns of the Japanese vessels that saved them from defeat. The 
 Chinese guns were mainly heavy Krupps and Armstrongs. They 
 had also some machine guns, but only three quick-firers. The 
 Japanese, on the contrary, had few heavy armor-piercing guns, 
 but were supplied with a large number of quick-firing cannon, 
 capable of pouring out shells in an incessant stream. Admiral 
 Ting and his European officers expected to come at once to close 
 quarters and quickly destroy the thin-armored Japanese craft. 
 But the shrewd Admiral Ito, commander of the fleet of Japan, 
 
THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 357 
 
 had no intention of being thus dealt with. The speed of his craft 
 enabled him to keep his distance and to distract the aim of his foes, 
 and he proposed to make the best use of this advantage. Thus 
 equipped, the two fleets came together in the month of September, 
 and an epoch-making battle in the history of the ancient continent 
 of Asia was fought. 
 
 THE BATTI,B OF THE YALU 
 
 On the afternoon of Sunday, September 16, 1894, Admiral 
 Ting's fleet, consisting of 11 y/arships, 4 gunboats, and 6 torpedo 
 boats, anchored off the mouth of the Yalu River. They were 
 there as escorts to some transports, wiiich went up the river to dis- 
 charge their troops. Admiral Ito had been engaged in the same 
 work farther down the coast, and early on Monday morning came 
 steaming towards the Yalu in search of the enemy. Under him were 
 in all t¥^elve ships, none of themx with heavy armor, one of them an 
 armed transport. The swiftest ship in the fleet was the Yoshino, 
 capable of making twenty-thi'ee knots, and armed with 44 quick- 
 firing Armstrongs, v/liich would discharge nearly 4,000 pounds 
 weight of shells every minute. The heaviest guns were long 13- 
 inch cannon, of w^hich four ships possessed one each, protected by 
 12-inch shields of steel. Finally, they had an important advantage 
 over the Chinese in being abundantlj^ supphed with ammunition. 
 
 With this formidable fleet, Ito steamed slowly to the north- 
 westward. Early on Monday morning he was off the island of 
 Hai-yun-tao. At 7 a. m. the fleet began steaming north-eastward. 
 It was a fine autumn morning. The sun shone brightly, and there 
 was only just enough of a breeze to ripple the surface of the water. 
 The long line of warships cleaving their way through the blue 
 waters, all bright with white paint, the chiysanthemum of Japan 
 shining like a golden shield on every bow, and the same emblem 
 flying in red and white from every masthead, formed a striking 
 spectacle. Some miles away to port rose the rocky coast and the 
 blue hills of Manchuria, dotted with many an island, and showing 
 
358 THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 
 
 here and there a little bay with its fishing villages. On the other 
 side, the waters of the wide Korean Gulf stretched to an unbroken 
 horizon. Towards eleven o'clock the hills at the head of the guK 
 began to rise. Ito had in his leading ship, the Yoshino, a cruiser 
 that would have made a splendid scout. In any European navy 
 she would have been steaming some miles ahead of her colleagues 
 with, perhaps, another swift ship between her and the fleet to pass 
 on her signals. Ito, however, seems to have done no scouting but 
 to have kept his ships in single line ahead, with a small interval 
 between the van and the main squadron. At half-past eleven 
 smoke was seen far away on the starboard bow, the bearing being 
 east-northeast. It appeared to come from a number of steamers 
 in line, on the horizon. The course was altered and the speed 
 increased. Ito beHeved that he had the Chinese fleet in front of 
 him. He was right. The smoke was that of Ting's ironclads and 
 cruisers anchored ui line, with steam up, outside the mouth of the 
 Yalu. 
 
 On Monday morning the Chinese crews had been exercised 
 at their guns, and a little before noon, while the cooks were busy 
 getting dinner ready, the lookout men at several of the mastheads 
 began to call out that they saw the smoke of a large fleet away on 
 the horizon to the southwest. Admiral Ting was as eager for the 
 fight as his opponents. At once he signaled to his fleet to weigh 
 anchor, and a few minutes later ran up the signal to clear for 
 action. 
 
 PREPARING FOR ACTION 
 
 A similar signal was made by Admiral Ito half an hour later, 
 as his ships came in sight of the Chinese line of battle. The actual 
 moment was five minutes past noon, but it was not until three- 
 quarters of an hour later that the fleets had closed sufficiently near 
 for the fight to begin at long range. This three-quarters of an hour 
 was a time of anxious and eager expectation for both Chinese and 
 Japanese. Commander McGiffen of the Chen Yuen has given a 
 
THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 359 
 
 striking description of the scene when "the deadly space" between 
 the two fleets was narrowing, and all were watching for the flash 
 and smoke of the first gun. ''The twenty-two ships," he says, 
 ''trim and fresh-looking in their paint and their bright new bunting, 
 and gay with fluttering signal-flags, presented such a holiday 
 aspect that one found difficulty in realizing that they were not there 
 simply for a friendly meeting. But, looking closer on the Chen 
 Yuen, one could see beneath this gayety, much that was sinister. 
 Dark-skinned men, with queues tightly coiled round their heads, 
 and with arms bared to the elbow, clustered along the decks in 
 groups at the guns, waiting impatiently to kifl or be killed. Sand 
 was sprinkled along the decks, and more was kept handy against 
 the time when they might become slippery. In the superstructures, 
 and down out of sight in the bowels of the ship, were men at the 
 shell whips and ammunition hoists and in the torpedo room. 
 Here and there a man lay flat on the deck, with a charge of powder 
 — ^fifty pounds or more — ^in his arms, waiting to spring up and pass 
 it on when it should be wanted. The nerves of the men below deck 
 were in extreme tension. On deck one could see the approaching 
 enemy, but below nothing was known, save that any moment 
 might begin the action, and bring in a shell through the side. Once 
 the battle had begun they were all right; but at first the strain was 
 intense. The fleets closed on each other rapidly. My crew was 
 silent. The sub-lieutenant in the mihtary foretop was taking 
 sextant angles and announcing the range, and exhibiting an 
 appropriate small signal-flag. As each range was called, the men 
 at the guns would lower the sight-bars, each gun captain, lanyard 
 in hand, keeping his gim trained on the enemy. Through the ven- 
 tilators could be heard the beats of the steam pumps; for all the 
 lines of hose were joined up and spouting water, so that, in case of 
 fire, no time need be lost. Every man's nerves were in a state of 
 tension, which was greatly relieved as a huge cloud of white smoke, 
 belching from the Ting Yuen's starboard barbette, opened the 
 ball." 
 
360 THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 
 
 HOW THE SHIPS FOUGHT 
 
 The shot fell a little ahead of the Yoshino, throwing up a tall 
 column of white water. Admiral Ito, in his official report, notes 
 that this first shot was fired at ten minutes to one. The range, 
 as noted on the Chen Yuen, v/as 5,200 yards, or a little over three 
 and a half miles. The heavy barbette and bov/ guns of the Chen 
 Yuen and other ships now joined in, but still the Japanese van 
 squadron came on without replying. For five minutes the firing 
 was all on the side of the Chinese. The space between the Japanese 
 van and the hostile line had diminished to 3,000 yards — a little 
 under two miles. The Yoshino, the leading ship, y^as heading for 
 the center of the Chinese line, but obliquely, so as to pass diagon- 
 ally along the front of the Chinese right v/ing. At five minutes 
 to one her powerful battery of quick-firers opened on the Chinese, 
 sending out a storm of shells, most of which fell in the water just 
 ahead of the Ting and Chen Yuen. Their first effect was to deluge 
 the decks, barbettes and bridges of the two ironclads with the 
 geysers of water flung up by their impact v/ith the waves. In a 
 few minutes every man on deck was soaked to the skin. One by 
 one the other ships along the Japanese line opened fire, and then, 
 as the range still diminished, the Chinese machine-guns, Hotch- 
 kisses and Nordenfelts added their sharp, growling reports to the 
 deeper chorus of the heavier guns. 
 
 The armored barbettes and central citadels of the two Chinese 
 battleships were especially the mark of the Japanese fire. Theoret- 
 ically they ought to have been pierced again and again, but all the 
 harm they received were some deep dents and grooves in the thick 
 plates. But through the thin-lined hulls of the cruisers the shells 
 crashed like pebbles through glass, the only effect of the metal wall 
 being to explode the shells and scatter their fragments far and ¥/ide. 
 
 The Chinese admiral had dravm up his ships in a single line, 
 with the large ones in the center and the weaker ones on the wings. 
 Ito's ships came up in column, the Yoshino leading, his purpose 
 being to take advantage of the superior speed of his ships and circle 
 
THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 361 
 
 round his adversary. Past the Chinese right wing swept the swift 
 Yoshino, pouring in the shells from her rapid-fire guns on the unpro- 
 tected vessels there posted, one of which, the Yang Wei, was soon 
 in flames. The sliips that followed tore the woodwork of the Chao 
 Yung with their shells, and she likewise burst into flames. The 
 slower vessels of the Japanese fleet lagged behind their speedy 
 leaders, particularly the little Heijei, which fell so far in the rear 
 as to be exposed to the fire of the whole Chinese fleet. In this 
 dilemma its captain displayed a daring spirit. Instead of following 
 his consorts, he dashed straight for the line of the enemy, passing 
 between two of their larger vessels at 500 yards distance. Two 
 torpedoes were launched at him, but missed their mark. But he 
 was made the target of a heavy fire, and came through with his 
 craft in flames. At 2.23 the blazing Chao Yung went to the bottom 
 with all on board. 
 
 As a result of the Japanese evolution, their ships finally closed 
 in on the Chinese on both sides and the action reached its most 
 furious phase. The two flag-ships, the Japanese Matsushima and 
 the Chinese Ting Yuen, battered each other with their great guns, 
 the woodwork of the latter being soon in flames, while a heap 
 of ammunition on the Matsushima was exploded by a shell and 
 killed or wounded eighty men. The Chinese flag-ship would 
 probably have been destroyed by the flames but that her consort 
 came to her assistance. By five o'clock the Chinese fleet was in 
 the greatest disorder, several of its ships having been sunk or 
 driven in flames ashore, while others were in flight. The Japanese 
 fire was mainly concentrated on the two large ironclads, which 
 continued the fight, their thick armor resisting the heaviest guns 
 of the enemy. 
 
 PERILS OF THE COMMANDERS 
 
 Signals and signal halyards had been long since shot away, 
 and all the signalmen killed or wounded; but the two ships con- 
 formed to each other's movements, and made a splendid fight of it. 
 
