HOME UNIVERSITY LIBRARY OF MODERN KNOWLEDGE

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

1885-1911

By G. P. GOOCH

London

WILLIAMS & NOR GATE

HENRY HOLT & Co., New York Canada : WM. BRIGGS, Toronto India : R. & T. WASHBOURNE, Ltd.

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UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY

OF

MODERN KNOWLEDGE

Editors :

HERBERT FISHER, M.A., F.B.A.

Prof. GILBERT MURRAY, D.LlTT., LL.D., F.B.A.

PROF. J. ARTHUR THOMSON, M.A.

Prof. WILLIAM T. BREWSTER, M.A. (Columbia University, U.S.A.)

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t

NEW YORK

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY

HISTORY OF OUR TIME 1885-1911

V

BY

G. P. GOOCH, M.A.

AUTHOR OF

“ ENGLISH DEMOCRATIC IDEAS IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY,” “ ANNALS OF POLITICS AND CULTURE,” ETC.

=7

LONDON

WILLIAMS AND NORGATE

CONTENTS

CHAP. I	The British Empire	• *	PAGE 7
II	The French Republic	• ■	35
III	The Latin South	• «	58
IV	Germany and Austria-Hungary	83
V	Eastern Europe	• 9	. 109
VI	The Balance of Power .	• @	. 132
VII	The Awakening of Asia .	• •	. 155
VIII	The Partition of Africa	» *	. 180
IX	The New World	*■ *	. 206
X	World Problems	■ *	. 232

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HISTORY OF OUR TIME

CHAPTER I

THE BRITISH EMPIRE

In June 1885 Gladstone’s second Ministry was defeated on the Budget proposal to increase the taxation of liquor. It had inherited difficulties at home and abroad, and its career had been stormy and dis¬ appointing. There had been an inglorious war in South Africa, incessant conflict in Ireland, and dynamite outrages in London. The revolt of Arabi had been suppressed, but Khartoum had fallen and Gordon had perished. Moreover the Ministry had been weakened by resignations and torn by internal dissension. Lord Lansdowne and the Duke of Argyll had withdrawn on the attempt to settle the Irish land question, Forster on the release of Parnell from Kilmainham, Bright on the bombardment of Alexandria. An unceasing struggle had been carried on in the Cabinet between the Whigs and the

8

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

Radicals, culminating in the “ Unauthorised Programme ” of Mr. Chamberlain.

On Gladstone’s resignation Salisbury formed his first Ministry ; but before the dissolu¬ tion took place in November, an important change in the political situation had occurred. The Crimes Act was dropped, and Carnarvon, the new Lord-Lieutenant, informed Parnell at a secret interview of his inclination towards Home Rule. For these reasons the Irish vote was cast for Conservative candidates throughout Great Britain. The result of the election was that the Conservatives and Nationalists combined exactly equalled the Liberals. Gladstone’s election address had demanded an equitable settlement with Ireland, and had asked for a majority in¬ dependent of Irish votes. On failing to obtain it he offered to co-operate with Salisbury in an attempt to solve the problem on the lines of autonomy. The Conservative leader refused ; but Herbert Gladstone had already confided to a newspaper that his father was prepared to grant some form of Home Rule. Meanwhile Carnarvon had resigned, and on the meeting of Parliament the Queen’s Speech foreshadowed the renewal of coercion. The Liberals and Nationalists combined to overthrow the Government on the Address, and Gladstone became Prime Minister for the third time.

THE BRITISH EMPIRE

9

The adoption of Home Rule by the Liberal leader opened a new chapter in the history of the British Empire. Influential Liberals like Mr. Morley, Mr. Bryce, and Sir Charles Dilke had already avowed themselves Home Rulers; and Gladstone’s conversion caused no surprise to his intimate friends and colleagues. He had lost what little faith in coercion he had ever possessed. Before his resignation he had contemplated an elective Central Council for Ireland on lines suggested by Mr. Chamberlain. Visiting his leader at Hawarden in September, Lord Derby found him “ leaning towards Home Rule.” In this state of mind he was pro¬ foundly impressed by the return of 86 Irish Home Rulers at the first election held on a democratic franchise. The vision of a reconciled Ireland gradually took possession of him, and to its realisation he devoted the evening of his life.

The approaching split in the Liberal party was foreshadowed when the com¬ position of the Ministry was announced. The names of Hartington, Bright, Selborne, Derby, Northbrook, Sir Henry James and other old colleagues were missing, while Mr. Chamberlain and Sir George Trevelyan, in accepting office, only pledged themselves to inquiry. The Bill was framed by the Prime Minister with the assistance of Mr.

] o HISTORY OF OUR TIME

Morley, the new Chief Secretary, and Lord Spencer, whose long experience as Lord- Lieutenant was of the greatest service. It proposed the creation of two Houses or Orders, with power over all PureJy lr*s“ questions. The Prime Minister added that a (Treat measure of land purchase would accompany the scheme. The Bill was re¬ ceived with a storm of criticism, the hottest fire being concentrated on the exclusion of the Irish members from Westminster. Mr. Chamberlain and Sir George Trevelyan had already resigned when the Bill was defeated on second reading by a majority of 80 with the aid of 93 dissentient Liberals. Parliament was dissolved, the Gladstoman Liberals were defeated, and the Coalition

returned with a majority of 118.

The adoption of Home Rule reduced the Liberal party to something like political impotence for twenty years. The change was too great to be accepted offhand even at the bidding of Gladstone. But the loss of one party was the gain of the other. Alter a short interval of uncertainty the dissentient Liberals threw in their lot with the Con¬ servatives, and built up a strong Unionist Coalition. The Whigs had been drifting away from their chief for some years, and the adoption of Home Rule merely completed their conversion. The creation of the

THE BRITISH EMPIRE II

Unionist party may be said to mark the birth of the Imperialism which dominated British politics for twenty years. The foundation of the Imperial Federation League in 1884, under the auspices of Forster and Lord Rosebery, showed that the Colonial problem was occupying the thoughts of prominent Liberals ; but the Unionists now came forward not only as the guardians of the Union but as the special champions of Imperial expansion and defence. The gulf between the two historic parties deepened, and the Liberal party, relieved of the incubus of its Whig supporters, became more frankly democratic.

On the fall of the short-lived Gladstone Ministry, Salisbury offered to serve under Hartington. The proposal was declined, though the Whig leader promised independent support. A purely Conservative Government was therefore formed with Lord Randolph Churchill, the champion of Tory democracy and sometime leader of the Fourth Party, as Chancellor of the Exchequer and leader of the House. But at the end of the year Lord Randolph refused to accept the large estimates for the army and navy on which the Cabinet was bent. To his surprise his resignation was accepted. W. H. Smitn became leader of the House, and Goschen Chancellor of the Exchequer. The new

12

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

minister had refused to join the Gladstone Government in 1880 owing to his opposition to the extension of the franchise, and Bright had predicted that he would one day enter a Tory administration. At the same time an effort was made to unite the Liberal party at the Round Table Conference between Mr. Chamberlain and Sir George Trevelyan on one side, and Harcourt, Herschell and Mr. Morley on the other. The attempt failed, though Sir George shortly rejoined his friends. Its failure marks the definite incorporation of the main body of dissentient Liberals in the Unionist party.

The most difficult, as well as the most urgent, problem confronting the Ministry was that of Ireland. Salisbury had declared that the sister isle needed twenty years of resolute government. The medicine w*as unflinchingly administered by the Chief Secretary, Mr. Balfour, who, in reply to the 46 Plan of Campaign,” carried a drastic and permanent Crimes Bill in 1887 by the aid of the guillotine, now used for the first time in limiting debate. William O’Brien and other political offenders were treated like common criminals, and the bloodshed at Michelstown excited passionate controversy throughout Great Britain. But the situation, measured by police statistics, slowly im¬ proved, land purchase was hurried on, and

THE BRITISH EMPIRE

13

in 1891 the Congested Districts Board was created to assist the poverty-stricken coun¬ ties of the West.

The main legislative achievements of the Salisbury Government were the creation of elective County and District Councils in 1888, and the grant of Free Education in 1891. Both reforms had been advocated by Mr. Chamberlain, and their passage was regarded as consideration for Liberal Unionist support. Nowhere was the advantage of the former measure more quickly felt than in London, where the Council attracted from the outset able and distinguished men. In 1890 an important Housing Act was passed, and in 1891 facilities were provided for obtaining allotments. Finance was skilfully handled by Goschen. In 1888 the interest on the greater portion of the National Debt was reduced from 3 to 2 j per cent., a further reduction to 2J per cent, to take place in 1903. The conversion effected an immediate saving of lj millions a year in interest. In the second place, the proceeds of certain taxes were assigned to the local authorities in place of grants in aid. The resources of the County Councils were increased in 1890 by the 44 Whisky Money ” which Goschen had in¬ tended to devote to the extinction of licences. Abroad the sky was comparatively unclouded, and Salisbury confirmed his reputation as a

14

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

skilful and peace-loving diplomatist. The celebration of the Jubilee in 1887 not only revealed to the world the affectionate rever¬ ence in which Queen Victoria was held, but also emphasised the moral unity of the Empire. None the less the Government deemed it necessary to strengthen the national defences. The Two Power standard was formulated, and in 1889 a large increase in the navy was begun.

During the Parliament of 1886 strokes both of good and evil fortune befel the Unionist party. In April 1887 the Times published a facsimile letter of Parnell, expressing a partial approval of the Phoenix Park murders. The Irish leader instantly denied its authen¬ ticity. After a year’s delay, the Govern¬ ment appointed a Commission of three Judges to investigate the history of the Nationalist movement, both in its political and its agrarian aspects. The letter was proved to have been forged by a needy adventurer named Pigott, who shot himself on ex posure. The Judges, whose Report was not ready till February 1890, found that the leaders of the Irish party were not collec¬ tively engaged in a conspiracy to secure the independence of Ireland, but that some of them supported separation and incited to intimidation though not to serious crime. Parnell had no sooner vindicated his character

THE BRITISH EMPIRE

15

than the political world was convulsed by the news that he had lor years been ]iv™g with Mrs. O’Shea. The majority of the Irish members at once declared that he must for a time withdraw from the leadership of the party, and Gladstone publicly advised in the same sense. Parnell refused to resign and fought for his place, turning savagely on his old friends and allies, and killing himself by over¬ work in 1891 at the age of forty-five, the exposure of Parnell and the internecine conflict within the Nationalist party destroyed the chances of a Liberal triumph at the polls. The formulation of a programme by the National Liberal Federation at Newcastle in 1891, containing Home Rule, Disestablish¬ ment of the Church in Wales and Scotland, Local Option, abolition of plural voting, payment of members, Employers Liability, and the establishment of Parish Councils, provoked the antagonism of powerful interests.

The election of 1892 was a bitter dis; appointment to Gladstone, who only secured a majority of 40. The second Home Rule Bill differed from the first in proposing the retention of 80 members from Ireland, with power to vote only on matters in which their country was concerned. But the in and out ” proposal, borrowed from Croatia, broke down in debate, and it was determined to retain the members for all purposes, lhe

16

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

Bill passed its third reading by a majority of 34, but was rejected by the House of Lords by 419 to 41. The Government then proceeded to pass a Parish Councils Bill, which completed the reform of local govern¬ ment begun in 1888. An Employers’ Liability Bill was withdrawn, owing to the authorisation by the Peers of the principle of contracting out of the measure. The session of 1893 lasted through the winter, and early in 1894 Gladstone resigned the Premiership. His last speech in the House of Commons, where he had sat for sixty years, pointed the moral of the situation by de¬ claring that the issue of Lords and Commons had been raised, and must be settled in favour of the elected Chamber. The duties of a Prime Minister weighed heavily on a man of eighty-five, sight and hearing were affected, and Home Rule was blocked ; but the proximate cause of his resignation was his dislike of the large shipbuilding programme on which a majority of his colleagues insisted.

Lord Rosebery, who had been Foreign Secretary in the third and fourth Gladstone Ministries, succeeded to the position to which Harcourt was widely considered to have a prior claim, and for which Gladstone believed Spencer the fittest candidate. Harcourt had to content himself with the leadership of the House ; but his disappointment was followed

THE BRITISH EMPIRE

17

by the greatest triumph of his career. The Budget of 1894 instituted graduated duties on real and personal property passing at death. The majority was small and the problem extraordinarily complicated ; but the measure was skilfully piloted through the House without the closure. Though attacked by the Opposition with extreme bitterness, the Death Duties were retained when the Unionists took office in the follow¬ ing year. The Budget of 1894 was the last as well as the greatest success of a divided and dispirited Government. A measure for the Disestablishment of the Church in Wales was introduced but not carried through the House, a Local Veto Bill had to be with¬ drawn, and a scheme to solve the urgent problem of the Irish evicted tenants was re¬ jected by the Lords. The Prime Minister complained bitterly of responsibility without power, and in June 1895 the Ministry resigned on a defeat in a thin House on the adequacy of the supply of cordite.

At the ensuing election the Unionists secured a majority of 152, and Salisbury formed his third Administration, in which Hartington, who had become Duke of Devon¬ shire in 1891, Mr. Chamberlain, Lord Lans- downe, Sir Henry James, and other Liberal Unionists held important posts. During the campaign Mr. Chamberlain had expounded

18

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

a policy of social reform, of which Old Age Pensions was the most popular item ; but though one surplus followed another no attempt was made to redeem the promise. On the other hand, it was mainly owing to his efforts that an Employers’ Liability Bill, embodying the principle of contracting out, became law in 1897, and was extended to include agricultural labourers in 1900. Relief was granted in 1896 to the agricultural interest by the remission of half the local rates, and in the following year an increased Treasury grant was made to denominational schools. In 1899 Borough Councils were established in London to supersede the Vestries. In Ireland popularly elected County Councils took the place of the Grand Juries in 1898, and in 1899 a Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction was established on lines suggested by Sir Horace Plunkett, who became its first head. On the other hand, the Government paid no attention to the finding of a strong Royal Commission that Ireland was paying one- twelfth of the joint expenditure, whereas her proper contribution would be one- twentieth.

