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diff --git a/3779-h/3779-h.htm b/3779-h/3779-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4ff70aa --- /dev/null +++ b/3779-h/3779-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,12331 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The World War, by Logan Marshall</title> +<link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> +<style type="text/css"> + +body { margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + text-align: justify; } + +h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: +normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} + +h1 {font-size: 300%; + margin-top: 0.6em; + margin-bottom: 0.6em; + letter-spacing: 0.12em; + word-spacing: 0.2em; + text-indent: 0em;} +h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +h3 {font-size: 130%; margin-top: 1em;} +h4 {font-size: 120%;} +h5 {font-size: 110%;} + +.no-break {page-break-before: avoid;} /* for epubs */ + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} + +hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + +p {text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-bottom: 0.25em; } + +p.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: 90%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +p.right {text-align: right; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +div.fig { display:block; + margin:0 auto; + text-align:center; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em;} + +a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:hover {color:red} + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> + +<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The World War, by Logan Marshall</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The World War<br /> + A History of the Nations and Empires Involved and a Study of the Events Culminating in the Great Conflict</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Logan Marshall</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: February 1, 2003 [eBook #3779]<br /> +[Most recently updated: May 6, 2023]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Theresa Armao</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WORLD WAR ***</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:55%;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="[Illustration]" /> +</div> + +<h1>The World War</h1> + +<h3>A History of<br /> +The Nations and Empires Involved and<br /> +a Study of the Events Culminating in<br /> +The Great Conflict</h3> + +<h2 class="no-break">by Logan Marshall</h2> + +<hr /> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>PREFACE</h2> + +<p> +When the people of the United States heard the news of the assassination of +Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, and his wife +in Sarajevo, Bosnia, on June 28, 1914, it was with a feeling of great regret +that another sorrow had been added to the many already borne by the aged +Emperor Francis Joseph. That those fatal shots would echo around the world and, +flashing out suddenly like a bolt from the blue, hurl nearly the whole of +Europe within a week’s time from a state of profound peace into one of +continental war, unannounced, unexpected, unexplained, unprecedented in +suddenness and enormity, was an unimaginable possibility. And yet the ringing +of the church bells was suddenly 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 at these unwonted and ominous sounds. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 Revolution stood midway between two spheres of history, the +sphere of medieval barbarism and that of modern enlightenment. It exploded like +a bomb in the midst of the self-satisfied aristocracy of the earlier social +system and rent it into the 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. +</p> + +<p> +It required considerable time for these new conceptions to become thoroughly +disseminated. A down-trodden people enchained by the theory of the “divine +right of kings” to autocratic rule, had to break the fetters one by one and +gradually emerge from a state of practical serfdom to one of enlightened +emancipation. There were many setbacks, and progress was distressingly slow but +nevertheless sure. +</p> + +<p> +The story of this upward progress is the history of the nineteenth 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. This war will not have +been fought in vain if, as predicted, it will result in the complete downfall +of autocracy as a political principle, and the rise of the rule of the people, +so that the civilized nations of the earth may never again be driven into a +frightful war of extermination against peaceful neighbors at the nod of a +hereditary sovereign. Logan Marshall +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<p class="noindent"><a href="#chap01"> +Chapter I. All Europe Plunged into War</a><br/> +Dramatic Suddenness of the Outbreak—Trade and Commerce Paralyzed—Widespread +Influences—Terrible Effects of War—The Tide of Destruction—Half Century to Pay +Debts<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"><a href="#chap02"> +Chapter II. Underlying Causes of the Great European War</a><br/> +Assassination of the Austrian Crown Prince—Austria’s Motive in Making +War—Servia Accepts Austria’s Demand—The Ironies of History—What Austria Has 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<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"><a href="#chap03">Chapter III. Strength and Resources of the Warring Powers</a><br/> +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<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"><a href="#chap04">Chapter IV. Great Britain and the War</a><br/> +The Growth of German Importance—German Militarism—Great Britain’s Peace +Efforts—Germany’s Naval Program—German Ambitions—Preparation for War—Effect on +the Empire<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"><a href="#chap05">Chapter V. The World’s Greatest War</a><br/> +Wars as Mileposts—A Continent in Arms—How Canada Prepared for War—the British +Sentiment—Lord Kitchener’s Career—A Forceful Character<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"><a href="#chap06">Chapter VI. The Earthquake of Napoleonism</a><br/> +Its Effect on National Conditions Finally Led to the War of 1914<br/> +Conditions in France and Germany—The Campaign in Italy—The Victory at +Marengo—Moreau at Hohenlinden—The Consul Made Emperor—The Code +Napoleon—Campaign of 1805—Battle of Austerlitz—The Conquest of Prussia—The +Invasion of Poland—Eylau and Friedland—Campaign of 1809—Victory at Wagram—The +Campaign in Spain—The Invasion of Russia—A Fatal Retreat—Dresden and +Leipzig—The Hundred Days—The Congress of Vienna—The Holy Alliance<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"><a href="#chap07">Chapter VII. Pan-Slavism Versus Pan-Germanism</a><br/> +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<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"><a href="#chap08">Chapter VIII. The Ambition of Louis Napoleon</a><br/> +The Coup-d’état of 1851—From President to Emperor—The Empire is Peace—War With +Austria—The Austrians Advance—The Battle of Magenta—Possession of +Lombardy—French Victory at Solferino—Treaty of Peace—Invasion of Mexico—End of +Napoleon’s Career<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"><a href="#chap09">Chapter IX. Garibaldi and Italian Unity</a><br/> +Power of Austria Broken<br/> +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<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"><a href="#chap10">Chapter X. The Expansion of Germany</a><br/> +Beginnings of Modern World Power<br/> +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<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"><a href="#chap11">Chapter XI. The Franco-Prussian War</a><br/> +Birth of the German Empire and the French Republic<br/> +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—Paris is +Besieged—Defiant Spirit of the French—The Struggle Continued—Operations Before +Paris—Fighting in the South—The War at an End<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"><a href="#chap12">Chapter XII. Bismarck and the German Empire</a><br/> +Building the Bulwarks of the Twentieth Century Nation<br/> +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<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"><a href="#chap13">Chapter XIII. Gladstone as an Apostle of Reform</a><br/> +Great Britain Becomes a World Power<br/> +Gladstone and Disraeli—Gladstone’s Famous Budget—A Suffrage Reform +Bill—Disraeli’s Reform Measure—Irish Church Disestablishment—An Irish Land +Bill—Desperate State of Ireland—The Coercion Bill—War in Africa—Home Rule for +Ireland<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"><a href="#chap14">Chapter XIV. The French Republic</a><br/> +Struggles of a New Nation<br/> +The Republic Organized—The Commune of Paris—Instability of the +Government—Thiers Proclaimed President—Punishment of the Unsuccessful +Generals—MacMahon a Royalist President—Bazaine’s Sentence and Escape—Grevy, +Gambetta and Boulanger—The Panama Canal Scandal—Despotism of the Army +Leaders—The Dreyfus Case—Church and State—The Moroccan Controversy<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"><a href="#chap15">Chapter XV. Russia in the Field of War</a><br/> +The Outcome of Slavic Ambition<br/> +Siege of Sebastopol—Russia in Asia—The Russo-Japanese War—Port Arthur Taken—The +Russian Fleet Defeated<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"><a href="#chap16">Chapter XVI. Great Britain and Her Colonies</a><br/> +How England Became Mistress of the Seas<br/> +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<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"><a href="#chap17">Chapter XVII. The Open Door in China and Japan</a><br/> +Development of World Power in the East<br/> +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—Capture of Wei Hai Wei—Europe Invades China—The Boxer Outbreak—Russian +Designs on Manchuria—Japan Begins War on Russia—The Armies Meet—China Becomes a +Republic<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"><a href="#chap18">Chapter XVIII. Turkey and the Balkan States</a><br/> +Checking the Dominion of the Turk in Europe<br/> +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<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"><a href="#chap19">Chapter XIX. Methods in Modern Warfare</a><br/> +Ancient and Modern Weapons—New Types of Weapons—The Iron-clad 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<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"><a href="#chap20">Chapter XX. Canada’s Part in the World War</a><br/> +New Relations Toward the Empire—Military Preparations—The Great Camp at +Valcartier—The Canadian Expeditionary Force—Political Effect of Canada’s Action +on Future of the Dominion +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a>Chapter I.<br/> +ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +Dramatic Suddenness of the Outbreak—Trade and Commerce Paralyzed—Widespread +Influences—Terrible Effects of War—The Tide of Destruction—Half Century to Pay +Debts<br/><br/> +</p> + +<p> +At the opening of the final week of July, 1914, the whole world—with the +exception of Mexico, in which the smouldering embers of the revolution still +burned—was in a state of profound peace. The clattering hammers and whirling +wheels of industry were everywhere 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 enjoyment. 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 concerned. All was in 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, fully satisfied that the last war had been fought and that +arbitration boards would settle all future disputes among nations, however +serious. +</p> + +<p> +Such occasions occur at frequent intervals in nature, in which a deep calm, 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 destruction. But too +quickly the chains are loosened, the winds and waves set free; and the hostile +forces of nature rush over earth and sea, spreading terror and devastation in +their path. Such energies of hostility are not confined 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 mentioned, 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. +</p> + +<h3>DRAMATIC SUDDENNESS OF THE OUTBREAK</h3> + +<p> +On the night of July 25th the people of the civilized world settled down to +restful slumbers, 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 catastrophe, what deep and secret causes lay below +the ostensible causes of the war. The causes of this were 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. +</p> + +<p> +What is already said only feebly outlines the state of consternation into which +the world was cast in that fateful week in which the doors of the Temple of +Janus, long closed, were suddenly 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 be imagined of the sudden and +overwhelming, of the amazing and incredible. +</p> + +<h3>TRADE AND COMMERCE PARALYZED</h3> + +<p> +For the moment the world stood still, plunged into a panic that stopped all its +activities. The stock exchanges throughout 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 except Britain 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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” Everything 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. +</p> + +<h3>WIDESPREAD INFLUENCES</h3> + +<p> +The conditions of production vanish, to be replaced by conditions of +destruction. That which had been growing in grace and beauty for years is +overturned and destroyed in a moment of ravage. Changes of this kind are not +confined to the countries in which the war rages or the cities which conquering +column of troops occupy. They go beyond the borders of military activity; they +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.” +</p> + +<p> +Never before was war made so swiftly wide. News of it comes from Japan, from +Porto Rico, from Africa, from places where in old days news of hostilities +might not travel for months. +</p> + +<p> +“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 military 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<h3>DILEMMA OF THE TOURISTS</h3> + +<p> +Let us consider one of the early results of the war. It vitally affected great +numbers of Americans, the army of tourists who had 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, capitalists, teachers, students, all were caught in the sudden +flurry of the war, their letters of credit useless, transportation difficult or +impossible to obtain, all exposed to inconveniences, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +difficulties encountered will serve as an instance which might be repeated a +hundred fold. +</p> + +<p> +Seven hundred Americans from Geneva were made by Swiss troops to leave a train. +Many who refused were forced off at the point or guns. This compulsory removal +took place at some distance from a station near the border, according to Mrs. +Edward Collins, 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, hoping 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. “When I tried to return to the car where I’d left my suitcase, +hat, cane and overcoat, I couldn’t find it. Finally the conductor said +blithely, ‘Oh, that car was taken off for the use of the army.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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 while 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 our +grandchildren talking about this war.” +</p> + +<p> +The scarcity of provisions in many localities and the withholding of money by +the banks made the situation, as regarded Americans, especially serious. Those +fortunate enough to reach port without encountering these difficulties found +the situation there equally embarrassing. The great German and English liners, +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 applicants. It had ceased, +in the state of panic that prevailed, to be a mere question of money. +Frightened millionaires were credited with begging for steerage berths. +Everywhere was dread and confusion, men and women being in a state of mind past +the limits of calm reasoning. Impulse is the sole ruling force where reason has +ceased to act. +</p> + +<p> +Slowly the skies cleared; calmer conditions began to prevail. The United States +government sent the battleship TENNESSEE abroad with several millions of +dollars for the aid of destitute travelers and the relief of those who could +not get their letters or credit and travelers’ checks cashed. Such a measure of +relief was necessary, there being people abroad with letters of credit for as +much as $5,000 without money enough to buy a meal. One tourist said: “I had to +give a Milwaukee doctor, who had a letter of credit for $2,500 money to get +shaved.” London hotels showed much consideration for the needs of travelers +without ready cash, but on the continent there were many such who were refused +hotel accommodation. +</p> + +<p> +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 tourists. From 15,000 to 20,000 of these +needed immediate attention, a majority of them being destitute. +</p> + +<h3>AN OCEAN INCIDENT</h3> + +<p> +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 tempting 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 unchecked 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 committee 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. +</p> + +<p> +A group of financiers were on board who offered to buy 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: +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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! +</p> + +<p> +“Early on Saturday 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 Olympic kept calling us all Friday night. Of course we did not +answer.” +</p> + +<p> +On Tuesday, August 4th, 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 future movements of the ship +Captain Polack said: +</p> + +<p> +“I can see no possibility of taking this ship 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 +ourselves extremely lucky to have come out so well. +</p> + +<p> +“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 whip and cargo than have assumed any such +risk. Of course, aside from this consideration, my one aim has been to save my +ship and my cargo from capture. +</p> + +<p> +“I have not been acting on my own initiative, but under orders from the North +German Lloyd in Bremen, and although I am an officer in the German navy my duty +has been to the steamship line.” +</p> + +<h3>CLOSING THE STOCK MARKETS</h3> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 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 throughout 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 breakdown of the credit system, which was made complete by the +postponement of the Paris settlement. +</p> + +<p> +Depositors stormed every bank in London for gold, and the runs continued for a +couple of days. 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 Europe +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 supplies. The customary +uses of the railroad were largely suspended and travel went on under great +difficulties. In a measure 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. +</p> + +<p> +War makes business active in one direction and in one only, that of army and +navy supply, of the manufacture of the implements 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 first, 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. +</p> + +<h3>TERRIBLE EFFECTS OF WAR</h3> + +<p> +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 utilized 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 invalids, to be kept by the direct aid of their +fellows or the indirect aid of the people at large through a system of +pensions. +</p> + +<p> +The physical sufferings of the soldiers from wounds and privations 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 roll of +drum, the terrible accompaniment of groans of misery is too apt to pass unheard +and die away forgotten. +</p> + +<p> +To turn from this roll of horrors, there are costs of war in other directions +to be considered. Those include the ravage of cities 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. +</p> + +<h3>THE TIDE OF DESTRUCTION</h3> + +<p> +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 torpedoes beneath their +unprotected 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 airships, letting fall its dire missiles +from the sky, has come to add to the dread terror and torment of the +battle-field. +</p> + +<p> +We began this chapter with a statement of the startling suddenness 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 consequences. 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. +</p> + +<p> +In these days in which we live 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 army and navy +experts in 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 billions 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. +</p> + +<p> +When it is considered that in thirteen years the cost of maintenance 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 and 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 undertaking nearly sixty to one. +</p> + +<p> +The money thus expended on preparation for war during the thirteen years named +would, if spent in railroad and marine construction, 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 of creating a military +spirit and developing a military caste in each by the nations, a result very +likely to be productive of ill effects. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +Naval expenditures $5,648,525,000<br/> +Construction 2,146,765,000<br/> +Cost of armies 13,138,403,000<br/> +Total $20,933,693,000 +</p> + +<p> +The wealth of the same nations in round figures is: +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +Great Britain $80,000,000,000<br/> +Germany 60,500,000,000<br/> +Austria 25,000,000,000<br/> +France 65,000,000,000<br/> +Russia 40,000,000,000<br/> +Total 270,500,000,000 +</p> + +<p> +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 sums +for their respective war chests. +</p> + +<h3>HALF CENTURY TO PAY DEBTS</h3> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The annual cost of maintaining the great armies and navies of Europe even on a +peace basis is enormous, and it must be vastly increased during war. The +official figures for 1913–14 are: +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +British army $224,300,000<br/> +British navy 224,140,000<br/> +German army 183,090,00<br/> +German navy 111,300,000<br/> +French army 191,431,580<br/> +French navy 119,571,400<br/> +Russian army 317,800,000<br/> +Russian navy 122,500,000<br/> +Austrian army 82,300,000<br/> +Austrian navy 42,000,000<br/> +Total $1,618,432,980 +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a>Chapter II.<br/> +UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT EUROPEAN WAR</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +Assassination of the Austrian Crown Prince—Austria’s Motive in Making +War—Servia Accepts Austria’s Demand—The Ironies of History—What Austria Has 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 +</p> + +<p> +What brought on the mighty war which so suddenly sprang forth? What evident, +what subtle, what deep-hidden causes led to this sudden demolition 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 modern Moloch? +</p> + +<p> +Here are questions which few are capable of answering. Ostensible answers may +be given, surface causes, reasons of immediate potency. But no one will be +willing 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 unchained, 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 +</p> + +<h3>ASSASSINATION OF THE AUSTRIAN CROWN PRINCE</h3> + +<p> +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 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 under her military +control since 1878, the indignation in Servia was great. While it had died down +in a measure in the subsequent years, the feeling of injury survived in many +hearts, and there is little reason to doubt that the assassination of Archduke +Ferdinand was a result of this pervading sentiment. +</p> + +<p> +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 consulate 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 part as follows: +</p> + +<p> +1. An apology by the Servian government in its official journal for all +Pan-Servian propaganda and for the participation of Servian army officers in +it, and warning all Servians in the future to desist from anti-Austrian +demonstrations. +</p> + +<p> +2. That orders to this effect should be issued to the Servian army. +</p> + +<p> +3. That Servia should dissolve all societies capable of conducting intrigues +against Austria. +</p> + +<p> +4. That Servia should curb the activities of the Servian press in regard to +Austria. +</p> + +<p> +5. That Austrian officials should be permitted to conduct an inquiry in Servia +independent of the Servian government into the Sarajevo plot. +</p> + +<p> +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 +Minister 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. +</p> + +<h3>AUSTRIA’S MOTIVE IN MAKING WAR</h3> + +<p> +It had, in fact, become evident early in July that the military party in +Austria was seeking to manufacture 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 +sentiment 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 Archduke +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 Aegean Sea, for which the possession of Servia was necessary as +a preliminary 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 utilized 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<h3>SERVIA ACCEPTS AUSTRIA’S DEMANDS</h3> + +<p> +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 conditions imposed except that relating to +the participation of Austrian 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. +</p> + +<p> +The subsequent action of Austria was significant. The Austrian Minister at +Belgrade, as before stated, rejected it as unsatisfactory and immediately left +the Servian capital. He acted, in short, with a precipitancy that indicated +that he was acting under instructions. 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. +</p> + +<p> +That the intention of this imperious demand and what quickly followed was to +force a war, no one can doubt. Servia’s nearly complete assent to the +conditions imposed was declared to be not only unsatisfactory, but also +“dishonorable,” a word doubtless deliberately used. Evidently no door was to be +left open for retrogressive consideration. +</p> + +<h3>THE IRONIES OF HISTORY</h3> + +<p> +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 further 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. +</p> + +<h3>WHAT AUSTRIA HAD TO GAIN</h3> + +<p> +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 Europe and the far East. Salonika, on the AEgean +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 and its tributary streams and +canals, even that of central and western Germany, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +peninsula. The commercial and manufacturing interests of Austria-Hungary were +growing, and mastership of such a route to the Mediterranean would mean immense +advantage to this ambitious empire. Possession of northern Italy once gave her +the advantage of an important outlet to the Mediterranean. This, through 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. +</p> + +<p> +Such seem the reasons most likely to have been active in the Austrian assault +upon Servia. The murder of an Austrian archduke 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 predetermined 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 was closed against her. +</p> + +<p> +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 conflict, from a contest between a bulldog and a terrier +into a battle between lions? What were the unseen and unnoted conditions 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 to surpass 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 +appeared 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 Servian student and the slaughter of an +archduke in the Bosnian capital could in a month’s time have plunged all Europe +into war. From small causes great events may rise. Certainly that with which we +are here dealing strikingly illustrates this homely apothegm. +</p> + +<h3>HOW THE WAR BECAME CONTINENTAL</h3> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Allusion has already been made to the general belief 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 alike by public and private +opinion to have been Germany, acting in the person of its ambitious war lord, +the dominating Kaiser. +</p> + +<p> +It may be stated that all the Powers concerned have sought to disclaim +responsibility. Thus Servia called the world to witness that her answer to +Austria was the limit of submission and conciliation. Austria, through 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 perfidious attack upon +the unarmed border of the fatherland, and proclaimed a holy war for “the +security of her territory.” France 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 +instigator of the war. +</p> + +<p> +Russia, indeed, had made threatening movements toward Austria as a warning 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 mobilization within +twenty-four hours, and immediately 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 mobilization, 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 Britain into the +contest, as this country was pledged to support Belgian neutrality. On August +4th, Great Britain sent an ultimatum to Germany to withdraw from the neutral +territory which her troops had entered and demanded an answer by midnight. +Germany declined to answer satisfactorily and at 11 o’clock war was declared by +Great Britain. +</p> + +<h3>AN EDITORIAL OPINION</h3> + +<p> +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 Philadelphia North American of August 7th: +</p> + +<p> +“From these facts there is no escape. Leaving aside all questions of justice or +political 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. +</p> + +<p> +So keen and conservative an authority as Rear Admiral Mahan declares that ‘the +aggressive insolence’ of Austria’s ultimatum ‘and Sevia’s concession of all +demands except those too humiliating for national self-respect’ show that +behind Austria’s assault was the instigation of Berlin. He adds: +</p> + +<p> +“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.’ +</p> + +<p> +“Circumstantial evidence, at least, places responsibility 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? +</p> + +<p> +“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. Instantly 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. Mobilization in France, necessitated by +these events, was anticipated by Germany, which simultaneously flung forces +into Russia, France, Luxembourg and Belgium. +</p> + +<p> +“It was Germany’s historic policy 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 solemn treaty engagements by +invading the neutral states of Luxembourg and Belgium. And it was Germany that, +in answer to England’s demand that the neutrality of Belgium be protected, +declared war against Great Britain. +</p> + +<p> +“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 confidence 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 deliberation of Russia, the forbearance 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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 hy Great Britain, France, +Russia, Austria and Prussia. Yet the first war move of Germany was to overrun +these countries, seize their railroads, bombard their cities and lay waste +their territories. +</p> + +<p> +“For forty years Germany has been the exemplar of a progressive civilization. +In spite of her adherence to inflated militarism, 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 assault upon the +peace of nations and the security of human institutions.” +</p> + +<h3>IS THE KAISER RESPONSIBLE?</h3> + +<p> +How much reliance is to be placed on the foregoing newspaper opinion, and on +the prevailing sentiment holding Kaiser Wilhelm 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 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 prevent 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“Germany is not responsible; Russia is not responsible, or Austria, or France, +or England. The pillars of civilization 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 +territory, have sowed swords and guns, nourished harvests of death-dealing +crops, made ready the way. +</p> + +<p> +“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 sureness of the +conflict and the great glory of offering themselves to this Moloch in +sacrifice? +</p> + +<p> +“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 manufacturers were not alone in urging the race to +destruction, physical and financial. The leaders were for it. It was policy. 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.” +</p> + +<h3>GERMANY’S STAKE IN THE WAR</h3> + +<p> +What had Germany to gain in the war in the instigation of which she is charged +with being so deeply involved? Territorial aggrandizement 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 reasonable degree of risk and cost. The invasion of Belgium 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 inclination 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. +</p> + +<p> +The general impression has been that Germany went to war with the purpose of +establishing beyond question her political and military supremacy on the +European continent. Military despotism in Germany was the decisive factor in +making inevitable 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 stupendous 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. +</p> + +<p> +That crisis, as sometimes claimed, was not any menace from Britain 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 and is growing much more rapidly. +</p> + +<p> +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 international frontier was a menace to the preservation of +Teuton supremacy in Europe. That Teuton supremacy was based on the sword. The +German 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 threatened on its +own ground and by the weapon of its own choosing. +</p> + +<p> +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 army, deficiencies of equipment and +weaknesses in artillery, had been made in the French Parliament. The debate +that occurred was fully dwelt upon in the German papers. And on July 16th the +organ of Berlin radicalism, the VOSSICHE 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 +Russians. And when the Russian eagle boasts of being in the best of health who +is to believe him? Why should the French place greater confidence in the +inveterate Russian disorganization than in their own defective organization?” +</p> + +<p> +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 utterances: +</p> + +<p> +“We will be everywhere victorious even if we are surrounded by enemies on all +sides and even if we have to fight superior numbers, for our most powerful ally +is God above, who, since the time of the Great Elector and Great King, has +always been on our side.”—At Berlin, March 29, 1901. +</p> + +<p> +“I vowed never to strike for world mastery. The world empire that I then +dreamed of was to create for the German empire on all sides the most absolute +confidence as a quiet, honest and peaceable neighbor. I have vowed that if ever +the time came when history should speak of a German world power or a +Hohenzollern world power this should not be based on conquest, but come through +a mutual striving of nations after a common purpose. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“With all my heart I hope that golden peace will continue to be present with +us.”—At Bremen, March 22, 1905. +</p> + +<p> +“My final 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 +convinced that the army will acquit itself as it did so nobly thirty-five years +ago.”—At Berlin, February 25, 1906. +</p> + +<p> +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 somewhat blatant apostle of militarism. Yet +year after year passed until the toll of almost three decades was achieved, +without his drawing the sword, and the world began to regard him as an apostle +of peace, a wise and capable ruler who could gain his ends without 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? +</p> + +<p> +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 claim to have been behind +the scenes maintain, the world will be ready to absolve him when his innocence +has been made evident. +</p> + +<h3>WHY RUSSIA ENTERED THE FIELD</h3> + +<p> +In this survey of the causes of the great war under consideration the position +of Russia comes next. That country was the first to follow Austria and begin +the threatening work of mobilization. Germany’s first open participation +consisted in a warming 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. +</p> + +<p> +The general impression was that it was the Slavic race sentiment 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 pure charity 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 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 bellicose +attitude of the nations that stood behind it. +</p> + +<p> +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 weakness. 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 opportunity 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. +</p> + +<h3>FRANCE’S HATRED OF GERMANY</h3> + +<p> +The Republic of France was less hasty than Russia and Germany in issuing a +declaration of war. Yet there, too, the order of mobilization 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 recollection +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 +rankled and hope of retribution lay deep in the heart of the French. Here +seemed an opportunity to achieve this long-cherished purpose, and we may +reasonably believe that the possibility of regaining this lost territory 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; she +had a military organization vastly superior to that of 1870; she had the memory +of her former triumphs over the now allied nations of Austria and Germany; she +had her obligations 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 interval after her declaration her troops had crossed the border and +were marching gaily into Alsace, winning battles and occupying towns as they +advanced. +</p> + +<h3>GREAT BRITAIN AND ITALY</h3> + +<p> +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 Germany 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 military organization to exercise. She +possessed the most powerful 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 herself was concerned, for her taking part in the +war, and her first step was a generous effort to mediate between the Powers in +arms. +</p> + +<p> +Only when Belgium—a small nation that was in a sense under 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. This may not have been entirely an act of benevolence. There +was a probability that Germany, once in control of Belgium, could not readily +let go. She might add it to her empire, a fact likely to seriously affect +British sea-power. However this be, Great Britain lost no time after the +invasion in becoming a party to the continental war, sending her fleet abroad +and enlisting troops for service in the aid of her allies, France and Belgium. +</p> + +<p> +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 conquest of Tripoli had seriously depleted her war chest. As +regards her alliance with Germany and Austria, it put her under no obligation +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. +</p> + +<p> +The defection of Italy was a serious loss to the power of the allies, so much +so that Emperor William threatened her with war if she failed to fulfil her +assumed obligations. 