362 THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 
 
 Admiral Ting had been insensible for some hours at the outset 
 of the battle. He had stood too close to one of his own big guns 
 on a platform above its muzzle, and had been stunned by the 
 upward and backward concussion of the air; but he had recovered 
 consciousness, and, though wounded by a burst shell, was bravely 
 com-manding his ship. Von Hanneken was also wounded in one 
 of the barbettes. The ship was on fire forward, but the hose kept 
 the flames under. The Chen Yuen was almost in the same plight. 
 Her commander, McGiffen, had had several narrow escapes. When 
 at last the lacquered woodwork on her forecastle caught fire, and 
 the men declined to go forward and put it out unless an officer 
 v/ent with them, he led the party. He was stooping down to move 
 something on the forecastle, when a shot passed between his arms 
 and legs, wounding both his wrists. At the same time he was struck 
 down by an explosion near him. When he recovered from the 
 shock he found himself in a terrible position. He was lying wounded 
 on the forecastle, and full in front of him he saw the muzzle of one 
 of the heavy barbette guns come sweeping round, rise, and then 
 sink a little, as the gunners trained it on a Japanese ship, never 
 noticing that he lay just below the line of fire. It was in vain to 
 try to attract their attention. In another minute he would have 
 been caught in the fiery blast. With a great effort he rolled himself 
 over the edge of the forecastle, dropping on some rubbish on the 
 main deck, and hearing the roar of the gun as he fell. 
 
 We have given this vivid description of a battle of modern 
 warships, largely taken from Commander McGiffen's narrative, 
 because of the interest it involves. The finish of the story may be 
 briefly stated. The Chinese battleships, though they had suffered 
 little, were both running out of anununition, and the Japanese 
 appeared to be in trouble of some sort, for about 5.30 p. m. Admiral 
 Ito signaled his ships to withdraw from the action. The Chinese 
 ironclads followed them for some distance and then withdrew. 
 The next morning the Chinese fleet had withdrawn. Despite the 
 resisting power of the ironclads, the Chinese had lost much more 
 
THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 363 
 
 heavily in sliips and men than the Japanese. But the most 
 remarkable feature of the battle of the Yalu, and one which renders 
 it especially notable, was that it took place between two nations 
 which, had the war broken out forty years earlier, would have done 
 their fighting with fleets of wooden junks and weapons of the past 
 centuries. As an object lesson of the progress of China and Japan 
 in modern ideas it is of the greatest interest. 
 
 CAPTURE OF WEI HAI WEI 
 
 In January, 1895, the Japanese fleet advanced against the 
 strongi}'^ fortified stronghold of Wei Hai Wei, on the northern coast 
 of China. Here a force of 25,000 men was landed successfully, and 
 attacked the fort in the rear, quickly capturing its landward defenses. 
 The stronghold was thereupon abandoned by its garrison and 
 occupied by the Japanese. The Chinese fleet lay in the harbor, 
 and surrendered to the Japanese after several ships had been sunk 
 by torpedo boats. 
 
 China was now in a perilous position. Its fleet was lost, its 
 coast strongholds of Port Arthur and Wei Hai Wei were held by 
 the enemy, and its capital was threatened from the latter place 
 and by the army north of the Great Wall. A continuation of the 
 war promised to bring about the complete conquest of the Chinese 
 empire, and Li Hung Chang, who had been degraded from his official 
 rank in consequence of the disasters to the army, was now restored 
 to all his honors and sent to Japan to sue for peace. In the treaty 
 obtained China was compelled to acknowledge the independence of 
 Korea, to cede to Japan the island of Formosa and the Pescadores 
 group, and that part of Manchuria occupied by the Japanese army, 
 including Port Arthur, also to pay an indemnity of 300,000,000 taels 
 and open seven new treaty ports. This treaty was not fully carried 
 out. The Russian, British, and French ministers forced Japan, 
 under threat of war, to give up her claim to the Liao-tung peninsula 
 and Port Arthur, which stronghold was soon after obtained, under 
 long lease, by the Russians. 
 
364 THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 
 
 ETJKOPB INVADES CHINA 
 
 The story of China during the few remaining years of the cen- 
 tury may be briefly told. The evidence of its weakness jdelded 
 by the war with Japan was quickly taken advantage of by the great 
 Powers of Europe, and China was in danger of going to pieces under 
 their attacks, which grew so decided and ominous that rumors of a 
 partition between these Powers of the most ancient and populous 
 empire of the world filled the air. 
 
 In 1898 decided steps in this direction were taken. Russia 
 leased from China for ninety-nine years Port Arthur and Talien 
 Wan, and took practical possession of Manchuria, through which 
 a railroad was built connecting with the Trans-Siberian road, 
 while Port Arthur afforded her an ice-free harbor for her Pacific 
 fleet. Great Britain, jealous of this movement on the part of 
 Russia, forced from the unwilling hands of China the port of Wei 
 Hai Wei, and Germany demanded and obtaiued the cession of a 
 port at Kiau Chau, farther down the coast, in retribution for the 
 murder of some missionaries. France, not to be outdone by her 
 neighbors, gained concessions of territory in the south, adjoining her 
 Indo-China possessions, and Italy, last of all, came into the Eastern 
 market with a demand for a share of the nearly defunct empire. 
 
 The nations appeared to be settling on China like vultures on 
 a carcass, and ready to tear the antique commonwealth to pieces 
 between them. Within the empire itself revolutionary changes 
 took place, the dowager empress having first deprived the emperor 
 of all power and then enforced his abdication. 
 
 Meanwhile one important result came from the war. Li 
 Hung Chang and the other progressive statesmen of the empire, 
 who had long been convinced that the only hope of China lay in its 
 being thrown open to Western science and art, foimd themselves 
 able to carry out their plans, the conservative opposition having seri- 
 ously broken down. The result of this was seen in a dozen directions. 
 Railroads, long almost completely forbidden, gained free ''right of 
 way," and promised in the near future to traverse the country far 
 
THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 365 
 
 and wide. Steamers ploughed their way for a thousand miles up 
 the Yang-tse-Kiang ; engineers became busy exploiting the coal 
 and iron mines of the Flowery Kingdom; great factories, equipped 
 with the best modern machinery, sprang up in the foreign settle- 
 ments; foreign books began to be translated and read; and the 
 empress even went so far as to receive foreign ambassadors in public 
 audience and on a footing of outward equality in the ''forbidden 
 city" of Peking, long the sacredly secluded center of an empire 
 locked against the outer world. 
 
 The increase of European interference in China, with indica- 
 tions of a possible intention to dismember that ancient empire and 
 divide its fragments among the land-hungry nations of the West, 
 was viewed in China with dread and indignation, the feeling of 
 hostility extending to the work of the missionaries, who were 
 probably viewed by many as agents in the movement of invasion. 
 
 THE BOXER OUTBREAK 
 
 The hostile sentiment thus developed was indicated early in 
 1900 by the outbreak of a Chinese secret society known by a name 
 signified in Enghsh by the word ''Boxers." These ultra-patriots 
 organized an anti-missionary crusade in several provinces of North 
 China in which many missionaries and native Christians were 
 killed. The movement extended from the missionary settlements 
 to include the whole foreign movement in China, and was evi- 
 dently encouraged by the dowager empress and her advisers. 
 
 As a result the outbreak spread to Peking, where Baron von 
 Ketteler, the German minister, was Idlled, several of the legation 
 buildings were destroyed, and more than two hundi'ed refugees 
 were besieged within the walls of the British legation. The danger to 
 which the mLnistries and their assistants and families were exposed 
 aroused Europe and America, and as the Chinese government 
 took no steps to allay the outbreak, a relief expedition was organized, 
 in which United States, British, French, German, Russian and 
 Japanese forces took part. 
 
366 THE OPEN-DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 
 
 The fleet of the aUies bombarded and destroyed the Taku 
 forts, and heavy fighting took place at Tien-tsin, Pie-tsang and 
 Yang-tsun. The military expedition reached Peking and rescued 
 the besieged on August 14, 1906, the empress and her court fleeing 
 from the capital. A peace treaty was signed on September 7, 1901, 
 one of the conditions of which was that China should pay an indem- 
 nity of $320,000,000 to the foreign Powers. The share of this allotted 
 to the United States was $24,440,000, but after a portion of this 
 had been paid the United States in 1908 remitted $10,800,000, on 
 the ground that this was in excess over its actual expense. This 
 act of generosity won the earnest gratitude of China. 
 
 This event, significant of the latent and active hostilities 
 between the East and the West, was followed by a much greater 
 one in 1904-05, when Japan had the hardihood to engage in war 
 with the great European empire of Russia and the unlooked-for 
 ability and good fortune to defeat its powerful antagonist. 
 
 RUSSIAN DESIGNS ON MANCHURIA 
 
 This contest, which takes its place among the great wars of 
 modern times, must be dealt with briefly here, as it belongs to 
 European history only in the minor sense of a European country 
 being engaged in it. It arose from the encroachments of Russia 
 in the Chinese provmce of Manchmia and fears on the part of Japan 
 that the scope of Russian designs might include the invasion and 
 conquest of that country. 
 
 As already stated, Russia secured a lease of Port Arthur, at 
 the southern extremity of Manchuria, from China in 1896. Sub- 
 sequently the Siberian Railway was extended southward from 
 Harbin to this place, the harbor was deepened, and building opera- 
 tions were begun at a new town named Dalny, which was to be 
 made Asia's greatest port. The line of the railway was strongly 
 guarded with Russian troops. 
 
 These movements of Russia excited suspicion in Great Britain 
 and Japan, which countries so strongly opposed the military occu- 
 
5a 
 
 a 
 
 c3 
 
 
 r/1 
 
 rn 
 
 & 
 
 ■'^ 
 
 P 
 
 1-1 
 
 O 
 
 :3 
 
 
 
 w 
 
 a 
 
 C/) 
 
 ti) 
 
 HH 
 
 n 
 
 H 
 
 +j 
 
 ^ 
 
 -S 
 
 m 
 
 -p 
 
 g 
 
 I 
 
 g 
 
 a 
 
 Oh 
 Si 
 
 £ 
 
 to 
 
THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 367 
 
 pation by Russia of Chinese territory that in 1901 Russia agreed 
 to withdraw her troops within the following year, to restore the 
 railway to China, and subsequently to give up all occupation of 
 Chinese territory. 
 
 Of these agreements only the first was kept, and that only 
 temporarily. In 1903 Japan proposed an agreement with Russia 
 to the effect that both parties should respect the integrity of China 
 and Korea, while the interest of Japan in Korea and that of Russia 
 in Manchuria should be recognized. The refusal of Russia to accept 
 this proposition overcame the patience of Japan, whose rulers saw 
 clearly that Russia had no intention of withdrawing from the 
 country occupied or of hampering her future purposes with agree- 
 ments. In fact Japan's own independence seemed threatened. 
 