The main attention of the Government and the country was devoted rather to external than to domestic affairs. The arrest¬ ing personality of Mr. Chamberlain attracted

THE BRITISH EMPIRE

19

attention to the work of the Colonial Office, and advantage was taken of the presence of the Colonial Premiers at the Diamond Jubilee in 1897 to hold an informal Con¬ ference to discuss methods of drawing the component parts of the Empire together. In 1900 the federal constitution drawn up by the Australian Colonies was accepted by the Home Government, which, however, insisted on the retention of the Privy Council as a Court of Appeal. Friendly relations with the United States were temporarily interrupted by a dispute in reference to the boundary of Venezuela. Great Britain was condemned to look on while the Sultan massacred his Armenian subjects by thou¬ sands, but assisted in the expulsion of Turkish troops from Crete. A formidable insurrection among the tribes on the North-West frontier of India led to a costly campaign in 1897. In the scramble for concessions in China Salisbury proved no match for the rough- handed diplomatists of Germany and Russia, and the lease of Wei-hai-Wei in 1898 failed to avert an abiding diminution of British prestige in the Far East. In another con¬ tinent the Government showed greater decision. In 1896 the Anglo-Egyptian army advanced to Dongola, and in 1898 the forces of the Khalifa were annihilated outside Omdurman.

20

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

While the Empire was occupied with war and the rumours of war in every quarter of the world, dark clouds were gathering in South Africa. On the first day of January

1896 Dr. Jameson, the Administrator of Rhodesia, entered the Transvaal with 600 men, but was quickly captured by a superior force of Boers. The plan, though not the exact day of the Raid, was known to Rhodes, and it was widely believed that it was also known to Mr. Chamberlain. A Committee of the House of Commons was appointed in

1897 to probe the conspiracy ; but as Rhodes’ solicitor, Mr. Hawksley, refused to produce the telegrams in his possession and the Committee neglected to insist on their pro¬ duction, as Rutherfoord Harris, the Secretary of the South Africa Company, was nowhere to be found, and as no punishment was inflicted on Rhodes, the report merely increased the suspicion of the Transvaal Boers that their independence was in danger. In the same year Sir Alfred Milner was appointed High Commissioner, and immedi¬ ately began to champion the claims of the Outlanders with zeal equal to their own. On October 9, 1899, after protracted negotia¬ tions, and when a large force was on the way to the Cape, the Transvaal issued an ulti¬ matum.

The South African War was the first contest

THE BRITISH EMPIRE

21

with white men in which Great Britain had engaged since the Crimean conflict. It was quickly apparent that both the Intelligence Department and the equipment of the army were gravely at fault. Moreover, Sir Redvers Buller, the Commander-in-Chief, failed to justify his appointment. But when in the closing days of the year the British forces were defeated thrice in a single week, Lord Roberts was sent to take command, with Lord Kitchener as his chief colleague. The opening months of 1900 completely changed the situation. The Boer commandos fell back, Bloemfontein and Pretoria were occupied and the Republics annexed.

The outbreak of hostilities banished every other subject of political discussion. The masses once again surrendered themselves without reserve to the intoxicating emotions of a great and victorious conflict. Owing to mob violence public discussion of the policy of the Government was almost confined to the walls of Parliament. While, with one or two notable exceptions, Unionists believed it to be a just and necessary war, Liberal opinion was sharply divided. Campbell- Bannerman, who had succeeded Harcourt as the leader of the party early in 1899, spoke for the great majority of his followers when he declared that it might have been avoided by a more tactful statesmanship ; but he

oo

mm

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

shared the almost universal opinion that the conflict once begun must be carried to a successful issue. A smaller section, calling themselves Liberal Imperialists, pronounced the war to be inevitable. While the party was thus paralysed by acute dissensions, Salisbury suddenly dissolved Parliament in September 1900. The result of a Khaki election is never in doubt, and the Unionists were returned by an undiminished majority. But the Boers developed an unsuspected power of resistance, and it was not till April 1902 that peace was concluded by the Treaty of Vereeniging. In addition to an immense increase of taxation, the war had added 160 millions to the National Debt.

When the conflict was over public attention again began to turn to domestic affairs. Queen Victoria had died early in 1901, and Salisbury resigned on the ground of failing health at the conclusion of the war, the reversion falling to Mr. Balfour. In the election of 1900 Mr. Chamberlain and other Unionist leaders had invited Liberal support on the understanding that domestic con¬ troversies would not be dealt with in the coming Parliament. Despite these promises a Bill was passed in 1902 which abolished School Boards and transferred the control of elementary education to County and Town Councils. Denominational schools were al-

THE BRITISH EMPIRE

23

lowed support from the rates ; and though the public authority controlled the secular education given in them, the head teacher was compelled to belong to the denomination, and a permanent majority of denominational managers was guaranteed. In 1904 a scarcely less controversial measure gave licence-holders a statutory right to compensation from a fund levied on the trade if the licence was not renewed.

The most important legislative achievement of the Parliament was the Irish Land Act of 1903. Dual ownership had broken down despite the reduction of rents decreed by the Land Court set up by Gladstone in 1881, and far-seeing landlords and tenants were coming to regard purchase as the only solution of their troubles. At a Conference held in 1902 under the chairmanship of Lord Dunraven, who occupied a position midway between the rival orthodoxies of Dublin and Belfast, a scheme was framed which supplied the basis of the Wyndham Act. To bridge the gulf between the price the tenant could pay and the price the landlord could accept, a bonus of 12 per cent, was promised by the Treasury. The landlord received cash, while the tenant was to pay off the purchase money in 68J years by annual instalments which represented less than his old rent. Under this Act, the

24

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

finance of which proved unsound and had to be amended in 1909, Ireland is rapidly becoming a country of small free-holders. Economic prosperity has steadily increased, and a remarkable intellectual revival, power¬ fully fostered by the Gaelic League, is in progress. The demand of Catholic Ireland for autonomy remains unaffected by good no less than by evil fortune.

Among other activities of the Balfour Ministry was the reorganisation of the army. The office of Commander-in-Chief was abol¬ ished, and control was transferred to an Army Council presided over by the Secretary for War. Still more important was the creation of a Committee of Imperial Defence under the presidency of the Prime Minister. Higher pay and greater comfort for the private soldier augmented the cost of the Army ; but a still larger increase took place in the Navy estimates. The appointment of Sir John Fisher to the post of First Sea .Lord in 1904 was followed by the scrapping of obsolete ships, the concentration of the fleet, and a revision of the methods of selecting cadets. The policy of the Government was laid down in the Cawdor Memorandum of 1905, which advised the annual construction of four battleships of the newly invented Dreadnought type.

The Ministry began to lose its popularity

THE BRITISH EMPIRE

25

soon after the close of the war, and the by- elections went steadily against it. ^ The fruitless campaigns against the 44 Mad Mullah” in Somaliland aroused increasing disgust, and the expedition to Lhassa in 1904 failed to secure either political or territorial advantages. The report of a Committee on Physical Degeneration aroused universal attention, and suggested the necessity of a bolder handling of social problems. In 1903 the Government was shaken by an internal convulsion. On his return from a visit to South Africa Mr. Chamberlain startled the world by a speech demanding Colonial Preference as a means of binding the Empire together. He had invited the Colonies at the Jubilee of 1897 to form a Zollverein ; but though Canada granted a preference to British goods, and her example was subsequently followed by other Colonies, none of them allowed free entry. He had next attempted to introduce Preference by a back door when the Cabinet proposed to remit the shilling duty on corn imposed by Sir Michael Hicks-Beach for revenue purposes in 1901 ; but his successor, Ritchie, insisted on total abolition. Beaten in the Cabinet Mr. Chamberlain appealed to public opinion. Mr. Balfour declared for retaliation as a means of reducing tariffs, but refused to accept the taxation of food,

26

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

and declared that no changes would be made by the existing Parliament. In September the storm burst. Mr, Chamberlain resigned in order to be free to conduct his campaign; and Ritchie, Lord George Hamilton, and the Duke of Devonshire, because they were unable to agree with the Prime Minister’s newly announced fiscal views. The ex- Chaneellors, Goschen and Hicks-Beach, also declared their opposition to the Chamberlain programme, while Mr. Winston Churchill and a few other prominent Unionists crossed the floor of the House.

The Cabinet, reconstructed with lesser men, held on for two years more, but with diminishing strength and prestige. In 1905 Mr. Wyndham was forced to resign by the Irish Unionists, who denounced him for coquetting with the devolution schemes of ord Dunraven and the Under Secretary, Macdonnell. A measure aimed a ^ u Pauper alien evoked no enthusiasm, and the Unemployed Workmen Act satisfied nobody. Indignation was aroused by the introduction of Chinese coolies into the Iransvaal mines under conditions that existed nowhere else in the British Empire. Conscious of the growing unpopularity of his Government, and weakened by the divisions of his party, Mr. Balfour resigned office in .November 1905. He had displayed remark-

THE BRITISH EMPIRE

27

able parliamentary skill ; but the greatest personal success of the Ministry was Lord Lansdowne, whose treaties with Japan and France and skilful handling of the Macedonian problem revealed his rare diplomatic ability.

On the resignation of Mr. Balfour, Campbell- Bannerman undertook the task of forming a Ministry. When he accepted the leader¬ ship of the Liberal party he was only known as a capable administrator. The divisions that had caused Lord Rosebery to resign his post in 1896 and Harcourt to follow his example three years later were intensified on the outbreak of the Boer War ; but he held tenaciously to his convictions and waited with patient confidence for the turn of the tide. The inauguration of the Protectionist campaign in 1903 disunited the Unionists and reunited the Liberals. Among the champions of Free Trade none was more active than Lord Rosebery ; but, shortly before the change of ministry, he asserted that he would never serve under a Home Rule banner. Despite his withdrawal his political friends accepted office in the new Ministry. The Liberal programme was announced by the Prime Minister at the Albert Hall, and Parliament was dissolved in the New Year. Though a Liberal victory was anticipated, the crushing defeat of the Unionists was somewhat of a surprise. But

28

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

the country was ripe for a change both of measures and men. It had had its fill of war and adventure, and craved more nourishing fare. The election marks the end of the period of Unionist predominance and Im¬ perialist expansion, the era of Chamberlain and Kipling. Among the striking features of the election were the solid opposition of the North to Protection and the unwavering loyalty of Birmingham to its greatest citizen. But its most important incident was the return of 29 members of the Independent Labour Party. The Labour Representation Committee, founded in 1900, had done its work well. Mr. Keir Hardie had sat alone in the Parliament of 1892, and he and one or two more working men were members of the Parliament of 1900. They now formed a recognised party, which quickly earned respect by its ability, its sincerity, and its scrupulous observance of the forms of the House. While the working men who sat on the Liberal benches represented the older and more individualist Trade Union tradition, the Independent Labour Party was predomin¬ antly Socialist, and spoke also for the New Unionism, which dates from the Dock strike of 1889.

One of the first tasks of the new Govern¬ ment was to prohibit the further introduc¬ tion of Chinese labour into South Africa, and

THE BRITISH EMPIRE

29

to grant self-governing institutions to the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony. The Chinese were repatriated without damage to the mining interest, and British and Dutch began to co-operate in the development of their common country. In 1909 the two new Colonies combined with the Cape and Natal, and in 1910 General Botha became head of the first Union Cabinet. Thus South Africa at last passed out of British party controversy.

The most important Bill of the opening session was designed to remove the grievances arising under the Education Act of 1902 ; but the Lords insisted on alterations which the Government refused to accept. Subse¬ quent attempts met with no better fortune ; but larger provision was made for Non¬ conformists in denominational Training Colleges receiving State aid. The first ses¬ sion also witnessed the addition of 6 million workers to those already entitled to com¬ pensation for accident, the restoration to Trade Unions of the powers which they had possessed before the Taff Vale judgment, the recognition of the rights of the Tenant Farmer, and the authorisation of contribu¬ tions from the rates to the feeding of neces¬ sitous school children. A measure to abolish plural voting was rejected by the House of Lords. The session of 1907 was shorter

30

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

and less eventful. A Territorial army was created in which the old Volunteer associa¬ tions were merged, new facilities were granted for the establishment of Small Holdings, and medical inspection of school children was inaugurated. On the debit side Bills to create Small Holdings in Scotland and to deter¬ mine the capital value of land were rejected by the Lords. A Bill transferring certain departments of local administration to a Council sitting in Dublin was condemned by the Nationalists as inadequate and with¬ drawn by the Government. When the session was over the Prime Minister was struck down. He resigned early in 1908, and died soon after. While the Boer War had shown his courage and tenacity, his leader¬ ship of the House revealed his rare parlia¬ mentary skill and his unequalled capacity for inspiring the affectionate confidence of his followers. Mr. Asquith became Prime Minister, and his place as Chancellor of the Exchequer was filled by Mr. Llovd George.

The session of 1908 was as crowded and eventful as that of 1906. Measures establish¬ ing Old Age Pensions at the age of seventy and protecting child life against moral and physical evils were carried ; but the largest and boldest project, the Licensing Bill, was rejected by the Lords. Mr. Asquith

THE BRITISH EMPIRE

31

immediately declared that the Veto was henceforward the dominant issue in politics, and the session of 1909 witnessed the out¬ break of fierce hostilities between the Houses. Bills to establish a University for Irish Catholics and to increase the power of public authorities over housing and town planning were passed ; but the Budget, which had to find 14 millions to defray the rapidly in¬ creasing expense of the Navy and Old Age Pensions, was rejected by the Lords on November 30. Their action, which was chiefly due to dislike of the land taxes, rendered a dissolution inevitable, and the double issue of the Budget and the Veto was submitted to the electors. Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and the North of England stood firmly by the Government ; but the Unionists won back the South and returned to Westminster with a net gain of 100 seats. The two great parties were almost exactly equal, but the support of the Labour and Nationalist members furnished a majority of 122 opposed to the Veto of the Upper House.