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 negligible importance. Servia quickly +showed an ability 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. +</p> + +<h3>THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE AND TRIPLE ENTENTE</h3> + +<p> +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 discussing 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 organizations 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 +1883, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 organized there +seemed little probability of its being called into activity for many years. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a>Chapter III.<br/> +STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF THE WARRING POWERS</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +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 +</p> + +<p> +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 view. 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 little 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 military dignity, emblems of the “pomp and circumstance of +glorious war.” +</p> + +<p> +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 gun, the bomb, and the multitude of devices fitted to bring about death +and destruction by wholesale, instead of by the retail methods of older days. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 signaling their most secret movements to the +forces below. +</p> + +<h3>OLD AND NEW METHODS IN WAR</h3> + +<p> +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. When 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 feeling 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 utilized. Soldiers now fight miles +apart. Prostrate, hidden, taking advantage of every opportunity of protection, +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 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 bullet-flinging 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. +</p> + +<h3>COSTS OF MODERN WARFARE</h3> + +<p> +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, little +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, millions +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. +</p> + +<p> +This is only one phase of the element of cost. Great workshops are devoted to +the preparation of military material, of absolutely no use to mankind 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 has actually +begun, millions of dollars being needed where tens formerly sufficed, 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 interval. +</p> + +<h3>NATURE OF NATIONAL RESOURCES</h3> + +<p> +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 +conditions 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 aggravating 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 rules when blithely 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. +</p> + +<p> +A second of these resources is that of preparation for war in time of peace, +the training of the able-bodied citizens in the military 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 military 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 policy, that of keeping its population +at peaceful labor, steadily adding to its resources, during the whole time 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. +</p> + +<p> +It must be admitted that the European system of militarism is likely to be of +great advantage in the early days of a war, in which large bodies of trained +soldiers can be hurled 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. +</p> + +<h3>BRITISH AND AMERICAN MILITARY SYSTEMS</h3> + +<p> +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. Subsidiary to these +are bodies of volunteer troops, training as a recreation rather than as an +occupation, yet constituting a valuable auxiliary to the regular forces. This +system possesses the advantage 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 adequate return in the +process of keeping up the system of militarism. +</p> + +<p> +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 or war +material—cannons, rifles, ammunition, etc.—the building of inland forts and +coast and harbor fortifications, for ready and immediate use in time of war. In +this all the nations are alike actively engaged, the United States and 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 development, 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. +</p> + +<h3>NAVAL STRENGTH</h3> + +<p> +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, adding new and +constantly greater war ships to its fleet with a feverish activity, under the +idea that here is its true field of defense. It has sought vigorously to keep +itself 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. +</p> + +<h3>RESOURCES OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY</h3> + +<p> +Coming 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 necessary to repeat that its severe +demands upon Servia, arising from the murder of the Archduke Ferdinand and its +refusal to accept Servia’s almost complete acceptance of its terms, led to an +immediate 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 countries involved, those of +Austria-Hungary properly come first, the others following in due succession. +</p> + +<p> +Austria-Hungary is a dual kingdom, each partner to the union having its +separate national organization and legislative body. While 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 distinction between the two countries, and Hungary cherishes a strong +feeling of animosity to Austria, the outcome of acts of tyranny and barbarity +not far in the past. +</p> + +<p> +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 of 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. +</p> + +<p> +Austria is a hilly or mountainous country, its plains occupying only about one +fifth of the total territory. The most extensive tracts of low or flat 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 mountainous character makes it rich in minerals, the chief of these being +coal, iron, and salt. +</p> + +<p> +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 Archduke Ferdinand in +1914, and may thus be considered the instigating agency in the 1914 war. +</p> + +<p> +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 Hungary, +$1,257,810,000; and of the joint states at $1,050,000,000. Military service is +obligatory on 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 in the 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 +number of smaller craft. +</p> + +<h3>RESOURCES OF GERMANY</h3> + +<p> +Germany, in the census of 1910, was credited with a population of 64,925,993. +This is in great part composed of Teutons, 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 mountainous districts, is prolific, being well watered and +bearing abundant 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 conserved to yield a large +production without over cutting. Among domestic animals, the cattle, sheep and +swine of certain districts have long been famous. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +These are a few only of the large variety of manufactures, a market for which +is found in all parts of the world, the commerce of Germany being widely +extended. In short, the empire has come into very active rivalry with Great +Britain in the development 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. +</p> + +<p> +The annual revenue of the German Empire is nearly $900,000,000; that of its +component states, $1,500,000,000; that of the states at $3,735,000,000. The +revenue is derived chiefly from customs duties, excise duties on beet-root +sugar, salt, tobacco and malt and contributions from the several states. +</p> + +<p> +Germany is the foster home of modern militarism and is held to have the most +complete army system in the world. Every man capable of bearing arms must begin +his military training on the 1st of January 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The navel force of Germany is very powerful, though considerably less than that +of Great Britain. It comprises 19 of the enormous modern battleships, 7 cruiser +battleships, and 20 of older type; 9 first-class and 45 second and third-class +cruisers, and numerous smaller warships, including 47 torpedo boats, 141 +destroyers and 60 submarines. +</p> + +<h3>RESOURCES OF RUSSIA</h3> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 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 occurrence. Of the people, over 1,800,000 are +employed in manufacture, and the annual value of the commerce amounts to +$1,300,000,000. The length of railway is about 50,000 miles. +</p> + +<p> +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 liability to +military service 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 modern 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. +</p> + +<h3>RESOURCES OF FRANCE</h3> + +<p> +France, the one large Power in Europe in which the people have created a +republic and have got rid of the FACT of a king, as illustrated in the other +continental Powers,—and in addition to the mountain realm of Switzerland, in +which the people govern themselves through their representatives,—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 ultimate +conclusion of a world-wide war. +</p> + +<p> +France had a startling object lesson in 1870. It had, under Napoleon III, been +imitating Prussia in its military establishment, and its government officials +coincided with the emperor in the theory that its army was in a splendid state +of preparation. Marshal Leboeuf lightly declared that “everything was ready, +more than ready, and not a gaiter button missing,” and it was with a +light-hearted confidence that the Emperor Napoleon declared war against +Prussia, the insensate multitude filling Paris with their futile war cry of “On +to Berlin.” +</p> + +<p> +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 become 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 line, +alert and able, ready alike for offense or defense. +</p> + +<p> +What are the natural conditions, the strength and resources, of this great +republic? 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 European 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 surrounding 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. +</p> + +<p> +France enjoys a large and valuable commerce and active manufacturing +industries, products of a more or less artistic character being especially +attended to. Of the textile fabrics, those of silk goods are much the most +important, this industry employing 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 commerce, while large, is very +considerably less than that of Great Britain and Germany, France being +especially a self-centered country, largely using what it makes. +</p> + +<p> +There is abundant provision for internal trade and travel, there being 30,000 +miles of railway, 3,000 miles or canal, and 5,500 miles of navigable rivers. +The annual revenue approaches $1,000,000,000, and the public 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 feeling seriously overburdened. +</p> + +<p> +Coming now to the French military system, it rivals that of Germany in +efficiency. The law requires the compulsory military service of every French +citizen who is not unfit for such service. They have to serve in the regular +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 conscription, partly by voluntary +enlistment, the naval forces comprising about 60,000 officers and men. +</p> + +<p> +The naval strength of the republic embraces 17 modern battleships, 25 of older +type, 18 first-class, 13 second and third-class cruisers, 173 torpedo boats, 87 +destroyers, and 90 submarines. There is another element of modern military +strength of growing importance and sure to be of large use in the war under +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. +</p> + +<h3>RESOURCES OF GREAT BRITAIN.</h3> + +<p> +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 the greatest empire in the world’s history, 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 gifts of varied nature. +</p> + +<p> +The same sense of loyalty was shown in Australia and South Africa and in others +of the British oversea dominions, while India added an important contingent to +the army and much other aid. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +numerous 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 public debt reaches a total of $3,485,000,000. +</p> + +<p> +The British government depends largely for safety from invasion upon its +insular position and its enormously developed navy, and has not felt it +necessary 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 addition 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 boats, 212 +destroyers and 85 submarines, the whole forming a total navel strength +approaching that of any two of the other Powers. +</p> + +<h3>SERVIA AND BELGIUM</h3> + +<p> +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 very inadequate to face the +enormously greater power of Austria-Hungary. But the men had become practically +all soldiers, very many of them tried veterans of the recent Balkan War; their +country is mountainous and admirably fitted for defensive warfare, and their +power of resistance to invasion was quickly shown to be great. +</p> + +<p> +Belgium, the other early 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 surpassed in modern warfare. The fact is, however, +that these huge figures greatly 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. +</p> + +<p> +In actual war also there is an enormous exhaustion of military material, which +must be constantly 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 sums of money to keep a modern army in the field, this increasing +rapidly as the forces grow in numbers, and no national treasure 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 limit to the size of armies is inevitable and in any great war this +limitation must quickly make itself apparent. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap04"></a>Chapter IV.<br/> +GREAT BRITAIN AND THE WAR</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +The Growth of German Importance—German Militarism—Great Britain’s Peace +Efforts—Germany’s Naval Program—German Ambitions—Preparation for War—Effect on +the Empire +</p> + +<p> +The influence of the European War permeated everything from and through the +nation to the individual, from trade and commerce and world-finance to the cost +of food and the price of labor. The whole world, civilized and uncivilized, was +drawn into this whirlpool of disaster—the majority of the population of the +earth was actually at war. Was it possible that such a vast conflict—so far +reaching in its racial and national elements, so bitter in its old and new +animosities, so great in its territorial area, so tremendous in the numbers of +men in arms—could come, as some commentators say, like a thief in the night +or have fallen upon the world like a bolt from the blue! All available +information of an exact character, all the preparation of the preceding few +years, all the inner statecraft of the world as revealed in policy and action, +prove the fallacy of this supposition. +</p> + +<h3>THE GROWTH OF GERMAN IMPORTANCE</h3> + +<p> +As a matter of fact one nation had been for nearly half a century the pivot +upon which European hopes and fears have turned in the matter of peace and war, +of military and naval preparation, of diplomatic interchange. During this +period Germany rose to a foremost place amongst the nations of Europe, to the +first place in strength of military power and organized fighting force, to the +second place in naval strength and commercial progress. The growth itself was a +legitimate one in the main; and, given the character of its people and their +cultivated convictions as to inherent greatness, was inevitable. For other +nations the vital question asked in diplomacy and answered in their military or +naval preparations was equally inevitable: How would Germany use this power, +against whom was it aimed, for what specific purpose was it being organized +with such capable precision, such splendid skill? +</p> + +<h3>GERMAN MILITARISM</h3> + +<p> +Great Britain, meanwhile, had devoted her main attention to the trade and +diplomacy and little wars associated with the maintenance of a world-empire +and, in self-defense, had cultivated friendships with Russia and France and the +United States and Japan as this German power began to come closer and touch the +most vital British interests. France naturally strengthened itself as its +historic enemy grew in power; Russia improved her military position after the +Japanese was as she was bound to do; Germany appeared to set the pace upon sea +and land with an aggressive diplomacy in Morocco and in China, at Paris and at +St. Petersburg, which was bound to cause trouble and to promote what is +commonly called militarism. The vast ambitions and persistent policy of the +German ruler and his people, the unsatisfied characteristics of German +diplomacy, the militant ideals and military preparations and naval expansion of +Germany between 1900 and 1914 became the dominant consideration in the +chancelleries of Europe. Armies and navies, wars in the Balkans or struggles +for colonial spheres of influence, financial reserves and naval construction +and volunteer forces—all came to be measured against current developments in +this center of European gravity. +</p> + +<h3>GREAT BRITAIN’S PEACE EFFORTS</h3> + +<p> +Great Britain tried to hold aloof from this international rivalry, this +preparation for a war which her people and leaders hoped against hope would be +averted. Royal visits of a pacific character were exchanged, parties of Great +Britain’s business men visited Berlin, while leaders such as King Edward and +Lord Haldane exercised all their ability in striving for some mutual ground of +friendly action. Lovers of peace wrote many volumes and filled many newspapers +with articles on the beneficence of that policy and the terrors of +militarism—books and articles which were never seen in Germany except by those +who regarded them as so many confessions of national weakness. Between 1904 and +1908 Great Britain actually reduced her naval expenditures and limited her +construction of battleships in the hope that Germany would follow the lead, +pleaded at two Hague Conferences for international reduction of armaments, kept +away from all increase in her own almost ridiculous military establishment, +urged upon two occasions (in 1912–1913) a naval holiday in construction. The +following figures from Brassey’s authoritative NAVAL ANNUAL shows that her +naval expenditure upon new ships in 1913 was actually less than in 1904, that +Germany’s was nearly three times greater, that France and Russia and Italy had +doubled theirs: +</p> + +<table summary="" style="margin-left: 3em;"> + +<tr> +<td></td><td>Great Britain</td><td>Germany</td><td>France</td><td>Russia</td><td>Italy</td><td>Austro-Hungary</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>1904</td><td>£13,508,176</td><td>£4,275,489</td><td>£4,370,102</td><td>£4,480,188</td><td>£1,121,753</td><td>£1,329,590</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>1908</td><td>8,660,202</td><td>7,795,499</td><td>4,193,544</td><td>2,703,721</td><td>1,866,158</td><td>716,662</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>1911</td><td>17,566,877</td><td>11,710,859</td><td>5,876,659</td><td>3,240,394</td><td>2,677,302</td><td>3,125,000</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>1912</td><td>17,271,527</td><td>11,491,157</td><td>6,997,552</td><td>7,904,094</td><td>2,500,000</td><td>3,620,881</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>1913</td><td>13,276,400</td><td>11,176,407</td><td>7,595,010</td><td>10,953,616</td><td>2,800,000</td><td>3,280,473</td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<h3>GERMANY’S NAVAL PROBLEM</h3> + +<p> +Between 1909 and 1914 British leaders became convinced, as France and Russia +and other countries had long been certain, that Germany meant war as soon as +she was ready; that her policy was to take the two border enemies, or rivals, +first with a great war-machine which would give them no chance for preparation +or success, to dictate a peace which would give her control of the sea-coasts +and channel touching Britain, to make that country the seat of war +preparations, naval uncertainty, perhaps financial difficulty and commercial +injury, to prepare at leisure for the war which would conquer England and +acquire her colonies. In the first-named year British statesmen of both parties +told an amazed Parliament and country that German naval construction of big +ships was approaching the British standard, that the cherished policy of a +British navy equal to those of any two other nations was absolutely gone, that +England would be lucky if, in a few years, she held a 60 per cent superiority +over that of Germany alone, that the latter country’s naval construction was +clearly aimed at Britain and could be for no other than a hostile purpose. +British ships had already been recalled from the Seven Seas to hold the North +Sea against the growing naval power of a nation which had 5,000,000 soldiers +behind its ships as compared with England’s 250,000 men scattered over the +world. From that date in 1909 all who shared in the statecraft of the British +Empire understood the issue to be a real one—with France and Russia as allies +or without them. +</p> + +<p> +What was back of this situation? Germany was already dominant in Continental +Europe. It had compelled Russia to submit when Austria in 1908 annexed the Slav +states of Bosnia and Herzegovina and defied Servia to interfere or its proud +patron at St. Petersburg to prevent the humiliation; it had brought France to +her knees over the Morocco incident and the Delcasse resignation, and would +have done so again in 1911 if Great Britain had not ranged herself behind the +French republic; it held the issues of peace and war between the great Powers +during the Balkan struggles of 1912 and 1913 and prevented Servia from winning +its legitimate fruits of victory or Montenegro from holding what it had won; it +had watched with delight the defeat of unorganized Russia at the hands of Japan +and saw what its writers described as a decadent British Empire holding in +feeble hands a quarter of the earth in fee, with revolt coming in Ireland, +rebellion seething in India, dissatisfaction in South Africa, separation upon +the horizon in Canada and Australia. Here lay the secret of German naval +policy, of German hopes that Britain would remain out of the inevitable +struggle with France and Russia, of German ambitions for a world-empire. +</p> + +<h3>GERMAN AMBITIONS</h3> + +<p> +The German nation had not up to the passing of Bismarck been the enemy of the +British people and until its belated entrance upon the field of world politics +and expansion the people had not even been rivals. In the long series of +European wars between 1688 and 1815, the German states were allies and friends +of England. After that, Prussia, and then the German Empire, became gradually a +great national force in the world and its spirit of unity, pride of power, +energy in trade, skill and success in industry, vigor of development in +tariffs, progress in military power and naval construction were, from the +standpoint of its own people, altogether admirable. Following the +Franco-Prussian War it had steadily attained a position of European supremacy. +Then came the increase of population and trade, the desire for colonies, the +restriction of emigration to foreign countries. +</p> + +<p> +It was a natural though difficult ambition. The marriage of Queen Wilhelmina, +and later the birth of a heir, averted any immediate probability of acquiring +Holland and, with it, the Dutch colonial possessions, except by means of force. +The assertion of the United States’ Monroe Doctrine checked German efforts +which had been directed to South America and concentrated in Brazil, where +100,000 Germans had settled and where trade relations had become very close. +British diplomacy of a trade, as well as political character, in Persia, +prevented certain railway schemes from being carried out, which would have +given Germany a dominating influence in Asia Minor and on the Persian Gulf. +Although the partition of Africa gave the German Empire nearly one million +square miles and an obvious opening for colonization and power, the +inexperience and ineptitude of German officials in Colonial government, the +dislike, also, of Germans for emigration and the fact that the movement of +settlers abroad steadily decreased in late years, tended to prevent, on the +Continent, an expansion which would have been assured under British +colonization and business effort. +</p> + +<p> +At the same time the acquisition of these and other regions such as Samoa was +significant. Prior to 1870 Germany was a geographical expression which meant a +loose combination of States with sometimes clashing interests, and incoherent +expression, and varied patriotism. German trade was then small, the industries +too poor to compete with those of Britain, while its people possessed not an +acre of soil beyond their European boundaries. Since then it had become a +closely-united people with an army of over five million men—admittedly the +best-trained troops in the world; with a trade totalling $4,400,000,000 and +competing in Britain’s home market, taking away her contracts in India and some +of the colonies, beating her in many foreign fields; with an industrial +production which included great steel works such as Krupps, ship-building yards +said to be of greater productive power than those of Britain, factories of +well-kept character operating at high pressure with workmen trained in the best +technical system of the world today; with other productive conditions aided by +high protective duties and with exports totalling (1910) $2,020,000,000 and +imports of $2,380,000,000; with Savings Bank deposits in 1911 totalling +$4,500,000.0000 as against a British total of $1,135,000,000. +</p> + +<p> +Couple these conditions with Colonial ambitions dwarfed, or unsuccessful in +comparison with British success; continental power as supreme, by virtue of +military strength, as Napoleon’s was one hundred years before by the force of +genius, but hampered, as was his, by the power of Britain on the seas; a +productive force of industry increasing out of all proportion to home +requirements, competing with British commerce in every corner of the world and +threatened by a possible but finally postponed combination of British countries +in a system of inter-Empire tariffs; a population of 64,000,000, increasing at +the rate of one million a year and having no suitable opening for emigration or +settlement within its own territories; and we have conditions which explained +and emphasized German naval construction. Both German ambition and German naval +construction were therefore easily comprehensible. +</p> + +<p> +Nor was the ambition for sea-power concealed. The first large naval program was +passed by the Reichstag in 1898 and fixed the naval estimate up to 1903, when +the total expenditure was to be $45,000,000—in 1906 the naval expenditure was +over $60,000,000. The second Naval Bill was passed in 1900 during the Boer War, +and the preamble to this Act stated that its object was to give Germany “a +fleet of such strength that even for the mightiest Naval Power, a war with her +would involve such risks as to endanger its own supremacy.” Other Acts were +passed in 1906 and 1908, and for the years 1908 to 1917 arrangements were made +for a total expenditure of $1,035,000,000—this including a portion of the +“accelerated program” and the Special Dreadnought construction which caused the +memorable debate in the British Commons in 1909. +</p> + +<p> +The Law of 1912—passing the Reichstag on May 21st of that year—provided for +an addition to the program of three battleships, three large cruisers and three +small ones. During the years 1898–1904 Great Britain launched 26 battleships +to Germany’s 14, with 27 armored cruisers, 17 protected cruisers and 55 +destroyers to Germany’s 5, 16 and 35 respectively, or a total of 125 to 70. In +1905–11 Great Britain launched 20 battleships to Germany’s 15, with 13 armored +cruisers, 10 protected cruisers and 80 destroyers to Germany’s 6, 16 and 70 +respectively, or a total of 123 to 107. Excluding destroyers Great Britain +launched 70 sea-going warships in the first period to Germany’s 25 and in the +second period 43 to 37. +</p> + +<h3>PREPARATION FOR WAR</h3> + +<p> +Meanwhile German preparations for war went on apace in every direction. +Following up the war teachings of Nietzsche and Treitschke and others, General +Von Bernhardi issued book after book defining in clear language the alleged +national beneficence, biological desirability and inevitability of war, which, +when it came, would be “fought to conquer for Germany the rank of a +world-power;” the universities and schools and press teemed with militarist +ideals and practices; the army charges rose to $250,000,000 and the trained +soldiers available at the beginning of 1910 were alleged to have 6,000 +field-guns; Colonel Gaedke, the German naval expert, stated on February 24th of +that year that the German government was building a fleet of 58 battleships and +that “the time is gradually approaching when the German fleet will be superior +to all the fleets of the world, with the single exception of the English +fleet,” and that in the past twelve years Germany had spent on new ships alone +63,200,000 pounds, or $316,000,000, while between then and 1914 she would spend +57,500,000 pounds more, or $287,500,000. +</p> + +<p> +The annual report of the German Navy League in 1910 showed a total of 1,031,339 +members as against an estimated membership in Britain’s League of 20,000. +Professor T. Schieman of the University of Berlin, in the New York MCCLURE’S +MAGAZINE for May of that year, clearly stated that Germany would not submit in +future to British naval supremacy or to any limitation of armaments. During +this period, also, Heligoland, the island handed over by Britain in 1890 in +exchange for certain East African rights, became the key and center of the +whole German coast defense system against England. Cuxhaven, Borkum, Emden, +Wilhelmshaven—with twice as many Dreadnought docks as Portsmouth—Wangeroog, +Bremerhaven, Geestemunde, etc., were magnificently fortified and guarded. +Whether dictated by diplomatic considerations and affected latterly by the +British-French alliance or influenced by Colonial and naval and commercial +ambitions, there could be no doubt as to the danger of the situation at the +beginning of 1914. In a book entitled “England and Germany,” published during +1912, Mr. A. J. Balfour, the British conservative leader, replied to various +German contributors and gave the British view of the situation: +</p> + +<p> +It must be remembered in the first place that we are a commercial nation, and +war, whatever its issue, is ruinous to commerce and to the credit on which +commerce depends. It must be remembered in the second place that we are a +political nation, and unprovoked war (by us) would shatter in a day the most +powerful Government and the most united party. It must be remembered in the +third place that we are an insular nation, wholly dependent upon sea-borne +supplies, possessing no considerable army, either for home defense or foreign +service, and compelled therefore to play for very unequal stakes should Germany +be our opponent in the hazardous game of war. It is this last consideration +which I should earnestly ask enlightened Germans to weigh well if they would +understand the British point of view. It can be made clear in a very few +sentences. There are two ways in which a hostile country can be crushed. It can +be conquered or it can be starved. If Germany were supreme in our home waters +she could apply both methods to Britain. Were Britain ten times Mistress in the +North Sea she could apply neither method to Germany. Without a superior fleet +Britain would no longer count as a Power. Without any fleet at all Germany +would remain the greatest power in Europe. +</p> + +<p> +The Balkan wars proved and strengthened the power of Germany in diplomacy and +in the Eastern Question, while it showed that a deadly struggle between nations +might spring to an issue in a few days and a million armed men leap into war at +a word. The enormous German special taxation of $250,000,000 authorized in the +first part of 1913 for an additional military establishment of 4,000 officers, +15,000 non-commissioned officers and 117,000 men indicated the basic strength +of the people’s military feeling, and ensured the still greater predominance of +its army. +</p> + +<h3>EFFECT ON THE EMPIRE</h3> + +<p> +When war broke out on August 1, 1914, between the five greater Powers of +Europe—Great Britain, Russia and France, on the one side and Germany and +Austria on the other—the issue was at once brought home to about 450 millions +of people in America, Asia and Africa who were connected with these nations by +ties of allegiance or government, by racial association, or historic conquest. +Of these peoples and lands by far the greater proportion were in the British +Empire and included India, Burmah, South Africa, Australia, Canada and a +multitude of smaller states and countries. Not the least remarkable of the +events which ensued in the succeeding early weeks of the great War was the +extraordinary way in which this vast and complex Empire found itself as a unit +in fighting force, a unit in sentiment, a unit in co-operative action. Irish +sedition, whether “loyal or disloyal,” Protestant or Catholic, largely vanished +like the shadow of an evil dream; Indian talk of civil war and trouble +disappeared; South African threats of rebellion took form in a feeble effort +which melted away under the pressure of a Boer statesman and leader—General +Botha; the idea that Colonial Dominions were seeking separation and would now +find it proved as evanescent as a light mist before the sun. The following +table indicates the nature of the resources of opposing nations and the +character of their Colonial sources of support: +</p> + +<table summary="" style="margin-left: 3em;"> + +<tr> +<td></td><td>Wealth</td><td>Population</td><td>Total Army</td><td>Navy</td><td>Population of Colonies</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Great Britain</td><td>$80,000,000,000</td><td>45,000,000</td><td>800,000</td><td>681</td><td>368,000,000</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>France</td><td>65,000,000,000</td><td>39,000,000</td><td>2,100,000</td><td>382</td><td>41,000,000</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Russia</td><td>40,000,000,000</td><td>171,000,000</td><td>8,000,000</td><td>249</td><td>5,000,000</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Germany</td><td>60,000,000,000</td><td>65,000,000</td><td>5,000,000</td><td>354</td><td>12,000,000</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Austria</td><td>25,000,000,000</td><td>49,000,000</td><td>2,200,000</td><td>155</td><td>15,000,000</td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<p> +It was a curious characteristic of the press comments and magazine articles and +book studies of the War during these months that while varied fighting was +going on in the various Colonies of these Powers and in the case of Great +Britain, notably, countries like Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India were +pouring out men and gifts to aid the Empire, statistical calculations usually +rated Great Britain as not an Empire but simply a nation with the wealth and +population of its two little islands in the North Sea. +</p> + +<p> +Properly the $80,000,000,000 of estimated British wealth should have e included +the thousands of millions of treasure in India and Egypt, the gold mines and +diamond resources of South Africa, the wheat fields and mines of Canada, the +sheep farms and gold of Australia and many other sources; the estimate of +population should have included the countless millions from which Britain could +draw and did draw in the day of emergency. In this vast Empire British capital +had been invested to an enormous amount—the estimated total in 1914 being +$2,570,0000,000 for Canada and Newfoundland, $1,893,000,000 in India and +Ceylon,$1,850,000,000 in south Africa, $1,660,000,000 in Australia, or a total +in all British countries of $8,900,000,000. When the War broke out these +Dominions endeavored to help the Mother Country in every possible way and the +following table shows what was done in Canada alone during the first few months +of the conflict: +</p> + +<h3>THE DOMINION</h3> + +<p> +Expeditionary force of over 32,000 men, fully equipped; 50,000 others under +training for the front. Over 200 field and machine guns. Two submarines, for +general service ($1,050,000); H.M.C.S. Niobe and Rainbow for general service. +1,000,000 bags of flour. $100,000 for “Hospice Canadien” in France. $50,000 for +the relief of Belgian sufferers. +</p> + +<h3>THE PROVINCES</h3> + +<p> +ALBERTA: 500,000 bushels of oats; 5,000 bags of flour for Belgians. Civil +service, 5 per cent of salaries up to $1500 per annum, and 10 per cent in +excess of that amount to Canadian Patriotic Fund. +</p> + +<p> +BRITISH COLUMBIA: 25,000 cases of canned salmon; $5,000 to Belgian Relief Fund. +</p> + +<p> +MANITOBA: 10,000 men; 50,000 bags of flour; $5,000 to Belgian Relief Fund. +</p> + +<p> +NEW BRUNSWICK: 1,000 men; 100,000 bushels of potatoes, 15,000 barrels of +potatoes for Belgium. +</p> + +<p> +NOVA SCOTIA: $100,000 to the Prince of Wales Fund; apples for the troops; food +and clothing for Belgium. +</p> + +<p> +ONTARIO: $500,000; 250,000 bags of flour; 100,000 lbs of evaporated apples for +the Navy; $15,000 to the Belgian Relief Fund. +</p> + +<p> +PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND: 100,000 bushels of oats; cheese and hay. +</p> + +<p> +QUEBEC: 4,000,000 lbs of cheese; $25,000 to Belgian Relief Fund. +</p> + +<p> +SASKATCHEWAN: 1,500 horses ($250,000); $5,000 to Belgian Relief Fund +</p> + +<p> +THE YUKON: $6,000 to the Canadian Patriotic fund +</p> + +<h3>THE CITIES</h3> + +<p> +OTTAWA: $300,000 (for machine gun sections—4 guns on armored motors and a +detachment of 30 men); $50,000 to the Canadian Patriotic Fund. +</p> + +<p> +QUEBEC: $20,000 Canadian Patriotic fund; insuring lives of Quebec volunteers. +</p> + +<p> +MONTREAL: $150,000 (Canadian Patriotic Fund); battery of quick-firing guns; +$10,000 to Belgian Relief fund. +</p> + +<p> +TORONTO: $50,000 (Canadian Patriotic Fund); insuring lives of all Toronto +volunteers; 100 horses for training purposes; carload for Belgians of canned +provisions. +</p> + +<p> +WINNIPEG: $5,000 monthly to Patriotic Fund +</p> + +<p> +REGINA: $1,000 for comfort of the city’s soldiers; $62,500 To Belgian Relief +Fund. +</p> + +<p> +CALGARY: 1,000 MEN (Legion of Frontiersmen). +</p> + +<p> +HAMILTON: $20,000 Patriotic Fund; $5,000 for local relief. +</p> + +<p> +BERLIN: $10,000 Patriotic Fund. +</p> + +<p> +ST. JOHNS, N.B. $10,000 Patriotic Fund; $2,000 Belgian Fund +</p> + +<p> +THE WOMEN OF CANADA: Building, equipping and maintenance of “Canadian Women’s +Hospital” of 100 beds to supplement Naval Hospital at Haslar ($182,857); +$100,000 To War Office (40 motor ambulance cars purchased). Women of Nova +Scotia $15,170 ($7,000 to Hospital, $5,000 Canadian Patriotic fund and rest to +Red Cross). +</p> + +<h3>THE BANKS AND THE PATRIOTIC FUNDS</h3> + +<p class="letter"> +BANK OF MONTREAL $110,000<br/> +CANADIAN BANK OF COMMERCE 50,000<br/> +ROYAL BANK OF CANADA 50,000<br/> +MERCHANTS BANK 30,000<br/> +DOMINION BANK 25,000<br/> +UNION BANK OF CANADA 25,000<br/> +BANK OF TORONTO 25,000<br/> +BANK OF OTTAWA 25,000<br/> +BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA 25,000<br/> +BANK OF HAMILTON 25,000<br/> +BANK OF BRITISH NORTH AMERICA 25,000 +</p> + +<p> +Little Newfoundland sent a contingent of 510; placed a Naval Reserve force of +1,000 men in training and prepared a second contingent of 500 men, while +contributing $120,000 to a local Patriotic Fund. Australia handed over its +fleet of battleships and cruisers to the Admiralty and one of these, The +Sydney, captured the Emden of German fame, while the New Zealand, a dreadnought +from the Island Dominion of that name, held a place in the North Sea fighting +line. Australia also sent 20,000 men who saw service before the end of the year +in Egypt, provided reserves and prepared two more contingents, while sending +donations of all kinds of food supplies for the poor in Britain or for the +Belgian refugees. From India at once went a portion of the British Army which +was replaced by native troops and then a large contingent of the latter, which +took part in the protection of Egypt and in the fighting in France. +</p> + +<p> +The great Princes of India—notably the Maharajahs of Nepaul, Gwalior, +Patiala, Baratppur, Sikkim and Dholpur—placed the entire military resources +of tens of millions of people at the disposal of the King-Emperor. The +Maharajah of Rewa cabled this splendid message: “What orders from His Majesty +for me and my troops?” The Nizam of Hyderabad and the Maharajah of Bikanir +offered not only their troops, but the entire resources of their great states +and their own personal services at the front. Bengal gave a million bags of +jute for the army and the Maharajah of Mysore proffered 3,500 men and 50 lakhs +of rupees (about $350,000). Practically all the 700 native rulers of states in +India offered personal services, men and money. For active personal service the +Viceroy selected the Chiefs of Jodhpur, Bikanir, Kishangarh, Rutlam, Sachin, +Patiala, Sir Pertab Singh, Regent of Jodhpur, and others. Contingents of +cavalry and infantry, supplies and transports were forwarded besides a camel +corps from Bikanir, horses from many states, machine guns, hospital-bed +contributions, motor cars and large gifts to the Patriotic and Belgian Relief +Funds. New Zealand sent a first contingent of 8,000 troops and relief forces, +prepared to send more and promised, like Canada and Australia, to continue +training and sending troops as long as they should be required. On the other +hand Great Britain undertook to finance the actual military operations of these +countries by lending the four Dominions $210,000,000 and undertaking to provide +more when needed. +</p> + +<p> +It was with this unity, and in this spirit, that the British Empire entered the +great War for the redemption of its pledges to Belgium and adherence to its +French obligations—Russia only coming indirectly into the first stage of the +question and Japan, through the force of its Treaty, undertaking to guard +British interests in the East. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a>Chapter V.<br/> +THE WORLD’S GREATEST WAR</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +Wars as Mileposts—A Continent in Arms—How Canada Prepared for War—the British +Sentiment—Lord Kitchener’s Career—A Forceful Character +</p> + +<p> +The history of the leading events in the nations of Europe during a hundred +years of the past, so far as they related to the decline of autocratic power in +the monarchs and the development of popular rights and liberty, has been given +in the preceding chapters, where it is brought down to the close of the Balkan +War and the opening of the great war that succeeded in 1914. As regards this +war, its story cannot be told or even summarized in a chapter, but some +indication of its general character may be given. +</p> + +<h3>WARS AS MILEPOSTS</h3> + +<p> +Wars serve as convenient mileposts in the history of mankind. They deal with +the great struggles which break up the monotony of peace and bring the nations +into volcanic relations. They have been many and their causes and effects +various; strifes for spoil or dominion; savage invasions of civilized lands; +overflow of vast areas by conquering tribes or nations. But among all the world +has so far known there has been none so stupendous in character, so portentous +in purpose, so vast in fighting multitudes, so terrible in bloodshed, as the +one with which we are here concerned, the lurid meeting of the nations on the +blood-stained fields of battle which broke upon the quiet of the world with +startling suddenness in the summer of 1914. Launched on the borders of little +Servia, it soon had the continent for its field of action, and all but one of +the greater nations of Europe for its participants. It may therefore fitly be +designated the Great War. Great it was, alike in the number and strength of the +Powers involved, in the enormous array of armed men engaged, in the destructive +power of the weapons employed, in the loss of life and waste of wealth that +attended its earthquaking development. +</p> + +<p> +In reading the history of the past we find it thickly strewn with stories of +fierce battles, a day, two days, rarely much longer in extent, protracted +intervals of marching and countermarching succeeding before the armies again +locked horns. Such was the case in the American Civil War, in which the three +days’ battle at Gettysburg was the greatest in length, if the six days’ +fighting before Richmond be taken to constitute a succession of battles. +</p> + +<p> +In the Russo-Japanese war much longer struggles took place. The armies at +Liaoyung fought for eight days and those before Mukden for twenty days. But a +more obstinate struggle still was that of September and October, 1914, when two +armies, stretched out over a line two hundred miles or more in length, fought +with ceaseless fury, by day and night alike, for more than a month. On the +moving picture screen of time this vast conflict stands out without parallel in +the world’s annals, the most unyielding, incessant battling ever known. +</p> + +<h3>A CONTINENT IN ARMS</h3> + +<p> +In the giant warfare here described we behold a continent, well nigh a world, +in arms. Along the rivers north of Paris three powerful nations, Germany, +France and Britain, wrestled like mighty behemoths for supremacy. Far eastward, +on the borders of Russia, Austria and Germany, two other great Powers, Russia +and Austria, with German armies to aid the latter, strove with equal fury for +victory. +</p> + +<p> +Thus raged the Great War. How many took part it is difficult to estimate. Among +the war tales of the past the most stupendous army on record is that of Xerxes, +said by Herodotus to number 2,317,600 men, who marched from Asia to face defeat +in the diminutive land of Greece. How large this fabulously great army really +was we shall never know, but even at the figures given it was dwarfed by the +hosts in arms in the Great European War, in which between four and five million +men fought with fierceness unsurpassed. +</p> + +<p> +The field of action of this mighty contest was not confined to Europe. On the +far-off border of Asia another Power, the warlike empire of Japan, sent forth +its soldiers to drive the Germans from China. In Africa and on the South +Pacific the colonists of Britain set other forces in motion to invade the +German colonial regions. From British India sailed a strong array of +dark-skinned warriors to take part in the war in France. From Algeria and +Senegal came hordes of sable recruits for the French army, and from the cities +and provinces of the Dominion of Canada came still another army of ardent +patriots eager to aid the forces of their fatherland. We may well speak of the +contest as not one of a continent but of the entire world. +</p> + +<h3>HOW CANADA PREPARED FOR WAR</h3> + +<p> +The story of the patriotic ardor of the Canadians is of interest, as given by a +correspondent of the London GRAPHIC, who passed through the Dominion after the +opening of the war. +</p> + +<p> +“The news of the great war came like a bolt from the blue. The effect was +startling. The ordinary flow of Canadian life was suddenly arrested. The +customary routine seemed to stop dead still. The whole of Canadian thought and +much of the people’s energy were switched on to the great staggering fact that +Europe was at war, and the old country fighting for its life. A most wonderful +and touching patriotism welled up in the heart of the Canadians. The air became +electric with excitement and enthusiasm. The prairie was indeed on fire. +Passing through English towns on my journey to London the calm and peaceful +demeanor of the people and the even flow of life seemed in strange contrast +with the land I had just left, where the population was throbbing with loyal +passion, and the war dominated the existence of the inhabitants, high and low, +from Victoria to Halifax. One Canadian scene that remains impressed upon my +mind was the sea of upturned faces in front of the offices of the Calgary News +Telegram—every ear straining to the point where the war news was announced at +intervals through a megaphone. +</p> + +<p> +“‘We stand shoulder to shoulder.’ Sir Robert Borden, the Premier, had said, +‘with Britain and the other British Dominions in this quarrel, and that duty we +shall not fail to fulfil as the honor of Canada demands.’ It is being fulfilled +in a score of different ways, but mainly in the practical spirit that is +characteristic of the country. The Dominion is the Empire’s granary, and +through the granary doors, as the Motherland knows, are passing huge gifts of +food to the British population. At the same time the stoppage of the export of +all foodstuffs to other countries is proposed. +</p> + +<p> +“Soon the Dominion began to mobilize. Regiments seemed to spring up, as if by +magic, from the ground—not hordes of untrained men, but stalwart horsemen, +accustomed to the rifle and inured to a hard outdoor life. The Germans will +knock against another ‘bit of hard stuff’ when they meet the Canadian +contingents. One of the regiments carries the name of the Princess Patricia, +who, by the way, holds quite a unique position in the hearts of the people. The +popular Princess was, shortly after I left, to have presented her regiment with +their colors—worked by her own hands. +</p> + +<p> +“Londoners were happy in the knowledge that more such men could be sent, if +necessary, up to 200,000 in number—such was the earnestness of the people. +One met this practical earnestness in a dozen different directions—in such +facts, for instance, as the conversion of the great Winnipeg Industrial Hall +into a military training center—and not the least significant feature in the +situation is the manner in which the prevalent enthusiasm had spread to the +American inhabitants of the country. The trade intimacy between the United +States and the Dominion was, indeed, constantly growing, and the many great +American manufacturing concerns which had planted themselves in Canada had +attained prosperity. It was pleasant and reassuring to think that this had not +weakened the ties of attachment to the old country. In the days to succeed the +war the Dominion can look back with pride upon the part she bore in sustaining +the arms of Mother England, and can take her place with happy confidence and +added strength as the eldest daughter in the great family of British peoples.” +</p> + +<p> +The enthusiasm thus indicated among the Canadians, which had its outcome in the +despatch of 323,000 sons of the dominion in late September to the seat of war, +to be quickly followed by a second contingent, was paralleled in India, which +sent to France 70,000 of its dusky sons to join the struggling hosts. As for +the remaining countries of the British empire, Australia, South Africa, East +Africa, etc., a similar sentiment of loyalty prevailed, manifested there by the +sending of contingents or in expeditions against the German colonies in the +South Sea and in Africa. The whole empire was ready to support the mother +country. +</p> + +<p> +Certainly the Kaiser of Germany, William the War Lord, had set loose in the air +a nest of hornets to sting his well-trained warriors. By his side stood only +Austria, a composite empire which soon found all its strength too little to +hold back the mighty Russian tide that swept across its borders. Thus this one +stalwart nation, with its weak auxiliary, was forced to face now east, now +west, against a continent in arms. It is difficult to imagine that the Kaiser +could have hoped to succeed, despite the training of his people and the +strength of his artillery. “God fights with the heaviest battalions,” said one +who knew, and the weight of battalions, though at first on William’s side, +could not remain so. +</p> + +<h3>THE BRITISH SENTIMENT</h3> + +<p> +While the British people, with their lack of a system of militarism, were not +in condition to send large bodies of troops at once to the aid of the mobilized +French, they were soon ready to despatch a useful contingent of trained men. +Probably the German emperor counted upon the disturbance in Ireland between the +Ulsterites and the people of the Catholic provinces to tie the hands of the +government, but these people at once suspended their hostile sentiments in +favor of the larger needs of their country. In England itself the militant +suffragettes showed equal patriotism, at once agreeing to desist from all acts +of violence and offering to aid their country to the extent of their powers. +</p> + +<h3>LORD KITCHENER’S CAREER</h3> + +<p> +The British government appointed Lord Kitchener, the hero of many successful +expeditions, Secretary of State for War, putting the whole management of +military affairs into his competent hands. His fitness for this was thoroughly +attested by his long and brilliant service, and as the presence of Napoleon was +said to be equal to an army, so was that of this able military leader. +</p> + +<p> +For those who are not familiar with Kitchener’s career a brief statement +concerning it may be useful. Born in 1850, Horatio Herbert Kitchener entered +the army in 1871, was in civil life 1874–82, then returned to army duty. He +took part in the Nile expedition of 1884 for the rescue of General Gordon and +commanded a brigade in the Suakim campaign of 1888. Governor of Suakim 1886–88, +adjutant-general of the Egyptian army 1888–92, he was appointed to the command +of this army, with the Egyptian rank of Sirdar, in 1890. +</p> + +<p> +His service in Egypt was during the period of the Mahdi outbreak, which began +in 1883, defeated all the armies sent to quell it, and for years held the Sudan +region of Egypt. In 1896 Kitchener set out for its suppression, recovering +Dongola, and organizing an expedition against the Khalifa, the successor of the +Mahdi. He defeated the Dervish army of the Khalifa in April, 1898, and on +September 2d of that year utterly crushed the Dervish hosts at Omdurman, +regaining the Sudan for Egypt and Britain. +</p> + +<p> +This exploit brought him the thanks of parliament and the title of baron, with +a grant of 30,000 pounds and a sword of honor. In 1899 he went with Lord +Roberts to South Africa as chief of staff, and on Lord Roberts’ return in 1900 +he succeeded him as commander-in-chief and brought the Boer War to a successful +conclusion. He was now made full general, with the rank of viscount, and +subsequently served as commander-in-chief in India. +</p> + +<h3>A FORCEFUL CHARACTER</h3> + +<p> +In an illuminating article in COLLIER’S WEEKLY, the well-known Irish +journalist, T. P. O’Connor, thus brought out the character of the hero of +Khartoum: +</p> + +<p> +“I attribute something of the Lord Kitchener we know to the fact that, though +English by blood, he spent the first years of his life in wandering over the +hills and looking down on the sea-tossed shores of County Kerry. That tact +which enabled him to settle the issue with Marchand, the French explorer, at +Fashoda, suggests some of the lessons in the soft answer which Ireland can +teach. You remember how, when it was possible that a collision between him and +Marchand might mean a war between England and France, Lord Kitchener sent some +fresh vegetables and champagne to the daring French explorer, who had gone +through the hunger, thirst, and hardship of the desert for months. Marchand had +to go from Fashoda all the same, but he went with no personal grievance. +</p> + +<p> +“If I look for the roots of Lord Kitchener’s greatness, I trace them to intense +ambition to succeed, to make the most of his opportunities—above all, to the +incessant desire to work and fill every hour of his days with something done. +He is sent as a youngster to Palestine, through peril to life, through great +privation, through heart-breaking drudgery, he pursues his work until he has +completed a map of all western Palestine to the amazement and delight of his +employers. And he values this experience so largely because he learns Arabic, +and, above all, he learns the Arabic character. One of the chroniclers of his +career makes the apt observation that, while the baton of the marshal is in +every French soldier’s knapsack, Kitchener found his coronet in the Arab +grammar. But how many soldiers or men of any class would have devoted the +leisure hours of a fiercely active task like Kitchener’s in Palestine to the +study of one of the most difficult of languages? +</p> + +<p> +“Hard work, patience, and the utilization of every second of time, the +eagerness always to learn—these are the chief secrets of Lord Kitchener’s +enormous success in life. But the man who works himself is ineffective in great +things unless he has the gift to choose the men who can work for him and with +him. This choice of subordinates is one of Lord Kitchener’s greatest powers. He +nearly always has had the right man in the right place. And his men return his +confidence because he gives them absolute confidence. He never thinks of asking +a subordinate whether he has done the job he has given him; he takes that for +granted, knowing his man; and he never worries his subordinates. +</p> + +<p> +“This is one of the reasons why, though he works so terrifically, he never is +tired, never worried. He sits down at his desk at the War Office for about ten +hours a day; but he sits there calmly, isn’t ringing at bells and shouting down +pipes; he does it all so quietly that it seems mere pastime; and the effect of +this perfect tranquillity produces an extraordinary result on those who work +with him. They also do their work easily, tranquilly, and without feeling it. +</p> + +<p> +“A great soldier certainly; but perhaps a greater organizer than anything else. +This is his supreme quality, and for that quality there is necessary, above all +things, a clear, penetrating brain. He doesn’t form any visions—as Napoleon +used to complain of some of his marshals. At school he was celebrated for his +knowledge of mathematics, and especially for his phenomenal rapidity in dealing +with figures, and it was not accident that so truly a scientific mind found its +natural place in the engineers. A mathematician, an engineer, a man of science, +a great accountant—these things he has been in all his enterprises. It was +these qualities that enabled him to make that astounding railway which brought +Cairo almost into touch with the Khalifa, who, with his predecessor, the Mahdi, +and with his tragically potent ally, the hungry and all-devouring desert, had +beaten back so many other attempts to reach and to beat him. +</p> + +<p> +“This man, who has fought such tremendous and historic battles and confronted +great odds, is yet a man who prefers a deal to a struggle; and, though he can +be so stern, has yet a diplomatic tact that gets him and his country out of +difficult hours. The nature, doubtless, is complex, and stern determination and +tenacity are part of it; but there is also the other side, which is much +forgotten—especially by that class of writers who have to describe human +character as rigidly symmetrical and unnaturally harmonious. +</p> + +<p> +“That cold and penetrating eye of his makes it impossible to imagine anybody +taking any liberties with Lord Kitchener; yet one of his greatest qualities, at +once useful and charming, is his accessibility. Anybody who has anything to say +to him can approach him; anybody who has anything to teach him will find a +ready and grateful learner. This is one of the secrets of his extraordinary +success and universal popularity in Egypt. Lord Cromer was a great Egyptian +ruler, and his services are imperishable and gigantic; but Lord Cromer was the +stern, solitary, and inaccessible bureaucrat who worked innumerable hours every +day at his desk, never learned the Arabic language, and possibly never quite +grasped the Arab nature. Lord Kitchener is the cadi under the tree. The mayor +or the citizens of the little Arab village can come to him, and the old +soldier, and even the fellah, alone; and they will find Lord Kitchener ready to +listen and to talk to them in their own tongue, to enter with gusto into the +pettiest details of their daily and squalid lives, and ready also to apply the +remedy to such grievances as commend themselves to his judgment. +</p> + +<p> +“As an illustration of his accessibility, let me repeat a delicious story which +delighted all Egypt. An old peasant came out of the depths of the land all the +way to Cairo to see the great Kitchener, with the complaint that his white mule +had been stolen. The whole official machinery was interrupted for a while, and +the old fellah went back with his white mule. You can fancy how that story was +repeated in every fellah cabin in the land, and how the devotion to Kitchener +and trust in his justice and in his sympathy went trumpet-tongued among this +race, downtrodden and neglected almost from the beginning of time.” +</p> + +<p> +Such is the man who, when chosen to head the British War Department, had his +bed sent to the office, that he might be on duty day and night if needed; who +insisted that no raw recruits should be sent to the front, but put them through +a rigid system of drill and physical exercise to toughen their muscles and fit +them for the work of a soldier; who said that there would be abundant time for +fighting, as in his judgment there was a year or more of war in prospect. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap06"></a>Chapter VI.<br/> +THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM</h2> + +<h3> +Its Effect on National conditions Finally Led to the War of 1914 +</h3> + +<p class="letter"> +Its Effect on National Conditions Finally Led to the War of 1914<br/> +Conditions in France and Germany—The Campaign in Italy—The Victory at +Marengo—Moreau at Hohenlinden—The Consul Made Emperor—The Code +Napoleon—Campaign of 1805—Battle of Austerlitz—The Conquest of Prussia—The +Invasion of Poland—Eylau and Friedland—Campaign of 1809—Victory at Wagram—The +Campaign in Spain—The Invasion of Russia—A Fatal Retreat—Dresden and +Leipzig—The Hundred Days—The Congress of Vienna—The Holy Alliance +</p> + +<p> +When, after a weary climb, we find ourselves on the summit of a lofty mountain, +and look back from that commanding 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 +striking 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 human 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 the men who have made and +the events which constitute history in the phase here outlined. +</p> + +<p> +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 thunder-cloud on a clear horizon, +and flashed the lightnings of victory in the dazzled eyes of the nations. All +the events of the period were concentrated 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. +</p> + +<p> +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; +Caesar 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 marching legions. As for France, he brought +it glory and left it ruin and dismay. +</p> + +<p> +The career of Napoleon Bonaparte began in a very modest way. Born in Corsica +and trained in a military school in France, his native ability as a man of +action was first made evident in 1794, when, under the orders of the National +Convention, he quelled the mob of Paris with loaded cannon and put a final end +to the Reign of Terror that had long prevailed. +</p> + +<p> +Placed at the head of the French army in Italy, Napoleon quickly astonished the +world by a series of the most brilliant victories, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 Napoleon, who had unexpectedly returned, did not hesitate to +overthrow them and the Assembly which supported them. A new government, 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. +</p> + +<h3>CONDITIONS IN FRANCE AND GERMANY</h3> + +<p> +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 century before, and its people were the freest of any +in 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 nineteenth century as the greatest nation on the +earth. The hammer 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 bringing back raw material for her factories and looms. +Wealth accumulated, 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. +</p> + +<p> +On the continent of Europe, Prussia, destined in time to become 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 military 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 principality of East Friesland, and +lifted Prussia into a leading position among the European states. +</p> + +<p> +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 +powerful unit; but he signally failed, and died in 1790, a disappointed and +embittered man. +</p> + +<p> +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. It was lord of +Lombardy and Venice in Italy, but was destined to play an unfortunate part in +the coming Napoleonic wars. +</p> + +<p> +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 admiration. +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +ransom. This was enough to win to his side the weak-minded Paul, whose delight +in soldiers he well knew. +</p> + +<p> +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 it with his +usual rapidity, secrecy, and keenness of judgment. +</p> + +<h3>THE CAMPAIGN IN ITALY</h3> + +<p> +There were two French armies in the field in the spring of 1800, Moreau +commanding in Germany, Massena in Italy. Switzerland, which was occupied by the +French, divided the armies of the enemy, and Napoleon determined to take +advantage of the separation of their forces, and strike an overwhelming blow. +He sent word to Moreau and Massena to keep the enemy in check at any cost, and +secretly gathered a third army, whose corps were dispersed here and there, +while the Powers of Europe were aware only of the army of reserve at Dijon, +made up of conscripts and invalids. All was ready for the great movement which +Napoleon had in view. +</p> + +<p> +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 determined to repeat this brilliant achievement and +emulate Hannibal’s career. Several passes across the mountains seemed favorable +to his purpose, especially those of the St. Bernard, the Simplon and Mount +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. +</p> + +<p> +The task of the Corsican was greater than that of the Carthaginian. 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 hollowed-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 munitions of war. Stores of +provisions had been placed at suitable points along the road. +</p> + +<p> +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. 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. +</p> + +<h3>THE VICTORY AR MARENGO</h3> + +<p> +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. Suddenly attacked and taken by surprise, his army was defeated and +driven back in retreat in the first stage of the battle. But Napoleon was not +the man to accept defeat. Hurrying up Desaix, one of his most trusted generals, +with his corps, he flung these fresh troops upon the enemy, following up the +assault with the dragoons of Kellermann. The result was a disastrous rout of +the Austrians, who were driven from the field, leaving thousands of dead, and +other thousands of prisoners in the hands of the enemy. +</p> + +<p> +A few days afterwards on the 19th, Moreau in Germany won a brilliant victory at +Hockstadt, near Blemheim, took 5,000 prisoners 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. +</p> + +<h3>MOREAU AT HOHENLINDEN</h3> + +<p> +What followed must be briefly detailed. Only a truce, not a peace, had followed +the victories of Napoleon and Moreau, and five months later, Austria refusing +to make peace without the concurrence of England, the war began again. Moreau +winning another famous victory on the plains of Hohenlinden, the Austrians +losing 8,000 in killed and wounded and 12,000 in prisoners. +</p> + +<p> +Moreau advanced to Vienna, where the emperor was forced to sign an armistice, +giving up to France the valley of the Danube, the country of the Tyrol, a +number of fortresses and large magazines of war material. This truce was +followed by a peace in February, 1801. It was one that left Napoleon the idol +of France, the terror of Europe, and the admiration of the world. He had proved +himself the mate of Caesar and Alexander as a conqueror. +</p> + +<h3>THE CONSUL MADE EMPEROR</h3> + +<p> +The events that followed must be briefly epitomized. For nearly the only time +in his career Napoleon had a period of peace. In this he showed himself an +autocratic but able ruler, making himself king in everything but name, +restoring the old court customs and etiquette, but not interfering with the +liberties and privileges which the people had won by the Revolution. Feudalism +had been definitely overthrown and Napoleon’s supremacy in the state was one +that recognized the popular freedom. +</p> + +<p> +The culmination of Napoleon’s ambition came in 1804, when he followed the +example of Caesar, the Roman conqueror, seeking the crown as a reward for his +victories. Like Caesar, he had his enemies, but, more fortunate than Caesar, he +escaped their plots and was elected Emperor of the French by an almost +unanimous vote of the people. The Pope was obliged to come to Paris at the fiat +of the new autocrat and to anoint him as emperor, the sanction of the Church +being thus given to his new dignity. His empire was one founded upon modern +ideas, one called into existence by the votes of a free people, not resting +upon the necks of a nation of serfs. +</p> + +<h3>THE CODE NAPOLEON</h3> + +<p> +During his brief respite from war Napoleon’s activity was great, his +statesmanship notable. Great public works, monuments to his glory, were +constructed, wide schemes of public improvement were entered upon, and +important changes were made in the financial system that provided the great +sums needed for these enterprises. 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 promulgated 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. +</p> + +<p> +The period of peace during which these events took place was one of brief +endurance. It practically ended in 1803, when Great Britain, Napoleon’s most +persistent foe, again declared war. But actual war did not begin until two +years later. +</p> + +<p> +The Emperor’s role in this period was one of threat. England had been invaded +and conquered from France once before. It might be again. Like William of +Normandy, Napoleon prepared a large fleet and strong army and threatened an +invasion of the island kingdom. This might possibly have been successful but +for the shrewd policy of William Pitt, the British Prime Minister, who +organized a coalition of Napoleon’s enemies in Europe which gave him a new use +for his army. +</p> + +<h3>CAMPAIGN OF 1805</h3> + +<p> +The coalition embraced Austria, Prussia, Russia, Sweden and Norway, with Great +Britain at their back. The bold Corsican had roused nearly all Europe against +him. He dealt with it in his usual alert and successful manner. +</p> + +<p> +Quick as were his enemies to come into the field, they were not quick enough +for their vigilant foe. The army prepared for the invasion of England was at +once set in motion towards the Rhine, and was handled with such skill as to +surround at Ulm the Austrian army under General Mack and force its surrender. +</p> + +<p> +This took place in October. On the 1st of December the two armies (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 world’s most memorable +battles. +</p> + +<h3>BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ</h3> + +<p> +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 proclamation to his troops. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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 choosing his ground. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The two emperors watched the movement without divining its intent. “See how the +French climb the height without staying to reply to our fire,” said Prince +Czartoryski, who stood near them. +</p> + +<p> +They were soon to learn why their fire was disdained. The allied force, pierced +in its center by the French, was flung back in disorder and on all sides broke +into a disorderly retreat. The slaughter was frightful. One division, cut off +from the army, threw down its arms and surrendered. Two columns rushed upon the +ice of a frozen lake. Upon this the fire of the French cannon was turned, the +ice splintered and gave way beneath their feet and thousands of the despairing +troops perished in the freezing waters. Of the whole army only one corps left +the field in order of battle. 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. Thus ended the most famous of Napoleon’s +battles. +</p> + +<p> +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 Confederation 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 is spread over Italy, the Netherlands and the south and west of +Germany. +</p> + +<p> +Changes so great as these could scarcely be made without exciting bitter +opposition. Prussia had been seriously affected by Napoleon’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. +</p> + +<h3>THE CONQUEST OF PRUSSIA</h3> + +<p> +It is by no means impossible that Napoleon had been working 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. +</p> + +<p> +The Prussians proved incapable of withstanding the impetuous 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. +</p> + +<p> +At the same time another battle was in progress near Auerstadt between Marshal +Davoust 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 William had lost his army and placed his kingdom in jeopardy. +“They can do nothing but gather up the debris,” said Napoleon. +</p> + +<p> +The occupation of Berlin, the Prussian capital, quickly followed, and the war +ended with new map-making which greatly reduced the influence of Prussia as a +European Power. +</p> + +<h3>THE INVASION OF POLAND</h3> + +<p> +Russia was still in arms, and occupied Poland. Thither the victorious French +now advanced, making Warsaw, the Polish capital, the goal of their march. The +Russians were beaten and forced back in every battle, and the Poles, hoping to +regain their lost liberties, gladly rose in aid of the invader. But the French +army found itself exposed to serious privations. The country was a frozen +desert, incapable of supplying food for an army. The wintry chill and the +desolate character of the country seriously interfered with Napoleon’s plans, +the troops being obliged to make their way through thick 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 northerners, accustomed to the climate, continued their +military operations. +</p> + +<h3>EYLAU AND FRIEDLAND</h3> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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, inhospitable country to which the demon of war had come. +</p> + +<p> +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 important 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. +</p> + +<p> +Nature, which had so far acted to check the advance of the French in Poland, +now threatened their defeat and destruction. A snow-fall began, so thick and +dense that the armies lost sight of each other, the French columns losing their +way in the gloom. When the snow ceased, after a half-hour’s fall, the French +army was in a critical position. It was in a wandering and disorganized state, +while the Russians were on the point of executing a vigorous turning movement. +</p> + +<p> +Yet the genius of Napoleon turned the scale. He ordered a grand charge of all +the cavalry of his army, driving the Russians back, occupying a hilly ground in +their rear, and in the end handling them so vigorously that a final retreat +began. +</p> + +<p> +Thus ended the most indecisive of Napoleon’s victories, one which had almost +been a defeat and which left both armies so exhausted that months passed before +either was in condition to resume the war. It was the month of June before the +armies were again put in motion. Now the wintry desolation was replaced by a +scene of green woodland, shining lakes and attractive villages, the conditions +being far more favorable for warlike operations. +</p> + +<p> +On June 13th the armies again met, this time at the town of Friedland, on the +River Alle, in the vicinity of Konigsberg, toward which the Russians were +marching. Here Benningsen, the Russian general, had incautiously concentrated +his troops within a bend of the river, a tactical mistake of which Napoleon +hastened to take advantage. +</p> + +<p> +General Ney fought his way into the town and took the bridges, while the main +force of the French marched upon the entrapped enemy, who met with complete +defeat, many being killed on the field, many more drowned in the river. +Konigsberg, the prize of victory, was quickly occupied by the French, Prussia +the ally of Russia, thus losing all its area except the single town of Memel. +The result was disastrous to the Prussian king, who was forced to yield more +than half his kingdom. +</p> + +<p> +Louisa, the beautiful queen of Frederick William of Prussia, had an interview +with Napoleon and earnestly sought to induce him to mitigate his harsh terms. +In vain she brought to bear upon him all her powers of persuasion and +attractive charm of manner. He continued cold and obdurate and she left Tilsit +deeply mortified and humiliated. +</p> + +<p> +If Napoleon had come near defeat in the campaign of 1807, he came much nearer +in that of 1809, in which his long career of victory was for a time diversified +by an example of defeat, from the consequences of which only his indomitable +energy saved him. And this was at the hands of the Austrians, who had so often +met with defeat and humiliation at his hands. +</p> + +<p> +In 1808 the defeat of his armies in Spain by the people organized into guerilla +bands forced him to take command there in person. He defeated the insurgents +wherever met, took the city of Saragossa and replaced his brother Joseph on the +throne. Then the outbreak of war in Austria called him away and he was forced +to leave Spain for later attention +</p> + +<h3>CAMPAIGN OF 1809</h3> + +<p> +The declaration of war by Austria arose from indignation at the arbitrary acts +of the conqueror, this growing so intense that in April 1809, a new declaration +was made and new armies called into the field. +</p> + +<p> +The French campaign was characterized by the usual rapidity. But on this +occasion the Archduke Charles, who led the Austrians, proved equally rapid, and +was in the field so quickly that the widely-spread French army was for a time +in imminent danger of being cut in two by the alert enemy. +</p> + +<p> +Only a brief hesitation on the part of the Archduke saved the French from this +peril. They concentrated with the utmost haste, forced the Austrians back, and +captured a large number of prisoners and cannon. In Italy, on the contrary, the +Austrians, were victorious, but the rapid advance of Napoleon towards Vienna +caused their recall and the campaign became a race for the capital of Austria. +In this Napoleon succeeded, the garrison yielding the city to his troops. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile the Archdukes Charles and John, the latter in command of the army +from Italy, were marching hastily towards the opposite side of the Danube. +Napoleon, seeking to strike a blow before a junction between the armies could +be made, crossed the river by the aid of bridges thrown from the island of +Lobau and occupied the villages of Aspern and Essling. +</p> + +<p> +This was done on May 20th, but during that night the strong current of the +river carried away the bridge, leaving the French in a perilous situation. On +the afternoon of the 21st the entire Austrian army, 70,000 to 80,000 strong, +attacked the French in the two villages, who held their posts only with the +greatest difficulty. +</p> + +<p> +By dawn of the 21st more than 70,000 French had crossed, but at this critical +interval the bridge again gave way, broken by the fireships and the stone-laden +boats sent by the Austrians down the swift current. The struggle went on all +day, the bridge being again built and again broken, and at night the French, +cut off from their supply of ammunition, were forced to retreat. Napoleon, for +the first time in his career, had met with defeat. More than 40,000 dead and +wounded lay on that fatal field, among them the brilliant Marshal Lannes, one +of Napoleon’s ablest aids. +</p> + +<h3>VICTORY AT WAGRAM</h3> + +<p> +Napoleon, however, had no thought of yielding his hold upon Vienna. He brought +forward new troops with all haste, until by July 1st he had an army of 150,000 +men. The Austrian army had also been augmented and now numbered 135,000 or +140,000 men. They had fortified the positions of the recent battle, expecting a +new attack in that quarter. +</p> + +<p> +But of this Napoleon had no intention. He had selected the heights from +Neusiedl to Wagram, occupied by the Austrians, but not fortified by them, as a +more favorable point, and during the night of July 4th he threw fresh bridges +from Lobau to the main land and set in motion the strong force occupying the +island. This moved against the heights of Wagram, occupying Aspern and Essling +in its advance. +</p> + +<p> +The battle of the next day was one of desperate fury. Finally the height was +gained, giving the French the key of the battlefield. The Archduke Charles +looked in vain for the army under his brother John, which failed to appear, +and, assailed at every point, was obliged to order a retreat. But this was no +rout. The retreat was conducted slowly and in battle array. Both the Russians +and the Austrians were proving worthy antagonists of the great Corsican. +Further hostilities were checked by a truce, preliminary to a treaty of peace, +signed October 14, 1809. +</p> + +<p> +Ambition, unrestrained by caution, uncontrolled by moderation, has its +inevitable end. An empire built upon victory, trusting solely to military +genius, prepared for itself the elements 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 decline began. +</p> + +<h3>THE CAMPAIGN IN SPAIN</h3> + +<p> +The second check to Napoleon’s triumphant career came from one of the weaker +nations of Europe, aided by the British under a commander of renown. Napoleon, +as already stated, after overturning Spain had been called away by the Austrian +war. This ended by the treaty of peace, he filled Spain once more 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 salient +points, the people refused to submit, but from their mountain fastnesses kept +up a petty and annoying war. +</p> + +<p> +Massena invaded Portugal in 1811, but here he was faced by General Wellington, +leading a British army, and was forced to retreat. Soult, who followed him, was +equally unsuccessful, and when Napoleon in 1812 depleted his army in Spain for +the Russian campaign, Wellington marched his army into Spain and, aided by the +Spanish patriots, took possession of Madrid, driving King Joseph from his +throne. +</p> + +<h3>THE INVASION OF RUSSIA</h3> + +<p> +Meanwhile Napoleon had entered upon the greatest and most disastrous campaign +in his history. Defied by Alexander I, Czar of Russia, he had declared war upon +that empire and sought its conquest with the greatest army that ever marched +under his banners. 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 the power of the +mighty conqueror and delivered Europe from his autocratic grasp. +</p> + +<p> +We cannot give the details of this fatal campaign, and shall only summarize its +chief incidents. Barclay de Tolly, Alexander’s commander in chief, adopted a +Fabian policy, that of persistently avoiding battle, and keeping the French in +pursuit of a fleeting will-of-the-wisp while their army wasted away from +hardship and disease in the inhospitable Russian clime. +</p> + +<p> +His method was a wise one, desertion, illness, death of the untrained recruits +in rapid march under the hot midsummer sun, did the work of many battles, and +when Smolensk was reached after two months of bootless marching, the “Grand +Army” was bound to have been reduced to half its numbers. +</p> + +<p> +Moscow, the old capital of the Empire, was Napoleon’s goal. He felt sure that +the occupation of that city would bring the Russians to bay and force them to +accept terms of peace. He was sadly mistaken. The Russians, weary of +retreating, faced him in one battle, that of Borodino. Here they fought +stubbornly, but with the usual result. They could not stand against the +impetuous dash of Napoleon’s veterans and were forced to retreat, leaving +40,000 dead and wounded upon the field. But the French army had lost more than +30,000, including an unusual number of generals, two being killed and +thirty-nine wounded. +</p> + +<h3>A FATAL RETREAT</h3> + +<p> +On the 15th of September, Moscow, the “Holy City” of Russia was occupied, +Napoleon taking up his quarters in the famous palace of the Kremlin, from which +he hoped to dictate terms of peace to the obstinate Czar. What were his +feelings on the next morning when word was brought him that Moscow was on fire, +and flames were seen leaping into the air in all directions. +</p> + +<p> +The fire had been premeditated. From every quarter rose the devouring flames. +Even the Kremlin did not escape and Napoleon was obliged to seek shelter +outside the city, which continued to burn for three days, when the wind sank +and rain poured upon the smoldering embers. +</p> + +<p> +The dismayed conqueror waited in vain. He wrote letters to the Czar, suggesting +peace. His letters were left unanswered. He hung on despairingly until the 18th +of October, when he reluctantly gave the order to retreat. Too long he had +waited, for the terrible Russian winter was about to descend. +</p> + +<p> +That retreat was a frightful one. The army had been reduced to 103,000 men; the +army followers had also greatly decreased in numbers. But it was still a large +host that set out upon its long march over the frozen Russian plains. +</p> + +<p> +The Russian policy now changed. The retreating army was attacked at every +suitable point. The food supply rapidly failed. On again reaching Smolensk the +army was only 42,000 strong, though the camp followers are said to have still +numbered 60,000. +</p> + +<p> +On the 26th of November 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, +who had been the hero of the retreat, was the last man to cross that frightful +stream. +</p> + +<p> +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 military history of the world. +</p> + +<h3>DRESDEN AND LEIPZIG</h3> + +<p> +The lion was at bay, but there was fight left in him still. He hurried back to +France, gathered another army, refused all offers of peace on the terms +suggested by his enemies, and concentrated an army at Dresden. Here on August +26, 1813, his last great victory was won. +</p> + +<p> +The final stand came at Leipzig, where, October 16–18, he waged a three days’ +battle against all the powers of central and eastern Europe. Then, his +ammunition nearly exhausted, he was forced to give the order to retreat. +</p> + +<p> +The struggle was soon at an end. France was quickly invaded, Paris was obliged +to surrender, and on April 7, 1814, the emperor signed an act of abdication and +was exiled to the small island of Elba, in the Mediterranean, with an army of +400 men, chosen from his famous Old Guard. But the Powers of Europe, despite +their long experience of Napoleon, did not yet recognize the ability and +audacity of the man with whom they had to deal. While the Congress of Vienna, +convened to restore the old constitution of Europe, was deliberating and +disputing, word came that their dethroned enemy was again on the soil of France +and Louis XVIII, his successor, was in full flight. He had landed on March 1, +1815, and was marching back to Paris, the people and the army rallying to his +support. +</p> + +<h3>THE HUNDRED DAYS</h3> + +<p> +Then came the famous Hundred Days, in which Napoleon showed much of his old +ability, rapidly organizing a new army, with which in June he marched into +Belgium, where the British under Wellington and the Prussians under Blucher had +gathered to meet him. +</p> + +<p> +On the 16rh he defeated Blucher at Ligny. On the 18th he met Wellington at +Waterloo, and after a desperate struggle went down in utter defeat. All day +long the French and British had fought without victory for either, but the +arrival of Blucher with his Prussians turned the scale. The French army broke +and fled in disastrous rout, three-fourths of its force being left on the +field, dead, wounded, or prisoners. It was the great soldier’s last fight. He +was forced to surrender the throne, and was again exiled, this time to the +island of St. Helena, in the south Atlantic. No such mistake as that of Elba +was safe to make again. Here ended the days of Napoleon Bonaparte, the greatest +soldier the world had ever known. His final hour of glory came in 1842, when +his remains were brought in pomp to Paris, there to find a final resting place +in the Hotel des Invalides. +</p> + +<h3>THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA</h3> + +<p> +This Congress of the rulers and statesmen of Europe, which opened in September, +1814, and continued its work after the fall of Napoleon at Waterloo, occupied +itself with map-making on a liberal scale. The empire which the conqueror had +built up at the expense of the neighboring countries, was quickly dismembered +and France reduced to its former limits, while all the surrounding Powers took +their shares of the spoils, Belgium and Holland being combined into a single +kingdom. +</p> + +<p> +As for the rights of the people, what had become of them? Had they been swept +away and the old wrongs of the people brought back? Not quite. The frenzied +enthusiasm for liberty and human rights of the past twenty-five years could not +go altogether for nothing. The lingering 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 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. +</p> + +<h3>THE HOLY ALLIANCE</h3> + +<p> +Map-making was not the whole work of the Congress of Vienna. An association was +made of the rulers of Russia, Austria and Prussia, under the promising title of +the “Holy Alliance.” These devout autocrats proposed to rule in accordance with +the precepts of the Bible, to govern their subjects like loving parents, and to +see that peace, justice and religion should flourish in their dominions. +</p> + +<p> +Such was the theory, the real purpose was one of absolute dominion, that of +uniting their forces against democracy and revolution wherever these should +show themselves. It was not long before there was work for them to do. The +people began to move. The attempt to re-establish absolute governments shook +them out of sluggish acceptance. Revolution lifted its head in spite of the +Holy Alliance, its first field being Spain. Revolt broke out there in 1820 and +was quickly followed by a similar revolt in Naples. +</p> + +<p> +These revolutionary movements roused the members of the Alliance. An Austrian +army invaded Italy, a French one, under the influence of the Alliance, was sent +to Spain, and both the revolutions were vigorously quelled. The only revolt +that succeeded was one in Greece against the Turkish power. There was no desire +to sustain the Turks, and a Russian army was finally sent to aid the Greeks, +whose freedom was attained in April, 1830. +</p> + +<p> +Such were the chief events that followed the fall of Napoleon. Reaction was the +order of the day. But it was a reaction that was to be violently shaken in the +period now reached, the revolutionary year of 1830. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap07"></a>Chapter VII.<br/> +PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +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 +</p> + +<p> +Pan-Slavism against Pan-Germanism was the issue which was launched when the +Emperor of all the Russias took up Servia’s 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 +plenty to menace the allied German Powers, even if there were not allied French +arms, on Germany’s other flank, and Britain’s naval supremacy to cope with. +Slavs in past times had spread over all of eastern Europe, from the Arctic to +the Adriatic and the Aegean 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 comprising the main body of the Balkan people. For over a thousand +years these Slavs have peopled Europe east of the Elbe River. And for centuries +they kept the hordes of Cossacks, Turks and barbarians off Europe. Russia in +those days was called “the nation of the sword.” And over a hundred 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 them from +defeat. In later wars oppression of the Slavs was a prominent issue. +</p> + +<h3>RUSSIA’S PART IN THE SERVIAN ISSUE</h3> + +<p> +What 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 +possibly 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 that is the strength of the +Russian bear, once he is roused to sullen fury? In the ten years following the +Russo-Japanese War Russia had greatly added to her army and navy, and +materially cut down the time required for the mobilization of her forces by +eliminating many of the difficulties attendant upon transportation and +equipment of troops. Her quiet advances toward becoming a Power to be feared by +the most formidable European Nation had come to be recognized even if in a +vague way. +</p> + +<p> +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 army, 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 Russia’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 equipment and horses—the Cossack is almost invariably a cavalryman—they +pass through three periods of four years each, with diminishing duties, until +they wind up in the reserve, which is liable to be called into the field in +time of war. +</p> + +<h3>STRENGTH OF THE RUSSIAN ARMY</h3> + +<p> +Russia’s field army consists of three powerful divisions—the army 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 artillery for such a force is lacking. Two +and three-quarter million men could probably be mustered at one time. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<h3>THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE SLAVS</h3> + +<p> +To make matters worse for the Austrian or German invader, there are conflicting +relations between their own people and the Russians. The Polish provinces, for +instance, however unfriendly toward Russia, as one of the dismemberers of the +Polish kingdom, are strongly bound in blood and speech to the Russian nation. +The Poles and Russians are brother Slavs, and are likely to remember 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 little less bitter. +</p> + +<p> +The estimate is made that Europe contains in all about 140,000,000 Slavs, this +being the most numerous race on the continent, the Teutons ranking second. +While the great bulk of these are natives of Russia, they have penetrated in +large numbers 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 number 780,000, chiefly in Dalmatia, while +there are in all 660,000 Orthodox and nearly 3,500,000 Greek Uniats. +</p> + +<p> +In Hungary, with its subject kingdoms of Croatia and Slavonia, 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 Catholic +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, under Hungarian rule, for over two centuries. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 Bulgarians, Serbs and Montenegrins of +the Balkan region, constituting about 7,0000,000 more. +</p> + +<h3>ORIGIN OF PAN-SLAVISM</h3> + +<p> +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 revolutionary 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 addition 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. +</p> + +<h3>THE CZAR’S PROCLAMATION</h3> + +<p> +In this connection the proclamation made by the Russian Czar to his people on +August 3d, possesses much interest, as indicating his Slavic sentiment. The +text is as follows: +</p> + +<p> +“By the grace of God we, Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias, +King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland, 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. +</p> + +<p> +“But the fraternal sentiments of the Russian people for the Slavs have been +awakened with perfect unanimity and extraordinary force in these last few days, +when Austria-Hungary knowingly addressed to Servia claims unacceptable to an +independent state. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“Forced by the situation thus created to take necessary measures of precaution, +we ordered the army 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 Germany and her ally, Austria, for the blood and the +property of our subjects were dear to us. +</p> + +<p> +“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, Germany demanded their immediate +cessation. Being rebuffed in this demand, Germany suddenly declared war on +Russia. +</p> + +<p> +“Today it is not only the protection of a country 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. +</p> + +<p> +“We believe unshakably that all our faithful subjects will rise with unanimity +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. +</p> + +<p> +“With a profound faith in the justice of our work and with a humble hope in +omnipotent providence in prayer we call God’s blessing on holy Russia and her +valiant troops. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +“Nicholas.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<h3>THE TEUTONS OF EUROPE</h3> + +<p> +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 +Switzerland, the English-speaking people of the British Islands (in a very +far-away sense), the Scandinavian-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 very marked racial and natural divergence 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 states +in the German Empire. It is the Teuton considered in this minor sense 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 Germans nearly three to one, and may perhaps do so in the future in a still +greater proportion. +</p> + +<p> +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 character and condition than +the Germans. The cultivated portion of Slavic populations forms a very 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. +</p> + +<h3>INTERMINGLING OF RACES</h3> + +<p> +There has long been an embittered, remorseless, and often bloody struggle for +supremacy between the Teuton and the Slav, yet there has been considerable +intermingling of the races, many German traders making their way into Russian +towns, while multitudes of Slavic laborers have penetrated into German +communities. Eastern Prussia has large populations of Slavs and its Polish +subjects 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 recognized as such, and +there are Slavic populations somewhat indiscriminately scattered throughout the +dual-monarchy, especially in Hungary. +</p> + +<p> +These Slavic populations, however, differ widely in religious belief. While +largely of the Greek confession of faith, a considerable section of them are +Roman Catholics, and many are faithful Mohammedans. 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 +condition and sentiment among these mixed populations. +</p> + +<h3>THE NATIONS AT WAR</h3> + +<p> +In the war which sprang so suddenly and startlingly into the field of events in +1914 very little of this sentiment of race animosity 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-Germanic member of the Triple Alliance, it at first wisely declared itself +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 under 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 interest 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 intermarriage of royal families in +these later days. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap08"></a>Chapter VIII.<br/> +THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON</h2> + +<h3> +The Final Overthrow of Napoleonism +</h3> + +<p class="letter"> +The Coup-d’état of 1851—From President to Emperor—The Empire is Peace—War With +Austria—The Austrians Advance—The Battle of Magenta—Possession of +Lombardy—French Victory at Solferino—Treaty of Peace—Invasion of Mexico—End of +Napoleon’s Career +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +Philippe 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 soldiers whom the would-be +sovereign 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. +</p> + +<p> +The revolution of 1848 gave the restless and ambitious claimant a more +promising opportunity. He returned to France, was elected to the National +Assembly, and on the adoption of the republican constitution offered himself as +a candidate for the presidency of the new republic. And now the magic of the +name of Napoleon told. General Cavaignac, his chief competitor, was supported +by the solid men of the country, who distrusted his opponent; 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. +</p> + +<p> +The new President of France soon showed his ambition. He became engaged in a +contest with the Assembly and aroused the distrust of the Republicans 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 republic in that city. He +sought to make his cabinet officers the pliant 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 universal suffrage, 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. +</p> + +<h3>THE “COUP D’ETAT” OF 1851</h3> + +<p> +Louis Napoleon meanwhile was preparing for a daring act. He secretly obtained +the support of the army leaders and prepared 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 Austerlitz—he got rid of his opponents +by means of the memorable COUP D’ETAT, and seized the supreme power of the +state. +</p> + +<p> +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 President were in prison. Most of them were +afterwards exiled, some for life, some for shorter terms. This act of outrage +and alleged violation of plighted faith by their ruler roused the socialists +and republicans 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 Napoleon 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. +</p> + +<p> +Napoleon had previously sought to gain the approval of the people by liberal +and charitable acts, and to win the good will of the civic authorities by +numerous progresses through the interior. He now stood 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 million votes. By its terms Louis +Napoleon was to be president of France for ten years, with power 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. +</p> + +<h3>FROM PRESIDENT TO EMPEROR</h3> + +<p> +This 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, many denied, but it served the President’s purpose. +</p> + +<p> +Thus ended the second French republic, by an act of usurpation of the strongest +and yet most popular character. The partisans of the new emperor were rewarded +with the chief offices of the state; the leading republicans languished 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. +</p> + +<p> +The crowning of a new emperor of the Napoleonic family in France naturally +filled Europe with apprehensions. But Napoleon III, as he styled himself, was +an older man than Napoleon I, and seemingly less likely 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: “France wishes for +peace; and when France is satisfied the world is quiet.” +</p> + +<p> +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, dutchess of Teba. At the same time +he proclaimed that, “A sovereign raised to the throne by a new principle should +remain 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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 protecting them from poverty and wretchedness. +During a dearth in 1853 a “baking fund” was organized in Paris, the city +contributing funds 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 improvement of the +condition of its people. +</p> + +<h3>THE EMPIRE IS PEACE</h3> + +<p> +But the new emperor, while thus actively engaged in labors of peace 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 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 possessed a large share of the Napoleonic ambition, and hoped by +military glory to surround his throne with some of the luster of that of +Napoleon the First. +</p> + +<p> +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 politics, showing the world that one worthy to bear the name of +Napoleon was on the throne. +</p> + +<p> +The very beginning of Louis Napoleon’s career of ambition, as president of the +French Republic, was signalized by an act of military force, in sending an army +to Rome and putting an end to the attempted Italian republic. These troops were +kept there until 1866, and the aspirations of the Italian 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 retarded, perhaps, for a +time the inevitable union of the Italian states into a single kingdom; they +certainly prevented the establishment of a republic. +</p> + +<p> +In 1854 Napoleon allied 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, carrying by storm one of its two great fortresses and +turning its guns upon the city. +</p> + +<h3>WAR WITH AUSTRIA</h3> + +<p> +The next act of war-policy by the French emperor was against Austria. As the +career of conquest of Napoleon had begun with an attack upon the Austrians in +Italy, Napoleon III attempted a similar enterprise, and with equal success. He +was said to have been cautiously preparing 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 assassination. Felice Orsini, a fanatical +Italian patriot, incensed at Napoleon 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 while in prison expressed patriotic sentiments and a loud-voiced love +for his country. “Remember that the Italians shed their blood for Napoleon the +Great,” he wrote to the emperor. “Liberate my country, and the blessings of +twenty-five millions of people will follow you to posterity.” +</p> + +<p> +Louis Napoleon, it was alleged, 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 Napoleon 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 Italian independence. +</p> + +<p> +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 announce 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 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 Emmanuel made it +evident to them that an alliance had been made with France and that the hour of +vengeance was at hand. +</p> + +<p> +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 complete 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. +</p> + +<h3>THE AUSTRIANS ADVANCE</h3> + +<p> +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 purposes, and +accused Austria of breaking the peace by invading the territory of his ally, +the king of Sardinia. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. While +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 then, aroused by the danger of +Milan, began his retreat across the Ticino, which he had so uselessly crossed. +</p> + +<p> +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 disastrous rout only because the Austrians were led by +a 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 military genius was the one thing wanting. +</p> + +<p> +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 +defensive 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 afterwards with stubborn courage. +</p> + +<h3>THE BATTLE OF MAGENTA</h3> + +<p> +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 Bufflora, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 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 sound of the distant +cannon. But, unlike Desaix, he moved so deliberately 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 deliberate 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 commanders. On his way back he made a second narrow escape from +capture by the Uhlans. +</p> + +<p> +The drums now beat the charge, and a determined attack was made by the French, +the enemy’s main column 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 around 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. +</p> + +<p> +MacMahon and Mellinet and the French had won the day. Victor Emmanuel and the +Sardinians did not reach the ground until 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. +</p> + +<h3>POSSESSION OF LOMBARDY</h3> + +<p> +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, leaving them to be occupied by the French and Italians. 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. Meanwhile 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 or Peschiera, Mantua, Verona, and Leguano, the mainstay of the +Austrian power in Italy. +</p> + +<p> +The French and Italians slowly pursued the retreating Austrians, 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. +</p> + +<h3>FRENCH VICTORY AT SOLFERINO</h3> + +<p> +At two o’colck 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 believe that, +although a strong detachment 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 intelligence department was badly served. The +Austrians had stolen a march upon Napoleon. Undetected by the French scouts, +they had recrossed the Mincio, and by nightfall of the 23rd their leading +columns were occupying 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 army 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 armies came in contact early in the morning of the 24th +of June the Austrians were quite as much taken by surprise as the French. +</p> + +<p> +The Austrian army, superior in numbers 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 comparatively weak and without reserves. Napoleon, who that +morning received complete intelligence 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 reinforcements 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 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 measured their strength against each other for +twelve hours. 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 +attacks had been made upon well-defended heights, but the number of prisoners +was not nearly so great. +</p> + +<h3>TREATY OF PEACE</h3> + +<p> +The victories in Italy filled the French people with the warmest admiration for +their emperor, they thinking, in their enthusiasm, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Napoleon, wise enough to secure what he had won, without hazarding its loss, +arranged a meeting with the Austrian emperor, whom he found quite as ready for +peace. The terms of the truce arranged between them were that Austria should +abandon Lombardy to the line of the Mincio, almost its eastern boundry, and +that Italy should form a confederacy under the presidency of the pope. In the +treaty subsequently made only the first of these conditions was maintained, +Lombardy passing to the king of Sardinia. Hw received also the small states of +Central Italy, whose tyrants had fled, and ceded to Napoleon, as a reward for +his assistance, the realm of Savoy and the city and territory of Nice. +</p> + +<h3>INVASION OF MEXICO</h3> + +<p> +Napoleon III had now reached the summit of his career. In succeeding years the +French were to learn that whatever his ability Napoleon III was not a +counterpart of the great Napoleon. He gradually lost the prestige he had gained +at Magenta and Solferino. His first 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 into an empire, placing the Archduke +Maximilian of Austria on the throne. +</p> + +<p> +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 found it convenient to withdraw them early +in 1867. They had no sooner gone than the Mexicans were in arms against +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.” +</p> + +<h3>END OF NAPOLEON’S CAREER</h3> + +<p> +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, and then loosened somewhat the reins of personal government, 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 conditions +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap09"></a>Chapter IX.<br/> +GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY</h2> + +<h3> +Power of Austria Broken +</h3> + +<p class="letter"> +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 +</p> + +<p> +From the time of the fall of the Roman Empire until late in the nineteenth +century, a period of some fourteen hundred 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 peninsula, so that the fair form of liberty fled in dismay +from its shores. +</p> + +<p> +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 +watchword 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 nineteenth 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 +indefatigable conspirator, and Garibaldi, the valorous fighter; to whose names +should be added that of the eminent statesman, Count Cavour, and that of the +man who shared their statecraft and labors, Victor Emmanuel, the first king of +united Italy. +</p> + +<h3>THE CARBONARI</h3> + +<p> +The basis of the revolutionary movements in Italy was the secret political +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 +constitution which it had prepared. The revolution was put down in the +following year by the Austrians, acting as the agents of the “Holy +Alliance”—the compact of Austria, Prussia and Russia. +</p> + +<p> +An ordinance was passed condemning any one who should attend a meeting of the +Carbonari to capital punishment. 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 almost to succeed in his assassination, for +his failure to live up to his obligations as an alleged member of the society. +</p> + +<h3>MAZZINI AND GARIBALDI</h3> + +<p> +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 Italian liberty. 