 JAPAN BEGINS WAR ON RUSSIA 
 
 The result was in consonance with the Japanese character. In 
 February, 1904, Japan withdrew her minister from the capital of 
 Russia and three days later, without the formality of a declaration 
 of war, attacked the Russian fleets at Chemulpo and Port Arthur. 
 The result was the sinking of two Russian ships in Chemulpo 
 harbor, and the disabling of a number of vessels at Port Arthur. 
 
 Troops were landed at the same time. Seoul, the capital of 
 Korea, was occupied, and an army marched north to Ping- Yang. 
 The first land engagem.ent took place on the Yalu on April 30th, 
 the Japanese forces under General Kuroki attacking and defeating 
 the Russians at that point, and making a rapid advance into 
 Manchuria. 
 
 Meanwhile Admiral Togo had been busy at Port Arthur. 
 On April 13th he sent boats in shore to plant mines. Maldiarov, 
 the Russian admiral, followed these boats out until he found Togo 
 awaiting him with a fleet too strong for him to attack. On his 
 return his flag-ship, the Petropavlovsk, struck one of the mines and 
 went down with her crew of 750 and Makharov himself. The 
 smaller ships reached harbor in bad shape from their experience of 
 
368 THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 
 
 Togo's big guns. On August 10th, the Port Harbor fleet was 
 again roughly handled by the Japanese, and some days later a 
 Vladivostock squadron, steaming southward to reinforce the Port 
 Arthur fleet, was met and defeated. This ended the naval war- 
 fare for that period, all the ships which Russia had on the Pacific 
 being destroyed or seriously injured. 
 
 THE AEMIES MEET 
 
 On land the Japanese made successful movements to the north 
 and south. An army under General Oku landed in the Liao-tung 
 peninsula early in May, cut the railway to Port Arthur, and cap- 
 tured Kin-chau, nearly forty miles from that port. There followed 
 a terrible struggle on the heights of Nan-shan, ending in the repulse 
 of the Russian garrison, with a loss of eighty guns. This success 
 gave the Japanese control of Dalny, which formed for them a new 
 base. General Nogi soon after landed with a strong force and took 
 command of the operation against Port Arthur. 
 
 The northern army met with similar success, General Kuroki 
 fighting his way to the vicinity of Liao-yang, where he soon had 
 the support of General Nozdu, who had landed an army in May. 
 Oku, marching north from the peninsula, also supported him, the 
 three generals forcing Kuropatkin, the Russian commander-in-chief, 
 back upon his base. Marshal Oyama, a veteran of former wars, 
 was made commander-in-chief of the Japanese armies, 
 
 Liao-tung became the seat of one of the greatest battles of the 
 war, lasting seven days, the number of dead and wounded being 
 over 30,000. It ended in the retreat of Kuropatkin's army, who fell 
 back upon the line of defenses covering Mukden, the Manchurian 
 capital. Here he was again attacked by Kuroki, who captured the 
 key of the Russian position on the 1st of September, and held it 
 ■ until reinforcements arrived. 
 
 For a month the armies faced each other south of Mukden, 
 the resting spell ending in a general advance of the Russian army, 
 which had been largely reinforced. In the battle that followed 
 
THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 369 
 
 the Russians lost heavily, but failed to break the Japanese lines, and 
 after a fortnight of hard fightiDg both sides desisted from active 
 hostilities, holding their positions with little change. 
 
 PORT ARTHUR TAKEN 
 
 Meanwhile Port Arthur had become closely invested. One 
 by one the hills surrounding the harbor were taken by the Japanese, 
 after stubborn resistance. Big siege guns were dragged up and 
 began to batter the town and the ships. On August 16th, General 
 Stoessel, commander at Fort Arthur, having refused to surrender, 
 a grand assault was ordered by Nogi. It proved unsuccessful, 
 while the assailants lost 14,000 men. The bombardment continued, 
 the buildings and ships suffering severely. Finally tunnels were 
 cut through the sohd rock and on December 20th the principal 
 stronghold to the east was carried by storm. Other forts were 
 soon taken and on January 2, 1905, the port was surrendered, the 
 Japanese obtaining 40,000 prisoners, 59 forts, about 550 guns, and 
 other munitions. The fleet captured consisted of four damaged 
 battleships, two damaged cruisers and a considerable number of 
 smaller craft. 
 
 We left the armies facing each other at Mukden in late Septem- 
 ber. They remained there until February, 1905, without again 
 coming into contact, and no decisive action took place until March. 
 Kuropatkin's force had meanwhile been largely reinforced, through 
 the difficult aid of the one-tracked Siberian railway, and was now 
 divided into three armies of approximately 150,000 each. Oyama 
 had also received large reinforcements and now had 500,000 men 
 under his comm.and. These consisted of the armies under Kuroki, 
 Nozdu and Oku, and the force of Nogi released by the capture of 
 Port Arthur. 
 
 General Grippenburg had command of one of the Russian 
 armies and on January 25th took position on the left bank of the 
 Hun River. Here, in the month following, he lost 10,000 of his men, 
 and then threw up his post, declaring that his chief had not properly 
 
 24 
 
370 THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 
 
 supported him. On January 19th, a Japanese advance in force 
 began, attacking with energy and forcing Kuropatldn to withdraw 
 his center and left behind the line of the Hun. Here he fiercely 
 attacked Oku and Nogi, for the time checldng their advance. But 
 Bilderling and Linievitch just then fell into difficulties and it 
 became necessary to retreat, leaving Mukden to the enemy. 
 
 There were no further engagements of importance between 
 the armies, though they remained face to face for months in a 
 long Hne south of Harbin. Kuropatkin during this time was 
 reheved from command, Linievitch being appointed to succeed 
 him. The remaining conflict of the war was a naval one, of remark- 
 able character. ^ 
 
 RUSSIAN FLEET DEFEATED 
 
 Russia, finding its Pacific fleet put out of commission, and 
 quite unable to face the doughty Togo, had despatched a second 
 fleet from the Baltic, comprising nearly forty vessels in all. These 
 made their way through the Suez Canal and Indian Ocean and 
 moved upward through the Chinese and Japanese Seas, finding 
 themselves on May 27, 1905, in the strait of Tsushuma, between 
 Korea and Japan. Hitherto not a hostile vessel had been seen. 
 Togo had held his fleet in ambush, while keeping scouts on the look- 
 out for the comiing Russians. 
 
 Suddenly the Russians found themselves surrounded by a 
 long line of enemies, which had suddenly appeared in their front. 
 The attack was furious and irresistible ; the defense weak and ineffec- 
 tive. Night v/as at hand, but before it came five Russian warships 
 had gone to the bottom. A torpedo attack Vv^as made dming the 
 night and the general engagement resum^ed next morning. VAen 
 a halt was called. Admiral Togo had sunk, disabled or captured 
 eight battleships, nine cruisers, three coast-defense ships, and a 
 large number of other craft, the great Russian fleet being practi- 
 cally a total loss, v/hile Togo had lost only three torpedo boats and 
 650 men. The losses in men by the Russians was 4,000 Idlled, and 
 
THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 371 
 
 7,300 prisoners taken. Altogether it was a naval victory which for 
 completeness has rarely been equaled in history. 
 
 Russia, beaten on land and sea, was by this time ready to give 
 up the struggle, and readily accepted President Roosevelt's sugges- 
 tion to hold a peace convention in the United States. The terms 
 of the treaty were very favorable to Russia, all things considered; 
 but the power of Japan had been strained to the utmost, and that 
 Power felt little inclined to put obstacles in the way. The island 
 of Sakhalin was divided between them, both armies evacuated 
 Manchuria, leaving it to the Chinese, and Port Arthur and Dalny 
 were transferred to Japan. 
 
 Yet though Japan received no indemnity and little in the way 
 of material acquisitions of any kind, she came out of the war with 
 a prestige that no one was likely to question, and has since ranked 
 among the great Powers of the world. And she has added con- 
 siderably to her territory by the annexation of Korea, in which 
 there was no one to question her right. 
 
 CHINA BECOMES A REPUBLIC 
 
 While Japan was manifesting this progress in the arts of war, 
 China was making as great a progress in the arts of peace. The 
 building of railroads, telegraphs, modern factories, and other west- 
 ern innovations proceeded apace, modern literature and systems 
 of education were introduced, and thp old competitive examinations 
 for office, in the Confucian literature and philosophy, were replaced 
 by examinations in modern science and general knowledge. Yet 
 most surprising of all was the great political revolution which 
 converted an autocratic empire which had existed for four or five 
 thousand years into a modern constitutional republic of advanced 
 type. This is the most surprising political overturn that history 
 anywhere presents. 
 
 For many years a spirit of opposition to the Manchu empire 
 had existed and had led more than once to rebellions of great scope. 
 The success of Japan in war was followed in China by a revolutionary 
 
372 THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 
 
 movement whose first demand was for a constitutional government, 
 this leading, on September 20, 1907, to an imperial decree outlining 
 a plan for a national assembly. On July 22, 1908, another decree 
 provided for provincial assemblies to serve as a basis for a future 
 parliament. Later the government promised to introduce a par- 
 liamentary system within nine years. 
 
 The idea of such a government spread rapidly throughout the 
 country, and the demand arose for an immediate parliament. As 
 the government resisted this demand, the revolutionary sentiment 
 grew, and in October, 1911, a rebellious movement took place at 
 Wuchang which rapidly spread, the rebels declaring that the 
 Manchu dynasty must be overthrown. 
 
 Soon the movement became so threatening that the emperor 
 issued a decree appeaUng to the mercy of the people, and abjectly 
 acknowledging that the government had done wrong in many 
 particulars. Yuan Shi-Kai, a prominent revolutionary states- 
 man, was made prime minister and a national assembly convened. 
 It had become too late, however, to check the movement, and at 
 the end of 1911 a new repubUc was announced at Nanking, under 
 the provisional presidency of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, a student of modern 
 institutions in Europe and America. The abdication of the empe- 
 ror quickly followed, in February 12, 1912, ending a Manchu 
 dynasty which had held the throne for 267 years. Yuan Shi-Kai 
 was later chosen as president. 
 
 This is a very brief account of the radical revolution that took 
 place and we cannot go into the details of what succeeded. It 
 must suffice to say that the repubHc has since persisted, Yuan Shi- 
 Kai still serving as president. The republic has a parUament of 
 its own; a president and cabinet and all the official furniture 
 of a republican government. There is only needed an education 
 of the people into the principles of free government "of the people, 
 for the people, and by the people" to complete the most remarkable 
 political revolution the world has yet known. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 Turkey and the Balkan States 
 
 Checking the Dominion op the Turk in Europe 
 
 The Story of Servia — Turkey in Europe — The Bulgarian Horrors — The Defense of 
 Plevna — The Congress of BerUn — Hostile Sentiments in the Balkans — Incitement tc 
 War — Fighting Begins — The Advance on Adrianople — Servian and Greek Victories — 
 The Bulgarian Successes — Steps toward Peace — The War Resumed — Siege of Scutari 
 — ^Treaty of Peace — ^War between the Allies — The Final Settlement. 
 