The Lords accepted the Budget of 1909, which was sent up to them unchanged. The Government’s policy was then presented in the form of resolutions, the first abolishing the veto on finance, the second limiting the veto on other measures to two years, the

32

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

third reducing the life of Parliament from 7 to 5 years. The limitation of the veto had been urged by Bright in 1884, by Gladstone in his valedictory speech, and by Lord Rosebery while Prime Minister. It had been approved by the Commons on the initiative of Campbell-Bannerman in 1907, and was now reaffirmed after prolonged debate. Meanwhile the House of Lords, on the in¬ stigation of Lord Rosebery, passed resolu¬ tions providing that the possession of a peerage should not of itself carry with it a seat in the Upper House. While the armies thus stood facing each other in battle array, King Edward VII suddenly died, and the leaders of the two great parties entered into a Conference. Political strife was for the moment hushed, and the opportunity was seized to redraft the Coronation Oath. In November the failure of the Conference was announced, and Parliament was immediately dissolved. The Unionist leaders promptly outlined a plan for reducing the size of the Upper Chamber, obtaining half its members by election or nomination, and settling grave disputes by a Referendum. Thus one party proposed the alteration of its com¬ position, the other the limitation of its powers. The undertaking of Mr. Balfour to submit Tariff Reform to a Referendum before embodying it in law assisted in con-

THE BRITISH EMPIRE

33

centrating attention on the constitutional question by enabling Unionist Free Traders to support their old party. The decision of the country was asked and given on a single issue, and the Government was confirmed in power by an undiminished majority.

While domestic controversy remains acute, a considerable measure of agreement has been reached in regard to external questions. Both parties accept the Japanese Alliance and the Triple Entente, both support un¬ conditional arbitration with the United States and the maintenance of a supreme Navy. Few men on either side any longer wish either to increase or diminish the size of the Empire. The problem of to-day is to defend, develop, and consolidate the vast territories which owe allegiance to the British crown. Canada, Australia, and South Africa are now less daughter nations than allies. The Colonial Conference has become the Imperial Conference, the Colonies have be¬ come Dominions, and their Governments negotiate commercial treaties with foreign Powers. Canada and Australia are creating their own fleets. More frequent and system¬ atic consultation between the Governments is desirable, and an important step was taken at the Conference of 1911, when the foreign policy of the Mother Country

B

84

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

was explained to the Dominion Premiers. But every project of fiscal, military, and political unification must be tested by its bearing on the sovereign principle of local autonomy.

CHAPTER II

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC

The history of the Third Rop«<Ac is a record of earned ^ successful endeavom to extricate France from the abyss into which she was plunged by Napoleon Ill, and to make her a powerful, prosperous, and democratic State. The thread which runs through and connects the mam events ol the last forty years is the establishment of republican institutions and their defence against enemies within and without. Though all Frenchmen are not yet republicans, time has confirmed the truth of Thiers famous words, “It is the Republic which divides us least.” When the Comte de Chambord refused to accept the tricolour nag, all but the most extreme Monarchists ceased to work for his restoration. A republican Con¬ stitution was drawn up in 1875, the Clenco- Monarchist attack of Macmahon and the Due de Broglie was repulsed, the finances were placed on a sound basis by Leon bay, the army was enlarged and reorganised,

b 2 35

36

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

Tunis was added to the Colonial Empire, secular education was instituted by Jules Ferry, and Grevy, a staunch Republican, was elected President in 1879. At Gambetta’s death in 1882, the edifice of which he was the chief architect gave fair promise of stability.

The Ministry of Ferry, which held office from 1883 to 1885, witnessed not only the extension of French Indo-China, but also a modification of the Constitution. It was enacted that the rcpubliocvn form of govern- ment should never be subject to revioion, that members of the families which had reigned in France should be ineligible for the Presidency, that no more life senators should be created, and that single-member constituencies should be replaced by the scrutin de liste. The fall of the Ministry was followed by elections in which nearly half the votes were given to Monarchists. The Republicans were divided into the Op¬ portunists, who inherited the tradition of Gambetta, and the Radicals, of whom the most brilliant gladiator was Clemenceau ; but in face of the common danger they combined to elect Grevy for a second pre¬ sidential term. Their nervousness was further shown by the expulsion in 1886 of the leading members of families that had ruled in France, a measure aimed at the Comte de Paris, who, since the death of

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC

37

the childless Comte de Chambord in 1883, had become the candidate of Legitimists as well as Orleanists.

A foe more formidable to the Republic than the Comte de Paris was at hand. Early in 1886 Boulanger, whom Gambetta had called one of the four best officers in France, became Minister of War in the Freycinet Ministry. He possessed unusual energy, and he ingratiated himself with the soldiers by increasing their comforts. At a review on the anniversary of the fall of the Bastille he was received with acclamation by the crowd. A Boulangist movement began under the auspices of Rochefort and Deroul£de, the programme of which was the suppression of the parliamentary regime and the dictator¬ ship of the General. Early in 1887 his swaggering Chauvinism on the occasion of the arrest of Schnaebele increased his popu¬ larity with the mob. The fall of the Ministry of which he was a member and his dispatch to the command of an army corps in the provinces in no way diminished his influence. The Clerical, Monarchist, and Bonapartist parties saw a chance of overturning the Republic, and the Comte de Paris, in spite of Boulanger’s scandalous conduct to his house, supplied money for the campaign.

The danger was increased by a presidential crisis. Shortly after the re-election of Grevy

38

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

it was discovered that his son-in-law, Wilson, was selling honours from the Elysee. The President was forced to resign, and though Carnot, the grandson of the Organiser of Victory, succeeded him, the prestige of the Republic received a damaging blow. At this moment of republican disillusion Bou¬ langer came to Paris without permission. He was deprived of his command, but was immediately elected to Parliament by an enormous majority. Though the General made no mark in the Chamber, he was returned by several departments. In January 1889 his election for the department of the Seine by an overwhelming majority showed that Paris was behind him ; and had he struck on the night of his triumph, he would have slain the Republic. He let slip the opportunity of his life, and a few weeks later, on learning that he was to be arrested, fled from the country. In his absence he was tried for treason, and sentenced to perpetual im¬ prisonment. A few months later the suicide of the sham Napoleon in Brussels brought to a fitting close one of the most discreditable chapters in the history of modern France.

The Exhibition of 1889 helped to restore confidence in the Republic. Single-member constituencies were restored and candidatures for more than one seat forbidden, and at the elections of 1889 the Royalist vote sank from

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC

39

45 to 21 per cent, of the total poll. A short period of calm followed the violent agitations of recent years. No legislation of importance was passed except that which, on the initiative of Meline, set up a general tariff in 1892. But the tranquillity was violently disturbed by the Panama scandals. The great engineer De Lesseps, after constructing the Suez Canal, determined to pierce the Isthmus of Panama, a project as old as Philip II. The thrifty peasantry readily entrusted him with their savings, and a company was formed in 1881. The engineering difficulties proved immensely greater than had been anticipated, and tropical diseases played havoc with the workmen. In 1888 the Company was in need of further capital, and, failing to obtain it, suspended the payment of interest. The shareholders were willing to forfeit their interest till the opening of the canal, and De Lesseps was offered the chairmanship of a new Company, with a million to complete the work. But he had lost his buoyant self-confidence, and refused to undertake further responsi¬ bilities. Moreover, the United States, which had kept up a running fire of criticism from the start, now expressed open hostility. Three foreign Commissioners were sent to Panama, and their report destroyed the last illusions of the hapless investors. Though 50 millions had already been raised, 30 millions

40

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

more would be required, and when the canal was open for traffic the prospect of revenue was small. These revelations were followed by others which intensified the poignancy of the disaster. It was discovered that barely two-thirds of the vast sum already raised had been spent on the isthmus. A Parlia¬ mentary Committee, appointed in the autumn of 1892, reported that past and present members of both Chambers had received money. Early in 1893 the Directors of the Company were brought to trial. De Lesseps himself was sentenced to imprisonment ; but as he was nearly ninety, and almost imbecile, he was allowed to end his days in peace. The Boulanger crisis revealed the strength of the enemies of the Republic. Panama disclosed the moral weakness of some of its own champions. It seemed, indeed, to be pursued by a remorseless fate. In 1894 the blameless Carnot was assassinated by an anarchist, and his successor, Casimir - Perier, after seven months of office, resigned his exalted post. He had been violently attacked by the Socialists and the Extreme Left, and his ministers withheld from him decisions in reference to foreign policy and national defence.

While the Republic was thus receiving blow upon blow, it seemed as if it were about to make peace with one of its most

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC

41

formidable adversaries. Though the clergy had hated the Italian policy of Louis Napoleon, they at any rate preferred him to his suc¬ cessors. When Macmahon dismissed Jules Simon and appointed the Due de Broglie, the Church warmly supported the attempt of the Royalists to capture the executive. It was after the historic election of 1877 that Gambetta uttered his famous declaration “ Le Clericalisme, voila l’ennemi.” Open war was declared when Ferry banished the Jesuits and attempted to forbid members of unauthorised Orders to teach. Under the circumstances it was not surprising that the Church and the Orders should have supported Boulanger in his endeavour to overturn the Republic.

The Boulangist crisis suggested to many Republicans the desirability of attempting to disarm the hostility of the Church ; and a powerful influence in the direction of peace was exerted from the Vatican. In 1890 the saintly Cardinal Lavigerie hoisted the signal of reconciliation by proposing the toast of the Republic in the presence of French officers on a visit to Algiers, and in 1892 the Pope took the decisive step of issuing an Encyclical urging French Catholics to rally to the Republic. The majority of Royalists, led by the Comte de Mun, followed his injunctions and formed the party of the

42

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

44 Rallies.” The Republicans showed theii appreciation by dropping the demand for the separation of Church and State in the elections of 1893 ; but the halcyon days were few and were followed by far fiercer

combats.

A new element of discord had been intro¬ duced by a campaign against the Jews, inaugurated by Drumont. His contention that France was being exploited by alien financiers received some shadow of con¬ firmation from the Panama scandals. The support of Catholics was secured by attiibuting the anti-clerical policy of the Republic to the influence of the Jews, while the army was adjured to purge itself of the Semitic virus which was alleged to be working on behalf of the national enemy. In October 1894, La Libre Parole announced a concrete case of treason. Captain Dreyfus, a Jewish officer of artillery, was arrested on the charge of betraying military secrets to Germany. He was tried by court-martial, sentenced to detention for life, publicly degraded, and transported to an island off French Guiana. Though the arrest attracted little notice at the time, many of his co-religionists sus¬ pected that his condemnation was unjust. In 1896 Colonel Picquart, who had become head of the Intelligence Department of the War Office, informed the Minister for War

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC

43

that he believed the incriminating letter to have been written by Major Ester hazy. The War Office replied by sending Picquart on foreign service and replacing him by Colonel Henry. The next step was taken in 1897, when Scheurer-Kestner, a Protestant Senator, announced his conviction that the prisoner of the Devil’s Isle was innocent ; but the Meline Ministry replied that it was impossible to go behind the judgment of the Court.

France was now divided into hostile camps. On the side of Dreyfus were such doughty warriors as Clemenceau, Jaur&s, Joseph Reinach, Zola, and Anatole France; against him were the mob, the army, and the Church, with a few Catholic and Royalist intellectuels, such as Bruneti&re and Jules Lemaitre, Coppee and Bourget. In the latter camp was also found President Faure, who had succeeded Casimir-Perier and whose loyalty to the Parliamentary Republic was not above suspicion. Esterhazy was acquitted of writ¬ ing the letter by a court-martial, Zola was condemned for an attack on the military authorities, and Picquart was imprisoned without trial for his championship of Dreyfus. The elections of 1898 led to the resignation of the Meline Cabinet and the forma¬ tion of a Radical Ministry under Brisson ; but the majority was still anti-Dreyfusard.

44

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

When the Chamber met, the War Minister, Cavaignac, communicated to it new proofs of the prisoner’s guilt ; but a month later Colonel Henry confessed that the documents had been forged by himself, and committed suicide in prison. The forgeries of Henry left the Government no choice but to refer the case to the Cour de Cassation. The trial was delayed by the hostility of Brisson’s successor, Dupuy, but a formidable obstacle was removed by the sudden death of Faure in the early days of 1899.

The defenders of Dreyfus were animated by an unselfish determination to secure the release of an innocent man ; but a simple miscarriage of military justice would not have convulsed France. As the drama developed Dreyfus became the symbol of principles which were supported or attacked without much reference to his guilt or innocence. His chief defenders were almost without exception Protestants, Jews, freethinkers, Radicals, and Socialists. The core of the anti- Dreyfusard coalition was anti-Republican, and the fight for Dreyfus developed into a fight for the Republic. On the day of Faure’s funeral Deroulede, the poet of La Revanche and the champion of a plebiscitary executive, attempted to lead General Roget, a prominent anti-Dreyfusard who was on duty with his troops, against the Elysee. The attempt

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC

45

failed and Deroulede was banished ; but a few weeks later an organised assault on the new President, Loubet, on the racecourse at Auteuil, showed that the danger was not yet over.

The existence of the Republic has been thrice seriously threatened. The attack of 1877 had been mainly frustrated by Gam- betta, that of Boulanger by Constans. That it emerged unscathed from the still more formidable onslaught of the anti- Dreyfusards was mainly due to Waldeck- Rousseau, who took office when the failure to screen the head of the State from insult led to the fall of the Dupuy Ministry in June 1899. Under the joint influence of the new President and the new Premier the forces of reason began to reassert themselves. Waldeck-Rousseau had already made his name at the bar when he entered Parliament in 1879. He quickly attracted the attention of Gambetta, and became Minister of the Interior in the Grand Ministere and again in the long Ministry of Jules Ferry. When the latter fell in 1885 his friend and follower returned to the bar, where his practice was so lucrative that it was generally believed that he would never again embark on the stormy sea of politics. Yet when the existence of the Republic seemed at stake in 1899 he responded to the call. His cool

46

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

brain and reserved manners, his prestige and disinterestedness, exerted a tranquil- lising effect ; and his choice of colleagues gave ocular demonstration of his resolve to unite all sincere Republicans in defence of the State. Though declaring himself “ a convinced individualist,” he appointed the socialist Millerand Minister of Public Works. To reassure the army he persuaded General Galliffet, famous as a beau sabreur and as the executioner of the Communards, to accept the War Office.