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 kingdom 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 fourteen years of his life were largely spent in +South America, in whose wars he played a leading part. +</p> + +<p> +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 Neapolitan 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 in 1850 became a resident of New York. For some time he worked +in a manufactory of candles on Staten Island, and afterwards made several +voyages on the Pacific. +</p> + +<p> +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 or 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 or +Parma sought refuge in Switzerland. The duke of Modena found shelter in the +Austrian camp. Everywhere the brood of tyrants took to flight. Bologna threw +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 power 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. +</p> + +<h3>CAVOUR THE STATESMAN</h3> + +<p> +It will not suffice 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, Count 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 liberty 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, +undismayed 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. +</p> + +<h3>THE INVASION OF SICILY</h3> + +<p> +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 with secret societies, and fortunately at this time the Swiss mercenaries +were recalled home, leaving to Francis only his native troops, many of them +disloyal at heart to his cause. This was the critical interval which Mazzini +and Garibaldi chose for their work. +</p> + +<p> +At the beginning of April, 1860, the signal was given by separate insurrections +in Messina and Palermo. These were easily suppressed by the troops in garrison; +but though both cities were declared in a state of siege, demonstrations took +place by which the revolutionary chiefs excited the public mind. On the 6th of +May, Garibaldi started with two steamers from Genoa with about a thousand +Italian 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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 dispatched with strong reinforcements to Sicily, +furiously bombarded the insurgent city, so that Palermo was reduced almost to a +heap of ruins. +</p> + +<p> +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 followers, 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 Garibaldi’s fame was everywhere +spread abroad. The glowing fancy of the Italians 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 liberal 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<h3>OCCUPATION OF NAPLES</h3> + +<p> +Europe was astounded at the remarkable success of Garibaldi’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 surrendered 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 +Volturno. The next day Garibaldi with a few followers, entered Naples, whose +populace received him with frantic shouts of welcome. +</p> + +<p> +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 of the pope had become serious. He refused to grant the +reforms suggested by the French emperor, and threatened with excommunication +any one who should meddle with the domain of the Church. Money was collected +from faithful Catholics throughout the world, a summons 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<h3>VICTOR EMMANUEL TAKES COMMAND</h3> + +<p> +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 +Emmanuel arrived and took command. There was no longer a papal army to oppose +him, and the march southward proceeded without a check. +</p> + +<p> +The object of the king in assuming the chief command 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 +Volturno had been slow; and the expectation that the Neapolitan army would go +over to the invaders 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 +Garibaldi 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. +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly, when Victor Emmanuel entered Sessa, at the head of his army, +Garibaldi was easily induced to place his dictatorial power in the hands of the +king, to whom he left the completion 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 recommending his companions in +arms to his majesty’s special favor, he retired to his home on the island of +Caprera, refusing to receive a reward, in any shape or form, for his services +to the state and its head. +</p> + +<p> +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 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. +</p> + +<h3>WATCHWORD OF THE PATRIOTS</h3> + +<p> +Great as had been the change which two years had made, the patriots of Italy +were not satisfied. “Free from the Alps to the Adriatic!” was their cry; “Rome +and Venice!” became the watchword 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. +</p> + +<p> +In June 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 +energetically warned all Italians against taking part in revolutionary +enterprises. +</p> + +<h3>GARIBALDI MARCHES AGAINST ROME</h3> + +<p> +But Garibaldi persisted in his design. When his way was barred by the garrison +of Messina he tuned aside to Catania, where he embarked with 2,000 volunteers, +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 +followers, into the Calabrian mountains. But his enterprise was quickly and +disastrously ended. General Cialdini despatched a division of the regular army, +under Colonel Pallavicino, against the volunteer bands. At Aspromonte, on the +28th of August, the two forces came into collision. 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 carried 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 wound. He had at least the consolation +that all Europe looked with sympathy and interest upon the unfortunate hero; +and a general sense of relief was felt when, restored to health, he was set +free, and allowed to return to his rocky island of Caprera. +</p> + +<p> +Victor Emmanuel was seeking to accomplish 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 spite +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 probably in a thousand +years. +</p> + +<p> +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 alliance with Prussia, and Victor Emmanuel hastened to lead an +army across the Mincio to the invasion of Venetia, the last Austrian province +in Italy. Garibaldi at the same time was to invade the Tyrol with his +volunteers. The enterprise ended in disaster. The Austrian troops, under the +Archduke Albert, encountered the Italians at Custozza and gained a brilliant +victory, despite the much greater numbers of the Italians. +</p> + +<p> +Fortunately for Italy, the Austrians had been unsuccessful in the north, and +the emperor, with the hope of gaining the alliance 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 alliance. Though the +Austrians were retreating from a country which no longer belonged to them, the +invasion of Venetia by the Italians continued, and several conflicts with the +Austrian army took place. +</p> + +<h3>BATTLE OF IRONCLADS</h3> + +<p> +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 countries concerned had fleets on the +Adriatic. Italy was the strongest in navel 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 command of this fleet was +an admiral in whose blood was the iron which was lacking on his ships, +Tegetthoff, the Nelson 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. +</p> + +<p> +Persano, the Italian 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 combined 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 beginning to tell. “Ironclads will ram +and sink the enemy,” signaled Tegetthoff. It was the last order he gave until +the battle was won. +</p> + +<p> +Soon the two lines of ironclads closed amid thick clouds of smoke. Tegetthoff, +in his flagship, the Ferdinand Max, twice rammed a grey ironclad without +effect. Then, out of the smoke, loomed up the tall masts of the Re d’Italia, +Persano’s flagship in the beginning 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 helm. +</p> + +<p> +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 most powerful vessel in the +Adriatic, kept outside of the battle line, and was of little 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 Austrian +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. +</p> + +<h3>FINAL ACT OF ITALIAN UNITY</h3> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 French army of occupation being returned to Civita Vecchia, where it was +kept for several years. +</p> + +<p> +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 concentrated into a single nation, under +one king. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap10"></a>Chapter X.<br/> +THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY</h2> + +<h3> +Beginnings of Modern World Power +</h3> + +<p class="letter"> +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 +</p> + +<p> +The effort made in 1848 to unify Germany had failed for two reasons—first, +because its promoters had not sufficiently 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 Italian war, as was readily 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 was issued on September +4, 1860, a proclamation whose terms, though in moderate form, 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, +William 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 William IV, with the same ambition as his brother, had +too many prejudices and too much confusion in his mind to be capable of +realizing 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. +</p> + +<h3>WILLIAM I OF PRUSSIA</h3> + +<p> +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 +arms 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. +</p> + +<p> +“I am the first king,” he said at his coronation, “to assume power since the +throne has been surrounded with modern institutions, BUT I do not forget that +the crown comes from God.” +</p> + +<p> +He had none of the higher talents that mark great men, but he possessed the two +essential qualities of the head of a state—firmness 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. +</p> + +<p> +Advised by Von Moltke, the army’s chief of staff after 1858, and Von Roon, the +great administrator, who filled the office of minister of war, he changed the +organization of 1814, which had become insufficient. Instead of brigades formed +in war time, half of men 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 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. +</p> + +<h3>BISMARCK’S EARLY CAREER</h3> + +<p> +Such a transformation entailed heavy expenses. The Prussian Chamber, made up +for the most part of Liberals, did not appreciate its utility. Moreover, it was +not in favor of increasing the number of officers, because they were recruited +from the nobility. 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 Bismarck-Schonhausen, +born April 1, 1815, belonged by birth to that minor Prussian nobility, rough +and realistic, 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. +Frederick William IV entrusted him with representing Prussia at Frankfort, +where he assumed the same attitude towards the Austrians (1851–59). +</p> + +<p> +He was afterward ambassador at St. Petersburg, and had just been sent to Paris +in the same capacity when he became prime minister. +</p> + +<p> +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; 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. +</p> + +<h3>THE SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN QUESTION</h3> + +<p> +This was the first of the various important questions of international 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. +</p> + +<p> +The Treaty of London in 1852 had maintained the union 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 +common 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 German diet. +</p> + +<p> +In all this there was food for an indefinite contest, for, on the 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 constitution abolished in +Schleswig. +</p> + +<p> +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 probably have intervened and a congress +would have restored Schleswig to the Danish realm. 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 Flensburg 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 Van +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. +</p> + +<h3>CONQUEST OF THE DUCHIES</h3> + +<p> +The fate of the conquest remained to be decided upon. Bismarck 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 +Augstenburg, 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. +</p> + +<h3>BISMARCK’S WIDER VIEWS</h3> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +In such a war, however, it was important to secure the neutrality of France. +The alert Prussian statesman had already 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 France, and returned with the fixed design of driving Austria to +the wall. +</p> + +<h3>WAR FORCED ON AUSTRIA</h3> + +<p> +He found the desired pretext in the Holstein question and the far 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. +</p> + +<p> +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, +disarmament in Venetia, a condition he knew to be unacceptable. On May 7, 1866, +he declared he would not accept the diet’s intervention in the duchies +question, and on the 8th ordered the mobilization of the Prussian army. +</p> + +<p> +Napoleon III at this juncture proposed the holding of a congress for settling +the duchies question and that of federal reform. Thiers had warned him in 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 indemnified at Prussia’s expense. By a strange inconsistency the French +emperor proposed at the same time to make Prussia more homogeneous in the +north. +</p> + +<p> +Bismarck acted in a far clearer manner than the French emperor. On June 5th, +General von Gablenz, the Austrian governor of Holstein, 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 exclusion of Austria, +the election of a parliament 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 Italians. Austria had 335,000 troops and its +German allies 146,000. Generally the last named had little zeal. +</p> + +<p> +The Austrian government acted slowly, while its adversary vigorously assumed +the offensive. On June 16th, after an unavailing 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 +prisoner, while his army joined the Bavarians. Still less fortunate was the +king 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). +</p> + +<p> +In the south the Prussian General Vogel von Falkenstein, who had but 57,000 men +against over 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 Aschaffenurg (July 14th). On the 16th the +Prussians entered Frankfort, which they overwhelmed with requisitions and +contributions. General Manteuffel, Falkenstein’s successor, then drove the +federal armies from the line of the Tauber, where they had united, back to +Wurzburg. On the 28th an armistice was concluded. +</p> + +<h3>THE WAR IN ITALY</h3> + +<p> +The Italians had been less successful. Archduke Albert, who commanded in +Venetia, had only 70,000 men, but they were Croatian 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 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. +</p> + +<h3>AUSTRIA’S SIGNAL DEFEAT OF SADOWA</h3> + +<p> +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 brilliant 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 +following night, June 29–30th, the second Prussian army reached the Elbe. +</p> + +<p> +Benedek’s incapacity was now completely demonstrated. He telegraphed to the +emperor to make peace at any cost, and retreated on Olmutz. 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 half 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 strongest 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 without much +difficulty; but the rest, three army corps, driven towards the Elbe by the +entire victorious army, would have been annihilated 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. +</p> + +<h3>THE TREATY OF PRAGUE</h3> + +<p> +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 Napoleon 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, in spite of +his minister, Drouyn de Lhuys, to consent to the annexations 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 William that he must not, by territorial demands, +compromise the alliance which he afterwards realized. +</p> + +<p> +On July 26th the peace preliminaries of Nikolsburg were signed. Austria paid a +considerable indemnity, abandoned its former position 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 likewise 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 addition 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. +</p> + +<h3>GERMANY AFTER 1866</h3> + +<p> +Prussia, now master of Germany, annexed Hanover, Hesse-Cassel, Nassau and the +city of Frankfort, which increased its population by four and a half millions. +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 military agreements +which connected them with Prussia. Napoleon III tried in vain to obtain a +compensation for that enormous 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 threat of war. He added, however, that he would consent to an +enlargement of France from Belgium, a project which he was afterwards careful +to mention as coming from the Paris cabinet. +</p> + +<p> +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 concluded military agreements with the states of southern Germany. +It held them also in another manner, namely, by means of the Zollverein, 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 feeling 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 little duchy be declared neutral and the walls of its capital +destroyed. +</p> + +<p> +In spite of this arrangement, 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 the methods pursued by him and those projected. +Napoleon III’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. What this trap was and the +momentous events to which it led will be described in the next chapter. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap11"></a>Chapter XI.<br/> +THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR</h2> + +<h3> +Birth of the German Empire and the French Republic +</h3> + +<p class="letter"> +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—Paris is +Besieged—Defiant Spirit of the French—The Struggle Continued—Operations Before +Paris—Fighting in the South—The War at an End +</p> + +<p> +In 1866 the war between the two great powers of Germany, in which most of the +smaller powers were concerned, led to more decided measures, 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 alliance +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 under 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. +</p> + +<p> +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, +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 realization of unity. The southern states, not +merely the sovereigns only, but the peoples, have always had little taste for +Prussian leadership, 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 little 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. +</p> + +<h3>CAUSES OF HOSTILE RELATIONS</h3> + +<p> +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 III’s government, justly censured +by opinion for the weakness which it had shown in 1866, was eager to retrieve +the fault it had then committed. Yet the weakness of the administration +continued and prevented it from adopting the indispensable 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 measures with a view to +the seemingly inevitable conflict. He caused to be elaborated a plan of +campaign, a system of transportation 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, moreover, 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 generals of the restoration. +</p> + +<p> +And thus time passed on until 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. +</p> + +<h3>DISCONTENT IN FRANCE</h3> + +<p> +There were alarming signs in France. The opposition to Napoleonism was steadily +gaining power. A bad harvest was threatened—a serious source of discontent. +The parliament was discussing the reversal of the sentence of banishment +against the Orleans family. These indications of a change in public sentiment +appeared to call 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 +natural 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. +</p> + +<p> +Acts speak louder than words, and the acts of Napoleon were not in accord with +his assurances of peace. Extensive military 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. +</p> + +<h3>CAUSES OF HOSTILE RELATIONS</h3> + +<p> +On the other hand, there were abundant indications of discontent 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 believed in France that +the minor states would not support Prussia in a war. In Austria the defeat of +1866 rankled, and hostilities against Prussia on the part of France seemed +certain to win sympathy and support in that composite empire. Colonel Stoffel, +the French military envoy at Berlin, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 source 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 Isabella, with its endless intrigues, plots and alternation +of despotism and anarchy, and the pronounced immorality of the queen, had +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 the republican +principles. +</p> + +<p> +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 +offer, and informed the king of Prussia of his decision. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 enhanced 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. +</p> + +<h3>WAR WITH PRUSSIA DECLARED</h3> + +<p> +Satisfaction for this shadowy source of offense was demanded, but King William +firmly refused to say any more on the subject and declined to stand in the way +of Prince Leopold if he should 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 security of France. +When the declaration of war was hurled against Prussia the whole nation seemed +in harmony with it and public opinion appeared for once to have become a unit +throughout France. +</p> + +<p> +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 without 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 assumed to be +in a high state of efficiency and discipline, was lacking in almost every +requisite of an efficient force. The first Napoleon had been his own minister +of war. The third Napoleon, 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 thoroughly 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 itself 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. +</p> + +<h3>SELF-DECEPTION OF THE FRENCH</h3> + +<p> +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 unprepared, +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 victory and triumph. By the end of July +King William had also set out from Berlin to join the armies that were then in +rapid motion, towards the frontier. +</p> + +<p> +The emperor made his way to Metz, where was stationed his main army, about +200,000 strong, under Marshals Bazaine and Canrobert and General Bourgaki. +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 three divisions, the +first, of 61,000 men, under 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, and 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. +</p> + +<h3>FIRST MEETING OF THE ARMIES</h3> + +<p> +The two armies first came together on August 2d, near Saarbruck, 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 brilliant 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 fate +of the whole war, that of Worth-Reideshofen, where the army of the crown prince +met that of MacMahon, and after 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 those heights and back upon Metz. +</p> + +<p> +The occupation of Alsace was followed by that of Lorraine, by the Prussian army +under King William, 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. +</p> + +<h3>THE STRONGHOLD OF METZ</h3> + +<p> +Towards 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 German 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 being 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. +</p> + +<p> +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, hut did +not know whether these formed the rear-guard of the French army or its vanguard +in its march towards Verdun. +</p> + +<p> +In fact, Bazaine had 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 German 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 preliminary 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 army, and that its escape from Metz +had not been achieved. +</p> + +<p> +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 life 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. +</p> + +<h3>MARS-LA-TOUR AND GRAVELOTTE</h3> + +<p> +Gradually fortune 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 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 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 numerous and well equipped. Such +was the glorious deed done by the Brandenburgers, and the Hohenzollerns will +never forget the debt they owe to their devotion.” +</p> + +<p> +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 100,000 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 uncertain, 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. +</p> + +<p> +It was 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. +</p> + +<h3>NAPOLEON III AT SEDAN</h3> + +<p> +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 relief 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 proceeding to Metz +they made speedy preparations to prevent his relieving 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. +</p> + +<p> +This old town stands on the right bank of the Meuse, in an angle of territory +between Luxembourg and Belgium, and is surrounded 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 chuckle of satisfaction. +</p> + +<p> +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 command, first to Duerot, and then to General Wimpffen, a +man of recognized bravery and cold calculation. +</p> + +<p> +Fortune soon showed itself 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 fire 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 +guard corps, and a murderous fire was 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. +</p> + +<h3>SURRENDER OF NAPOLEON’S ARMY</h3> + +<p> +That an end might be put to the prevailing misery, Napoleon now commanded +General Wimpffen to capitulate. The flag of truce already waved 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 +headquarters, accompanied by the French General Reille, who presented 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 William accepted it +with an expression of sympathy for the hard fate of the emperor and of the +French army which had fought so bravely under his own eyes. The conclusion 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, however, availed to move Moltke from his stipulation +for the surrender 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. +</p> + +<p> +At six o’clock in the morning the capitulation was signed and was ratified by +the king 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 permitted to retain their +arms and personal property. Probably the assurance of Napoleon, the he had +sought death on the battle-field but had not found it, was literally 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 opinion; +and afterwards the two proceeded to the little castle of Bellevue, near +Frenois, to join King William 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 him +Wilhelmshohe, near Cassel, as his residence. Our meeting took place in a little +castle before the western glacis of Sedan. +</p> + +<h3>THE EMPEROR A CAPTIVE; FRANCE A REPUBLIC</h3> + +<p> +The locking up of Bazaine in Metz and the capture of MacMahon’s army at Sedan +were events fatal to France. The struggle continued for months, but it was a +fight against hope. The subsequent events 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 +Napoleon III, it was at an end. The tidings of the terrible catastrophe at +Sedan filled the people with a fury that soon became revolutionary. While Jules +Favre, the republican 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 +“Deposition! 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, military commandant at Paris. +Favre was made minister of foreign affairs; Gambetta, minister of the interior; +and other prominent members of te 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 beautiful 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 +dangers before it would be firmly established. +</p> + +<p> +“Not a foot’s breadth of our country nor a stone of our fortresses shall be +surrendered,” was Jules Favre’s defiant proclamation to the invaders, and the +remainder of the soldiers in the 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 in 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 in the frequent skirmishes and sallies, many +succumbed to typhus and epidemic disease. +</p> + +<p> +No less painful and distressing was the condition of the besieged. While the +garrison soldiers on guard were constantly compelled to face death in nocturnal +sallies, or led a pitiable existence in 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 being buried under 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 disgusting and unwholesome food. +</p> + +<h3>BISMARCK REFUSES INTERVENTION</h3> + +<p> +The republican government possessed only a usurped power, and none but a freely +elected national assembly could decide as to the fate of the French nation. +Such an assembly was therefore summoned for the 16th of October. Three members +of the government—Cremieux, Fourichon, and Glais-Bizoin—were despatched +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 which 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 belief that if they fostered in the French any hope of +intervention, 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. +</p> + +<h3>FALL OF THE FORTRESSES</h3> + +<p> +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 Strasbourg, in danger of the terrible results of a +storming, after the havoc of a dreadful artillery fire, hoisted the white flag, +and surrendered on the following day. The supposed impregnable fortress of Metz +held out little longer. Hunger did what cannon were incapable of doing. The +successive sallies made by Bazaine proved unavailing, 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 +withstood the attack unmoved, and the French were forced to withdraw into the +town. +</p> + +<p> +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 listen 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 +fortifications and arms of defense, had been yielded to the Germans, and its +army of more than 150,000 men had surrendered as prisoners of war. +</p> + +<p> +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 headquarters to the historic palace of Versailles, setting up his +homely camp-bed in the same apartments from which Lois XIV had once issued his +despotic edicts and commands. Here Count Bismarck 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 +neighborhood, with its prosperous villages, superb country houses, and +enchanting parks and gardens, into a scene of sadness and desolation. +</p> + +<h3>PARIS IS BESIEGED</h3> + +<p> +In spite of the vigorous efforts made by the commander-in-chief Trochu, both by +continuous firing from the forts and by repeated sallies, to prevent Paris from +being surrounded, and to force a way through the trenches, his enterprises 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 with 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 continued 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 town at first appeared impossible; a storming of the outer works would, +moreover, be attended with such sacrifices that the humane temper of the king +revolted from such a proceeding. The guns of greater force and carrying power +which were needed from Germany, 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 +“metropolis of civilization,” to the risk of a bombardment, 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. +</p> + +<p> +Determination and courage falsified the calculations at Versailles 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 positively +rejected all proposals of treaty based on territorial concessions. Faith in the +invincibility of the republic was rooted as an indisputable dogma in the hearts +of the French people. The 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 summoning 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 +revolutionary 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 members of the Committee of Public Safety, must again be +revived, and a youthful and hot-blooded leader was alone needed to stir up +popular feeling and set it in motion. +</p> + +<p> +To fill such a part no one was better adapted than the advocate 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 besieging German army, and the expulsion of the enemy from +the “sacred” soil of France. For this purpose he summoned, with 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. +</p> + +<p> +A popular war was now to take the place of a soldier’s war, and what the +soldiers had failed to effect must be accomplished 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 Besancon. Two armies, from the Loire and from the Somme, 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 when the armies of relief arrived +from the provinces, it might be possible to effect a coalition; 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, under Prince +Albrecht, the southeast district was protected by a Wurtemberg detachment +through the successful battle near Nogent on the Seine, while a division of the +third army advanced towards the south accompanied by two cavalry divisions. A +more unfortunate circumstance, however, for the Parisians was the cutting off +of all communication 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 communication with +the provinces, and the aerostatic art was developed and brought to perfection +on this occasion in a manner which had never before been considered possible. +</p> + +<h3>DEFIANT SPIRIT OF THE FRENCH</h3> + +<p> +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 revolutionist 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 calling of a +chamber of national representatives. The members proclaimed oblivion for what +had passed, broke off the negotiations for a truce begun 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 all our efforts during 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. +</p> + +<p> +After the breaking off of the negotiations, the world anticipated 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, 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. +</p> + +<p> +Yet, to the amazement of the world, all these miseries, hardships, and +sufferings were courageously borne, nocturnal watch was kept, sallies were +undertaken, and cold, hunger, and wretchedness 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 carrying 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, inexhaustible 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. +</p> + +<h3>THE STRUGGLE CONTINUED</h3> + +<p> +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 battlefield. 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 army 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, Pfalzburg and +Montmedy, all fell into the hands of the Prussians, thus opening to them a free +road for the supplies 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 inhabitants were suffering severely from poverty, hunger and +disease. +</p> + +<p> +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 established. Although many +divergent elements made up this army of the east, all were united in hatred of +the Germans. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The whole of the Jura district, intersected by hilly roads as far as the +plateau of Langres, where, in the days of Caesar, the Romans and 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 hundred 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 vanished as news of the steady progress of the Germans +was received. +</p> + +<h3>OPERATIONS BEFORE PARIS</h3> + +<p> +During these events the war operations before Paris continued uninterruptedly. +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. 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 through 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 +newspapers already accused him of incapacity and treachery, and began to cast +every aspersion on the men who had presumptuously seized the government, 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 continued, and with +every day the destructive effect of the terrible missiles grew more pronounced. +</p> + +<p> +Trochu was blamed for having undertaken only small sallies, which could have no +result. The commander-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 was held. The threatening famine, the firing of the enemy, and the +excitement prevailing among the adherents of the red republic rendered a +decisive step necessary. Consequently, on the 19th of January, a great sally +was decided on, and the entire armed forces of the capital were summoned 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 +commanded by General Vinoy, the right by Ducrot, while Trochu 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 battlefield, 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 were given in the list of the slain. +</p> + +<p> +Entire confidence had been placed by the Parisians in the great sally. When the +defeat, therefore, became known in its full significance, when the number of +the fallen was found to be far greater even than had been stated in the first +accounts, a dull despair took possession of the famished city, which next broke +forth into violent abuse against Trochu, “the traitor.” Capitulation now seemed +imminent; but as the commander-in-chief had declared that he would never +countenance 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 conflict the continuation of which only +increased the unspeakable misery, without the smallest hope of deliverance? +Gradually, therefore, there grew up a resolution to enter into negotiations +with the enemy; and it was the minister, Jules Favre, who had been foremost +with the cry of “no surrender” four months before, who was now compelled to +take the first step to deliver his country from complete ruin. It was probably +the bitterest hour in the life of the brave man, who loved France and liberty +with such a sincere affection, when he was conducted through the German +outposts to his interview with Bismarck at Versailles. He brought the proposal +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 positively 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 preliminary to the conclusion of a three weeks’ +truce, to await the summons of a National Assembly, with which peace might be +negotiated. +</p> + +<h3>FIGHTING IN THE SOUTH</h3> + +<p> +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 unavailing, he resigned his +command and retired to his island of Caprera. Two disasters completed the +overthrow of France. Bourbaki’s army, 85,000 strong, became shut in, with +scanty food and ammunition, 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 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 acknowledged 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 Loraine, 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—was 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 concluded 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. +</p> + +<h3>THE WAR AT AN END</h3> + +<p> +Had King William received no indemnity in cash or territory from France, he +must still have felt himself amply repaid for the 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 +Germany, with the exception of Austria, had sent troops to the conquest of +France, and every state, north and south alike, 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 watchword. 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. +</p> + +<p> +The first appeal in this direction came from Baden. Later in the year +plenipotentiaries sought Versailles from the kingdoms of Bavaria and Wurtemberg +and the grand duchies of Baden and Hesse, their purpose being to arrange for +and define the conditions of union between the South and the North German +states. For weeks, this momentous question filled all Germany with excitement +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap12"></a>Chapter XII.<br/> +BISMARCK AND THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE</h2> + +<h3> +Building the Bulwarks of the Twentieth Century Nation +</h3> + +<p class="letter"> +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 +</p> + +<p> +Throughout the various events narrated in the two 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 +aggrandizement of Prussia. As for the surrounding nations and their rights and +immunities, these did not count as against his policies. 