 IN the southeast of Europe hes a group of minor kingdoms, of 
 httle importance in size, but of great importance in the prog- 
 ress of recent events. Their sudden uprising in 1912, their 
 conquest of nearly the v/hole existing remnant of Turkey in 
 Europe, and the subsequent struggle between them for the spoils 
 of the conquest brought them swiftly into prominence. And they 
 are specially important from the fact that Servia, one of this 
 group of states, was the ostensible — hardly the actual — cause of 
 the great European war of 1914. 
 
 These, known as the Balkan States from their being traversed 
 by the Balkan range of mountains, comprise the kingdoms of 
 Roumania, Bulgaria, Servia, Montenegro, and the recent and highly 
 artificial Idngdom of Albania. Greece is an outlying member 
 of the group. 
 
 THE STORY OF SERVIA 
 
 Of these varied states Servia is of especial interest from its 
 immediate relation to the European contest. Its ancient history, 
 also, possesses much of interest. Minor in extent at present, it 
 was once an extensive empire. Under its monarch, Stephen Dushan 
 (1336-56), it included the whole of Macedonia, Albania, Thessaly, 
 Bulgaria, and Northern Greece, leaving little of the Balkan region 
 
 (373) 
 
374 TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 
 
 beyond its borders. In 1389 its independence ended as a result 
 of the battle of Kossova, it becoming tributary to the conquering 
 empire of the Turks. In another half century it became a province 
 of Turkey in Europe, and so remained for nearly tvv^o hundred years. 
 
 Its succeeding history may be rapidly summarized. In 1718 
 Austria won the greater part of it, with its capital Belgrade, from 
 Turkey, but in 1739 it was regained by the Turks. Barbarous 
 treatment of the Christian population of Servia by its haK-civiiized 
 rulers led to a series of insurrections, ending in 1812 in its inde- 
 pendence, by the terms of the Treaty of Bukarest. The Turks 
 won it back in 1813, but in 1815, under its leader, Miiosh, its com- 
 plete independence was attained. 
 
 After the fall of Plevna in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, 
 Servia joined its forces to those of Russia, and by the Treaty of 
 Berlin it obtained an accession of territory and full recognition 
 by the Powers of Europe of its independence. In 1885 a national 
 rising took place in Eastern Roumelia, a province of Turkey, which 
 led to the Turkish governor being expelled and union with Bul- 
 garia proclaimed. Servia demanded a share of this new acquisition 
 of territory and went to war with Bulgaria, but met with a severe 
 defeat. When, in 1908, Austria annexed the former Turkish prov- 
 inces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the people of Servia were highly 
 indignant, these provinces being largely inhabited by people of 
 the Servian race. The exasperation thus caused is of importance, 
 especially as augmented by the agency of Austria in preventing 
 Servia from obtaining a port on the Adriatic after the Balkan war 
 of 1912-13. The seething feehng of enmity thus engendered had 
 its final outcome in the assassination of the Austrian Crown Prince 
 Ferdinand in 1914, and the subsequent invasion of Servia by the 
 armies of Austria. 
 
 We have here spoken of the stages by which Servia gradually 
 won its independence from Turkey and its recognition as a full- 
 fledged member of the European family of nations. There are 
 several others of the Balkan group which similarly won independence 
 
TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 375 
 
 from Turkey and to the story of which some passing allusion is 
 desirable. 
 
 How Greece won its independence has been already told. 
 Another of the group, the diminutive mountain state of Monte- 
 negro, much the smallest of them all, has the honor of being the 
 only section of that region of Europe that maintained its inde- 
 pendence during the long centuries of Turldsh domination. Its 
 mountainous character enabled its hardy inhabitants to hold 
 their own against the Tm'ks in a series of deadly struggles. In 
 1876-78 its ruler, Prince Nicholas, joined in the war of Servia and 
 Russia against Turkey, the result being that 1,900 square miles 
 were added to its territory by the Treaty of Berlin. In 1910 it 
 was changed from a principahty into a kingdom. Prince Nicholas 
 gaming the title of IQiig Nicholas. A second acquisition of terri- 
 tory succeeded the Balkan War of 1913, the adjoining Turkish 
 province of Novibazar being divided between it and Servia. 
 
 TURKEY IN EUROPE 
 
 With this summary of the story of the Balkans we shall proceed 
 to give in more detail its recent liistorj'', comprising the wars of 
 1876-78 and of 1912-13. As for the relations between Turkey and 
 the Balkan peninsula, it is well laiown how the Asiatic conquerors 
 known as Turks, having subdued Asia Minor, invaded Europe in 
 1355, overran most of the Balkan country, and attacked and took 
 Constantinople in 1453. Servia, Bosnia, Albania, and Greece were 
 added to the Ottoman Empire, which subdued half X)f Hungary 
 and received its first check on land before the walls of Vienna in 
 1529, and on the ocean at the battle of Lepanto in 1571. Vienna was 
 again besieged by the Turks in 1683, and was then saved from 
 capture by Sobieski of Poland and Charles of Lorraine. 
 
 This was the end of Turkish advance in Europe. Since that 
 date it has been gradually yielding to European assault, Russia 
 Ijeginning its persistent attacks upon Turkey about the middle of 
 the eighteenth century. At that time Turkey occupied a con- 
 
376 TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 
 
 siderable section of Southern Russia, but by the end of the century- 
 much of this had been regained. In 1812 Russia won that part of 
 Moldavia and Bessarabia which lies beyond the Pruth, in 1812 
 it gained the principal mouth of the Danube, and in 1829 it crossed 
 the Balkans and took Adrianople. The independence of Greece 
 was acknowledged the same year. 
 
 The next important event in the history of Turkey in Europe 
 was the Crimean War, the story of which has been told in an 
 earher chapter. The chief results of it were a weakening of Russian 
 influence in Turkey, the abolition of the Russian protectorate over 
 Moldavia and Wallachia (united in 1861 as the principahty of 
 Roumania), and the cession to Turkey of part of Bessarabia. 
 
 Turkey also came out of the Crimean War weakened and shorn 
 of territory. But the Turkish idea of government remained un- 
 changed, and in twenty years' time Russia was fairly goaded into 
 another war. In 1875 Bosnia rebelled in consequence of the 
 insufferable oppression of the Turkish tax-collectors. The brave 
 Bosnians maintained themselves so sturdily in their mountain 
 fastnesses that the Turks almost despaired of subduing them, and 
 the Christian subjects of the Sultan in all quarters became so 
 stirred up that a general revolt was threatened. 
 
 THE BULGARIAN HORRORS 
 
 The Turks undertook to prevent this in their usual fashion. 
 Irregular troops were sent into Christian Bulgaria with orders to 
 kill all they met. It was an order to the Mohammedan taste. 
 The defenseless villages of Bulgaria were entered and their inhab- 
 itants slaughtered in cold blood, till thousands of men, women, and 
 children had been slain. 
 
 When tidings of these atrocities reached Europe the nations 
 were filled with horror. The Sultan made smooth excuses, and 
 diplomacy sought to settle the affair, but it became evident that a 
 massacre so terrible as this could not be condoned so easily. Dis- 
 raeli, then prime minister of Great Britain, sought to dispose of 
 
TURKEY AND TuE BALKAN STATES 377 
 
 these reports as matters for jest; but Gladstone, at that time in 
 retirement, arose in his might, and by his pamphlet on the "Bul- 
 garian Horrors" so aroused public sentiment in England that the 
 government dared not back up Turkey in the coming war. His 
 denunciation rang through England like a trumpet-call. "Let 
 the Turks now carry away their abuses in the only possible m^anner — 
 by carrying off themselves," he wrote. "Their Zaptiehs and their 
 Mudirs, their Bimbashis and their Yuzbachis, their Kaimakains and 
 their Pashas, one and all, bag and baggage, shall, I hope, clear out 
 from the province they have desolated and profaned." 
 
 He followed up this pamphlet by a series of speeches, deUvered 
 to great meetings and to the House of Commons, with which for 
 four years he sought, as he expressed it, "night and day to counter- 
 work the purpose of Lord Beaconsfield." He succeeded; England 
 was prevented by his eloquence from joining the Turks in the war; 
 but he excited the fury of the war party to such an extent that at 
 one time it was not safe for him to appear in the streets of London. 
 
 Hostilities were soon proclaimed. The Russians, of the same 
 race and religious sect as the Bulgarians, were excited beyond con- 
 trol, and in April, 1877, Alexander II declared war against Turkey. 
 The outrages of the Turks had been so flagrant that no allies came 
 to their aid, while the rottenness of their empire was shown by the 
 rapid advance of the Russian armies. They crossed the Danube 
 in June. In a month later, they had occupied the principal passes 
 of the Balkan mountains and were in position to descend on the 
 broad plain that led to Constantinople. But at tliis point in their 
 career they met with a serious check. Osman Pasha, the single 
 Turkish commander of ability that the war developed, occupied 
 the town of Plevna with such forces as he could gather, fortified 
 it as strongly as possible, and from its walls defied the Russians. 
 
 THE DEFENSE OF PLEVNA 
 
 The invaders dared not advance and leave this stronghold in 
 their rear. For five months all the power of Russia and the skill of 
 
378 TURKEY AND THE BALIO^N STATES 
 
 its generals were held in check by tliis brave man and his followers, 
 until Europe and America alike looked on with admiration at his 
 remarkable defense, in view of which the cause of the war was almost 
 forgotten. The Russian general Kriidener was repulsed with the 
 loss of 8,000 men. The daring Skobeleff strove in vaia to launch 
 his troops over Osman's walls. At length General Todleben under- 
 took the siege, adopting the slow but safe method of starving out 
 the defenders. Osman Pasha now showed his courage, as he had 
 already shown his endurance. When hunger and disease began to 
 reduce the strength of his men, he resolved on a final desperate 
 effort. At the head of his brave garrison the ''Lion of Plevna" 
 sallied from the city, and fought with desperate courage to break 
 through the circle of his foes. He was finally driven back into the 
 city and compelled to surrender. 
 
 Osman had won glory, and his fall was the fall of the Turkish 
 cause. The Russians crossed the Balkans, capturing in the Schipka 
 Pass a Turkish army of 30,000 men. Adrianople was taken, and 
 the Turkish line of retreat cut off. The Russians marched to the 
 Bosporus, and the Sultan was compelled to sue for peace to save his 
 capital from falling into the hands of the Christians, as it had fallen 
 into those of the Turks four centuries before. 
 