The first task of the new Ministry was to liquidate the case around which such furious passions had raged. In accordance with the decision of the Cour de Cassation, Dreyfus was brought home and tried before a court- martial at Rennes. He was found guilty by 5 votes to 2, and sentenced to ten years’ detention ; but the verdict carried no weight, and the sorely tried Jew was immediately pardoned by the President of the Republic. The whole case was subsequently investi¬ gated by the Cour de Cassation, and Dreyfus was reinstated in the army with promotion to the rank of Major. The termination of “ the affair ” was, however, only the be¬ ginning of the task of reconstruction to which the Ministry was pledged. The great officers, “ Nationalist ” almost to a man, had usurped a position which no State could

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC

4?

tolerate, and one of the first steps was to assert the absolute supremacy of the Govern¬ ment over the army. Waldeck-Rousseau assumed office not only to rescue the Republic from its enemies, but to take precautions that they should never be in a position to renew the attack. The rapprochement between the Church and the Republic was rudely disturbed when La Croix , the organ of the Assumptionists, and other clerical papers flung themselves with fiendish passion into the campaign against Dreyfus and violently traduced the supporters of the Republic. The attack was repulsed, and the Republicans pro¬ ceeded to retaliate.

In 1900 the Premier announced the intro¬ duction of legislation in reference to Associa¬ tions. The authorisation of Government was required for any association, political, social, or religious, consisting of more than twenty persons ; and such authorisation the greater religious Orders had never received. Despite their precarious legal position their membership had grown sixfold since their nominal sup¬ pression by Ferry, while their property was estimated at forty millions. Suchrapid progress in numbers and wealth was watched with a not too friendly eye by their historic rivals, the parochial clergy, who were assured by the Premier that they would not be affected by the coming legislation. The Bill was

48

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

introduced in 1901 and passed with little opposition. The right to associate for legal purposes was freed from restrictions, but religious congregations could only be formed by a special statute, and the rules of each Order were to be submitted for approval. No member of an unauthorised Order could teach in any school. The Premier denied that the Bill was an attack on religion. There was no desire, he declared, for a whole¬ sale suppression. Each case would be de¬ cided on its merits. Several Orders, the Assumptionists among them, failed to regu¬ larise their position, and were at once proscribed.

In 1902, after an election which confirmed his power, Waldeck-Rousseau, whose health had rapidly deteriorated, resigned office. Two years later he died at the age of fifty- six. His three years’ rule had re-established the prestige of France, and his place in the hierarchy of the statesmen of the Third Re¬ public is only a little below that of Gambetta and Ferry. His successor, Combes, a zealous anti-clerical, who had been educated as a seminarist, continued the campaign against the Associations with a harshness which provoked public condemnation of the author of the law. In the next place, he closed schools recently opened in private buildings on the ground that they were conducted by members

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC

49

of religious Associations, and followed by the suppression of those conducted by Orders which had not applied for authorisation. In 1904 a further law forbade members even of authorised Orders to teach. Though the harrying of the Associations involved exile and poverty to individuals, the policy of the Government was supported or regarded with indifference by the mass of the nation.

No sooner were the Associations dissolved than an even graver step became imminent. Combes had declared that his shafts would be aimed at the monks, not at the priests ; but the distinction could not long be main¬ tained. Though the separation of Church and State had been advocated in the earlier years of the Republic, little was heard of it after the papal utterance of 1892, and it was disavowed by Waldeck-Rousseau. None the less an annual motion was brought for¬ ward by the Extreme Left, and after the intervention of the Church in the Dreyfus crisis the demand for separation became louder. With the accession of Pius X in the summer of 1903, the conciliatory policy of Leo and Rampolla was discontinued. The Premier challenged the wording of the papal bulls for the institution of bishops, contending that the Papacy had no choice but to institute the candidate nominated by the Government. A deadlock ensued, and

50

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

no further bishops were appointed under the Concordat, which Combes now threatened to abrogate. The Pope publicly denounced the tendencies of the French Government, and when President Loubet paid a return visit to Victor Emanuel in Rome in April 1904 he loudly protested. To this tactless step the Ministry replied by withdrawing the French ambassador to the Vatican. Shortly after the Pope issued orders to two bishops without communication with the Govern¬ ment. Combes retorted by withdrawing the French charge d'affaires and advising the recall of the papal' nuncio from Paris.

The inevitable sequel of the embittered conflict was the abrogation of the Concordat. In pursuance of his task of pacification Napoleon had restored the Church in 1801. Following the Gallican tradition the Con¬ cordat reserved large powers to the executive ; and Organic Articles were drawn up which, though not accepted by the Pope, were applied by successive Governments. The arrangement lasted for a century, and might have continued but for the almost simultane¬ ous accession to power of two such enemies of compromise as Pius X and Emile Combes. In the autumn of 1904 a Committee of the Chamber was appointed to inquire into the problem of separation. The report of its chairman, Briand, a Socialist barrister,

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC

51

formed the basis of the proposals presented to Parliament early in 1905 and carried into law by the end of the year. The Combes Ministry fell before the discussion began ; but its policy survived it. The Separation Law declared that the Republic no longer recognised nor supported any religious organisation, and that the property of such bodies, of which an inventory was to be made by the State, should be transferred to Associations of Public Worship. Salaries were continued for life in the case of the older clergy, and in other cases according to the length of service. Precisely the same arrangements applied to Protestant and Jewish ministers, who had likewise received salaries from the State, and who, though loyal to the Republic, had to suffer with the rest. The taking of the inventories of the Churches led to frequent conflicts, in which the troops had on several occasions to inter¬ vene.

The kernel of the scheme was the Associa¬ tion Cultuelle , which the Protestants and Jews adopted, and which with few exceptions the French bishops approved ; but the Pope, after long consideration, forbade their formation. The clergy had no choice but to submit, and valuable resources passed out of their control. Sincere sympathy for the plight of the Church was felt by moderate

52

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

Republicans, and Briand, who became Minister of Education and Public Worship in the Clemenceau Cabinet in 1906, adminis¬ tered the law with marked forbearance. Thus the Republic disarmed one of its most dangerous foes ; but the power of the Church for evil or for good has been diminished as much by the growing indifference of the nation as by drastic legislation. In most districts the men have long held ostentatiously aloof from its ministrations, and even in Brittany, that relic of a vanishing world, its influence is waning. Protestantism holds its own but makes no conquests ; and as its adherents number little over half a million, it plays but a small part in the religious life of the nation. In no country has reli¬ gion so entirely ceased to receive official recognition.

Since the termination of the prolonged struggle with the Church the attention of French statesmen has been mainly directed to labour problems. The Commune brought suspicion on every kind of Socialism, and it was not till the banished leaders returned after the amnesty of 1879 that it began to raise its head. For a time its leader was Jules Guesde, an orthodox Marxist ; but before long Benoit Malon, Brousse, and Allemane declared that more was to be hoped for from piecemeal reform than from

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC

53

a frontal attack on society. They stood for what was possible, and the “ Possibilists ” broke off from the intransigeants. Trade Unions were legalised in 1884, and a rap¬ prochement between Radicals and moderate Collectivists was vigorously urged by Jaures and Millerand, two bourgeois converts to Socialism. In the election of 1893 fifty Socialists were returned, and the Socialist vote again increased at the election of 1898. The entry of Millerand into a “ bourgeois ” Cabinet in 1899 incensed the party of Guesde, and the new Minister was denounced as a renegade. Undeterred by these attacks, the main body of Socialist deputies, brilliantly marshalled by Jaures, formed an essential part of the bloc to which France owed her restoration to health and strength. The alliance became more intimate under Combes, and when Clemenceau took office in 1906 he appointed a Socialist, Viviani, to the newly created Ministry of Labour. But the relations between the Radicals and Socialists now began to show signs of strain. The attack on the Church which had brought them together was over, and the leader of the Left dis¬ appointed the hopes aroused by his accession to office. Social legislation was neglected, strikes were quelled with extreme severity, and the Prime Minister lost no opportunity of emphasising his contempt for Socialism.

54

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

The main reason, however, for the dis¬ integration of the bloc was less the personality of Clemenceau than the emergence of revolutionary types of thought in labour circles. On the one hand, a section of Socialist opinion extended its support to the extreme pacifism of Herve, who advised a military strike in case of war. On the other, the General Confederation of Labour, founded in 1896, developed into a body frankly contemptuous of parliamentary and con¬ stitutional action. A strike in which the capital was deprived of electric light was organised by the Confederation. The growing power and audacity of “ Syndicalism ” alarmed the middle classes, and when the Prime Minister hit back he was warmly supported by the bulk of public opinion. Though the constitutional Socialists as a body never identified themselves with these extreme schools of thought, they condemned the sentences passed upon their spokesmen. When the championship of the bourgeoisie became one of the main tasks of the Ministry, both sides realised that the bloc was at an end.

By an irony of fate the relations of the parties became still more hostile when the first Socialist Premier succeeded Clemenceau in 1909. In his hot youth Briand had advo¬ cated the general strike ; but he had long been a convinced “ Possibilist.” The new

THE FRENCH R^rutfLlC 55

Minister quickly announced his desire for a policy of “ appeasement,” and hinted that the dangers which had rendered the bloc necessary had passed away. His utterances aroused the lively suspicion of the Extreme Left ; and open war was declared in 1910 when a serious strike, accompanied by violence, broke out on the railways. The Prime Minister affected to treat it as an out¬ burst of anarchy, and quelled it by calling out the strikers in their capacity of reservists. His colleagues accepted responsibility for the step, but some of them, including Millerand and Viviani, were unable to agree to the legal prohibition of railway strikes which the Premier demanded. Their resignations mark the end of the period of Socialist influence in ministerial policy which began in 1 899. While supporting such measures as Old Age Pensions, a progressive income tax, and the State pur¬ chase of railways, and while ready to rally to the defence of secular education and re¬ publican institutions, their attitude in Parlia¬ ment has changed from cordial co-operation to that of watchful neutrality. They hailed the fall of Briand in the spring of 1911 with delight, and welcomed the formation of the Monis Ministry as checking the recent trend towards the Right.

The Republic is now so strong that it can at need dispense with Socialist support. The

56

HISTlmv OF OUR TIME

rapid change of ministries is not, as onlookers once believed, a sign of political instability, but an indication that the real centre of power is in the Chamber. The Royalist vote has steadily declined since 1885, and even in Brittany the existing regime is now accepted by a large majority of the electors. The peace and prosperity which it has brought form a powerful argument against attempted change. The Duke of Orleans, son of the Comte de Paris and great-grandson of Louis Philippe, has neither achievements nor per¬ sonality to reinforce his claim. The Royalist cause has received a slight accession of strength by the conversion of disillusioned intellectuels like Paul Bourget, who seek in the restoration of throne and altar a bulwark against the advancing flood of social and intellectual anarchy. On the other hand, it has been gravely prejudiced by the un¬ authorised antics of the Camelots du Roi , who advertise their contempt for the Republic by personal outrages on its high officials.

The prospects of Bonapartism are no brighter. The disasters which Louis Napoleon brought on his country were too fresh to allow his party to raise its head in the years when the Republic was a tender infant. The death of the Prince Imperial in the Zulu campaign in 1879 made Prince Napoleon, the gifted son of King Jerome, head of the

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC

57

family ; but he was no favourite with his party, and even before his death in 1891 his eldest son, Prince Victor, was recognised as the head of the Bonapartists. Though there has been an extraordinary revival of the cult of the great Emperor during the last twenty years in consequence of the works of Masson, Vandal, Houssaye, and other historians, a political party can hardly be said to exist. The sole chance of a third Empire lies in a war or in the adoption of the “ Nationalist ” demand for a plebiscitary executive. If the Republic remains true to itself it has nothing to fear from its enemies.

CHAPTER HI

THE LATIN SOUTH

I

The group of statesmen who had co-operated with Cavour in the unification of Italy governed the new kingdom till the fall of Minghetti in 1876. High hopes were built on the triumph of the Left ; but the new pilots quickly showed themselves to be no more skilful than the old. Their chief, Depretis, who held office almost continuously for a decade, though personally incorrupt, well knew how to play on human weakness, and by his practice of drawing ministers from every party reduced politics to a game of skill. Elementary education was made compulsory, though without money to pay for it or machin¬ ery to enforce attendance, and the franchise was extended ; but the later years of his rule were marked by growing inertia and rising discontent. The country became weary of a minister who lacked conviction and

ITALY

59

initiative, and when he died in 1887 the accession of Crispi to office was hailed with delight.

The new Premier was 68 years old. He had begun life as a Republican, and had taken part in the revolt of his native Sicily in 1848. He was one of The Thousand who landed at Marsala, and it was to him more than to any man except Garibaldi that the liberation of the island was due. After the dramatic events of 1860 he accepted the Monarchy and entered Parliament. When the Right fell in 1876 he became successively President of the Chamber and Minister of the Interior. The Court accepted him with a bad grace. Cavour and Victor Emanuel had detested him, and Humbert liked him little better. An unsuitable marriage cut him off from society, and his manner was brusque and arrogant. His accession to office revealed in their full extent both his ability and his defects. After the flabby administration of Depretis the country was glad to feel a firm hand on the reins. On the other hand, he proved to be both rash and variable. His temper became intolerable under pressure of work, for he was Foreign Secretary as well as Minister of the Interior and Premier. He began to be regarded as a danger to the country, and his lack of tact and contempt for the arts of parliamentary

60

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

management led to his overthrow in 1891. Yet within three years an insurrection among the Sicilian peasantry and the critical state of the finances led to an irresistible demand for his recall.