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 employed, shrewd, keen and far-sighted in his measures, Europe +being to him but a great chess-board, on which his hand moved kings, knights, +and pawns with mechanical inflexibility. To him the end justified the means, +however lacking in justice or mercy these means might prove. +</p> + +<p> +Denmark was despoiled to extend the territory of Prussia to the north. Austria, +Bismarck’s unwary accomplice 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 minor German states into one +powerful empire. +</p> + +<h3>BISMARCK AS A STATESMAN</h3> + +<p> +It was in the formation of the modern German Empire that the far-sighted plans +of Bismarck culminated. King William was a willing partner 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 German 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. +</p> + +<h3>UNITING THE GERMAN STATES</h3> + +<p> +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 +members 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. +</p> + +<p> +When the North German diet at Berlin had given its consent to the new +constitution, a congratulatory address was despatched to the Prussian monarch +at Versailles. It announced to the aged hero-king the nation’s wish that he +should accept the new dignity. He replied 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. +</p> + +<h3>WILLIAM I CROWNED AT VERSAILLES</h3> + +<p> +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 emperor. 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 Hohenzollern, was now fulfilled; the dream +long aspired after by German youth had now become a reality and a living fact. +</p> + +<p> +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 empire, 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. +</p> + +<h3>A SIGNIFICANT DECADE</h3> + +<p> +The decade just completed had been one of remarkable political changes 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 established in its place, while that country 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. +</p> + +<p> +Bismarck, however, showed an earnest desire to maintain international peace and +good relations, seeking to win the confidence of foreign governments, while at +the same time improving and increasing that military force which had been +proved to be so mighty an engine of war. +</p> + +<p> +In the constitution of the new empire two legislative bodies, already possessed +by the Confederation of North German States were provided for—the BUNDESRATH +or Federal Council, whose members 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 approximating to our 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 ministerial +representative than the high chancellor of the empire, depending solely on the +sovereign. After 1870 he was in the empire what he had been previously in +Prussia, the essential representative of the country and the supreme head of +the military forces. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +King Frederick William 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 +congregations and monasteries, and by their control of public education seemed +in a fair way eventually to make Catholicism supreme in the empire. +</p> + +<h3>THE PROBLEM OF CHURCH POWER</h3> + +<p> +This state of affairs Bismark set himself energetically to reform. The minister +of religious affairs was forced to resign, and his place was taken by Falk, an +energetic 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 was 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 invalid, and the German bishops +united in a declaration against the chancellor. Bismarck retorted by a law +expelling the Jesuits from the empire. +</p> + +<p> +In 1873 the state of affairs became so embittered that the rights and liberties +of the citizens seemed to need protection against a priesthood armed with +extensive powers of discipline and excommunication. 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 submit to them. The State retorted by +withdrawing its financial support from the Catholic church and abolishing those +clauses of the constitution under which the Church claimed independence of the +State. Pope Pius IX died in 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 Laws ceased to be operative, the church revenues +were restored and the 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. +</p> + +<h3>PROGRESS OF SOCIALISM</h3> + +<p> +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, +while the railroads were acquired as public property by the various states of +the empire. Meanwhile the rapid growth of socialism excited apprehension, which +was added to when two attempts were made on the life of the emperor. These were +attributed to the socialists, and severe laws for the suppression of socialism +were enacted. Bismark 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 their 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 political +alliance. 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 alliance at a later date with Italy. This, which continued to +1914, was 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +William II. +</p> + +<h3>WILLIAM II AND THE RESIGNATION OF BISMARCK</h3> + +<p> +The liberal era which was looked for under Frederick was checked by his +untimely death, his son at once returning to the policy of William 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 himself in a large measure to the increase of the army and +navy, a policy which brought him into frequent conflicts with the Reichstag, +whose rapidly growing socialistic membership was in strong opposition to this +development of militarism. +</p> + +<p> +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 +reconciliation 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 distinguished but markedly different statesman +of England, William Edward Gladstone. Count Cavour, another great European +statesman of the latter half of the nineteenth century, had completed his work +and passed away nearly forty years before. +</p> + +<p> +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 lessened. The army and navy appeared to some as 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 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. +</p> + +<h3>OLD AGE INSURANCE</h3> + +<p> +A principal cause of the break between William and Bismarck was the imperial +interference with the laws for the suppression of socialism. As already stated, +the old chancellor had established a system of compulsory old age insurance, +through which workmen 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 worked 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 withdraw 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. +</p> + +<h3>POLITICAL AND INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS IN GERMANY</h3> + +<p> +It may be of interest here to say something concerning the organization of the +German empire. The constitution of this empire, as adopted April 16, 1871, +proposes to “form an eternal union for the protection of the realm 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, +however, 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 of Prussia, since the imperial legislature is +independent of him, he having no power of veto over the laws passed by it. His +actual military power, however, is practically supreme, as demonstrated in the +opening events of the war of 1914. +</p> + +<p> +The legislature, as stated, consists of two bodies, the Bundesrath, +representing the states of the union, whose members, 58 in number, are chosen +for each session by the several state governments; and the Reichstag, +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 kingdoms, 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 in Austria. +</p> + +<p> +The progress of Germany within the modern period has been very 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 64,000,000, having added 40,000,000 to +the roll of inhabitants. The country, once divided into an unwieldy multitude +of states, often of minute proportions, has become consolidated into the number +above named, each of these possessing some degree of importance. These, as +combined into a federal union, or empire, have an area of 208,830 square miles, +of which Prussia holds the lion’s share, its area being 134,605 square miles. +</p> + +<p> +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 empire, 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 whole +territory of the empire. +</p> + +<p> +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 industrial 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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap13"></a>Chapter XIII.<br/> +GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM</h2> + +<h3> +Great Britain Becomes a World Power +</h3> + +<p class="letter"> +Gladstone and Disraeli—Gladstone’s Famous Budget—A Suffrage Reform +Bill—Disraeli’s Reform Measure—Irish Church Disestablishment—An Irish Land +Bill—Desperate State of Ireland—The Coercion Bill—War in Africa—Home Rule for +Ireland +</p> + +<p> +It is a fact of much interest, as showing the growth of the human mind, that +William Ewart Gladstone, the great advocate of English Liberalism, made his +first political 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 Bill. +But, mark my words, that man will one day be a Liberal, for he argued against +the Bill on liberal grounds.” +</p> + +<p> +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 Parliament, 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, in 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 immensely. “I +do not know,” he said in later years, “that there is in any period a man whose +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 Gladstone first came into connection with another noble +figure, that of John Bright, who was 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 political 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 Italian freedom an impetus +that had much to do with its subsequent success, and gained for Gladstone the +warmest veneration of patriotic Italians. +</p> + +<h3>GLADSTONE AND DISRAELI</h3> + +<p> +In 1852 he first came into opposition with the man against whom he was to be +pitted during the remainder of his career, Benjamin Disraeli, who had made +himself a power in Parliament, 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 among his hearers. In a few +minutes the House was wildly cheering 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 nineteen votes. Such was the first +great encounter between the two rivals. +</p> + +<h3>GLADSTONE’S FAMOUS BUDGET</h3> + +<p> +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 statesmanship, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 introduced 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 how the yearly +balancing of the national accounts might be directed by and made to promote the +profoundest and most fruitful principles 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. +</p> + +<p> +It was, indeed, to Gladstone’s remarkable oratorical powers 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 carried away all that heard him, as did his deep +earnestness and intense conviction of the truth of his utterances. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile his Liberalism had been steadily growing reaching 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 Manchester +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.’” +</p> + +<p> +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 Prime 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. +</p> + +<h3>A SUFFRAGE REFORM BILL</h3> + +<p> +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 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 stirring prediction: +</p> + +<p> +“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; they 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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 Gladstone’s house, singing odes in honor of “the +People’s William.” John Bright, an eloquent orator and strenuous advocate of +oral 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. +</p> + +<h3>DISRAELI’S REFORM MEASURE</h3> + +<p> +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 liberal 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. +</p> + +<p> +The two potent political champions, Gladstone and Disraeli, soon after attained +the summit height of British political ambition. In February, 1868, the failing +health of Lord Derby forced him to resign the ministry, and Disraeli 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 disestablishment 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. +</p> + +<p> +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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<h3>IRISH CHURCH DISESTABLISHMENT</h3> + +<p> +Any interference with the prerogatives or absoluteness of an established church +institution is sure to arouse vigorous opposition. The disestablishment 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 +Almighty God.” A martial clergyman offered to “kick the queen’s crown into the +Boyne,” if she assented to any such measure. Another proposed to fight with the +Bible in one hand the and sword in the other. +</p> + +<p> +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 temporal 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. +</p> + +<p> +Disraeli’s speech in opposition to this measure was referred bo by the LONDON +TIMES as flimsiness relieved 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. +</p> + +<h3>AN IRISH LAND BILL</h3> + +<p> +In 1870 Mr. Gladstone introduced his Irish Land Bill, a measure of reform which +Parliament 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. +</p> + +<p> +Other liberal measures were passed, but the tide which had set so long in this +direction turned at last, the government was defeated in 1873 on a bill for +University Education, and in a subsequent election the Liberal party met with +defeat. Gladstone at once resigned and was succeeded by Disraeli. 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 distinguished predecessor, that of +“The Great Commoner.” During 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 Parnell, founder of the Irish Land League, a trade union of Irish +farmers, and its affairs could no longer be consigned to the background. +</p> + +<p> +Gladstone, in assuming 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.” +</p> + +<h3>DESPERATE STATE OF IRELAND</h3> + +<p> +He was not long is discovering the gravity of the situation, of which the House +had been warned by Mr. Parnell. The famine had brought its crop of misery, and, +while the charitable were seeking to relieve the distress, many of the +landlords were turning adrift their tenants for non-payment of rents. The Irish +party brought 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 Bill. This step threw the Irish members +under Mr. Parnell and the Liberal Government into relations of definitive +antagonism. +</p> + +<h3>THE COERCION BILL</h3> + +<p> +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 +suspended the liberties of Ireland. The Irish members exhausted every resource +of parliamentary action in resisting it, and their tactics resulted in several +scenes unprecedented in parliamentary 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 of the House, the agent by whom this extreme +resolve had to be executed. +</p> + +<p> +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 in +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 new 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 England and Ireland again came into existence. +</p> + +<h3>WARS IN AFRICA</h3> + +<p> +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 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 this +throne, and a revolt of the people under an ambitious leader named Arabi Pasha, +who seized Alexandria and drove out the British, many of whom were killed. +</p> + +<p> +Gladstone, who deprecated war, now found himself with a conflict thrust upon +his hands. The British fleet bombarded Alexandria, 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. +</p> + +<p> +There were serious troubles also in South Africa. The British of Cape Colony +had pushed their way into the Boer settlement of the Transvaal, claiming +jurisdiction over it. The valiant 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. +</p> + +<p> +Such were the wars of the Gladstone administration, events of which he did not +approve, but into which he was irresistibly drawn. At home the Irish question +continued in the forefront. The African wars 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 rallied to Gladstone’s +side, the new government was defeated, and on February 1, 1886, Gladstone +became Prime Minister for the third time. +</p> + +<h3>HOME RULE FOR IRELAND</h3> + +<p> +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 proprietary +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 introduced to Parliament his Home Rule Bill. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 Hartington, Sir Henry James, Mr. Chamberlain and Sir +George Trevelyan—and the Nationalist members, by a spontaneous impulse, sprang +to their feet and cheered him again and again. The speech which he delivered +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 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 every 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap14"></a>Chapter XIV.<br/> +THE FRENCH REPUBLIC</h2> + +<h3> +Struggles of a New Nation +</h3> + +<p class="letter"> +The Republic Organized—The Commune of Paris—Instability of the +Government—Thiers Proclaimed President—Punishment of the Unsuccessful +Generals—MacMahon a Royalist President—Bazaine’s Sentence and Escape—Grevy, +Gambetta and Boulanger—The Panama Canal Scandal—Despotism of the Army +Leaders—The Dreyfus Case—Church and State—The Moroccan Controversy +</p> + +<p> +It has been already told how the capitulation of the French army at Sedan and +the captivity of Louis Napoleon were followed in Paris by the overthrow of the +empire and the formation of a republic, the third in the history of French +political 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 members were Jules Favre and Gambetta. While upright in its +membership and honorable in its purposes, it was an arbitrary body, formed by a +coup d’état like that by which Napoleon had seized the reins of power, and not +destined for a long existence. +</p> + +<h3>THE REPUBLIC ORGANIZED</h3> + +<p> +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 Commmune of 1793. +The insurgents marched to the senate-house, demanded the election of a +municipal council which should share power with the government, 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. Gambetta, the dictator, “the +organizer of defeats,” as he was sarcastically entitled, lost his power, and +the aged statesman and historian, Louis Thiers, was chosen as chief of the +executive department of the new government. +</p> + +<p> +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 election. 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. +</p> + +<h3>THE COMMUNE OF PARIS</h3> + +<p> +In a moment all the revolutionary elements of the great city were in a blaze. +The social democratic “Commune,” elected from the central committee of the +National Guard, renounced obedience 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. +</p> + +<p> +The government had neglected to take possession of the cannon Montmartre; and +now, when the troops of the line, instead of firing on the insurrectionists, +went over in crowds to their side, the supremacy over Paris fell into the hands +of the wildest demagogues. A fearful civil war commenced, 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. +</p> + +<p> +The wild outbreaks of fanaticism on the part of the Commune 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 fired on the unarmed citizens who, as the “friends of +order,” desired a reconciliation with the authorities at Versailles. They +formed a government 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 distinguished clergymen and citizens. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile the investing French troops, led by Marshal MacMahon, 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, +Archbishop of Paris, and the universally respected minister Daguerry, were shot +by the infuriated mob. Such crimes excited the Versailles troops to terrible +vengeance, when they at last succeeded 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 between 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 imprisonments, trials, and executions continued, military +courts being established which excited the world for months by their wholesale +condemnations to exile and to death. The carnival of anarchy was followed by +one of pitiless revenge. +</p> + +<h3>INSTABILITY OF THE GOVERNMENT</h3> + +<p> +The Republican government of France, which had been accepted in an emergency, +was far from carrying with it the support 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 +considered, alike by the Monarchists and the Jacobins, as only provisional, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 moment, 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 harmony and compliance. +</p> + +<p> +This occurred even during the siege of Paris, when the forces of the government +were in conflict with the Commune. In the Assembly there was shown an +inclination to moderate or break through the sharp centralization of the +government, and to procure some autonomy 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 Monarchists. 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 Duc d’Aumale and Prince de Joinville, who had been elected +deputies, into the Assembly at least until the end of the year. +</p> + +<h3>THIERS PROCLAIMED PRESIDENT</h3> + +<p> +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 German 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 all practical men to the side of Thiers, and he had, during +the last days of August, 1871, the triumph of being proclaimed “President of +the French Republic.” +</p> + +<p> +The new president aimed, next to the liberation of the garrisoned provinces +from the German troops of occupation, at the reorganization 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 +immense 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 principles, he experienced on the part of the clergy such violent +opposition that the government dropped the measure. +</p> + +<p> +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 abolished 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 year’s service, was to +be added to a “territorial 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. +</p> + +<p> +But all the statesmanship of Thiers could not overcome the anarchy in the +Assembly, where the forces for monarchy and republicanism 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 +Assembly grew wider and more violent in their breach. +</p> + +<h3>PUNISHMENT OF THE UNSUCCESSFUL GENERALS</h3> + +<p> +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 +various national discontents, endeavor to bring about the destruction 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 courts-martial. +</p> + +<p> +The French could not rest with the thought that their military 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 popular passion. And thus the world beheld the lamentable spectacle of the +commanders who had surrendered the French fortresses to the enemy being +subjected to a trial by court-martial under the presidency of Marshal Baraguay +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 Strasbourg, whose name +had been given to a street in Paris, was brought under the censure of the +court-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. For months he was retained a prisoner at Versailles, while +preparations were made for the great court-martial spectacle, which, in the +following year, took place under the presidency of the Duc d’Aumale. +</p> + +<h3>MACMAHON A ROYALIST PRESIDENT</h3> + +<p> +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 MacMahon, 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. +</p> + +<p> +The party now in power at once began to lay plans to carry out their cherished +purpose of placing a Legitimist king upon the throne, this honor being offered +to the Count de Chambord, grandson 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 +conservatism. Their purpose was to establish a constitutional government, 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.” +</p> + +<p> +This letter shattered the plans of his supporters. No man with idea like these +would be tolerated on the French throne. There was never to be in France a King +Henry V. The Monarchists, in disgust at the failure of their schemes, elected +MacMahon president of the republic for a term of seven years, and for the time +being the reign of republicanism in France was made secure. +</p> + +<p> +While MacMahon was thus being raised to the pinnacle of honor, his former +comrade Bazaine 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 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. +</p> + +<h3>BAZAINE’S SENTENCE AND ESCAPE</h3> + +<p> +A letter which Prince Frederick Charles wrote in his favor only added to the +wrath of the people, who cried aloud for his execution. 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’ imprisonment, +remitted the disgrace of the formalities of a military degradation, 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 “iron 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 departments 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. +</p> + +<p> +This constitution was soon ignored by the arbitrary president, who forced the +resignation of a cabinet which he could not control, and replaced it by another +responsible to himself instead of to the Assembly. His act of autocracy roused +a violent opposition. Gambetta moved that the representatives of the people had +no confidence in a cabinet which was not free in its actions and not republican +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 majority 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. +</p> + +<h3>GREVY, GAMBETTA AND BOULANGER</h3> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 republic would be +overthrown. +</p> + +<p> +In 1887 Grevy resigned, in consequence of a scandal in high circles, and was +succeeded by Sadi-Carnot, grandson of a famous 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 self-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. +</p> + +<p> +But his reputation was declining. 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 imprisonment +for life. His career soon after ended in suicide and his party disappeared. +</p> + +<h3>THE PANAMA CANAL SCANDAL</h3> + +<p> +The second event spoken of was the Panama Canal affair. De Lesseps, the maker +of the Suez Canal, had undertaken to excavate 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. +</p> + +<p> +In the succeeding years perils manifold threatened the existence of the French +Republic. A moral decline seemed to have sapped the foundations of public +virtue, and the new military organization rose to a dangerous height of power, +becoming a possible instrument of ambition which overshadowed and portended +evil to the state. The spirit of anarchy, which had been so strikingly +displayed in the 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 disheartening 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. +</p> + +<h3>DESPOTISM OF THE ARMY LEADERS</h3> + +<p> +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. This 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 military 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 military 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. +</p> + +<p> +The final result of this was the development of one of the most complete and +well-appointed military establishments 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 century neared its end, +the autocratic position of its leaders was revealed by a startling event, which +was claimed to prove the moral decadence of France and the controlling +influence and dominating power of the members of the General Staff. This was +the celebrated Dreyfus Case, the CAUSE CELEBRE of the period. At the time +concerned it excited the utmost interest, stirring France to its center, and +attracting the earnest attention of the world. It aroused indignation 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. +</p> + +<h3>THE DREYFUS CASE</h3> + +<p> +Albert Dreyfus, an Alsatian Jew and a captain in the Fourteenth Regiment of +Artillery of the French army, detailed for service at the Information Bureau of +the Minister of War, was arrested October 15, 1894, on charge of having sold +military 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 handwriting of Dreyfus: +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +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 public opinion in Paris strongly against the +accused. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +The whole affair in time excited a strong suspicion that Dreyfus 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +At this juncture, Emile Zola, the celebrated novelist, stepped into the fray as +a defender of Dreyfus, writing a notable letter to President Favre, in which he +accused the members of the court-martial of acquitting Esterhazy under order of +their chiefs, who would not admit that a military court of France could +possibly make a mistake. +</p> + +<p> +This letter led to the arrest and trial of Zola and of the editor who published +it. Their trials were conducted in a secret manner and they were found guilty +and sentenced to a heavy fine and a year’s imprisonment. Zola escaped +imprisonment by absenting himself from France. +</p> + +<p> +By this time the interest of the whole world was enlisted in the case, the +action of the French courts 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 flimsy 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. +</p> + +<p> +The whole affair was a transparent travesty upon justice, and the method by +which it was conducted threw into a strong light 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. +</p> + +<h3>CHURCH AND STATE</h3> + +<p> +Later events of interest in French history had to do with the status of the +Catholic 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, which 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 Catholic church was put on the same footing in +the republic 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. +</p> + +<h3>THE MOROCCO CONTROVERSY</h3> + +<p> +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 affair went so far that +Emperor William 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 European laborers and +others were massacred. A French force landed on August 7th and a desperate +fight took place, during which nearly every inhabitant of the town was killed +and wounded or had fled, the dead alone numbering thousands. +</p> + +<p> +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 military expedition to that point. +By this, communication between the capital and the coast was established, the +French government undertaking to organize the Sultan’s army and carry out +certain works of public improvement. +</p> + +<p> +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 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 affair was, in the end, amicably adjusted. +</p> + +<p> +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 +protectorate 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. +</p> + +<p> +Thus ended a source of dispute which had more than once threatened war and +would have so ended at this time but for the vigorous support of France by +Great Britain. 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 probability 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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap15"></a>Chapter XV.<br/> +RUSSIA IN THE FIELD OF WAR</h2> + +<h3> +The Outcome of Slavic Ambition +</h3> + +<p class="letter"> +Siege of Sebastopol—Russia in Asia—The Russo-Japanese War—Port Arthur Taken—The +Russian Fleet Defeated +</p> + +<p> +Among the most interesting phases of nineteenth-century history is that of the +conflict between Russia and Turkey, a struggle for dominion that came down from +the preceding 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. +</p> + +<p> +Of the various wars which Russia waged against Turkey, the first of modern +historical importance was that of 1854–55, known as the “Crimean War” and made +notable by the fact that Britain, France and Sardinia joined the Turks in their +struggle against the Muscovite armies. +</p> + +<p> +The Western powers had long been fearful of letting Constantinople fall into +the hands of Russia. They had interfered to prevent this after the victory of +Russia in 1829, when Adrianople was taken and Constantinople threatened. War +broke out again in 1853 and Russia seemed likely to triumph. This led Britain +and France to declare war in 1854. Armies were sent by them to the Black Sea, +and in September a strong force was landed on the coast of the Crimean +peninsula. +</p> + +<h3>SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL</h3> + +<p> +Their purpose in this movement was the capture of the fortress of Sebastopol +and the destruction of the Russian fleet in its harbor. But the Muscovite +defense was vigorous and the stronghold proved difficult to take. Battles took +place on the banks of the Alma and at Balaclava, in both of which the allies +were successful, the latter being made notable by the heroic British “Charge of +the Light Brigade,” which has since been famous in song and story. +</p> + +<p> +But the fortress held out during the succeeding winter and until late in 1855, +despite the vigor of the siege. After the middle of August the assault became +almost incessant, cannon balls dropping like an unceasing storm of hail in +forts and streets. On the 5th of September began a terrific bombardment, +continuing 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 Malakoff, 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 town, +leaving it as the prize of victory to the allies. +</p> + +<p> +This success put an end to the war. Britain, Sardinia, which had joined the +coalition, and Turkey were eager to continue it, but Napoleon III had reasons +of his own for withdrawing his troops, and the other allies found it desirable +to consent to a treaty of peace. Russia was far from being conquered, but its +finances were in a deplorable state, and the Czar proved ready to make terms +with his enemies. +</p> + +<p> +This did not end Russia’s efforts to win Constantinople. A new war broke out in +1877, in which none of the Powers came to the aid of the Turks, and their +dominion in Europe would have been brought to an end but for the jealousy or +these Powers, which forced the conquering Muscovites to withdraw from the +hoped-for prize. The events of this war are given in the following chapter, as +part of the history of the Balkan States. +</p> + +<h3>RUSSIA IN ASIA</h3> + +<p> +Russia, though so often checked in the effort to capture Constantinople, and +with it win an opening to the Mediterranean, was long more successful in +another field of ambition, that of Asiatic conquest and the expansion of empire +over the great Eastern continent. Here it had gradually won a vast stretch of +territory, including the immense area of Siberia and the realms of the Caucasus +and Turkestan. The result of the Boxer outbreak in China in 1900 increased the +Russian dominion in Asia, giving the empire a hold upon Manchuria, with control +of the fine seaport of Port Arthur. It began to appear as if this whole region +would become Russian territory, possibly including Korea and Japan. +</p> + +<h3>THE RUSSO-JAPAN WAR</h3> + +<p> +The danger of this roused Japan to action. When it became evident that the +Russians had no intention to respect the rights of China in Manchuria, and +showed signs of an aggressive movement against Korea, the island empire lost no +time in making war. In February, 1904, Japan withdrew her minister from St. +Petersburg and three days later, without the formality of a declaration of war, +attacked the Russian fleets at Chemulpo and Port Arthur and landed troops in +Korea. +</p> + +<p> +The Japanese quickly proved themselves able warriors. On April 13th admiral +Togo drove back the Russian fleet, its flagship, the PETROPAVLOVSK, striking a +mine and sinking with its crew and admiral. On land the Russians were defeated +at the battle of the Yalu, Manchuria was invaded and Port Arthur invested and +bombarded. Battles followed in rapid succession, with victory for the island +warriors in every instance. General Oka won a fierce battle on the heights of +Nan-Shan and captured the Russian port of Dalny. General Kuroki fought his way +northward to Liao-yang, where was fought one of the great battles of the war, +lasting seven days and ending in the retreat of the Russians. +</p> + +<p> +The next field of action was at Mukden, the Manchurian capital, when the armies +met in September, and remained face to face until March of the following year. +It was not until then that a decisive action took place, the armies numbering +nearly 500,000 each. The struggle was long continued, but finally ended in a +second retreat of the Russians. There were no further engagements of importance +in this quarter, though the armies remained face to face for months in a long +line south of Harbin. +</p> + +<h3>PORT ARTHUR TAKEN</h3> + +<p> +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 Port 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 solid rock and +on December 20th the principal stronghold in the east was carried by storm. +Other forts were soon taken and on January 2, 1905, the place 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 small craft. These ships had been +effectually blockaded in the harbor, lying practically inactive during the +siege. +</p> + +<h3>THE RUSSIAN FLEET DEFEATED</h3> + +<p> +Russia, finding its naval force in the Pacific put out of commission through +the activity of the doughty Togo, had meanwhile despatched another fleet from +the Baltic, comprising nearly forty vessels in all. These made their way +through the Suez Canal and the Indian Ocean and on May 27, 1905, entered 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 +lookout for the coming Russians. +</p> + +<p> +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 ineffective. Night was at hand, but before +it came five Russian warships had gone to the bottom. A torpedo attack was made +during the night and the general engagement resumed next morning. When 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 practically a total loss, while Togo had lost only +three torpedo boats and 650 men. The losses in men by the Russians was 4,000 +killed, and 7,200 prisoners taken. It was a naval victory which for +completeness has rarely been equalled in history. +</p> + +<p> +Russia, beaten on land and sea, was by this time ready to give up the struggle, +and readily accepted President Roosevelt’s suggestion 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 considerably to her territory by the annexation of +Korea, in which there was no one to question her right. +</p> + +<p> +Since the events here described Japan has entered the concert of the nations by +an alliance with Great Britain for mutual defense in case of either Power being +attacked in the East. And this treaty bore fruit in 1914 when Japan, as an ally +of Great Britain, took part in the war between the great Powers of Europe by +attacking Kiaochou, a district and fortress held by Germany on the northern +coast of China. +</p> + +<p> +This was in accordance with the Japanese theory of “the Orient for the +Orientals” and its dislike of European aggression upon the Asiatic coast. Japan +went farther than this, taking possession of all the islands held by Germany in +the North Pacific—afterwards handed over to Australia for administration—those +in the South Pacific being at the same time occupied by expeditions from New +Zealand and Australia. In this way the great European war was to a minor extent +transferred to the waters and lands of the Far East. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap16"></a>Chapter XVI.<br/> +GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES</h2> + +<h3> +How England Became Mistress of the Seas +</h3> + +<p class="letter"> +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 +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 mankind. 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +Tripoli. 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 +grown 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 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. +</p> + +<h3>GREAT BRITAIN AS A COLONIZING POWER</h3> + +<p> +With this preliminary preview 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 Hindustan, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 a part of the island was maintained as a penal settlement, +convicts being sent there up to 1868. It was the discovery of gold in 1851 to +which Australia 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 population; +Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, 600,000, while there are other cities +of rapid growth. Australia is the one important 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. +</p> + +<h3>COLONIES IN THE PACIFIC REGION</h3> + +<p> +The same cannot be said of the inhabitants of New Zealand, an important group +of islands lying southeast of Australia, which was acquired 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. 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 very few left. They had +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 are interesting experiments for the remainder of the +world. +</p> + +<p> +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 addition 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 dominion of Canada, a considerable +number of the islands of the West Indies, and the districts of British Honduras +and British Guiana. +</p> + +<p> +The history of colonization in two of the continents, Asia and Africa, presents +certain features of singularity. Though known 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 to attempt to penetrate its interior. In +the case of Africa it was due to the inhospitality 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. +</p> + +<h3>COLONIZATION IN AFRICA</h3> + +<p> +Africa is not only now well known, but the exploration of its interior has been +followed by political changes of the most revolutionary character. It presented +a virgin field for colonization, of which the land-hungry nations of Europe +hastened to avail themselves, 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 +centuries, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 59l,000; Portugal, to 800,000; Spain, to 86,600, the Congo Free +State, to 800,000; and Turkey to the 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. +</p> + +<h3>BRITISH COLONIES IN AFRICA</h3> + +<p> +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. +Subsequently the Boers—descendants of the Dutch settlers—made their way +north, beyond the British jurisdiction, and founded the new colonies of the +Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State. The British of Cape Town at a +later date followed them north, settling Natal, defeating the Zulu blacks and +acquiring new territory, and eventually coming into hostile contact with the +Boers. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 profitable 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. +</p> + +<h3>THE MAHDI REBELLION IN EGYPT</h3> + +<p> +The latter events call for some mention; and need to be preceded 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 khedives 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. +</p> + +<p> +Soon after, the finances of the country became so involved that they were +placed under European control, and the growth of English 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 co-ordinate influence of France ended, and Great Britain was left as +the practical ruler of Egypt, which position she still maintains. +</p> + +<p> +In 1880 began an important series of events. A Mohammedan prophet arose in 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 capturing El Obeid, the chief city of Kordofan, which he made his capital +in 1883. +</p> + +<p> +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 English 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +To relieve these towns, Baker Pasha, a daring and able British leader, was sent +with 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 Mahdists. They met a party 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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 Egyptians were shrieking +madly, hardly attempting to run away, but trying to shelter themselves one +behind 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.” +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<h3>GORDON AT KHARTOUM</h3> + +<p> +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 +communication with the north, leaving Gordon and the garrison in a position of +dire peril. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<h3>SUPPRESSION OF THE MAHDI REVOLT</h3> + +<p> +After this misfortune the Arabs were 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +Portugal has large, feebly held districts in the south-central coast region, +and Italy holds small districts on the Red Sea and Somaliland and the recently +acquired Tripoli. Spain’s holdings are on the coast of Morocco and the Sahara. +</p> + +<h3>COLONIZATION IN ASIA</h3> + +<p> +The colonizing enterprise in Asia within recent years has been confined to +Great Britain, France and Russia, which nations have gained large possessions +in that great continent. Russia has made its way during several centuries of +conquest over Siberia and Central 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. +</p> + +<p> +The possessions of other nations in Asia are, aside from small holdings on the +Chinese coast, in the south of that continent. Holland 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. +</p> + +<p> +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, ad Aden and Socotra, in Arabia. +</p> + +<h3>THE BRITISH IN INDIA</h3> + +<p> +The British control of India began with the founding of commercial 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 ambitious character, received new accessions. +</p> + +<p> +During the nineteenth century many accessions of territory were made, the one +threat to British dominion in the peninsula being the great Sepoy rebellion, or +Indian Mutiny, which needed all the resources of the Company to overcome. The +most important event that succeeded was the taking over the powers of +government, 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 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. +</p> + +<h3>COLONIES IN AMERICA</h3> + +<p> +We have next to deal with the British colonial possessions in America, +including the great Dominion of Canada and Newfoundland, 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. +</p> + +<p> +Occupying the northern section of the western hemisphere lies Great Britain’s +most extended colony, the vast Dominion of Canada, which covers an immense 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 the far northern section of its area is +likely to debar that 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 an arctic country +traversed by the Klondike river, brought miners by the thousands to that wintry +realm, and it would be very unwise to declare that the remainder of the great +northern region contains no treasures for the craving 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 America. The outcome of this conquest +is the fact that Canada, like the other colonies of Great Britain, possesses a +large alien population, in this case of French origin. +</p> + +<h3>DEVELOPMENT OF CANADA</h3> + +<p> +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 considerable strength and the population grew with some +rapidity. In 1791 the original province of Quebec had been divided into Upper +and Lower Canada, and racial and religious conditions of the next fifty years +led to severe political conflicts. As a result an act of union took place, the +provinces being reunited in 1840. +</p> + +<p> +Upper Canada, at the opening of the eighteenth century, was only slightly +developed, the country being a vast forest, without towns, without roads, and +practically shut out from the remainder of the world. The sparse population was +made up largely of United Empire Loyalists—refugees from the successful +revolution in the Thirteen Colonies. 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, ad 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 settlements 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. +</p> + +<p> +In time the union 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 in 1867, the British Parliament 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 Island in 1874. Since then +other additions have been made. A parliament was formed consisting of a Senate +of life members appointed by the Crown and an Assembly elected by the people. +</p> + +<p> +Some important questions which have arisen in Canada since the dates above +given 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 Newfoundland 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 $5,000,000 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 other branches of this vexatious question. +</p> + +<p> +The discovery of gold on the Klondike River in 1896 developed another problem, +that of the true boundary between Alaska and Canada. At first, under the belief +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 +by an international tribunal of British and American jurists and the present +boundary line marked out by a scientific commission. +</p> + +<p> +The industrial development of the Dominion within recent years has been great. +Agriculturally the development of the fertile wheat fields of the middle west +is of the most promising character, while railway progress has been highly +encouraging. The building of the Canadian Pacific Railway was a remarkable +enterprise at 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 completed in 1914, +while the Canadian Northern is rapidly progressing. +</p> + +<h3>PROGRESS IN CANADA</h3> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 interest on bonds. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 surface 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 dimensions of the dominion guarantee a +great variety of natural attractions. 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, +whose natural beauty equals that of the far-famed Alpine peaks. In fact, the +Canadian Pacific Railway is becoming a route of pilgrimage for the lovers of +the beautiful and sublime, its mountain scenery being unrivaled upon the +continent. +</p> + +<p> +In several conditions the people of Canada, while preserving the general +features of English society, are much more free and untrammeled. The class +system of Great Britain has gained little footing in this new land, where early +every farmer is the owner of the soil which he tills, and the people have a +feeling of independence unknown to the agricultural population of European +countries. There has been great progress also in many social questions. The +liquor traffic is subject in some Provinces to the local option restriction; +religious liberty prevails; education is practically free and unsectarian; the +franchise is enjoyed by all citizens; members of 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 attempting to limit the freedom of her great transatlantic colony. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap17"></a>Chapter XVII.<br/> +THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN</h2> + +<h3> +Development of World Power in the East +</h3> + +<p class="letter"> +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—Capture of Wei Hai Wei—Europe Invades China—The Boxer Outbreak—Russian +Designs on Manchuria—Japan Begins War on Russia—The Armies Meet—China Becomes a +Republic +</p> + +<p> +Asia, the greatest of the continents and the seat of the earliest +civilizations, yields us the most remarkable phenomenon 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, while 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 new knowledge into +its most secret lurking places. +</p> + +<p> +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 world was moving around it. As regards +the other early civilizations—Babylonia and Egypt—they long ago were +utterly swamped under the tide of Turkish barbarism and exist only in their +ruins. Persia, once a great and flourishing empire, likewise sank under the +flood of Arabian and Turkish 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 civilization until after the nineteenth century +was well advanced, and China’s disposition to avail itself of the results of +modern invention was not manifested until the century was near its end. +</p> + +<h3>WARLIKE INVASION OF CHINA</h3> + +<p> +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 Christian era, being content to retain its old +ideas, methods and institutions, which 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 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 commerce and Hong Kong ceded to Great Britain. In 1856 an arbitrary act +of the Chines 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 century 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. +</p> + +<h3>COMMODORE PERRY AND HIS TREATY</h3> + +<p> +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 and a determination not to be rebuffed, +he induced the authorities 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. +</p> + +<p> +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, relegated 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. +</p> + +<h3>JAPAN’S RAPID PROGRESS</h3> + +<p> +The Japanese quickly began to show a striking activity in the acceptance of the +results of western civilization, alike in regard to objects of commerce, +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. +</p> + +<p> +The Japanese army has been organized upon the European system, and armed with +the most modern style of weapons, the German method of drill and organization +being adopted. Its navy consists of about two hundred war vessels, built +largely in British dockyards and manned by sailors trained under British +officers. A number of 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. +</p> + +<h3>ORIGIN OF THE CHINA-JAPAN WAR</h3> + +<p> +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 civilization. Near the end of the +century war broke out between China and Japan, and there was shown to the world +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 completely new condition of affairs in the continent of Asia, is +of sufficient interest and importance to speak of at some length. +</p> + +<p> +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 country 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 century, when the +question of predominance in it became a cause of war between the two rival +empires. +</p> + +<p> +Korea long pursued the same policy 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 sufficed 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 policy. +</p> + +<h3>THE POSITION OF KOREA</h3> + +<p> +Korea was no sooner opened to foreign intercourse than China and Japan became +rivals for influence in that country—a rivalry in which Japan showed itself +the more active. The Koreans became divided into two factions, a progressive +one that favored Japan, and a conservative one that favored China. Japanese and +Chinese soldiers were 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 a averted by a treaty in 1885 under which both +nations agreed to withdraw their troops and to send no officers to drill the +Korean soldiers. +</p> + +<p> +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 followers of a new +religious sect broke 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 surrounding Seoul with soldiers, several thousands in number. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<h3>LI HUNG CHANG AND THE EMPRESS</h3> + +<p> +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 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. +</p> + +<h3>HOW JAPAN BEGAN WAR</h3> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 trifling. In 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. +</p> + +<h3>THE CHINESE AND JAPANESE FLEETS</h3> + +<p> +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 purchased 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 battleships, with 14-inch iron armor +and turrets defended with 12-inch armor, each carrying four 12-inch guns. Both +navies had the advantage of European teaching in drill, tactics, and +seamanship. The Ting Yuen, the Chinese 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. +</p> + +<p> +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, 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. +</p> + +<h3>THE BATTLE OF THE YALU</h3> + +<p> +On the afternoon of Sunday, September 16, 1894, Admiral Ting’s fleet, +consisting of 11 warships, 4 gunboats, and 6 torpedo boats, anchored off the +mouth of the Yalu River. They were there as escorts to some transports, which +went up the river to discharge 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 twelve ships, +none of them with heavy armor, one of them an armed transport. The swiftest +ship in the fleet was the YOSHINO, capable of making twenty-three knots, and +armed with 44 quick-firing Armstrongs, which would discharge nearly 4,000 +pounds weight of shells every minute. The heaviest guns were long 13-inch +cannon, of which four ships possessed one each, protected by 12-inch shields of +steel. Finally, they had an important advantage over the Chinese in being +abundantly supplied with ammunition. +</p> + +<p> +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 chrysanthemum 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; on the other side was the Korean Gulf. +</p> + +<p> +Omitting details of the long and uninteresting fight which followed it may be +said that the most remarkable feature of the battle of the Yalu 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, though results were drawn. +</p> + +<h3>CAPTURE OF WEI HAI WEI</h3> + +<p> +In January, 1895, the Japanese fleet advanced against the strongly 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<h3>EUROPE INVADES CHINA</h3> + +<p> +The story of China during the few remaining years of the century may be briefly +told. The evidence of its weakness yielded 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 obtained 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. +</p> + +<p> +The nations appeared to be settling on China in all directions and to be 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. +</p> + +<p> +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, found +themselves able to carry out their plans, the conservative opposition having +seriously 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 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 +settlements; 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. +</p> + +<p> +The increase of European interference in China, with indications 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. +</p> + +<h3>THE BOXER OUTBREAK</h3> + +<p> +The hostile sentiment thus developed was indicated early in 1900 by the +outbreak of a Chinese secret society known by a name signified in English 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 evidently encouraged by +the dowager empress and her advisers. +</p> + +<p> +As a result the outbreak spread to Peking, where Baron von Ketteler, the German +minister, was killed, several of the legation buildings were destroyed, and +more than two hundred refugees were besieged within the walls of the British +legation. The danger to which the ministries 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. +</p> + +<p> +The fleet of the allies 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, 1907, one of the conditions of which was that China should pay an +indemnity 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<h3>RUSSIAN DESIGNS ON MANCHURIA</h3> + +<p> +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 province of Manchuria and fears on the +part of Japan that the scope of Russian designs might include the invasion and +conquest of that country. +</p> + +<p> +As already stated, Russia secured a lease of Port Arthur, at the southern +extremity of Manchuria, from China in 1896. Subsequently the Siberian Railway +was extended southward from Harbin to this place, the harbor was deepened, and +building operations 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. +</p> + +<p> +These movements of Russia excited suspicion in Great Britain and Japan, which +countries so strongly opposed the military occupation 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 agreements. In fact Japan’s own +independence seemed threatened. +</p> + +<h3>JAPAN BEGINS WAR ON RUSSIA</h3> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 engagement 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. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile Admiral Togo had been busy at Port Arthur. On April 13th he sent +boats in shore to plant mines. Makharov, 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 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 warfare for that +period, all the ships which Russia had on the Pacific being destroyed or +seriously injured. +</p> + +<h3>THE ARMIES MEET</h3> + +<p> +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 captured 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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, which 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 Russians lost heavily, but failed +to break the Japanese lines, and after a fortnight of hard fighting both sides +desisted from active hostilities, holding their positions with little change. +</p> + +<h3>PORT ARTHUR TAKEN</h3> + +<p> +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 solid rock and +on December 20th the principal stronghold in 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. +</p> + +<p> +We left the armies facing each other at Mukden in late September. 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 or approximately 150,000 each. Oyama had also +received large reinforcements and now had 500,000 men under his command. These +consisted of the armies under Kuroki, Nozdu and Oku, and the force of Nogi +released by the capture of Port Arthur. +</p> + +<p> +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 supported him. On January 19th, a Japanese +advance in force began, attacking with energy and forcing Kuropatkin to +withdraw his center and left behind the line of the Hun. Here he fiercely +attacked Oku and Nogi, for the time checking their advance. But Bilderling and +Linievitch just then fell into difficulties and it became necessary to retreat, +leaving Mukden to the enemy. +</p> + +<p> +There were no further engagements of importance between the armies, though they +remained face to face for months in a long line south of Harbin. Kuropatkin +during this time was relieved from command, Linievitch being appointed to +succeed him. The remaining conflict of the war was a naval one, of remarkable +character. +</p> + +<h3>RUSSIAN FLEET DEFEATED</h3> + +<p> +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 lookout for the coming Russians. +</p> + +<p> +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 ineffective. Night was at hand, but before +it came five Russian warships had gone to the bottom. A torpedo attack was made +during the night and the general engagement resumed next morning. When 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 practically a total loss, while Togo had lost only +three torpedo boats and 650 men. The losses in men by the Russians was 4,000 +killed, and 7,300 prisoners taken. Altogether it was a naval victory which for +completeness has rarely been equaled in history. +</p> + +<p> +Russia, beaten on land and sea, was by this time ready to give up the struggle, +and readily accepted President Roosevelt’s suggestion 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 considerably to her territory by the annexation of +Korea, in which there was no one to question her right. +</p> + +<h3>CHINA BECOMES A REPUBLIC</h3> + +<p> +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 western innovations proceeded apace, +modern literature and systems of education were introduced, and the 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. +</p> + +<p> +For many years a spirit of opposition to the Manchu rulers 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 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 parliamentary system +within nine years. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Soon the movement became so threatening that the emperor issued a decree +appealing to the mercy of the people, and abjectly acknowledging that the +government had done wrong in many particulars. Yuan Shi-Kai, a prominent +revolutionary statesman, 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 republic 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 emperor 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +republic has since persisted, Yuan Shi-Kai still serving as president. The +republic has a parliament 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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap18"></a>Chapter XVIII.<br/> +TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES</h2> + +<h3> +Checking the Dominion of the Turk in Europe +</h3> + +<p class="letter"> +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 +</p> + +<p> +In the southeast of Europe lies a group of minor kingdoms, of little importance +in size, but of great importance in the progress of recent events. Their sudden +uprising in 1912, their conquest of nearly the whole existing remnant of Turkey +in Europe, and the subsequent struggle between them for the spoils 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 kingdom of Albania. Greece is +an outlying member of the group. +</p> + +<h3>THE STORY OF SERVIA</h3> + +<p> +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 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 two hundred years. +</p> + +<p> +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 half-civilized rulers led to a series of insurrections, ending in +1812 in its independence, by the terms of the Treaty of Bukarest. The Turks won +it back in 1813, but in 1815, under its leader, Milosh, its complete +independence was attained. +</p> + +<p> +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 Bulgaria +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 provinces 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 feeling 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 from Turkey and to the story of which some passing +allusion is desirable. +</p> + +<p> +How Greece won its independence has been already told. Another of the group, +the diminutive mountain state of Montenegro, much the smallest of them all, has +the honor of being the only section of that region of Europe that maintained +its independence during the long centuries of Turkish domination. Its +mountainous character enabled its hardy inhabitants to hold their own against +the Turks 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 was changed from a principality into a kingdom, +Prince Nicholas gaining the title of King Nicholas. A second acquisition of +territory succeeded the Balkan War of 1913, the adjoining Turkish province of +Novibazar being divided between it and Servia. +</p> + +<h3>TURKEY IN EUROPE</h3> + +<p> +With this summary of the story of the Balkans we shall proceed to give in more +detail its recent history, comprising the wars of 1876–78 and of 1912–13. As +for the relations between Turkey and the Balkan peninsula, it is well known 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 of 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. +</p> + +<p> +This was the end of Turkish advance in Europe. Since that date it has been +gradually yielding to European assault, Russia beginning its persistent attacks +upon Turkey about the middle of the eighteenth century. At that time Turkey +occupied a considerable 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 1828 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. +</p> + +<p> +The next important event in the history of Turkey in Europe was the Crimean +War, the story of which has been told in an earlier 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 +principality of Roumania), and the cession to Turkey of part of Bessarabia. +</p> + +<p> +Turkey also came out of the Crimean War weakened and shorn of territory. But +the Turkish idea of government remained unchanged, 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. +</p> + +<h3>THE BULGARIAN HORRORS</h3> + +<p> +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 inhabitants slaughtered in cold blood, till thousands of men, +women, and children had been slain. +</p> + +<p> +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. Disraeli, then prime minister of Great Britain, sought to +minimize these reports so as to avert a great war in which England might be +plunged. But Gladstone, at that time in retirement, arose, and by his pamphlet +on the “Bulgarian Horrors” aroused a fierce public sentiment in England. His +denunciation rang out like a trumpet-call. “Let the Turks now carry away their +abuses in the only possible manner—by carrying off themselves,” he wrote. +“Their Zaptiehs and their Mudirs, their Bimbashis and their Yuzbachis, shall, I +hope, clear out from the province they have desolated and profaned.” +</p> + +<p> +He followed up this pamphlet by a series of speeches, delivered to great +meetings and to the House of Commons, with which for four years he sought, as +he expressed it, “night and day to counterwork the purpose of Lord +Beaconsfield.” He succeeded; England was prevented by his eloquence from +actively resisting Russia; and 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. +</p> + +<p> +Hostilities were soon proclaimed. The Russians, of the same race and religious +sect as the Bulgarians, were excited beyond control, 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 this 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. +</p> + +<h3>THE DEFENSE OF PLEVNA</h3> + +<p> +The invaders dared not advance and leave this stronghold in their rear. For +five months all the power of Russia and the skill of its generals were held in +check by this 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 Kudener was repulsed with +the loss of 8,000 men. The daring Skobeleff strove in vain to launch his troops +over Osman’s walls. At length General Todleben undertook 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Russia had won the game for which she had made so long a struggle. The treaty +of San Stefano practically decreed the dissolution 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 in order to guard her own route to India. Russia protested, but +Beaconsfield threatened war, and the Czar gave way. +</p> + +<h3>THE CONGRESS OF BERLIN</h3> + +<p> +The Congress of Berlin, to which the treaty was referred, settled the question +in the following manner: Montenegro, Roumania, and Servia were declared +independent, and Bulgaria became 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. Bosnia and Herzegovina were +placed under the control of Austria. All that Russia obtained for her victories +were some provinces in Asia Minor. Turkey was terribly shorn, and since then +her power has been further reduced, for Eastern Roumelia has broken loose from +her control and united itself again to Bulgaria. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +In 1896 the Christians (Greeks) of the island of Crete broke out in revolt +against the oppression and tyranny of Turkish rule. Of all the Powers of Europe +little Greece was the only one that came to their aid, and the great nations, +still inspired with the fear of a general war, sent their fleets and threatened +Greece with blockade unless she would withdraw her troops. +</p> + +<p> +The result was one scarcely expected. Greece was persistent, and gathered a +threatening army on the frontier of Turkey, and war 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 occupying Thessaly, while the Greek army was +driven back in a state of utter demoralization. At this juncture, when Greece +lay at the mercy of Turkey, as Turkey had lain at that of Russia twenty years +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 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 affair 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. +</p> + +<h3>HOSTILE SENTIMENTS OF THE BALKANS</h3> + +<p> +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 +autonomous principality in 1802, an independent principality in 1878, a kingdom +in 1881; Montenegro, an independent principality 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 +administrative control in 1878, and annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908, an act +which added to the feeling of unrest in the Balkan States. +</p> + +<p> +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, Montenegro and Greece. Roumania, being removed from +contact, had less occasion to entertain warlike sentiments. +</p> + +<h3>INCITEMENT TO WAR</h3> + +<p> +A fitting time for this indignation and hostile feeling 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 opportunity 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. +</p> + +<p> +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: +</p> + +<p> +“I have applied with friendly counsels to Constantinople regarding the misery +which the Christian nationalities, 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. +</p> + +<p> +“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 Balkans.” +</p> + +<p> +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 blockhouse at Oschumava, afterwards occupying a strategic +position above the Struma River. +</p> + +<h3>FIGHTING BEGINS</h3> + +<p> +The Montenegro army opened the war on October 9th, by attacking a strong +Turkish position opposite Podgoritza, Franz Peter, the youngest son of King +Nicholas, firing the first shot. Bulgaria, 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 Malurica Pass, the 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 lived under the Turkish flag, while the +twelve islands in the Aegean 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 military 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. +</p> + +<h3>THE ADVANCE ON ADRIANOPLE</h3> + +<p> +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 Adrianople. This +place, regarded as “the Key to Adrianople,” was take on the 24th, after a three +days’ fight, the Turkish forces, said to be 150,000 strong, retiring in +disorder. +</p> + +<p> +The Bulgarians continued their advance, fighting over a wide semicircular area +before Adrianople, upon which city they gradually closed, taking some of the +outer forts and making their bombardment felt within the city itself. +</p> + +<h3>SERVIAN AND GREEK VICTORIES</h3> + +<p> +While the Bulgarians were making such vigorous advances towards the capital of +the Turkish empire, their allies were winning victories in other quarters. +Novibazar, capital of the sanjak of the same name, was taken by the Servians on +October 23rd. Prishtina 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. +</p> + +<p> +The Greeks were also successful, an army under the Crown Prince capturing the +town of Monastir, which was garrisoned by a Turkish force estimated at 40,000. +The Montenegrin forces were regarded as of high importance as a means of +widening the area of their narrow kingdom. Other important towns or 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 Macedonia. +</p> + +<h3>THE BULGARIAN SUCCESSES</h3> + +<p> +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 commander formally summoned to surrender the city. The besiegers, +however, had great difficulties 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 campaign +closed with the dramatic fall of Kirk-Kilesseh, fully revealing for the first +time the disorganization, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 Turkish commander to throw his main +army to the eastward, to such effect that the Bulgarian force on this side had +the greatest difficulty in holding the Turks in check. +</p> + +<p> +In fact, the Bulgarians gave way, and thus enabled Nazim Pasha to report to +Constantinople some success in this direction. 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 weakened by an outbreak of cholera in their ranks, succeeded in +maintaining their position. +</p> + +<h3>STEPS TOWARD PEACE</h3> + +<p> +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 remaining Turkish stronghold in Macedonia. The +fighting here was desperate, lasting three days, the Turkish losses amounting +to about 20,000 men. In Albania the Montenegrin siege of Scutari continued, +though so far without success. +</p> + +<p> +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 +representatives 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. +</p> + +<p> +This peace conference continued in session until January 6, 1913, without +reaching any conclusions, Turkey refusing to accept the Balkan demands 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. +</p> + +<p> +War 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 Aegean 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. +</p> + +<p> +Demonstrations at once broke out in Constantinople, leading to the overthrow of +the cabinet and the murder of Nazim Pasha, 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. +</p> + +<p> +On January 30th the Balkan allies denounced their armistice and a renewed war +seemed imminent. On the same day the Ottoman government offered a compromise, +agreeing to divide Adrianople between the contestants in such a way that they +might retain the mosques and the historic monuments. As for the Aegean Islands, +they would leave these to the disposition of the Powers. +</p> + +<h3>THE WAR RESUMED</h3> + +<p> +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 peninsula 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. +</p> + +<h3>SIEGE OF SCUTARI</h3> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Servian artillery aided in the assault, and on February 8th the important +outwork on Muselim Hill was taken by an impulsive bayonet charge. The city was +not captured, however, until April 23d, when an entire day’s ceaseless fighting +ended in the yielding of the garrison, the climax of a six-month siege. +</p> + +<p> +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 surrender +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 allies. 