 Russia had won the game for which she had made so long a 
 struggle. The treaty of San Stefano practically decreed the dissolu- 
 tion of the Turkish Empire. But at this juncture the other nations 
 of Europe took part. They were not content to see the balance of 
 power destroyed by Russia becoming master of Constantinople, 
 and England demanded that the treaty should be revised by the 
 European Powers. Russia protested, but Disraeli threatened war, 
 and the Czar gave way. 
 
 THE CONGRESS OF BEELIN 
 
 The Congress of Berlin, to which the treaty was referred, 
 settled the question in the following manner: Montenegro, Rou- 
 mania, and Servia were declared independent, and Bulgaria became 
 
TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 379 
 
 free, except that it had to pay an annual tribute to the Sultan. The 
 part of old Bulgaria that lay south of the Balkan Mountains was 
 named Eastern Roumelia and given its own civil government, but 
 was left under the military control of Turkey. Bo^iia and Herze- 
 govina w^ere placed under the control of Austria. All that Russia 
 obtained for her victories Vv^ere some provinces in Asia Minor. 
 Turkey was terribly shorn, and since then her power has been 
 further reduced, for Eastern Roumeha has broken loose from her 
 control and united itself again to Bulgaria. 
 
 Another twenty years passed, and Turkey found itself at war 
 again. It was the old story, the oppression of the Christians. This 
 time the trouble began in Armenia, a part of Turkey in Asia, where 
 in 1895 and 1896 terrible massacres took place. Indignation reigned 
 in Europe, but fears of a general war kept the Powers from using 
 force, and the Sultan paid no heed to the reforms he had promised 
 to make. 
 
 In 1896 the Christians of the island of Crete broke out in revolt 
 against the oppression and tyranny of Turldsh rule. Of all the 
 Powers of Eiu-ope little Greece v/as the only one that came to their 
 aid, and the great nations, still insjDired with the fear of a general 
 war, sent their fleet and threatened Greece with blockade unless 
 she would withdraw her troops. 
 
 The result was one scarcely expected. Greece was persistent, 
 and gathered a threatening army on the frontier of Turkey, and Vv^ar 
 broke out in 1897 between the two states. The Turks now^, under 
 an able commander, showed much of their ancient valor and 
 intrepidity, crossing the frontier, defeating the Greeks in a rapid 
 series of engagements, and occupj^ing Thessaly, while the Greek 
 army was driven back in a state of utter demorahzation. At this 
 juncture, when Greece lay at the mercy of Turkey, as Turkey had 
 lain at that of Russia twenty ^''ears before, the Powers, which 
 had refused to aid Greece in her generous but hopeless effort, 
 stepped in to save her from ruin. Turkey was bidden to call a halt, 
 and the Sultan reluctantly stopped the march of his army. He 
 
380 TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 
 
 demanded the whole of Thessaly and a large indemnity in money. 
 The former the Powers refused to grant, and reduced the indemnity 
 to a sum within the power of Greece to pay. Thus the afifair 
 ended, and such was the status of the Eastern Question until the 
 hatred of the Balkan States again leaped into flame in the memorable 
 Balkan War of 1912. 
 
 HOSTILE SENTIMENTS OF THE BALKANS 
 
 As may be seen from what has been said, the sentiment of 
 hostility between the Christian States of the Balkan region and the 
 Mohammedan empire of Turkey was not likely to be easily allayed. 
 The atrocities of persecution which the Christians had suffered at 
 the hands of the Turks were unforgotten and unavenged, and to 
 them was added an ambitious desire to widen their dominions at 
 the expense of Turkey, if possible to drive Turkey completely out 
 of Europe and extend their areas of control to the Mediterranean 
 and the Bosporus. These states consisted of Servia, made an 
 autonomous principality in 1830, an independent principality in 
 1878, and a kingdom in 1882; Bulgaria, an autonomous principality 
 in 1878, an independent kingdom in 1908; Roumania, an auton- 
 omous principahty in 1802, an independent principahty in 1878, 
 a kingdom in 1881; Montenegro, an independent principahty in 
 1878, a kingdom in 1910; Eastern Roumelia, autonomous in 1878, 
 annexed to Bulgaria in 1885. Adjoining these on the south was 
 Greece, an independent kingdom since 1830. The former provinces 
 of Bosnia and Herzegovina had been assigned to Austrian adminis- 
 trative control in 1878, and annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908, 
 an act which added to the feehng of unrest in the Balkan States. 
 
 The relations existing between the Balkan States and their 
 neighbors was one of dissatisfaction and hostility which might at 
 any time break into war, this being especially the case with those 
 which bordered directly upon Turkey — Servia, Bulgaria, Mon- 
 tenegro and Greece. Roumania, being removed from contact, 
 had less occasion to entertain warlike sentiments. 
 
TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 381 
 
 INCITEMENT TO WAR 
 
 A fitting time for this indignation and hostile feehng to break 
 out into war came in 1912, as a result of the invasion and conquest 
 of Tripoli by Italy in 1911-12. This war, settled by a protocol 
 in favor of Italy on October 15, 1912, had caused financial losses 
 and political unrest in Turkey which offered a promising oppor- 
 tunity for the states to carry into effect their long-cherished design. 
 They did not act as a unit, the smallest of them, Montenegro, 
 declaring war on Turkey on October 8th, and Greece, on October 
 17th. In regard to Servia and Bulgaria, Turkey took the initiative, 
 declaring war on them October 17, 1912. 
 
 But acts of war did not wait for a formal declaration. On 
 October 5th, King Peter of Servia thus explained to the National 
 Assembly of that state his reasons for mobilizing his troops: 
 
 ''I have apphed with friendly counsels to Constantinople 
 regarding the misery which the Christian nationahties, including 
 ours, are suffering in Turkey, and it is to be regretted that all this 
 was of no avail. Instead of the expected reforms we were surprised 
 a few days ago by the mobilization of the Turkish army near our 
 frontiers. To this act, by which our safety was endangered, Servia 
 had only one reply. By my decree our army was put into a mobile 
 state. 
 
 ''Our position is clear. Our duty is to undertake measures 
 insuring our safety. It is our duty, in conformity with other 
 Christian Balkan States, to do everything in our power to insure 
 proper conditions for a real and permanent peace in the Bal- 
 kans." 
 
 The first raid into Turkish territory was made by the Bulgarian 
 bandit Sandansky, who in 1902 had kidnapped Miss Ellen M. 
 Stone, an American missionary, and held her for a ransom of $65,000 
 to procure funds for his campaign. At the head of a band of 2,500 
 Bulgarians he crossed the frontier and burned the Turkish block- 
 house at Oschumava, afterwards occupying a strategic position 
 above the Struma River. 
 
382 TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 
 
 FIGHTING BEGINS 
 
 The Montenegrin army opened the war on October 9th, by 
 attacking a strong Tiirldsh position opposite Podgoritza, Franz 
 Peter, the youngest son of King Nicholas, firing the first shot. Bul- 
 garia, without waiting to declare war, crossed the frontier on 
 October 14th and made a sharp attack on the railway patrols 
 between Sofia and Uskut. Sharp fighting at the same time took 
 place on the Greek frontier, the Greeks capturing Mahu"ica Pass, 
 th-e chief mountain pass leading from Greece to Turkey on the 
 northern frontier. As regards the reasons impelling Greece to take 
 an active part in the war, it must be remembered that the great 
 majority of Greeks still hved under the Turkish flag, while the 
 twelve islands in the ^gean Sea seized by Italy during its war with 
 Turkey were clamoring to be annexed to Greece instead of being 
 returned to Turkey by the treaty of peace between Italy and Turkey. 
 
 Such were the conditions and events existing at the opening 
 of the war. It developed with great rapidity, a number of important 
 battles being fought, in which the Turks were defeated. The 
 mihtary strength of the combined states exceeded that of Turkey, 
 and within a month's time they made rapid advances, the goals 
 sought by them being Constantinople, Adrianople, Salonica and 
 Scutari. 
 
 THE ADVANCE ON ADEIANQPLE 
 
 The most important of the Balkan movements was that of the 
 Bulgarian army upon Adrianople, the second to Constantinople 
 in importance of Turkish cities. By October 20th the Bulgarian 
 main army had forced the Turks back upon the outward forts of 
 this stronghold, while the left wing threatened the important post 
 of Kirk-Kilisseh, in Thrace, about thirty miles northeast of Adrian- 
 ople. This place, regarded as 'Hhe Key to Adrianople," was taken 
 on the 2-lth, after a three days' fight, the Turldsh forces, said to be 
 150,000 strong, retiring in disorder. 
 
 The Bulgarians continued their advance, fighting over a wide 
 
TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 383 
 
 semicircular area before Adrianople, upon which city they gradually 
 closed, taking some of the outer forts and making their bombard- 
 ment felt within the city itself. 
 
 SERVIAN AND GREEK VICTORIES 
 
 While the Bulgarians were making such vigorous advances 
 towards the capital of the Turkish empire, their alhes were winning 
 victories in other quarters. Novibazar, capital of the sanjak of 
 the same name, was taken by the Servians on October 23d. Prish- 
 tina and other towns and villages of Old Servia were also taken, 
 the victors being received by the citizens with open arms of welcome 
 and other demonstrations of joy. Tobacco and refreshments were 
 pressed upon the soldiers, while the people put all their possessions 
 at the disposal of the military authorities. 
 
 The Greeks were also successful, an army mider the Crown 
 Prince capturing the town of Monastir, which was garrisoned by a 
 Turkish force estimated at 40,000. The Montenegrin forces were 
 at the same time besieging Scutari, the capture of v/hich they re- 
 garded as of high importance as a means of widening the area of 
 their narrow Idngdom. Other important towns of Old Servia were 
 taken, including Kumanova, captured on the 25th, Uskab, captured 
 on the 26th, and Istib, 45 miles to the southwest, occupied without 
 opposition on the following day. This place, a very strong natural 
 position in the mountains, was known as the Adrianople of Mace- 
 donia. 
 
 THE BULGARIAN SUCCESSES 
 
 While these movements were taking place in the west, the siege 
 of Adrianople was vigorously pushed. It was completely surrounded 
 by Bulgarian troops by the 29th, and its conmaander form.ally 
 summoned to surrender the city. The besiegers, however, had great 
 difhculties to overcome, the country around being inundated by 
 the rivers Maretza and Arda in consequence of heavy rains. These 
 floods at the same time impeded the movements of the Turks. 
 
384 TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 
 
 On October 31st, after another three-day fight, the Bulgarians 
 achieved the great success of the war, defeating a Turkish army of 
 200,000 men. Only a fortnight had passed since Turkey declared 
 war. The first week of the cam^paign closed with the dramatic 
 fall of Kirk-Kilesseh, fully reveahng for the first time the disorgan- 
 ization, bad morale and inefficient commissariat of the Turkish 
 army. Ten days later that army was defeated and routed, within 
 fifty miles from Constantinople, forcing it to retreat within the 
 capital's line of defenses. 
 