Crispi’s second Administration forms a landmark in the history of modern Italy. Soon after the savage repression of the dis¬ orders in Sicily, it was announced that the Premier and his colleagues had received money from the Bank of Rome for the cor¬ ruption of the press and the electorate. Crispi at once dissolved Parliament and secured a sweeping majority by striking thousands of his opponents off the electoral list and aiding the Government candidates by a display of force. Backed by a large and docile majority, and at last enjoying the complete confidence of the King, Crispi’s position appeared thoroughly secure. Two years later the most powerful Minister since Cavour had wrecked his ministry and terminated his public career.

During the decade that succeeded unifica¬ tion Italy had wisely devoted her energies to domestic problems ; but on entering the Triple Alliance in 1882 it began to be felt that she ought to become a Great Power. Plans for a commercial settlement in Abyssinia had been discussed in the lifetime of Cavour ; but it was not till 1882 that Depretis bought

ITALY

61

a small strip of coast on the Red Sea from a Genoese Company. Three years later troops were sent to Massowa, a port in Abys¬ sinia, though it was declared to be merely a commercial settlement. In 1887 an advance into the interior was commenced on the pretext of finding healthy quarters for the troops among the hills. The Abyssinians, who had been ready to concede trading facilities, began to suspect designs on their independence. The Negus John demanded a withdrawal to the coast. The demand was refused, and a column of 500 men was cut to pieces at Dogali. At this moment the scene changed. John was killed in battle by the Dervishes, and his successor, Menelik, mounted the throne by Italian aid. The new ruler signed a treaty which the Italian Government understood to recognise a Protectorate over the whole of Abyssinia. In 1894 Italian troops repulsed a Dervish attack and occupied Kassala. Menelik was now firmly on the throne, and, perhaps encouraged by France and Russia, repudi¬ ated all idea of a Protectorate. Crispi replied by ordering the occupation of Adowa, the capital of one of the feudatory States, and demanding a categorical recognition of the Italian claim. Several small victories were won, but, while reinforcements were on the way, General Baratieri with 14,000 men

62

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

attacked an army of 80,000 and lost a third of his troops. The King and his Minister desired to continue the campaign ; but the nation passed from exultation to depression. Enough blood and money had been spent. The claim to a Protectorate was abandoned, Crispi resigned, and the ill-starred experi¬ ment in aggressive Imperialism was at an end.

The disaster of Adowa was a blessing in disguise. Italy needed all her energies to set her own house in order. The high prices and crushing taxation intensified the discouragement, and the people began to lose faith in their rulers. The crisis came in 1898, when riots broke out in the great cities. For three days Milan was the scene of civil war, and the triumph of the troops was followed by savage repression. A panic seized on the propertied classes. General Pelloux introduced drastic bills relating to public meetings and associations, and when they were obstructed by the Left he issued them as ordinances by royal decree. The Supreme Court in Rome courageously de¬ clared them invalid, and, after a further attempt to pass the bills, the Premier dis¬ solved Parliament in 1900. In the Latin South the Government always obtains a majority ; but industrial Italy was hostile, the" Left returned with increased strength,

ITALY

63

and Pelloux resigned. A few days later King Humbert was assassinated.

The death of the King and the resignation of Pelloux brought to a close the mournful period which began with the Abyssinian disasters. Humbert possessed the courage of his race ; but he lacked political insight, and during his later years he was captured by reactionary militarism. The new King, Victor Emanuel, belonged to a type totally different from his father and grandfather. A man of lofty character and scholarly interests, he had studied the social problems of which Humbert knew nothing and was wholly free from the craving for adventure which had led Italy to overtax her strength. He realised that the discontent which had led to the crisis of 1898 could only be cured by efficient government and fearless reform, and at once called the veteran Radical leader, Zanardelli, to office. Since his accession the fortunes of Italy have steadily improved. The termination of the tariff war with France in 1898 assisted the revival of trade, the production of silk and other staple industries rapidly increased, the financial credit of the country was restored, one surplus followed another, and Luzzatti’s conversion of the National Debt in 1906 lightened the burden of taxation. The octroi on corn and flour was abolished, and the grants to education

64

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

increased. On the other hand, successive Ministries have been confronted by incessant labour troubles. One of the features of the milder regime which began with the new reign was the toleration of strikes if legally conducted. Advantage was taken of the permission, and strikes abounded. In 1904 a general strike, accompanied by the destruc¬ tion of property and the cutting of railways, caused a revulsion of feeling. Parliament was dissolved by Giolitti, who had succeeded Zanardelli, and the parties of the Extreme Left were routed.

In addition to attempting to smooth the relations of employers and employed, Italian statesmen have been confronted with an in¬ dustrial problem which directly concerned the State. The railways have always possessed a bad reputation, and when the concessions of the private companies expired in 1905 an irresistible demand arose for their pur¬ chase. The transfer was effected, and large sums were spent on improving the plant and increasing the pay of the employes ; but the defects of the old management were so inveterate that for a time the admini¬ strative chaos was increased rather than diminished. That Italy is poorly supplied with brains capable of grappling with com¬ plex administrative tasks was again re¬ vealed by the unskilful handling of the

ITALY

65

problem of relief after the earthquake of 1908. ^

The new reign has witnessed an advance m another direction. Though the claim to Temporal Power has never been surrendered, the old bitterness between the Papacy and the House of Savoy is gradually disappear¬ ing. At the outset of his pontificate Pius X allowed the Archbishop of Bologna to wel¬ come the King on his visit to the city, and to sit on his right hand at the reception banquet. Italy has been substituted for France as the Protector of the Eastern Catholics. Though in theory abstaining from active politics, faithful sons of the Church have been permitted, and even encouraged, to take part in warring against Socialists and anti-clericals. It may still be long before a bridge is built from the Vatican to the Quirinal ; but the movement is in the direc¬ tion of compromise.

Though the balance-sheet of the last decade compares favourably with the era of Crispi and Humbert, there is still no ground for exaggerated optimism. The South remains a running sore — poverty-stricken, ignorant, superstitious, corrupt. That the Camorra is not yet extinct has been revealed by the prolonged trial at Viterbo. The earthquake which annihilated Messina and the villages of the Calabrian coast displayed the helplessness c

66

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

as well as the misery of the population. The reforms brought forward by the Conservative leader, Sonnino, during his short Ministry of 1906, were applied in an emasculated form when Giolitti returned to power. The land- tax was reduced, tariff exemptions were granted to infant industries, communications were improved, and new schools were opened. But the problem is so vast that improvement is at present scarcely perceptible. Another burden inherited by United Italy is the enormous National Debt, the interest on which amounts to a third of the annual expenditure of the State. In the next place, public life is still corroded with corruption. How little confidence is felt in the integrity of Parliament was revealed in the excite¬ ment that attended the revision of the ship¬ ping subsidies. Finally, Italian politics are sterilised by the obliteration of party dis¬ tinctions and the tendency to fissure within the ranks of the separate groups. It is above all his skill in the parliamentary game that has made the Liberal leader, Giolitti, the principal figure in Italian politics since the fall of Crispi, and perpetually brings him back to power when less practised performers have been hissed off the stage.

SPAIN

67

II

The recent history of Spain is the record of a slow recovery from the condition of anarchy which prevailed during the middle decades of the century. The six years of confusmn which followed the expulsion of Isabella in 1868 convinced the majority of Spaniards that the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy was inevitable. Nobody suggested the recall of the Queen ; but at the end of ^ J*e.r son’ Alfonso, a lad of seventeen, on the advice of Canovas, the leader of his friends m Spain, issued a proclamation promising amnesty and constitutional government. The response was immediate. The army pro¬ claimed him, the Monarchists welcomed him the Republicans accepted him. The youn^ King was popular and sympathetic, though the moral atmosphere of his Court was no purer than that of his mother. The Con¬ servatives under Canovas and the Liberals under Sagasta alternately held office, according to the system of pre-arranged rotation which nourishes in the Peninsula. The level of public life was low, but the country was tired of pronunciamentos and w^as grateful for a period of peaceful recuperation. In 1883 the Pope declared his will that Don Carlos should leceive no support from the clergy.

Alfonso XII died of consumption in C 2

68

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

November 1885, leaving two daughters ; but it was known that Queen Christina, an Austrian princess, was expecting the birth of another child. Six months later a son was born. The birth of Alfonso XIII and the devotion of his mother appealed to the chivalry of the nation. When the young King recovered from a terrible illness in 1890 Castelar, the veteran Republican, con¬ gratulated his mother and declared that he regarded Alfonso as doubly King, by law and by miracle.

Domestic politics during the minority were uneventful, and universal suffrage was quietly restored by Sagasta in 1890. But Spain was confronted with a problem of overwhelming difficulty in her over-sea dominions. Though the vast fabric of Empire that she had estab¬ lished in the sixteenth century had gradually crumbled away, she held tenaciously to the fragments. Of these the richest and most important was Cuba. On the news of the expulsion of Isabella, a rising had taken place which smouldered on till 1878, when Martinez Campos, the Spanish commander, signed a convention promising liberal concessions. The convention was repudiated at Madrid, and a second rising broke out and was ruthlessly suppressed. If ever a country deserved to lose its colonies, it was Spain. The last act in the long drama began with a new and more

SPAIN

69

formidable revolt in 1895. Martinez Campos, whose name was the symbol of conciliation, was sent out with an olive branch. The Cubans had learnt to be suspicious of promises, and the General reported that the authority of Spain could only be restored by barbarous methods which he refused to employ. Pie was recalled in 1896 and succeeded by Weyler, already known as “ the butcher,” whose policy was to starve the rebels into surrender by destroying their crops and houses and herding the non-combatants in concentration camps. Though the Spaniards have never been squeamish in their dealings with native races, Weyler ’s methods were too much for them ; and when Canovas was murdered in 1897 Sagasta returned to power resolved to bring the desperate struggle to an end. A new commander was sent out with an officer of autonomy, the Reconcentrados were set at liberty, and a Parliament was summoned.

It was too late, for the Cubans insisted on independence. This time they knew that they were not without friends. In the early days of 1898 the battleship Maine was sent to Havana to defend American interests ; but soon after her arrival she was blown into the air by a mine. The catastrophe cannot have been the work of any responsible Spaniard, for Spain was now honestly bent on concilia¬ tion. But the situation had passed beyond

70

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

the control of statesmen. A resolution was passed at Washington declaring the Cubans free and independent, and Spain was peremp¬ torily commanded to withdraw her forces from the island. To such a demand there could only be one response. The main fleet was sent to Cuba ; but the ships were foul, the guns obsolete and short of ammuni¬ tion. When they entered the harbour of Santiago, an American squadron took up its station outside. When the town was threatened from the land the fleet made a dash for liberty, but was sunk or driven ashore. The other Spanish fleet had already been destroyed in the harbour of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Santiago quickly surrendered, preliminaries of peace were arranged in August, and a treaty was signed in Paris at the end of the year. Spain renounced her possession of Cuba, the Philip¬ pines, and Porto Rico. The loss of her transmarine empire was a most bitter humiliation; but it was quickly seen to be a blessing in disguise. For many years the colonies had been a source of continual ex¬ pense, and the perpetual conflict in Cuba had produced a great weariness. When the first pangs of defeat were over, a determina¬ tion to repair the loss by internal develop¬ ment manifested itself. Trade and commerce steadily increased, and the national credit

SPAIN

71

improved. The country was in a far healthier condition when the Regency ended in 1902 than when it began.

Alfonso XIII began his reign at the age of sixteen, and in 1906 married Princess Ena of Battenberg. The English marriage was popular, as it gave Spain a powerful friend and pointed in the direction of liberal govern¬ ment. The Regent had led a very secluded life, and the revival of the normal activities of the Court was welcomed by Spanish society. The courage displayed by the youth¬ ful sovereigns on their wedding-day evoked a thrill of sympathy, and the dynasty has increased its hold on popular feeling. The young King has escaped the criticism often aimed at his mother of being too much under clerical influence, despite the fact that after the fall of Sagasta in 1898 the Con¬ servatives, led successively by Silvela and Maura, were almost continuously in office. After the death of the veteran Liberal leader, none of his lieutenants commanded the allegiance of the whole party; but in 1909 two events, occurring simultaneously, brought the long period of Conservative domination to an end.

Though Spain lost her distant possessions in 1898, she retained some stretches of the coast-line of Morocco. Her power extended but a very little way from the shore, and

72

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

when iron and lead were discovered near Melilla and a railway built to the mines, the tribes revolted and some workmen were massacred. The rebellion developed into a war which required the dispatch of over 40,000 troops. The casualties were con¬ siderable, and heat and fever did their deadly work. The expenditure of so much blood and money on a speculators’ war was bitterly resented, and heartrending scenes were wit¬ nessed at the departure of the conscripts for what was believed to be almost certain death. While the misfortunes of the Melilla campaign were undermining the position of the Maura Government, a fierce revolt suddenly broke out in Barcelona. The commercial capital of Spain has never loved Madrid, and the demand for Catalonian autonomy had steadily grown in strength. Moreover, Barcelona was the centre of the anti-clerical propaganda which characterises the growing cities of the Spanish sea-board. A riot grew out of the departure of conscripts for Melilla, and for several days the city was cut off from the outer world. Few lives were lost ; but a number of monasteries and churches were sacked. The revolt was quelled, martial law was proclaimed, and Ferrer, the founder of a network of popular schools with a secularist atmosphere, was tried by court-martial and shot.

SPAIN

73

The execution of Ferrer, nominally in consequence of alleged complicity in the revolt of Barcelona, was universally regarded as due to the animosity of the Church. It was at any rate a blunder as well as a crime. There was an angry explosion of anti-cleri¬ calism all over the world, and the prestige of Spain was seriously compromised. When the Chambers met, the Government was fiercely assailed by the parties of the Left. Maura resigned, and the veteran Liberal, Moret, formed a Ministry. Civil rights were restored to Catalonia, and the campaign in Morocco was concluded. After troublesome negotia¬ tions a treaty was signed by which Mulai Hafid agreed to pay an indemnity for the Riff campaign, recognised the right of Spain to hold for seventy-five years the territory she had conquered, and entrusted the policing of the adjoining districts to a Moroccan force under Spanish instructors.