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. +</p> + +<h3>TREATY OF PEACE</h3> + +<p> +Peace between the warring nations was finally concluded on May 30, 1913, the +treaty providing that Turkey should cede to her allied foes all territory west +of a line drawn from Enos on the Aegean 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 continent 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 out of agreement with this +design and the Powers insisted in forming out of the districts assigned to +Servia and Greece a new principality to be named Albania, embracing the region +occupied by the unruly Albanian tribes. +</p> + +<p> +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. Bulgaria 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. +</p> + +<h3>WAR BETWEEN THE ALLIES</h3> + +<p> +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 +allies which speedily flung them into a new war. Bulgaria refused to yield any +of the territory held by it to the Servians and Greeks, and Greece in +consequence made a secret league with Servia against Bulgaria. +</p> + +<p> +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 Macedonia. 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. +</p> + +<p> +What would have been the result of the war, if fought out between the original +contestants, it is impossible to say, for at this juncture a new Balkan State, +which had taken no part in the Turkish 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. +</p> + +<h3>THE FINAL SETTLEMENT</h3> + +<p> +King Charles of Roumania now took the opportunity to demand this 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 the frontier on the Black Sea. +</p> + +<p> +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 Adrianople, Bulgaria’s great prize in +the late war. +</p> + +<p> +A peace conference was held at Bukarest, capital of Roumania, beginning July +30th, and framing a treaty, signed on August 10th. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +Servia had most reason to be dissatisfied with the result, in 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 Aegean Sea. But to +this Greece strongly objected, as that city, one of the great tobacco marts of +the world, was 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, +thorough railroad connection with Salonica. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap19"></a>Chapter XIX.<br/> +METHODS IN MODERN WARFARE</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +Ancient and Modern Weapons—New Types of Weapons—The Iron-clad 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 +</p> + +<p> +One 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 winning world-famous +victories with weapons that no one would look for today except in a military +museum, weapons antiquated beyond all possible utility on a modern field of +battle. +</p> + +<h3>ANCIENT AND MODERN WEAPONS</h3> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 that +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-dealing still. +</p> + +<p> +Since the Civil War in the United States, in which probably more new features +in modes of fighting were introduced than in any conflict that had preceded it, +there have been immense improvements in arms, in armament and in general +efficiency of both armies and navies. It was the Civil War that brought into +being the turreted MONITOR, one of the greatest contributions to naval +architecture the navies of the world had then known. 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 the +original devices. +</p> + +<p> +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 smallest field piece of today is almost as efficient as the most +powerful gun in use fifty years ago. +</p> + +<p> +The first attempt to use a torpedo boat dates back to the Civil War. A +primitive contrivance it was, but it showed a possibility in naval warfare +which speedily led to the general building of torpedo boats, and to the +invention of the highly efficient Whitehead torpedo. +</p> + +<h3>THE IRONCLAD WARSHIP</h3> + +<p> +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 armor 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 bomb filled with explosives of frightful rending power, and of +the submarine naval shark, designed to attack the mighty battleships from under +water. +</p> + +<h3>THE BALLOON IN WAR</h3> + +<p> +Of recent years the balloon has been developed into the dirigible, the flying +machine that can be steered and directed. Made effective by Count Zeppelin and +others, its possibilities as an aid in war were quickly perceived. Then came +the notable invention of the Wright Brothers, and after 1904 the aeroplane +quickly expanded into an effective aerial instrument, the probably +serviceableness of which in war was evident to all. Here we are tempted to stop +and quote the remarkable prediction from Tennyson’s “Locksley Hall,” the truth +of which is now being so strikingly verified: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +“For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see,<br/> +Saw the vision of the world and all the wonder that would be;<br/> +Saw the heavens fill with commerce, argosies of magic sails,<br/> +Pilots of the purple twilight, dropping down with costly bales;<br/> +Heard the heavens fill with shouting, and there rained a ghastly dew<br/> +From the nations’ airy navies grappling in the central blue;<br/> +Far along the world-wide whisper of the south-wind rushing warm,<br/> +With the standards of the peoples plunging through the thunder storm;<br/> +Till the war drum throbbed no longer, and the battle flags were furled<br/> +In the parliament of man, the federation of the world.” +</p> + +<h3>GUNNING FOR AIRSHIPS</h3> + +<p> +The airship does not float safely in the cental blue, aside from attacks by +flying 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, some to be employed on warships or fortifications, others, mounted on +automobile trucks, for use in the field. +</p> + +<p> +The Ehrhardt gun, a German weapon, which is designed to be mounted on an +auto-truck, weighs nearly 1700 pounds. The car 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 effective, in +case of airships coming within its range. +</p> + +<p> +Jules Vedrines, a well-known French aviator, tells this story of his experience +while doing scout duty for the French army: +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<h3>THE SUBMARINE</h3> + +<p> +The submarine is another type of war apparatus, one the utility of which +promises to be very great. It is of recent origin. At the time of the +Spanish-American War there were only five submarines 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 first one, and had not decided +what type to select. At the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War Great Britain +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. +</p> + +<p> +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, and this +idea has 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 +traditional 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 course. +</p> + +<p> +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 demonstrated. +</p> + +<p> +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 submerged 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. +</p> + +<h3>UNDER-WATER WARFARE</h3> + +<p> +The submarine is supposed to have its most important field of operation against +a fleet of battleships and cruisers besieging a seaport city. These great war +craft, covered above the waterline 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. +</p> + +<p> +With this idea in view torpedo boars, destroyers designed to attack torpedo +boats and submarines have been multiplied in modern navies. We have just begun +to appreciate the effectiveness of 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 being 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 knots when submerged. Some +of the more recent have a radius of navigation 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. +</p> + +<h3>THE NEW TYPE OF BATTLESHIP</h3> + +<p> +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 battleships was yearly augmented until in 1907 the +famous Dreadnought appeared, looked upon at the time as the last word in naval +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. +</p> + +<p> +On shore a similar increase may be seen in the size and effectiveness 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 lives in their +country’s service or at the command of the autocrat under whom they live. +</p> + +<h3>MOBILIZATION</h3> + +<p> +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 lists; 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 +military 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, the shipyards, the hotels, the farms, +river boats, everywhere. Almost instantly the male individuals within the +prescribed ages must at once report to the barracks to come under military +discipline. Infantry, cavalry and artillery units double and triple at once. +</p> + +<p> +This is the first step in mobilization. The second is the transportation 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<h3>THE WASTE OF WAR</h3> + +<p> +And the waste of it all; the criminal, unbelievable waste! Consider the vast +loss of products that is due, not only to actual war, but to unceasing and +universal preparation for war. +</p> + +<p> +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. Commenting on this state of affairs, Count Sergius Witte, +the ablest of Russian statesmen and financiers, said in London not long ago: +</p> + +<p> +“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 +contentment which at present is the prerogative of the few. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“When I call to mind the gold and the work thus dissipated in smoke and sound +and compare that picture with this other villagers 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.” +</p> + +<p> +In “War and Waste” Dr. David Starr Jordan quotes the table of Richet to show +the cost of a general European war. +</p> + +<p> +Per day the French statistician figures the war’s cost thus: +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +Feed of men …………………………………. $12,600,000<br/> +Feed of horses ……………………………….. 1,000,000<br/> +Pay (European rates) ………………………….. 4,250,000<br/> +Pay of workmen in arsenals and ports ……………. 1,000.000<br/> +Transportation (sixty miles, ten days) ………….. 2,100,000<br/> +Transportation of provisions …………………… 4,200,000<br/> +Munitions<br/> +Infantry, ten cartridges a day …………….. 4,200,000<br/> +Artillery, ten shots per day ………………. 1,200,000<br/> +Marine, two shots per day …………………. 400,000<br/> +Equipment ……………………………………. 4,200,000<br/> +Ambulances, 500,000 wounded or ill ($1 per day) ….. 500,000<br/> +Armature …………………………………….. 500,000<br/> +Reduction of imports ………………………….. 5,000,000<br/> +Help to the poor (20 cents per day to one in ten) … 6,800,000<br/> +Destruction of towns, etc ……………………… 2,000,000 +</p> + +<h5>TOTAL PER DAY …………….. $49,950,000</h5> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap20"></a>Chapter XX.<br/> +CANADA’S PART IN THE WORLD WAR</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +New Relations Toward the Empire—Military Preparations—The Great Camp at +Valcartier—The Canadian Expeditionary Force—Political Effect of Canada’s Action +on Future of the Dominion +</p> + +<p> +The sailing of the First Canadian Contingent on October 2, 1914, for England, +en route to the theater of war, marked a noteworthy epoch in Canadian history. +For the first time the Dominion took her place, not as a British colony, but as +a component part of the British Empire. This position was established by the +voluntary offer of expeditionary troops to be raised, equipped, and paid by +Canada for the defense of the British empire. +</p> + +<p> +For many years a movement had been on foot to bring about this attitude on the +part of the Dominion by His Majesty’s government. +</p> + +<p> +No such action was taken by the Dominion in the South African War, though a +Canadian regiment was raised for the guarding of Halifax so that the regiment +of British soldiers doing garrison duty there might be released for service at +the front, and all other troops who left Canada went simply as volunteers to +join the British army, though raised by the Dominion government. +</p> + +<p> +When the situation in South Africa reached a critical stage and there were +fears of German interference on behalf of the Boers it became clear that the +British government strongly desired a helping hand from Canada for political +reasons. It seemed a good time to show a solid front and a united Empire. +Later, on October 3d, there came a request for 500 men from the British +Colonial Secretary. No immediate action was taken on this, but on October 13th, +the government passed an Order-in-Council for the raising of 1,000 volunteers +and providing for their equipment and transportation. But these men were really +British volunteers, not Canadian troops, as once at the front they became +British soldiers under British pay. This contingent was known as a “Special +Service Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment of Infantry,” and did not +belong in any sense to the organized troops of the Dominion, either regular or +militia, although they approached more nearly to that status than in any +previous case of assistance given by the Dominion to the Empire. +</p> + +<p> +In the Indian Mutiny in 1857 a regiment was raised in Canada by the British +government known as the 100th Prince of Wales Royal Canadian Regiment” and in +the Empire’s other wars, such as the Crimean and the Soudanese, there were +always Canadian volunteers in the British forces. +</p> + +<h3>MILITARY PREPARATIONS</h3> + +<p> +The declaration of war by Great Britain on Germany made on the night of August +4, 1914, found the people of the Dominion not wholly unprepared for the +situation. For some time ways of helping the mother country had been the chief +topic both in government circles and among the people at large. This is best +instanced by the following telegram sent by His Royal Highness, the +governor-General, to the Secretary of State for the colonies, Rt. Hon. Lewis +Harcourt. +</p> + +<p> +“Ottawa, August 1, 1914 +</p> + +<p> +In view of the impending danger of war involving the Empire my advisers are +anxiously considering the most effective means of rendering every possible aid, +and will welcome any suggestions and advice which Imperial naval and military +authorities may deem it expedient to offer. They are confident that a +considerable force would be available for service abroad, as under section +sixty-nine of Canadian Militia Act the active militia can only be placed on +active service beyond Canada for the defense thereof. It has been suggested +that regiments might enlist as Imperial troops for a stated period, Canadian +Government undertaking to pay all necessary financial provisions for their +equipment, pay and maintenance. This proposal has not yet been maturely +considered here and my advisers would be glad to have views of Imperial +Government thereon. Arthur” +</p> + +<p> +This offer from Canada preceded similar offers from Australia, India, South +Africa and Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +The response to this came in the following cable from His Majesty. +</p> + +<p> +“London, August 4, 1914 +</p> + +<p> +Please communicate to your ministers following message from His Majesty the +king and publish: +</p> + +<p> +‘I desire to express to my people of the Overseas Dominions with what +appreciation and pride I have received the messages from their respective +governments during the last few days. These spontaneous assurances of their +fullest support recalled to me the generous self-sacrificing help given by them +in the past to the Mother country. I shall be strengthened in the discharge of +the great responsibilities which rest upon me by the confident belief that in +this time of trial my Empire will stand united, calm, resolute, and trusting in +God. George R.I. Harcourt” +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Harcourt also cabled advising that although there was not immediately need +for an expeditionary force it would be advisable to take all legislative and +other steps necessary to the providing of such a force in case it should be +required later. +</p> + +<p> +The declaration of the war by Great Britain was officially recognized in Canada +on August 5th, in a message from the Governor-General, beginning: +</p> + +<p> +“Whereas a state of war now exists between this country and Germany.” +</p> + +<p> +On the following day came a call to the militia for active service and Canada +had gone on record as having accepted her responsibilities as an integral part +of the Empire. She was sending troops to help England not as volunteers who +were to become British soldiers, but as Canadian soldiers, enlisted, clothed, +armed, equipped and paid by Canadian dollars. +</p> + +<p> +Shortly after this came another cablegram from Mr. Harcourt gratefully +accepting the offer of the expeditionary force and requesting that it be sent +forward as quickly as possible. This cablegram was supplemented by another +suggesting one army division as a suitable composition for this expeditionary +force. The terms of enlistment were to be as follows: +</p> + +<p> +“(a) For a term of one year unless war lasts longer than one year, in which +case they will be retained until war is over. If employed with hospitals, +depots of mounted units, and as clerks, et cetera, they may be retained after +termination of hostilities until services can be dispensed with, but such +retention shall in no case exceed six months. +</p> + +<p> +“(b) To be attached to any arm of service should it be required of them.” +</p> + +<p> +An army division of war strength consists of about 22,500 men composing all +branches of the service. +</p> + +<p> +While the call to arms found Canada prepared morally and financially, it found +the country sadly unprepared from the standpoint of equipment. It was necessary +to buy or make rifles, uniforms, guns and equipment of every description to +increase the limited supply on hand to the necessary point. The quantity and +variety of supplies required by an army division seems mountainous to the +civilian. They ran the entire gamut from shoe laces to motor trucks, and these +had to be purchased at the high prices caused by sudden demand wherever it was +possible to obtain them in quantities with the greatest speed. +</p> + +<p> +In this great work of mobilization Canada’s fine railway organizations played a +great and necessary part. With their aid and that of many prominent men in +Canadian affairs the question of the gathering of materials at selected points +went ahead rapidly. +</p> + +<p> +The matter of enlistments held equally important sway. An order in council +authorized an army of 22,218 officers and men and the recruiting officers +wasted no time in setting about their work. All over the Dominion men had been +drilling ever since the danger of war became acute. The organized militia was +hard at work. Volunteers were being rapidly gathered and after a thorough +medical examination were put in charge of a drill sergeant. There was no +difficulty in getting men and the recruiting officers from the first were +overwhelmed with applications. Canada was going to the aid of the mother +country, not unwillingly, not with hesitancy, not with parsimony, but with a +great rush of enthusiasm to save the Empire, Our Empire! +</p> + +<h3>THE GREAT CAMP AT VALCARTIER</h3> + +<p> +The problem of concentrating this huge body of men soon became a real one. A +great mobilization camp was needed. A place not too far from the Atlantic, with +ample railroad facilities, large and roomy enough for the maneuvering of large +bodies of men as well as their housing in tents, must be found. A further +qualification was that this great camp should be located in a position of +strategic importance and one which could be defended should the necessity +arise. +</p> + +<p> +Such a place was found at Valcartier, a small village some sixteen miles from +the City of Quebec on the line of the Canadian Northern Railway. +</p> + +<p> +When the war was declared the government did not own Valcartier and few people +had ever heard of it. Soon, however, the name began to grow more familiar with +the newspapers and in a day or two the place became government property. For +the purpose it proved ideal. +</p> + +<p> +Great expanse of level country provided an ideal maneuvering ground. The site +of the camp itself was high enough for good drainage and the Jacques Cartier +River provided an abundance of good water. +</p> + +<p> +But with the acquisition of the ground the work had just begun. It was +necessary to erect tents for the housing of 30,000 men. A commissary for their +subsistence must be provided. Stores and storehouses had to be rushed to the +spot and there was a huge amount of work of a more or less permanent character +in the shape of water works with many miles of piping, shower baths, drinking +troughs, an electric light plant and the like. The engineers were called upon +immediately to lay out the camp and its many auxiliary features. A rifle range, +the largest in the world, was immediately planned and put in operation for the +training of the soldiers, for few men unacquainted with military life are able +to handle modern high-powered military rifles with any degree of success, +although the average man, under capable instructors, rapidly becomes +proficient. Artillery ranges in the Laurentian Hills were established for the +training of the field artillery. Here the big sixty-pounders, which throw a +shell for nearly five miles, first woke the echoes. +</p> + +<p> +A great bridge-building record was made by the men of the Royal Canadian +Engineers under the direction of Major W. Bethune Lindsay of Winnipeg. The +Jacques Cartier River separates the main camp from the artillery practice +grounds at the base of Mounts Ileene and Irene. Across this 350 feet of +waterway the Royal Canadian Engineers built within four hours a barrel-pier +pontoon bridge capable of carrying heavy batteries. The Major and his three +hundred men worked with that well-ordered efficiency which characterizes the +efforts of the British bred. The race for the record started with the Canadian +Northern Railway. The materials barrels, planking, etc. were freighted on to +the ground with remarkable dispatch. The casks were made watertight, the timber +was made ready, the twenty-foot bank cut down to provide an easy grade for +traffic, and the actual test was on. +</p> + +<p> +There was never a hitch. One party of men lashed the barrels to the heavy +planks, and, as soon as that operation was complete, another party lifted the +pier and carried it down the bank. Another squad of men conveyed it on to the +water, where it was taken in charge by still another party and floated out to +the front line. The pier was drawn quickly into position, and as many men as +could work with freedom soon had the flooring spiked down. The actual bridging +commenced at eight o’clock; the span was complete at ten minutes after twelve. +The extra ten minutes were accounted for by the fact that on one or two +occasions passing bodies of other troops necessitated a temporary cessation of +carrying operations. +</p> + +<p> +Col. Burstall, Director of Artillery at the Camp, visited the work during the +morning and expressed his astonishment at the progress effected. Ordinarily it +is a good day’s work to throw a bridge of this class across a three-hundred +foot stream. Col. G. F. Maunsell, Director General of Engineering Service in +Canada, who is attached to headquarters at Ottawa, also paid close attention to +the task and was vastly pleased with the result. Col. Morrison, Ottawa, of the +Artillery Service, hurried a gun across the bridge when completed, establishing +its efficiency at once. Without doubt the brother officers of Major Lindsay, in +all branches of the service, were extremely gratified at the efficiency and +despatch of the men making up the Royal Canadian Engineers at the big camp. +</p> + +<p> +Of course, the railway problem of moving the thousand or more troop trains +which were rushing from all parts of Canada to Valcartier was a huge one. In +this they had to cope with the great quantity of supplies and equipment which +was daily forwarded. At Valcartier it was necessary for the Canadian Northern +to form a loop for the rapid handling of these trains so that a constant stream +of trains was kept continually moving in both directions without interruption. +</p> + +<p> +Great hardships and inconveniences resulted in many cases from the lack of +proper equipment. It was colder down in Quebec than in many other parts of the +Dominion and a great many men were without sufficient blankets to keep them +warm. Uniforms were scarce and army shoes fit for the work of drills and +maneuvers even scarcer. Gradually, however, these deficiencies were supplied, +recruits began to show amazing progress in the art of soldiering and little by +little the great camp lost its motley appearance and became an efficient +military organization in which rigid discipline and high efficiency prevailed. +In six weeks Valcartier’s 30,000 were ready, ready for England and the final +polish which was to fit them for the test of battle. They could even have been +sent to the front. It seemed that this was not yet necessary. +</p> + +<h3>THE CANADIAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE</h3> + +<p> +But it was decided that the time had come for this great body of troops to +leave. The original plan of sending a division of 22,500 men was supplemented +by the dispatch of the remaining 7,500 as a reserve to prevent the delay in +getting them to the front should the necessity arise suddenly. Members of the +government spoke of a possible second or third contingent, as experience had +taught them that it would be as easy to raise 100,000 men as it had been to +raise 30,000. At a given time the evacuation of Valcartier began. Thirty-two +transports lay in the St. Lawrence prepared to take the division to England, +and soon the first contingent began to move toward the sea. The British fleet +had cleared the ocean of all but a few scattered German cruisers, and these +were amply guarded against by the warships which acted as escorts. And so, on +the second day of October Canada’s first great pledge of loyalty left the +shores of the Dominion to go to the defense of the Empire. +</p> + +<p> +On October 15th the transports reached Plymouth, England, and were received +with greatest enthusiasm. An English newspaper, The Western Morning News, spoke +of the arrival the next morning in the following terms: +</p> + +<p> +“The arrival of the fleet of transports with the first contingent of Canadian +forces on board was an event of good augury for the future of the war. These +splendid men have come, some of them nearly 6,000 miles, to testify to the +unity of the Empire and take their share of the burden which rests upon Britons +the world over of being the stoutest champions of justice and liberty. Even if +their numbers were smaller we should hail their arrival as a symbol of the +solidarity of the British race, but they come a large number in themselves, yet +only the earnest of many more to come if they are needed to help in defeating +the imposition of German tyranny and militancy on the world. The cheers they +raised for the old country as they steamed into the harbor yesterday, and the +splendid vigor and spirit they displayed, showed they have both the will and +the power to give a good account of themselves at the front and prove worthy +comrades of the dauntless band of heroes who, under Sir John French, have won +the unstinted admiration of our French and Russian and Belgian allies and, +indeed of the whole world.” +</p> + +<p> +Then followed long weeks of hard training on Salisbury Plains. At last they +were considered fit for the front and the contingent was transported to France. +Of their conduct there, under the baptism of fire, the following letter from +General French at Headquarters of the British Army, dated March 3d, to His +Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught, is an ample testimonial. +</p> + +<p> +“The Canadian troops having arrived at the front, I am anxious to tell your +Royal Highness that they have made the best impression on all of us. +</p> + +<p> +“I made a careful inspection of the division a week after they came to the +country, and I was very much struck by the excellent physique which was +apparent throughout the ranks. The soldierly bearing and the steadiness with +which the men stood in the ranks (on a bleak cold snowy day) was most +remarkable. +</p> + +<p> +“After two or three weeks preliminary education in the trenches, attached by +unit to the Third corps, they have now taken their own line on the right of +that corps as a complete division and I have the utmost confidence in their +capability to do valuable and efficient service. +</p> + +<p> +“The Princess Patricia’s Regiment arrived with the 27th Division a month +earlier and since then they have performed splendid service in the trenches. +</p> + +<p> +“When I inspected them (although in pouring rain), it seemed to me I had never +seen a more magnificent looking battalion Guards or otherwise. +</p> + +<p> +“Two or three days ago they captured a German trench with great dash and energy +and excellent results. +</p> + +<p> +“I am writing these few lines because I know how deeply we are all indebted to +the untiring and devoted efforts your Royal Highness has personally made to +ensure the despatch in the most efficient condition of this valuable +contingent.” +</p> + +<p> +The first contingent had evacuated Valcartier only a short time when the second +contingent began to move toward the great mobilization camp, for a similar +process of training to that followed in the first case. +</p> + +<p> +When the second contingent sailed away from Canada to take its place with the +allies on the battlefields of Europe, it was accompanied by a battery of the +most complete and efficient armored motor car rapid-fire machine guns ever +devised. Indeed, they are, so far as is known, the first motor car machine guns +in the ranks of the allies in any way comparing in point of up-to-dateness and +efficiency with those now being employed by the German army. For up till +recently Germany was the only power which had given any attention to armored +motor car machine guns. The Germans had been experimenting for several years +upon this latest development in field weapons, and when the present war broke +out they had a type of armored motor car rapid-fire gun that has enabled them +to do a kind of work that would not be done by any other sort of artillery. +Great Britain, France and Belgium began hurriedly experimenting, and hastily +put together a number of machine guns mounted on armored motor cars. These were +but tentative weapons, however, quickly designed to meet an exigency for which +the allies had not, like the Germans, already prepared. It has remained for +Canada to evolve a type of armored motor car battery that is said to be the +most perfect and effective that has ever been constructed. +</p> + +<p> +This ultra-modern battery of forty guns was a part of Canada’s contribution to +the Empire at war. Fifteen of the guns were made possible by the patriotic +generosity of Mr. J. C. Eaton, Toronto’s well known millionaire department +store owner, and were designated as the Eaton Battery. They were completed +right in Toronto, where both the experimenting and designing were carried on, +and the cars and guns put together, under the supervision of Mr. W. K. +McNaught, C.M.G., who undertook the task of directing the work for the +government. The corps of officers and men who man the battery had a special +course of training under Capt. W. J. Morrison at Exhibition Camp. +</p> + +<p> +It is only necessary to recall to mind certain pictures that have appeared +recently of motor car machine guns in action to realize with what deadly +effectiveness these weapons may be employed in present-day warfare. They +combine all the terrific killing power of the rapid-fire machine gun with the +swift mobility and tirelessness of the gasoline-driven motor car. Protected +behind almost impregnable steel armor plate, the driver may dash ahead of the +advancing lines and enable the gunner, almost completely protected, to mow down +the ranks of the enemy with a sweeping stream of rifle bullets, played along a +line of men much as one would play a stream of water from a fire hose. The car +may be in motion all this time, or may stop only for an instant, so that the +enemy has no time to train its artillery upon it. It may dash into what would +be for infantry or cavalry or ordinary gunners the jaws of death, distribute +its deadly sting, and then dash out again unscathed. Thus it may be of +incalculable service in the field. Or it may be used in a town where whole +masses of defenders may be driven back, and the streets completely cleared by +the rapid sweep of its bullets. +</p> + +<p> +The armored motor car guns which were constructed in Toronto are built on a +motor truck chassis. The wheels are made of pressed steel, and have heavy tires +of solid rubber. All the rest of the car is effectively covered with Harveyized +steel plates, which were severely tested. This armorplate was rolled in Canada +by Canadian workmen, and was made from iron ore mined in Nova Scotia. +</p> + +<p> +The distinctive fighting feature of the car is the revolving turret of this +armor-plate in which the offensive apparatus is situated. This turret rises +above the four-foot armored body at about the center of the car. In it is the +new model Maxim rapid-fire gun, mounted very strongly on an apparatus of steel +and phosphor bronze, the invention of Canadian engineers. This gun mount really +carries the revolving turret which surrounds it, and which revolves so easily +on ball bearings that a mere touch of the hand will move it. It can make a +complete revolution, so that the gun has a clear sweep. It can be locked by +means of a lever operated by the gunner. The gunner sits on a seat fastened to +the frame which supports the turret. The running machinery of the car which +comes below the floor, is, of course, protected by a steel skirt, which extends +around the car. The machine gun is aimed through a loop-hole in the steel +turret. It can fire from 300 to 600 rifle bullets a minute, and has an +effective range of a mile and a half. The bullets are held in a belt which runs +through the gun automatically. The armor-plate on the rear of the car is +loop-holed so that rifles can be used. Each of the machine guns has two extra +barrels, the reason for this being that with the bullets passing through the +barrel so rapidly it naturally becomes very hot, and so must be changed +frequently. +</p> + +<p> +Another feature of the car is that it is protected overhead as well as around +the sides and front, and rendered immune from shrapnel fire, missiles from +aeroplanes, and dropping bullets, by the same kind of armor-plate that is used +on the sides. Thus the drivers and all the fighting men are completely +protected by armor-plate. +</p> + +<p> +Each car, in addition to its fighting equipment, carries picks, shovels, wire +rope, repair tools and provisions. Attached to the battery are two workshop +cars, with turning lathes and repair machines driven by motor spare parts, etc. +These stay behind the firing line. Each car carries a complement of five men, +including the two men who drive and the gunner who operates the machine gun. +The extra two ride in the rear and may use rifles through the loop-holes. But +there is no real specialization, for each man must be competent not only as a +soldier but as a chauffeur, machinist and gunner. If there is only one man left +in the car, he must be able to operate the machine gun, run the car, and make +repairs if necessary. And he must be a man who can keep his head, observe +intelligently, and plan for himself and his regiment. Those in charge of the +recruiting for the Eaton Battery expressed themselves as well pleased with the +type of men secured. Many had seen service before; there were several expert +telegraphers, several expert signalers, and one an ex-lieutenant in the British +navy. +</p> + +<h3>POLITICAL EFFECT OF CANADA’S ACTION ON FUTURE OF DOMINION</h3> + +<p> +As had been outlined in the early portion of this chapter, the World War +produced a result in the Dominion long sought by the British government. From +the position of a British Colony independent in all but name and free to send +or withhold military aid, Canada has voluntarily advanced step by step in the +direction of stronger unification of the British Empire. In each of the wars +fought by Great Britain the part to be taken by Canadian soldiers has received +more and more formal recognition from the Dominion government, advancing from a +mere permission to volunteer, through various stages to the actual enlistment, +equipment and dispatch of a purely Canadian Contingent under Canadian officers +and Canadian pay to the support of the British Empire. +</p> + +<p> +Though each step had been in this direction few thought that Canada would ever +take such action. It has been admitted that if Canada herself was attacked +Canadians would, of course, defend themselves to the last. It was even admitted +that aid might be sent in case of an attack on the British Isles, as a part of +the Empire, but so far as to raise an army to take part in a campaign in Europe +seemed far beyond the range of imagination. +</p> + +<p> +Notwithstanding this, however, the Dominion has made the move without +hesitation and in so doing has established a precedent which is apt to prove of +huge importance in the future history of the Dominion. +</p> + +<p> +Great Britain’s enemies must consider not merely a war on Great Britain but a +war on the British Empire, for Canada as well as Australia, India, South Africa +and Egypt, having once sent aid could not again refuse it and make their +position tenable. The Empire now presents a solid front to the world and her +strength is vastly increased hy the loyalty and devotion of the Overseas +Dominions. +</p> + +<p> +This military unity must also produce results in other directions tending +toward a closer union between the Dominion and the Mother country. We venture +to predict that the future will witness a strengthening of the bonds of +loyalty, of commercial and educational ties without the least abatement of the +complete autonomy enjoyed by the great Dominion. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WORLD WAR ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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