 Apparently Nazim Pasha had been completely outmaneuvered 
 by Savoff's generalship. The Bulgarian turning movement along 
 the Black Sea coast appears to have been a feint, which induced 
 the Turldsh commander to throw his main army to the eastward, 
 to such effect that the Bulgarian force on this sido had the greatest 
 difficulty in holding the Turks in check. 
 
 In fact, the Bulgarians gave way, and thus enabled Nazim 
 Pasha to report to Constantinople some success in this direc- 
 tion. In the meantime, however, General Savoff hurled his great 
 strength against the Turks' weakened left wing, which he crushed 
 in at Lule Burgas. The fighting along the whole front, which 
 evidently was of the most stubborn and determined character, was 
 carried on day and night without intermission, and both sides lost 
 heavily. 
 
 The final result was to force the Turks within the defensive 
 lines of Tchatalja, the only remaining fortified position protecting 
 Constantinople. These lines lie twenty-five miles to the northwest 
 of the capital. "^ 
 
 The seat of war between Bulgaria and Turkey, aside from the 
 continued siege of Adrianople, was by this success transferred to the 
 Tchatalja lines, along which the opposing armies lay stretched 
 during the week succeeding the Lule Burgas victory. Here siege 
 operations were vigorously prosecuted, but the Turks, though weak- 
 ened by an outbreak of cholera in their ranks, succeeded in main- 
 taining their position. 
 
TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 385 
 
 STEPS TOWARD PEACE 
 
 Elsewhere victory followed the banners of the allies. On 
 November 8th the important port of Salonica was taken by the 
 Greeks, and on the 18th the Servians captured Monastir, the re- 
 maining Tiirldsh stronghold in Macedonia. The fighting here was 
 desj)erate, lasting three days, the Turkish losses amounting to about 
 20,000 m.en. In Albania the Montenegrin siege of Scutari con- 
 tinued, though so far without success. 
 
 Turkey had now enough of the war. On November 3d she had 
 asked a mediation of the Powers, but these replied that she must 
 treat directly with the Balkan nations. This caused delay until the 
 end of the month, the protocol of an armistice being approved by 
 the Turkish cabinet on November 30th, and signed by representa- 
 tives of Turkey, Bulgaria, Servia and Montenegro on December 3d. 
 Greece refused to sign, but at a later date agreed to take part in a 
 conference to meet in London on December 16th. 
 
 This peace conference continued in session until January 6, 
 1913, without reaching any conclusions, Turkey refusing to accept 
 the Balkan dem^ands that she should yield practically the whole of 
 her territory in Europe. At the final session of the conference she 
 renounced her claim to the island of Crete, and promised to rectify 
 her Thracian frontier, but insisted upon the retention of Adrianople. 
 This place, the original capital of the Ottoman Empire in Europe, 
 and containing the splendid mosque of Sultan Selim, was highly 
 esteemed by the Mohammedans, who clung to it as a sacred city. 
 
 ¥/ar seemed likely to be resumed, though the European Powers 
 strongly suggested to Turkey the advisability of yielding on this 
 point, and leaving the question of the fate of the ^gean Islands to 
 the Powers, which promised also to guard Mussulman interests 
 in Adrianople. Finally, on January 22d, the Porte consented to 
 this request of the Powers, a decision which was vigorously resented 
 by the warlike party known as Young Turks. 
 
 Demonstrations at once broke out m Constantinople, leading 
 to the overthrow of the cabinet and the murder of Nazim Pasha, 
 
 25 
 
386 TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 
 
 former minister of war and commander-in-chief of the Turkish 
 army. He was succeeded by Enver Bey, the most spirited leader 
 of the Young Turks, who became chief of staff of the army. 
 
 On January 30th the Balkan allies denounced their armistice 
 and a renewed war seemed imminent. On the same day the Otto- 
 man government offered a compromise, agreeing to divide Adrianople 
 betv/een the contestants in such a way that they might retain 
 the mosques and the historic monuments. As for the ^gean Islands, 
 they would leave these to the disposition of the Powers. 
 
 THE WAR RESUMED 
 
 To this compromise the Balkan allies refused to agree and on 
 February 3d hostile operations were resumed. The investment 
 of Adrianople had remained intact during the interval, and on the 
 4th a vigorous bombardment took place, the Turkish response 
 being weak. Forty Servian seven-inch guns had been mounted, 
 their shells falling into the town, part of which again broke into 
 flames. At points the lines of besiegers and besieged were only 
 200 yards apart. An attempt was made also to capture the penin- 
 sula of Gallipoli, which commands the Dardanelles, and thus take 
 the Turkish force in the rear. Fifty thousand Bulgarians had been 
 landed on this coast in November, and the Greek fleet in the Gulf 
 of Saros supported the attack. If successful, there would be 
 nothing to prevent this fleet from passing the straits, defeating 
 the inferior Turkish war vessels and attacking Constantinople 
 from the rear. Fighting in this region continued for several days, 
 the Turkish forces being driven back, but still holding their forts. 
 
 SIEGE OF SCUTARI 
 
 In the west the most important operation at this period was 
 that of the Montenegrins, led by King Nicholas in person, against 
 Scutari, an Albanian stronghold which they were eager to possess. 
 Servian artillery aided in the assault, and on February 8th the 
 important outwork on Muselim Hill was taken by an impulsive 
 
TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 387 
 
 bayonet charge. The city was not captured, however, until April 
 23d, when an entire day's ceaseless fightmg ended in the yielding of 
 the garrison, the chmax of a six-month siege. 
 
 An energetic attack had been made by the Bulgarians and 
 Serbs on Adrianople on March 14th, ending in a repulse, and on the 
 22d another vigorous assault was begun, continuing with terrific 
 fighting for four days. It ended in a sm-render of the city on the 
 26th. The siege had continued for 152 days. Before yielding 
 the Turks blew up the arsenal and set fire to the city at several 
 points. At the same time Tchatalja, which had been actively 
 assailed, fell into the hands of the allies and Constantinople lay 
 open to assault. 
 
 Meanwhile the Powers of Europe had again offered their good 
 services to mediate between the warring forces, and a conditional 
 mediation was agreed to by the Balkan aUies. Movements towards 
 peace, however, proceeded slowly, the most interesting event of 
 the period being a demand by Austria, backed by Italy, that 
 Montenegro should give up the city of Scutari. Earnest protests 
 were made against this by King Nicholas, but the despatch of an 
 Austrian naval division on April 27th to occupy his ports and 
 march upon Cettinje, his capital, obliged him reluctantly to yield 
 and on May 5th Scutari was given up to Austria, to form part of a 
 projected Albanian kingdom. 
 
 TREATY OF PEACE 
 
 Peace between the warring nations was finally concluded on 
 May 30, 1913, the treaty providing that Turkey should cede to her 
 alHed foes all territory west of a line di'awn from Enos on the ^gean 
 coast to Media on the coast of the Black Sea. This left Adrianople 
 in the hands of the Bulgarians and gave Turkey only a narrow strip 
 of territory west of Constantinople, the meager remnant of her once 
 great holdings upon the contment of Europe. The victors desired 
 to divide the conquered territory upon a plan arranged between 
 them before the war, but the purposes of Austria and Italy were 
 
388 TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 
 
 out of agreement with this design and the Powers insisted in forming 
 out of the districts assigned to Servia and Greece a new principaUty 
 to be named Albania, embracing the region occupied by the 
 unruly Albanian tribes. 
 
 This plan gave intense dissatisfaction to the allies. It seemed 
 designed to cut off Servia from an opening upon the Mediterranean, 
 which that inland state ardently desired and Austria strongly 
 opposed. Montenegro was also deprived of the warmly craved 
 city of Scutari, which she had won after so vigorous a strife. Bul- 
 garia also was dissatisfied with this new project and opposed the 
 demands of Servia and Greece for compensation in land for the loss 
 of Albania or for their support of the Bulgarian operations. 
 
 WAR BETWEEN THE ALLIES 
 
 Thus the result of this creation of a new and needless state 
 out of the conquered territory by the peace-making Powers roused 
 hostilities among the aUies which speedily flung them into a new war. 
 Bulgaria refused to yield any of the territory held by it to the Ser- 
 vians and Greeks, and Greece in consequence made a secret league 
 with Servia against Bulgaria. 
 
 It was the old story of a fight over the division of the spoils. 
 It is doubtful which of the contestants began hostile operations, 
 but Bulgaria lost no time in marching upon Salonica, held by 
 Greece, and in attacking the Greek and Servian outposts in Mace- 
 donia. The plans of General Savoff, who had led the Bulgarians 
 to victory in the late war and who commanded in this new outbreak, 
 in some way fell into the hands of the Greeks and gave them an 
 important advantage. They at once, in junction with the Servians, 
 attacked the Bulgarians and drove them back. From the accounts 
 of the war, probably exaggerated, this struggle was accompanied 
 by revolting barbarities upon the inhabitants of the country invaded, 
 each country accusing the other of shameful indignities. 
 
 What would have been the result of the war, if fought out 
 between the original contestants, it is impossible to say, for at 
 
TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 389 
 
 this juncture a new Balkan State, which had taken no part in the 
 Turldsh war, came into the field. This was Roumania, lying north 
 of Bulgaria and removed from any contact with Turkey. It had 
 had a quarrel with Bulgaria, dating back to 1878, concerning certain 
 territory to which it laid claim. This was a strip of land on the 
 south side of the Danube near its mouth and containing Silistria 
 and some other cities. 
 
 THE FINAL SETTLEMENT 
 
 King Charles of Roumania now took the opportunity to demand 
 tliis territory, and when his demand was refused by Ferdinand of 
 Bulgaria he marched an army across the Danube and took the 
 Bulgarians, exhausted by their recent struggle, in the rear. No 
 battles were fought. The Roumanian army advanced until within 
 thirty miles of Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, and Ferdinand was 
 obliged to appeal for peace, and in the subsequent treaty yielded 
 to Roumania the tract desired, which served to round out its 
 frontier on the Black Sea. 
 
 Another unexpected event took place. While her late foes 
 were struggling in a war of their own, Turkey quietly stepped into 
 the arena, and on July 20th retook possession, without opposition, 
 of Adrianopie, Bulgaria's great prize in the late v/ar. 
 