As Moret was not supported by the full strength of the party, he was succeeded in 1910 by Canale j as, who, on the death of Sagasta, had become the leader of a group of independent Radicals, pledged to a bolder handling of Church questions than the main Liberal army cared to adopt. Clericalism had overreached itself under Maura’s rule, and the number of monks and nuns, swollen by refugees from the Philippines and from

74

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

France and exempt from nearly all taxation, was recognised in almost all quarters to be excessive. Many of them resided in Spain in defiance of the Concordat of 1851, limiting the number of authorised Orders to three. Canale j as determined to put the statute into operation, and at the same time prohibited the establishment of new religious houses, ordered their registration, and repealed the decree of 1876 forbidding the appearance of any emblem or notification on Protestant places of worship. Though the majority of the Conservative party supported these proposals, they aroused the hysterical opposition of the Church. Vast demonstra¬ tions and counter - demonstrations were organised throughout the country, and old and new Spain were brought face to face. The Vatican, while frankly expressing its dislike of the Premier’s policy, discounten¬ anced the resort to violence, and actual conflicts were avoided. Neither Pius X nor Canale j as desire an open rupture, and the prospects of compromise on the limita¬ tion of the Orders have increased.

Ill

The fortunes of Portugal during the nine¬ teenth century closely resemble those of her neighbour. Both countries have suffered

PORTUGAL

75

from a disputed succession, civil war, greedy politicians, and financial confusion. Both countries have seen over-sea possessions torn from them by conquest or revolution. After half a century of almost ceaseless confusion Portugal entered on a period of comparative tranquillity under Luis, who ascended the throne in 1861. The aged Saldanha forced himself on the King in 1870, but his quasi¬ dictatorship only lasted a few months. With the accession of Carlos in 1889 a reign began which witnessed numerous vicissitudes and ended in tragedy. The decline and fall of the House of Braganza, though mainly due to the faults of its members, was precipitated by events for which it had no responsibility. A few weeks after the new King came to the throne a revolution in Brazil overthrew the Emperor Pedro II, and established a Republic. Though the colony had declared its independence in 1822, it had continued to be governed by members of the Royal House. The blow struck in Rio was felt in Lisbon, and the small Republican party was spurred to further efforts.

In the following year the Monarchy suffered a still more serious rebuff. During the heroic age when Portugal founded an empire in the East she had established fortified stations in Africa where her fleets might be repaired and provisioned. When

76

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

the empire faded away, the African posses¬ sions remained as mute witnesses of a glorious past. With the partition of Africa in the last quarter of the nineteenth century they again became of potential importance, and the Portuguese Government claimed enormous areas of territory in the neighbourhood of their settlements. An award by Macmahon in 1875, deciding that Delagoa Bay belonged to Portugal not to Great Britain, stimulated her ambition. At the moment when the British South Africa Company was preparing its plans, Portugal claimed a broad belt of land right across the continent, and in 1889 sent a large force under Major Pinto into the territory between the Zambesi and Lake Nyassa. The British Government pro¬ tested, and in 1890, after fruitless negotiations, dispatched an ultimatum. Resistance was out of the question ; but the public humilia¬ tion of a people that gloried in the epic stanzas of Camoens was passionately resented. Major Pinto became the hero of the hour, and a scapegoat was found in the King, who was accused of sacrificing his country to his Anglophile sympathies. When a British squadron visited the capital the tradesmen shut their shops, and Carlos was compelled to refuse the Garter offered by Queen Victoria. The revolution in Brazil and the British ultimatum so weakened the prestige of the

PORTUGAL

77

Monarchy that the Republicans were em¬ boldened to attempt its overthrow. A rising took place in Oporto in 1891 ; but the citizens of the second city in the kingdom stood aloof. Hundreds of conspirators were deported, the press was gagged, and an era of repression began. The people had little sympathy with the Republicans ; but they resented the suppression of their liberties, and the unpopularity of the King was intensified.

The thrilling events of the opening years of the reign were followed by a period of outward tranquillity ; but the decline of the country continued at a rapid rate. The State was plundered by the Regeneradores and the Progressistas, who succeeded one another in office according to the approved principles of rotativism. The machine of government was hopelessly clogged with corruption. Despite heavy and increasing taxation, every year witnessed a fresh deficit. In 1892 it was impossible to meet the interest on the external debt. Long negotiations took place with the Council of Foreign Bondholders, and a special board was set up in Lisbon to supervise their interests. Some useful Acts were passed, but they were rarely put into execution. Factory Acts remained a dead letter. Elementary educa¬ tion was made compulsory, but attendance

78

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

was not enforced. The framework of the Constitution was rendered more democratic. Provision was made for the eventual extinc¬ tion of hereditary peers, and in 1901 adult male suffrage, subject to the payment of a trifling sum in taxation and ability to read and write, was introduced. But the control of the people over the Government was in no way increased by these changes. The Crown retained its power to veto legislation and to issue decrees, and elections continued to yield whatever result the Government of the day desired.

In 1906 Portuguese politics entered on a new phase when the King invited Franco to form an independent Ministry. His wealth diminished the temptation to dip his hands into the Treasury, and his private and political records were unblemished. Had he kept his promise of an honest and efficient adminis¬ tration, the country might have acquiesced in the temporary suspension of constitutional forms. A few economies were effected and a number of sinecures were abolished ; but the pay of the army and the civil list were increased. Though his wife, Amelia, a daughter of the Comte de Paris, brought an ample dowry, the King’s extravagant tastes made it impossible to live within the limits of his income, and large sums of public money had been advanced to the royal

PORTUGAL

79

family. His debt to the State was assessed at £150,000, which the Minister pretended to discharge by the surrender of a royal yacht and the capitalisation of the rent paid by the State for the use of certain royal castles. Before Franco had been many months in office he had succeeded in setting the whole country against himself and his master As the opposition developed the King allowed him to assume the powers of a dictator. The Cortes were dissolved in 1907, and the Minister announced that he would rule without them. Newspapers were suppressed, meetings prohibited, and critics of the Government imprisoned or banished. Municipal councils were suspended on the ground of disaffection and their work performed by nominees. Political and civil liberty disappeared, and the world looked on, wondering when the crash would come.

In January 1908, the royal family left the capital for one of their palaces in the country. The situation in Lisbon was known to be critical, and some small skirmishes took place with the police. At the end of the month Franco announced that he had discovered a conspiracy, and on January 31 he issued a decree empowering the Govern¬ ment to imprison or expel suspects without form of law. On the following day the royal family returned, and while driving

80 HISTORY OF OUR TIME

from the landing-stage to the palace were attacked by a band of men who sprang out from an arcade. The King and the Crown Prince were killed on the spot, Prince Manuel was slightly wounded, and the Queen escaped as if by a miracle from the hail of bullets. The mad experiment of Personal Govern¬ ment had failed, as it deserved to fail. The King was dead and the monarchy itself wras mortally stricken. Franco fled across the frontier, his illegal decrees were annulled, and a coalition Ministry was formed. For a moment it was hoped that the sounder elements of the nation might rally round the youthful King and inaugurate a better era ; but the habits of generations were too deeply ingrained to be shaken off. King Manuel was only eighteen years old and lacked personality. No real attempt was made to discover the authors or instigators of the crime in Black Horse Square, and the

ship of State drifted rudderless towards the rapids.

. While the dynastic parties were engaged m sterile conflicts and incessant ministerial crises, the Republicans were slowly maturing their plans. When the blow fell in October 1910, the throne toppled over in a night. A republic was proclaimed, the palace was bombarded by rebel ships in the Tagus, the King fled from the capital, and after a

PORTUGAL

81

few hours’ desultory fighting in the streets the Royalist troops were defeated or joined the winning side. A Provisional Government was formed, and the provinces and the colonies accepted the revolution with alacrity. The disappearance of the House of Braganza was witnessed without a protest and without a sigh. The members of the new Govern¬ ment were able, honourable, and enlightened men ; but they lacked experience. The President, Professor Braga, was a scholar and poet of European reputation. The Foreign Minister, Machado, had lived in Paris, and was known for his wide culture and sympathetic personality. The Minister of Justice, Costa, was a lawyer of extreme opinions and iron will. Their ideal was a purely secular democracy. The monarchy was gone, and they were resolved that its allies, the Church and the Orders, which had stunted the intellect of the people, should follow it. The Republic could tolerate obscur¬ antism as little as despotism. Within a few days of the revolution they roughly expelled the Jesuits and other Orders on the strength of obsolete laws, and announced their intention of terminating the connection of Church and State.

A dead calm followed the whirlwind of revolution ; but it was not long before the waters again began to stir. The working

82

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

classes, finding that the change had brought them no tangible benefits, lost their enthusiasm and broke into strikes. The Pretender, Dom Miguel, announced that as Manuel had been deposed and was unlikely to return, he held himself ready to accept a call to the throne. To these anxieties were added others of the Government’s own making. Their treatment of the Church was needlessly provocative, and the banishment of the judges who ac¬ quitted the ex- dictator, Franco, on a charge of treason recalled the worst days of the Monarchy. The press was gagged, and the expression of any but Republican opinions vigorously repressed. The postponement of the elections till June 1911 gave time for discontent to accumulate. For the present the main strength of the Republic lies in the weakness of its opponents.

CHAPTER IV

GERMANY AND AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

I

The main events in the history of Germany during the years following unification were the struggle with the Roman Church, the rise of a Socialist party, the establishment of Protection in 1879, the nationalisation of railways, the inauguration of State-aided insurance against sickness, accident, inval¬ idity and old age, and the foundation of a Colonial Empire. Modestly realising his own limitations and the almost superhuman genius of his mighty Chancellor, the Emperor William devoted the evening of his life to the super¬ vision of his army. It was a fitting close to his career that in the year before his death a large increase in the forces should be sanctioned by the Reichstag after an appeal to the country.

In March 1888 William I died at the age of ninety; but his son was already doomed

83

84 " HISTORY OF OUR TIME

when he ascended the throne at the age of fifty-eight. The Crown Prince Frederick had won fame in the campaigns which made the Empire, but since 1871 he had fretted in enforced idleness. A disease in the throat, which the German doctors pronounced to be cancer, appeared early in 1887 ; but the operation which might have prolonged the sufferer’s life was postponed till it was too late on the advice of Sir Morell Mackenzie. The stricken man passed the winter on the Riviera, and when he ascended the throne he could no longer articulate. He had only ninety-nine days to live ; but they were enough to indicate the direction in which his thoughts were running. He conferred high decora¬ tions on Jews who had rendered distinguished service to the State, and on Virchow, who was not only a great scientist but a leader of the Radical party. Of greater importance was the dismissal of Puttkammer, Minister of the Interior, a friend of the Chancellor and a pillar of the reaction. Despite such flickers of illumination, the reign to which Europe had looked forward with hopeful eagerness was but a tragic interlude of suffer¬ ing and sorrow.

The new Emperor, William II, who ascended the throne at the age of twenty-nine, had little affection for his parents, but was filled with an almost idolatrous admiration for his grand-

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85

father. He had sat at the feet of Bismarck, for whom he entertained boundless enthusiasm, and his accession was hailed with delight m Conservative and military circles. Whereas the first proclamation of Frederick had been to his people, that of his son was addressed to the army. The new ruler, indeed, spared no pains to show how little he respected his father’s memory or his mother s grief. He decorated Puttkammer and gave him a seat in the Prussian Upper House. He restored the name of the New Palace, which his father had altered to Friedrichskron. These were comparative trifles ; but worse was to follow. Dr. Geffcken published passages from the late Emperor’s diary designed to show that he had played a more prominent part in the foundation of the Empire than was commonly believed. Bismarck denounced the publica¬ tion as a forgery, and the Emperor ordered his Chancellor to draw up a report on it. The report, though filled with statements damaging to his father’s memory was pub¬ lished with the Emperor’s sanction ; and when the Court acquitted Geffcken of the charge of treason, the whole dossier prepared bv the prosecution was printed, the Chan¬ cellor was paying off old scores ; but for the Emperor there was no excuse. . .