 A peace conference was held at Bukarest, capital of Roumania, 
 beginning July 30th, and framing a treaty, signed on August 10th. 
 This provided for the evacuation of Bulgaria by the invading 
 armies, and also for a division of the conquered territory. 
 Bulgaria gained the largest amount of territory, though less than 
 she had claimed. Greece retained the important seaport of Salonica, 
 the possession of which had been hotly disputed, and gained the 
 largest sea front. Montenegro, though deprived of the much- 
 coveted Scutari, was assigned part of northern Albania and the 
 Turkish sanjak of Novibazar, adjoining on the east, considerably 
 increasing her diminutive territory. 
 
 Servia had most reason to be dissatisfied with the result, in 
 
390 TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 
 
 view of her craving for an opening to the sea. Cut off by Albania 
 on the west, it sought an opening on the south, demanding the city 
 of Kavala, on the ^gean Sea. But to this Greece strongly objected, 
 as that city, one of the great tobacco marts of the world, v/as 
 inhabited almost wholly by Greeks. Servia, however, extended 
 southward far over its old territory, gaining Uskub, its old capital. 
 And the Powers also agreed that it should have commercial rights 
 on the Mediterranean, through railroad connection with Salonica. 
 
 As regards Turkey's shrewd advantage of the opportunity to 
 retake Adrianople, it proved a successful move. The Russian press 
 strongly advocated that the Turks should be ejected, but the 
 jealousy of the Powers prevented any agreement as to who should 
 do this and in the end the Turks remained, with a considerable 
 widening of the tract of land before assigned to them. 
 
 In these wars it is estimated that 358,000 persons died, and that 
 the cost of the two wars, to the several nations involved, reached 
 a total of $1,200,000,000. Its general result was almost to complete 
 the work of expelling the Turks from Europe, the territory lost by 
 them being divided up between the several Balkan nations. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 Methods in Modern Warfare 
 
 Ancient and Modem Weapons — ^New Types of Weapons — The Ironclad Warship — 
 
 The Balloon in War — Tennyson's Foresight — Gunning for Airships — The Submarine 
 
 — Under-water Warfare — The New Type of Battleship — Mobilization — The Waste of 
 
 War — The End of Autocracy. 
 
 NE hundred years ago the Battle of Waterloo had just been 
 fought and Napoleon's star had set never to rise again. 
 For years he had swept Europe with his armieS; rending 
 the nations into fragments, and Vvdnning world-famous victories 
 with weapons that no one would look for today except in a mih- 
 tary museum, weapons antiquated beyond all possible utility on a 
 modern field of battle. 
 
 ANCIENT AND MODEEN WEAPONS 
 
 Every fresh modern war has been fought with new weapons, 
 and during the past century there have been countless inventions 
 for the carrying on of warfare in a more destructive manner, 
 apparently on the philanthropic theory that war should be made 
 so terrible that it must quickly pass away. 
 
 But it has happened that as soon as a particularly horrible 
 contrivance was invented and introduced into armies and navies, 
 other inventors immediately set themselves to offset and discount its 
 probable effect. Consequently war not only has not passed away, 
 but we have it with us in more frightful form than ever before. 
 Thus it is that each big war, after being heralded as the world's 
 last conflagration, has proved but the herald of another war, bigger 
 and more death-deahng still. 
 
 Since the Civil War in the United States, in which probably 
 more new features in modes of fighting were introduced than in 
 
 (391) 
 
392 METHODS IN MODERN WARFARE 
 
 any conflict that had preceded it, there have been immense improve- 
 ments in arms, in armament and in the general efficiency of both 
 armies and navies. It was the Civil War that brought into being 
 the tm-reted Monitor, one of the greatest contributions to naval 
 architecture the navies of the world have ever laioi^m. While the 
 turrets on the modern battleship are very different in design, in 
 armor and in arrangement from those on the old monitors, they 
 are nothing more than an adaptation of tlis criginal devices. 
 
 The same is the case with the small arms and the field guns of 
 the modern armies, these having been greatly improved since the 
 period of the Civil War. The breech-loading and even the magazine 
 rifle are now in use in every army, while the sm.allest field piece of 
 today is almost as eflicient as the most powerful gun in use fifty 
 years ago. 
 
 The first attempt to use a torpedo boat dates back to the 
 Civil War. A primitive contrivance it was, but it showed a possi- 
 bility in naval warfare which speedily led to the general building of 
 torpedo boats, and to the invention of the highly efficient White- 
 head torpedo. 
 
 THE IRONCLAD WARSHIP 
 
 Another lesson in warfare was taught when the ironclad 
 Merrimac and Monitor met and fought for mastery in Hampton 
 Roads. The ironclad vessel was not then a new idea in naval 
 architecture, but its efficiency as a fighting machine was then first 
 demonstrated. Iron for arm.or soon gave way to thick and tough 
 steel, while each improvement in armor led to a corresponding 
 improvement in guns and projectiles, until now a battle at sea has 
 grown to be a remarkably different affair from the great ocean 
 combats of Nelson's time. 
 
 But development in the art of war has not ceased with the 
 improvement in older types of weapons. New devices, scarcely 
 thought of in former wars, have been introduced. These include 
 the use of the balloon and aeroplane as scouting devices, of the 
 
METHODS IN MCDEHN WARFARE 393 
 
 bomb filled with explosives of frightful rending power, and of the 
 submarine naval shark, designed to attack the mighty battleships 
 from under water. 
 
 THE BALLOON IN WAE 
 
 Of recent years the balloon has been developed into the dirigible, 
 the flying machine that can be steered and directed. Made efTec- 
 tive by Count Zeppelin and others, its possibihties as an aid in 
 war were quickly perceived. Then came the notable invention of 
 the Wright Brothers, and after 1904 the aeroplane quickly ex- 
 panded into an effective aerial instrument, the probable service* 
 ableness of which in war was evident to all. Here we are tempted 
 to stop and quote the remarkable prediction from Tennyson's 
 ''Locl^ley Hall," the truth of which is now being so strikingly 
 verified : 
 
 "For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see, 
 Saw the vision of the world and all the wonder that would be; 
 Saw the heavens fill with commerce, argosies of magic sails, 
 Pilots of the piu-ple twihght, dropping down with costly bales; 
 Heard the heavens fill v/ith shouting, and there rained a ghastly dew 
 From the nations' airy navies grappUng in the central blue; 
 Far along the world-wide v/hisper of the south-wind rushing warm. 
 With the standards of the peoples plunging through the thunder storm; 
 TUl the war drum throbbed no longer, and the battle flags were furled 
 In the parliament of man, the federation of the world." 
 
 GUNNING FOR AIRSHIPS / 
 
 The airship does not float safely in the central blue, aside from 
 attacks by fl3dng foes. Guns pointing upward have been devised 
 to attack the daring aviator from the ground and flying machines 
 can thus be swiftly brought down, like war eagles shot in the 
 sky. Several types of guns for this purpose are in use, som-^ to be 
 employed on warships or fortifications, others, mounted on auto- 
 mobile trucks, for use in the field. 
 
 The Ehrhardt gun, a Germ.an weapon, which is designed to be 
 mounted on an auto-truck, v/eighs nearly 1700 pounds. The car 
 
394 METHODS IN MODERN WARFARE 
 
 carries 140 rounds of ammunition and the whole equipment in 
 service condition weighs more than six tons. The gun has an 
 extreme range at 45 degrees elevation of 12,029 yards, or more than 
 six miles. The sights are telescopic, a moving object can be followed 
 with ease, and the gun is capable of being fired very rapidly. The 
 British are provided with the Vickers gun, which is mainly intended 
 for naval use, but the military arm is also provided with anti- 
 balloon guns, which have great range and can throw a three-pound 
 shell at any high angle. Some of these guns use incendiary shells, 
 intended to ignite the gas in dirigibles. There is another type that 
 explodes shrapnel. In addition to these, rifle fire is apt to be effec- 
 tive, in case of airships coming within its range. 
 
 Jules Vedrines, a well-known French aviator, tells this story 
 of his experience while doing scout duty for the French army: 
 
 ''Those German gunners surely have tried their best to get 
 me," he wrote. ''Each night when I come back to headquarters 
 my machine looks more and more like a sieve because of the 
 numerous bullet holes in the wings. 
 
 "I have been keeping tab on the number of new bullet holes 
 in my machine each day, marking each with red chalk, so that I 
 won't include any of the old ones in the next day's count. My best 
 record so far for one day is thirty-seven holes. That shows how 
 close the enemy has come to hitting me. My duties as scout 
 require me to cover various distances each day. The best record 
 so far in one day is 600 miles." 
 
 THE SUBMAEINe" 
 
 The submarine is another type of war apparatus, one the utility 
 of which remains to be demonstrated. It is of recent origin. At 
 the time of the Spanish-American War there were only five sub- 
 marines in all the navies of the world, and of this number three were 
 in the French navy, one in Italy and one in Portugal. The United 
 States was building its fii'st one, and had not decided what type to 
 select. At the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War Great Britain 
 
METHODS IN MODERN WARFARE 395 
 
 had nine of the American (Holland) type of submarines and was 
 building twenty more, while France had accumulated thirty-six 
 of various types and of various grades of reported efficiency, while 
 Germany had none. In 1914 there were nearly four hundred 
 vessels of this type in the world's navies, France standing first with 
 173. 
 
 It was believed that the moral effect of the submarine would 
 be almost as important as its physical effect in dealing with an 
 enemy's warship, but this idea has not been justified. Some persons 
 maintained that fights of submarines with each other might take 
 place, each, like the Kilkenny cats, devouring the other. But the 
 fact is that when submerged the submarine is as blind as the tradi- 
 tional bat. Its crew cannot see any object under water, and is 
 compelled to resort to the use of the periscope, which emerges 
 unostentatiously above the water, in order to see its own com-se. 
 
 It is known that the periscope is the eye of the submarine, 
 and naturally attention has been paid to the best way of destroying 
 this vital part of such boats. Recently, grappling irons have been 
 devised for use from dirigibles, which are expected to drag out 
 the periscope as the dirigible flies above it. Careful plans for 
 torpedoing submarines also have been made, but their effectiveness 
 likewise remains to be demionstrated. 
 
 Submarine builders have naturally held the view that the 
 submerged boat could not be seen. But it has been discovered that 
 from a certain height an observer may trace the course of a sub- 
 merged submarine with as great accuracy as if it were running on the 
 surface. It is found that the submerged boat can readily be seen 
 from the dirigible and the aeroplane. On the other hand an anti- 
 balloon gun has been devised which can be raised from the submarine 
 when it comes to the surface, and used against the hostile airship. 
 
 UNDER-WATER WARFARE 
 
 The submarine is supposed to have its most important field 
 of operation against a fleet of battleships and cruisers besieging 
 
396 METHODS IN MODERN WARFARE 
 
 a seaport city. These great war craft, covered above the water- 
 line with thick steel armor, are vulnerable below, and a torpedo 
 discharged from a torpedo boat or an explosive bomb attached to 
 the lower hull by a submarine may send the largest and mightiest 
 ship to the bottom, stung to death from below. 
 
 With this idea in view torpedo boats, destroyers — designed to 
 attack torpedo boats — and submarines have been mxultiplied in 
 modern navies. Though as yet little harm has been done by this 
 type of vessels, their possibilities are enormous and their latent 
 power renders the bombardment from sea of town or fort a far more 
 perilous operation than of old. Fired at by the great guns of the 
 fort capable of effective work at eight or ten miles distance, exposed 
 to explosive bombs dropped from soaring airships, made a target 
 for the deadly weapon of the torpedo boat, and in constant risk of 
 bemg stung by the submarine wasp, these great war ships, built at a 
 cost of ten or more millions and peopled by hundreds of mariners, 
 are in constant danger of being sent to the bottom with all on board 
 • — a contingency likely to shake the nerves of the steadiest Jack Tar 
 or admiral on board. 
 
 A typical submarine has a length of about 150 feet and diameter 
 of 15 feet, with a speed of eleven knots on the surface and five laiots 
 when submerged. Some of the more recent have a radius of naviga- 
 tion of 4,500 miles without need of a new supply of stores and fuel. 
 On the surface they are propelled by gasoline engines, but when 
 submerged they use electric motors driven by storage batteries. 
 If the weather should grow too rough they can sink below the waves. 
 
 THE NEW TYPE OF BATTLESHIP 
 
 While the peril of the big ship has thus been increased, the size 
 and fighting capacity of those ships have steadily grown — and at 
 the same time their cost, which is becoming almost prohibitive. 
 Taking the British navy, the leader in this field, the size of battle- 
 ships was yearly augmented until in 1907 the famous Dread- 
 naught appeared, looked upon at the time as the last word in naval 
 
METHODS IN MODERN WARFARE 397 
 
 architecture. This great ship was of 17,900 tons displacement and 
 23,000 horse-power, its armor belt eleven inches thick, its major 
 armament composed of ten twelve-inch guns. There are now twenty 
 British battleships of larger size, some much larger. 
 
 On shore a similar increase may be seen in the size and effec- 
 tiveness of armies and the strength of fortifications. In all the 
 larger nations of Europe except Great Britain the whole able-bodied 
 male population are now obliged to spend several years in the army, 
 and to be ready at a moment's notice to drop all the avocations of 
 peace and march to the front, ready to risk their Hves in their 
 country's service or at the command of the autocrat under whom 
 they live. 
 
 MOBILIZATION 
 
 Mobilization is a word with strenuous significance. When 
 it is put into effect every able-bodied man must report without 
 delay for service. His name is on the army Hsts; if he fails to 
 report he is branded as a deserter. In Germany, the order to 
 mobilize is issued by the Emperor and is immediately sent out by all 
 mihtary and civil authorities, at home or abroad. Every person 
 knows at once what he is required to do. Skeleton regiments 
 are filled out and additional regiments formed. Simultaneously 
 there is a levy of horses. The order reaches into every household; 
 into the factories, jthe shipyards, the hotels, the farms, river boats, 
 everywhere. Almost instantly the male individuals witliin the 
 prescribed ages must at once report to the barracks to come under 
 mihtary discipline. Infantry, cavalry and artillery units double 
 and triple at once. 
 
 This is the first step in mobilization. The second is the trans- 
 portation and concentration of forces. The railways are seized, 
 the telegraph and telephone systems. Mail, military, aerial and 
 railway services are assigned. The commissary lines are laid and 
 transportation provided for. With marvelous efficiency the full 
 fighting strength, in front and rear, is made ready and co-ordinated. 
 
398 METHODS IN MODERN WARFARE 
 
 The psychological effect of mobilization is tremendous. In 
 every household home-ties are broken. The fields are stripped of 
 men. Industry stops. Artillery rolls through the streets, bands 
 play. An atmosphere of apprehension settles down on the country. 
 
 THE WASTE OF WAR 
 
 And the waste of it all; the criminal, unbeHevable waste! 
 Consider the vast loss of products that is due, not only to actual 
 war, but to unceasing and universal preparation for war. 
 
 It has been stated on the highest authority that during the last 
 decade forty per cent of the total outlay of European states has been 
 absorbed by the armies and navies which, when war arises, seek in 
 every way to destroy as much as they can of the remainder. Com- 
 menting on this state of affairs. Count Sergius Witte, the ablest 
 of Russian statesmen and financiers, said in London not long ago: 
 
 "Sketch a picture in your mind's eye of all that those sums, if 
 properly spent, could effect for the nations who now waste them on 
 heavy guns, rifles, dreadnaughts, fortresses and barracks. If this 
 money were laid out on improving the material lot of the people, 
 in housing them hygienically, in procuring for them healthier air, 
 medical aid and needful periodical rest, they would live longer and 
 work to better purpose, and enjoy some of the happiness or content- 
 ment which at present is the prerogative of the few. 
 
 ''Again, all the best brain work of the most eminent men is 
 focused on efforts to create new lethal weapons, or to make the old 
 ones more deadly. For one of the arts in which cultured nations 
 have made most progress is warfare. The noblest efforts of the 
 greatest thinkers are wasted on inventions to destroy human life. 
 
 "When I call to mind the gold and the work thus dissipated in 
 smoke and sound and compare that picture with this other — villagei's 
 with drawn, sallow faces, men and women and dimly conscious 
 children perishing slowly and painfully of hunger — I begin to ask 
 myself whether human culture and the white man who personifies 
 it are not wending toward the abyss." 
 
METHODS IN MODERN WARFARE 399 
 
 In ''War and Waste" Dr. David Starr Jordan quotes the table 
 of Richet to show the cost of a general European war. 
 
 \r day the French statistician figures the war's cost thus: 
 
 Feed of men $12,600,000 
 
 Feed of horses 1,000,000 
 
 Pay (European rates) 4,250,000 
 
 Pay of workmen in arsenals and ports 1,000,000 
 
 Transportation (sixty miles, ten days) 2,100,000 
 
 Transportation of provisions 4,200,000 
 
 Munitions — 
 
 Infantry, ten cartridges a day 4,200,000 
 
 Artillery, ten shots per day 1,200,000 
 
 Marine, two shots per day 400,000 
 
 Equipment 4,200,000 
 
 Ambulances: 500,000 wounded or ill ($1 per day) 500,000 
 
 Armature 500,000 
 
 Reduction of imports 5,000,000 
 
 Help to the poor (20 cents per day to one in ten) 6,800,000 
 
 Destruction of towns, etc 2,000,000 
 
 Total per day $49,950,000 
 
 How many Panama Canals could be built for the cost of a 
 single month of such a war? What would a few months of such 
 a conflict do to mitigate the woes of mankind? 
 
 THE END OF AUTOCRACY 
 
 Oscar S. Straus, whom the thousands of Americans stranded 
 in London in 1914 called ''The unofficial American Ambassador," 
 sent the following message to the American people : 
 
 "What has happened is less important than the final outcome 
 of it all. In my opinion the great blessing that will result from this 
 titanic world clash will be the obhteration of every monarchy in 
 Europe. 
 
 ''The reason for this is that the war has not only been not 
 projected by the will of the people but against their will, and the 
 aggressions come from the ambition of the ruling classes, if not the 
 rulers themselves. I do not beheve there are any men living who 
 can foresee what this clash of arms between the leading nations of 
 
464* METHODS IN MODERN WARFARE 
 
 Europe may lead to, but in the loss of human life, in suffering, in 
 destruction of property, and in economic derangement, it must 
 dwarf into insignificance the cost of the Napoleonic Wars." 
 
 Straus is far from being alone in this view. We quote the 
 following editorial utterance: 
 
 "Despite the fact that the ambitions of the people and the 
 dynasties are in accord, the effect of the war upon monarchical 
 institutions will be momentous. The spirit of democracy is abroad. 
 It has practically abolished the British House of Lords. It has 
 forced the establishment of a parliament in Russia. It is so active 
 and alert in Germany that the Social Democratic party is the 
 largest and most powerful pohtical organization in the empire. 
 In France it overturned the monarchy nearly half a century ago, 
 and is now- so firmly established that only the wildest dreamers ever 
 imagine that repubhcan institutions can be displaced. It is regnant 
 in Portugal and nearly so in Spain. 
 
 ''A nation in arms, as Germany now is, wiU not long be content 
 to remain a nation Vv^ithout a ministry responsible to its Parliament. 
 The democratization of German institutions is inevitable after the 
 war, whatever the result. The people, even in Russia, are no longer 
 driven serfs. They think, they reason, and a demonstration of the 
 power of 5,000,000 men on the battle-field will not be lost on the 
 patriots who wish also to demonstrate the power of the same nimaber 
 of milHons in deciding at first hand the causes for which they will 
 take up arms. Whether the Idngs and the emperors remain on their 
 thrones matters little. Great Britain, though it retains the fiction 
 of a monarchy, is as democratic as the United States, and its 
 Parliament responds with greater precision to popular sentiment 
 than the American Congress. The war means the end of autocracy 
 whether the kings remain or not." 
 
 ) 
 
 * There are 64 pages of illustrations in this book, which, added to the 400 pages 
 of text, make a total of 464. 
 
 RD -1 81 
 

 "^. 
 
 .0 
 
 !■ -, l^\\ rjo. /yn r-, rS* VV fcdiHifc-S \T> ^ rCW »« /J% « -^ 
 
 
 V> <*> ' . . s 
 
 VJ^ G " " * <*> 
 
 •^•^ 
 
 
 0* 
 
 o V 
 
 
 
 .V 
 
 
 .0" 
 
 ^^O 
 
 ^o^> 
 
 
 f'^^^IK^' 
 
 O '^^ Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
 A>^ ^ * ■ Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
 
 "^ *.*J?«((^* ^ Treatment Date: VlM 'Md 
 
 "^ *.*J?«*^* ^ Treatment Date: VlM 'Md 
 
 '^^'(^ ^^^^m^'- ^^ PreservationTechnologies 
 
 C, vT ' ^^^^^ » A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 
 
 ■^ v/V_ Vw^aSAVr* .-i^'' 111 Thomson Park Drive 
 
 P **^ . *^^^-i "v Cranberry Township. PA 16066 
 

 
 
 
 >°-n^. -. 
 
 
 
 
 
 '.■ .*^"-^. 
 
 
 
 i^:- 
 
 
 
 ^ro 
 
 ^v A^ -^ » " ° A^ ^ • ' •• «V^ O. • e « - . . 
 
 'bv' 
 
 \ 
 
 DOBBSBROS. 
 
 LIBRAIIT BIMOIN* A^ (^ 
 
 iV . •< . 
 
 „<^ 
 
 ^^-^^^ V 
 
 ST. AUGUSTINE 
 FLA. 
 
 4^ .•