While William II had no misgivings as to his ability to steer the ship of State, Bismarck

86

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

believed himself to be more than ever indis¬ pensable with a young and inexperienced ruler on the throne. Disagreements both on foreign and domestic policy quickly occurred. The anti-socialist law, passed in 1878 and renewed at intervals, was due to expire in 1890 ; and Bismarck proposed to substitute a permanent measure. The Reichstag proved hostile, and when a rumour arose that the Emperor favoured a milder Bill, it was re¬ jected. In the next place, the Emperor objected to the secret treaty with Russia as disloyal to Austria. Finally, the Chancellor threw cold water on his young master’s plan to summon an International Congress for the discussion of labour problems. The crisis, however, did not arise from disagreement on policy. The Emperor insisted on entering into direct relations with his ministers ; and when Bismarck quoted the Cabinet Order of 1852, by which all communications between King and ministers were to be made through the Premier, he demanded its repeal. Shortly after this controversy the Emperor learned that the Chancellor had invited Windthorst, the Catholic leader, to his palace, and at once sent to inform him that he desired to be told when political discussions were to take place. Bismarck replied that he could not let any one decide his visitors for him. Early next morning the Emperor arrived at

GERMANY

87

the Chancellor’s residence and asked what subiects he had discussed with Windthorst. Bismarck angrily replied that the conversa¬ tion was private, and that he was willing to resign if the Emperor desired. The following day was a Sunday, and on the Monday the Emperor’s secretary brought a demand for his

resignation. . ,

William II began to reign in 1888, and to govern in 1890, when he dropped the pilot. He explained in eloquent utterances that he would brook neither competition nor opposi¬ tion “ There is only one master in this country, and I am he. I shall suffer no other beside me.” “ I see m the people and the land which have descended to me a talent entrusted to me by God, which it is my du y to increase. Those who will help me I heartily welcome; those who oppose me 1 shall dash in pieces.” He declared that he was responsible for his actions to God and his conscience alone. Though by far the ablest of the Hohenzollerns since Frederick the Great, he was unequal to the part of universal arbiter in politics and religion, art and literature. His ideals of personal govern¬ ment and divine right were out of date. His people laughed at his claims and his eccen¬ tricities, and an audacious Bavarian professor compared him to Caligula. The new reign witnessed not only the emergence of the

88

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

Imperial factor but important changes in high policy. Bismarck had won for his country the hegemony of Europe, and his aim was to avoid whatever might endanger Eor this reason he clung to Russia, even after the conclusion of the Triple Alliance,

wu-gaVTxher a free hand in the Near East. William II, on the other hand, entered freely

into competition with the Tsar for influence m Turkey. An even more momentous de¬ parture was soon announced. While Bis¬ marck felt no enthusiasm for a Colonial Bmpire, William announced himself a zealous adherent of Imperialism, whose ambition was to do for the navy what his grandfather had done for the army. With the utterance of the famous words, “ Our future lies on the

water, a new chapter of German historv begins. J

Bismarck’s successor, General Caprivi, loyally carried out the orders of his imperious piaster ; but his difficulties were enormously increased by Parthian shots from Fried- richsruh. 4 1 cannot lie down like a hibernating bear,” cried the fallen hero. He sneered at the academic debates of the Labour Congress, prophesied revolution when the anti-socialist law was allowed to lapse declared the acquisition of Heligoland too dearly purchased by the surrender of Zanzibar, pronounced the alliance of France

GERMANY

89

and Russia the consequence of blundering diplomacy, and encouraged opposition to the conclusion of commercial treaties. The Emperor retaliated by decorating Bismarck’s enemies, and by persuading the Austrian Court to boycott him when he journeyed to Vienna for the marriage of his son Herbert. The conflict inflicted such damage on the Empire that influential mediators came forward. In 1893 the Emperor held out an olive-branch, which was repulsed ; but in 1894 a public reconciliation was effected. Bismarck was invited to Berlin, and the Emperor returned the visit at Friedrichsruh. During the last four years of the ex- Chancellor’s life the semblance of friendliness was preserved ; but the events of 1890 were never forgiven.

During Caprivi’s tenure of office the army was increased in 1890 and again, after an appeal to the country, in 1893, the period of service being at the same time reduced to two years. The income from the royal property of the deposed King of Hanover, known as the Guelf Fund, which Bismarck had employed to control the press, was restored to the Duke of Cumberland. But the main achievement of the Chancellor was the conclusion of commercial treaties with Austria, Italy, Belgium, and Switzerland in 1891, and with Russia, after a bitter tariff

90

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

war, in 1894. The fierce hostility of the Agrarians to the Russian treaty made his position untenable, and the Emperor dis¬ pensed with his services.

His successor was Prince Hohenlohe, a liberal Catholic, who had been Prime Minister of Bavaria before 1870, Ambassador in Paris, and Governor of Alsace-Lorraine. His prestige and experience secured him more consideration than his predecessor ; but as he was seventy-five years old and cared little for power, his influence was limited. His out¬ spoken Memoirs suggest the difficulties he experienced in co-operating with his impulsive master.

The lapse of the anti-socialist law and the summoning of the Labour Congress in 1890 had raised hopes of better relations between the Crown and the working classes ; but the expectation was disappointed. The Socialists, who had 3 seats in the Reichstag of 1871, 35 in that of 1890, and 44 in that of 1893, increased their poll at every election. An annual Congress met for the first time in 1890, and in 1891 the Erfurt Programme was elaborated. The Emperor watched their rapid growth with dismay, and spoke bitterly of the “ traitorous rabble.” Disappointed by the results of his policy of conciliation he determined to revive coercion ; but in 1895 the Reichstag rejected a measure punishing

GERMANY

91

with imprisonment attacks on religion, the monarchy, property, and the family. A dissolution would have been useless, and the Emperor was forced to content himself with oratorical denunciations of Socialism. For protesting against one of these tirades Liebknecht, the leader of the party, was imprisoned for treason. The battle continued, and on Liebknecht’ s death Bebel became the most formidable critic of the system of personal rule.

The main task of the middle years of the reign was to emphasise the role of Germany as a World Power by the construction of a fleet and the acquisition of new colonies and spheres of influence. Heligoland provided a convenient naval base at the mouth of the Elbe, and the Kiel Canal was completed in 1895. A few warships were built in the first decade of the reign ; but in 1897 a programme of construction to be carried out by 1904 was approved. The increase of the navy was justified by the rapid development of commerce and the growth of the mercantile marine ; but its main purpose was to enable the Fatherland to play a leading part in Weltpolitik. With the exception of the Socialists every party welcomed the entry of Germany into the ranks of naval Powers, and the Navy League, which enjoyed Imperial patronage, obtained an enormous

92

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

membership. A new programme was authorised in 1900, fixing the strength at 38 battleships, 14 large cruisers, and 38 small cruisers, to be completed in 1917. A law of 1906 increased the number of large cruisers by 6, and in 1908 the life of battleships was shortened from 25 to 20 years, necessitating the construction of 4 annually in place of 3 during the years 1908-11.

Without waiting for the completion of his fleet the Emperor began to assert his power. In 1895 he joined France and Russia in ordering Japan to disgorge her conquests on the Chinese mainland. In 1897 he compelled China to lease Kiao-Chou in expiation of the murder of German missionaries, and dis¬ patched a squadron under his sailor brother, Prince Henry, to take possession of it. In 1899 he secured a new foothold in the Pacific by the purchase of the Caroline Islands from Spain. In 1900 he obtained the consent of the other Powers to place a German General at the head of the international force which marched to Pekin. In the Near East, German influence increased no less rapidly. While Europe shuddered at the Armenian atrocities the Emperor ostentatiously displayed his friendliness for the Great Assassin. His spectacular journey to Syria in 1898 provided an opportunity for announcing himself the protector of Mohammedans throughout the

GERMANY

93

world, and the concession to a German Company of the right to continue the Anatolian railway system to Bagdad and the Persian Gulf represented the high-water mark of Turkish complaisance.

Hohenlohe resigned in 1900 and was suc¬ ceeded by Bulow, the Foreign Secretary. Though his training had been exclusively in diplomacy, he displayed considerable skill in driving the parliamentary team. His first conflict arose in 1902 on the introduction of a new tariff, raising the duty on corn and meat after the expiration of Caprivi’s treaties. The parties of the Left, resting on the vote of the towns, vigorously opposed the change, which was finally carried by closure in a form even more favourable to the Agrarian interest than on its introduction. The Chancellor declared that he desired no better epitaph than that he was a friend of the Agrarians ; but the unpopularity of the new tariff was shown in the election of 1903, when the Socialists increased their poll to 3 millions and their seats from 58 to 81.

The second battle was in reference to the Colonies. A revolt broke out in German South West Africa, which proved unex¬ pectedly difficult to repress. The cost in blood and money was continually growing, and tales of misconduct increased the depres¬ sion. The Centre, rendered critical by the

94

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

reports of Catholic missionaries, denounced the administration of the local officials, and in 1905 combined with the Socialists to reject the estimates for a colonial railway. The Reichstag was dissolved, Billow declared war on the Centre and the Socialists, and Dern- burg, the Colonial Minister, opened a campaign in the great cities, painting the future of the Colonies in glowing colours. The Socialist representation fell to 43, though they increased their poll by 250,000; but the Centre returned in undiminished strength. The Chancellor appealed to the Conservatives, National Liberals, and Radicals to sink their differences. A bloc was formed ; but it was too artificial to last. Controversial legislation was avoided ; but when, in 1909, despite the issue of numerous loans, new taxation to the extent of 25 millions was necessitated, the Conservatives rebelled against the proposed death duties. The Chancellor resigned after the passage of the Budget in a modified form, and was succeeded by Bethmann-Hollweg, an experienced official but without knowledge of foreign affairs.

While the occasion of Bulow’s resignation was the revolt of the Conservatives, it was widely held that the real cause was different. Throughout the reign the Emperor’s impulsive speeches and telegrams had caused anxiety ; and in 1908 an utterance appeared which

GERMANY

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stirred Europe more than any action since the message to Kruger in 1896. A long interview appeared in the Daily Telegraph , containing outspoken declarations on his own and his people’s feelings in the past and present towards England and other countries. When the Reichstag met, the party leaders roundly declared that such indiscretions must cease. The Chancellor communicated something like a promise to refrain from personal interven¬ tions in politics, and added that neither he nor any future Chancellor could hold office if they continued. On the publication of the interview he had offered his resignation ; but his master had pressed him to retain office, at any rate till the new taxes were passed. For the next eighteen months the Emperor abstained from the expression of his personal views.

Every member of the German federation leads a life of its own in addition to sharing the fortunes of the Empire. The adoption of a common Code in 1900 was dictated by practical utility ; but the smaller States are always on their guard against encroachments by the predominant partner. Even in Prussia itself resistance to the royal will is not un¬ known. In 1892 a Bill increasing the influence of the clergy in the schools was withdrawn in consequence of an irrepressible outburst of public opinion. In 1899 a still more damaging

96

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

blow was struck. The Government proposed to construct a canal joining the Rhine and the Elbe ; but the Conservatives, believing that it would lower the price of corn and meat, rejected the Bill despite the threats of their ruler. The leaders of the revolt were promptly dismissed from their posts at Court and in the local administration ; but when the Bill was reintroduced in 1901 the hostility was as great as ever, and a second defeat was averted by the withdrawal of the measure.

The most burning question of Prussian politics is that of the franchise. The Con¬ stitution of 1850 established indirect election, and divided voters into three classes according to their income. Thus while the Socialists polled by far the largest number of votes, they were without representation in the Landtag till 1908, when they secured 7 seats out of a total of nearly 400. Such a parody of repre¬ sentative government could only be main¬ tained by force ; and colossal demonstrations in the great cities have revealed the strength of the demand for reform. A Bill introducing the ballot but retaining the three-class system in a modified form was passed by the Landtag in 1910 ; but as it satisfied neither the Right nor the Left it was withdrawn. A second grave problem is that of the Poles. The attempt to Germanise the Polish districts by allowing only German in the elementary

GERMANY

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schools has been defeated by the stubborn determination of the people to maintain their language and by the rapid increase in popula¬ tion. In 1906 popular resentment flared up. The children declined to answer questions in German, and finally refused to attend school. The Government punished the 4 4 school strikes” by fines, expulsions, and imprison¬ ment ; but the sullen opposition remains. A second line of attack began in 1886, when Bismarck embarked on an extensive plan of colonisation. The policy of subsidised settle¬ ments has been continued at enormous cost by his successors, but without effect. Exas¬ perated by failure the Government carried an Expropriation Bill in 1908, empowering the Land Commission to buy whatever it needed at its own price. Despite these tyrannical methods the Poles hold more land to-day than when the colonisation began. Nowhere has the regimentation of a people been more systematically pursued, and nowhere has its failure been more complete.

Of the other subject nationalities there is less to relate. The Danes in Schleswig are too few to resist the Prussian steam-roller ; and a treaty with Denmark in 1907 removed some of their worst grievances. The repre¬ sentation of Alsace-Lorraine in the Reichstag indicates a gradual diminution of hostility, and in 1911 its autonomy was extended and D

98

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

the sending of delegates to the Bundesrath authorised. The smaller States of the German Empire have made steady progress under more liberal institutions than those of Prussia.

II

The expulsion of the House of Hapsburg from the German Confederation and from Italy in 1866 was followed by far-reaching internal changes. Hungarian autonomy was revived and parliamentary institutions were granted to Austria. For some years the German Liberals were in office ; but in 1879 Taaffe, a friend of Francis Joseph from childhood, became Prime Minister and held office till 1893. It was his wish no less than that of his master to form a Ministry repre¬ senting all races and parties ; and though the Germans resented their diminished influence, the Government was strengthened by the support of the Czechs, who had hitherto refused to take their seats in the Reichsrath. A Czech University was founded at Prague and the Czech language received recognition for official purposes, while the support of the Polish nobles of Galicia was obtained by allowing them to deal with the Ruthenian minority at their pleasure. Such a system could not last for ever. In Bohemia the Old Czechs, who represented the nobility,

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

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were gradually displaced by the Young Czechs, who opposed the Conservative and clerical policy of Taaffe, and demanded that the Emperor should be crowned King of Bohemia, like his predecessors. When Taaffe dissolved in 1891, the Young Czechs cap¬ tured every Czech seat. He held on for two years ; but Bohemia was now in up¬ roar.

The nationalities continued their bicker¬ ings ; but the main interest was transferred to electoral reform. The demand for universal suffrage was supported by the Socialists, the new anti-Semitic party of Christian Socialism, the Young Czechs, and the German Nationalists. Taaffe had realised the neces¬ sity of enfranchising the working classes, but had been forced to withdraw a far- reaching scheme. His successors found the task no less thorny, and in 1896 a timid measure was passed, adding a fifth class or Curia of voters by universal suffrage, in which citizens over twenty-four, whether entitled to vote in the existing Curiae or not, were included. To the new class, which com¬ prised 5 1 million voters, were allotted 72 seats, while the remaining 353 members were elected by less than 2 million voters. Such a half-hearted reform, instead of solving the problem, made it certain that it would shortly be reopened.

D 2

100

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

The Chamber elected in 1897 showed that the new voters had only increased the number and confusion of parties. Fourteen Socialists made their appearance, and the Chamber included twenty-four distinct groups. Badeni, who had passed the Franchise Bill, required a majority to renew the decennial arrangement with Hungary. To obtain it he bought the Czechs by the Language Ordinances, which threw Austrian politics into confusion for a decade. Proficiency in Czech and German was required from virtually every Govern¬ ment official in Bohemia. The decrees only went a little beyond those of Taaffe ; but the resistance of the Germans was now far more vigorous. Behind the equality of language they detected approval of an autonomous Bohemia in federal relations with other parts of Austria. Their obstruction brought the parliamentary machine to a standstill, and Badeni resigned. Two short-lived Ministries followed, the Budgets were promulgated by decree, and the Compromise with Hungary was provisionally adopted. When a third Ministry dropped the Badeni decrees, the Czechs borrowed the obstructionist tactics of their opponents. The confusion suggested new methods to the Emperor, who in 1900 chose Korber, an experienced official, to con¬ ciliate the racial factions by a programme of canals and railways. But the Czechs

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continued to obstruct, and a new element of discord was introduced after the election of 1901 by the appearance of a powerful Pan- German and Los von Rom party.

After an heroic struggle Korber was forced to resign in 1904. By this time it was obvious that a mitigation of the racial conflict was impossible without an extension of the franchise. Early in 1906 Gautsch, his suc¬ cessor, introduced a Bill which became law early in 1907. The five classes were swept away, and the franchise was granted to men over twenty-four with a residential qualification of one year. The constituencies were made as nearly as possible racially homogeneous. The Germans obtained a larger and the Czechs and the Ruthenians a smaller number of their seats than their numbers warranted ; but such inequalities were tolerated for the sake of universal franchise. The Reform Bill carried with it two great changes. In the first place, the Chamber was no longer divided almost exclusively on racial lines. The two strongest parties, the Christian Socialists and the Social Democrats, represented interests independent of racial frontiers, while the Pan-Germans almost disappeared. In the second place, the Emperor was com¬ pelled to buy the assent of the Upper Plouse to the measure by surrendering his right to override opposition by an unlimited creation

102

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

of peers. Universal suffrage has on the whole justified the expectations of the Emperor. The feud of Germans and Czechs in Bohemia, of Poles and Ruthenians in Galicia, and of Germans and Italians in Tyrol continues ; but the sentiment of solidarity grows with every year of the reign of Francis Joseph, and the apprehension that the polyglot Empire will go to pieces on the accession of his nephew has disappeared.

Hungary was punished for its revolt in 1848 by twenty years of despotic rule from Vienna ; but the disasters of 1866 deter¬ mined the Emperor to seek a reconciliation. Full autonomy was restored, and Francis Joseph was crowned King at Buda-Pesth. The two halves of the Dual Monarchy were connected by their common ruler, by common Ministers of Foreign Affairs, War, and Finance, and by the Delegations which meet alter¬ nately in the two capitals. Though Kossuth stood aloof and remained in voluntary exile, the majority of Hungarians gladly accepted an arrangement which not only restored their national life but gave them an equal share in controlling the destinies of the joint State.

With the retirement of Deak and Andrassy their party crumbled to pieces, and in 1875 Coloman Tisza, the leader of the Left, be¬ came Premier, and remained the virtual

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

103

Dictator of Hungary for fifteen years. An important change in the Constitution was effected in 1885. The Great Nobles had for centuries possessed the right to attend Parliament in person, though in modern times most of them seldom appeared. Such a Chamber was clearly doomed. The right of hereditary peers to a seat in the Table of Magnates was limited to members who paid £250 a year in land taxes. This drastic step reduced the hereditary members from about 800 to 250. At the same time life members, high officials, and representatives of the Churches were introduced. Despite these changes the Magyar landed aristocracy remains supreme in the Upper Chamber.

Tisza’s governing principle was to in¬ crease the power of the Magyars in the State. Deak and Eotvos had desired to assimilate the non -Magyar races by the attraction of a superior culture, and guar¬ anteed them certain rights by the Law of Nationalities of 1868. Cynically disregard¬ ing their charter, Tisza made Magyar the sole medium of instruction in State secondary schools, closed the schools of other races, and declared that there was “no Slovak nation.” The high franchise excluded the minor races from a share in power, and ruthless pressure was exerted by the Government at elections. Literary and religious no less than political

104

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

movements among Slovaks and Roumanians were suppressed, and constant friction arose with Croatia, despite its partial autonomy.

Tisza fell in 1890, and in 1892 Wekerle, the leader of the Extreme Left, became Premier. His accession to office was the signal for fierce political conflict. Mixed marriages were frequent ; and the law de¬ clared that the children were to be brought up in the communion of the parent whose sex they inherited. The priests insisted on baptizing all the children of mixed marriages and entering their names as Catholics in the parish register. To meet this encroach¬ ment registration was taken out of their hands, and Wekerle finally determined to introduce compulsory civil marriage. The Bill passed the Lower House with a large majority, but was rejected by the Magnates, most of whom were Catholics. The Lower House having again passed it, Wekerle begged the King to create peers. Francis Joseph, who disliked the measure, refused, whereon Wekerle resigned. No one, how¬ ever, was able to form a Ministry, and in ten days he was recalled. The Bill was accepted, and the predominance of the Lower House over the Magnates and the Crown was established. Wekerle’s successor, Banffy, carried bills through the Lower House sanc¬ tioning the Jewish religion and establishing

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

105

freedom of worship, which were in turn rejected or mutilated by the Magnates ; but when they were sent up a second time the Peers surrendered.

The Compromise of 1867 had given Hun¬ gary an equal position in the Dual Monarchy ; but as she became stronger the demand for greater independence arose. In 1889 “ The Imperial Army 5 5 became “ The Im¬ perial and Royal Army.” When the Com¬ promise fell to be renewed in 1897 Hungary obtained an increased influence over the joint Bank and a larger share of the common customs receipt ; but Banffy agreed that the new arrangements should remain in force till they were cancelled by legislation. The Kossuthist party, who desired a merely personal Union, protested against the con¬ cession, and Banffy fell.

The tendency towards greater independence now manifested itself even more strongly. The Kossuthists claimed a national army, while the Emperor-King stood immovably for an undivided force. After controversies which brought two Ministries to the ground, Stephen Tisza, the son of the famous Minister, took office with authority to grant certain concessions. Hungarian flags and banners were to be employed, and the com¬ mand of Hungarian regiments to be en¬ trusted exclusively to Hungarian officers

106

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

but German was to remain the common language for the words of command. The Opposition was dissatisfied, and the Ministry was weakened by the formidable hostility of Apponyi, who left the Liberal party when Tisza took office, and of Julius Andrassy, the son of Deak’s colleague. An attempt to alter the rules of the House led to violent scenes ; and when Parliament was dis¬ solved in 1905 Tisza was routed, and the parties of Independence, which rejected or disliked the Compromise of 1867, obtained a sweeping victory. The Coalition demanded concessions which the King refused to grant ; and after months of negotiation Fejervary, an intimate friend of the King, took office without a majority. The Opposition, con¬ scious of their strength, stood firm. It was at this moment and in order to break their serried ranks that Kristoffy, the Minister of the Interior, proposed an extension of the suffrage. A compromise was at last reached. Wekerle took office, supported by Francis Kossuth, the son of the hero, Apponyi and Andrassy, and changes in the army were postponed till universal suffrage had been introduced.

The rule of the Coalition, though restoring constitutional government, brought little satis¬ faction to the country. The Croats declared that the promises of better treatment had

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

107

not been fulfilled, and the Croatian Constitu¬ tion was suspended. The Ministry proposed to neutralise the effects of universal suffrage on Magyar domination by plural voting and the gerrymandering of electoral divisions. Such a scheme was no honest redemption of the pledge with which they had taken office. The Ministry was discredited by corruption, feuds broke out between its groups, and in 1910 it resigned. Hedervary, a henchman of the King, took office, dissolved Parliament, and by unblushing pressure routed the Coalition. The separatist policy has received a temporary check ; but no one can foretell the future of Hungarian parties. Universal suffrage and the ballot will introduce many new elements into the Chamber, and direct attention to the needs and sufferings of the Nationalities.

Alone of the Great Powers, Austria-Hungary possesses no colonies ; but Bosnia and Her¬ zegovina, the administration of which was entrusted to the Dual Monarchy by the Berlin Treaty of 1878, have been governed through a common Finance Minister. The efforts of Kallay, a Hungarian, who ruled for twenty years, established order and introduced the material side of civilisation into the Turkish provinces. After the annexation in 1908 a Constitution was granted ; but autonomy is still far off. The scheme of a Southern Slav

108

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

State, including Croatia, Dalmatia, and the two provinces, and forming with Austria and Hungary a federal Empire, has some ad¬ herents ; but its adoption might open up more problems than it would solve.

CHAPTER V

EASTERN EUROPE

I

When Alexander III ascended the Russian throne in 1881 he was urged to issue the Ukase for a consultative Assembly of Notables which Alexander II had signed on the morning of his assassination. But the new Tsar pre¬ ferred the principles of Pobedonostseff, Pro¬ curator of the Holy Synod, and of Katkoff, editor of the Moscow Gazette, who taught that autocracy and orthodoxy alone could save Russia from the scepticism and anarchy of Western Europe. The Tsar, whose per¬ sonal character was exemplary, lacked his father’s quick intelligence and personal charm, and inherited none of the generous impulses which had led to the emancipation of the serfs and the establishment of Zemstvos, or county councils. The Court lived in impene¬ trable seclusion, and the government was carried on by a corrupt and reactionary bureaucracy. The Nihilists were executed or

109

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HISTORY OF OUR TIME

banished, and in 1888 the American traveller, Kennan, revealed to the world the horrors of the Siberian prisons. The press was muzzled, the privileges of University students curtailed, and the power of the Zemstvos severely limited. Russia was in the grip of a deadly obscurantism, and the Intelligentia either threw themselves into Socialism or looked on in dumb despair. Homogeneity was sought at all costs. The Protestant Stundists of the South were mercilessly harried ; but no class or race suffered so much as the Jews, who were confined to the towns of the West, excluded from a share in local government, partially debarred from access to school, and forbidden to hold property outside the towns or engage in agri¬ culture. It is more than a coincidence that it was during this reign that Tolstoi began to preach the wickedness of all coercion. It was also a time of acute and growing suffering. In 1891-3 half the country was faced with starvation. The reign of Alex¬ ander III was a period of national paralysis, and his only service to his country was the maintenance of peace.

The accession of Nicholas II in 1894 at the age of twenty-six aroused hopes of a change of system. Several Zemstvos begged that their representatives might be invited to assist in the drafting of laws ; but the reply to these

RUSSIA

111

loyal counsels was a cruel disappointment. The Tsar declared his intention of maintaining the principles of autocracy inviolate, and dismissed the claims to share m the admmistia- tion as “ senseless dreams. Like his father he was a pupil of Pobedonostseff, and the world learned with dismay that the numbing influence of the Procurator was dominate the new reign as it had dominated the old. Yet forces were at work which m time were bound to ruffle the stagnant waters. In 1892 Witte had become Minister of Imance. nis ambition was to develop, it might almost be said to create, Russian industry. He improved credit by establishing a fixed value for the rouble and increasing the gold reserve. He extended State monopolies, buying up private railways and making new State lines. A gigantic tariff secured the home market to manufacturers. In 1894 he established a Government monopoly of the sale of spirit.,. He boasted that he had altered every ta. that he found ; but his policy of raising revenue by indirect taxation increased the burden of the poor. Some relief was found when the construction of the Siberian rail¬ way facilitated migration across the Ural

m Witte approached his work rather from the standpoint of a man of business than a politician. Alarmed by the discovery that

112 HISTORY OF OUR TIME

less grain was being sown and that the con¬ sumption of bread was declining, he estab¬ lished a Commission in 1902 to assist agri¬ culture, which appointed Committees repre¬ senting the localities. Many of these bodies went beyond the original purpose of their institution, and demanded freedom of the press and representative institutions. They were condemned by Pobedonostseff, and in 1903 Witte was dismissed from the Ministry of Finance after eleven years of memorable endeavour. The Tsar was thoroughly scared by the spread of Socialism, the strikes among the rapidly increasing factory workers, the unrest in the Universities, and the growing boldness of the press. Though Witte was not a Liberal, he was too conscious of the fa,ults of autocratic government to be en¬ trusted with its defence. On his fall Plehve, the Minister of the Interior, became Dictator of Russia. The first of a new series of attacks on the Jews, condoned if not originated by the Government, occurred in 1903 at Kis- hineff.

The Japanese War overthrew the system of Plehve as the Crimean War had destroyed the system of Nicholas I. Indignation was aroused by the discovery of unblushing peculation and shameful incompetence both at the base and the front. Even the co¬ operation of the Zemstvos in the organisation

RUSSIA

113

of relief was rebuked by the Minister, and his assassination, in July 1904, was hailed with delight. After deliberating for a month the Tsar appointed Prince Mirski, one of the most enlightened administrators in the Empire. The new Minister’s first step was to ask for the confidence of the public. A Conference of members of Zemstvos at St. Petersburg showed itself at once moderate and determined. They demanded inviola¬ bility of the person, freedom of conscience, speech, meeting, association, and instruction, the abolition of exceptional laws, amnesty for political prisoners, and an elected national assembly, which the majority desired to possess legislative powers and which all agreed should control finance. The Court was torn asunder by conflicting counsels. An edict promising a wider franchise and larger powers for local bodies was followed by a denunciation of the claims of the reformers as incompatible with the funda¬ mental laws of the country. A strict censor¬ ship was revived, and the tide of reform began to ebb.

In the early days of 1905 an event occurred which opened a deep chasm between the Sovereign and the reformers. While a salute was being fired a shot fell close to the Tsar. He left the capital, and when, three days later, Father Gapon headed a gigantic

114

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

deputation of strikers and their families, the unarmed crowds were shot down by troops. Mirski was dismissed, General Trepoff became Dictator of St. Petersburg, and Bloody Sunday was followed by a fierce struggle throughout the country. The peasantry attacked the manor-houses, police officers were assassinated by scores, and the Tsar’s uncle, the Grand Duke Serge, was murdered in Moscow. The wiser heads at Court recognised that the situation called for con¬ cessions, and in March the Tsar declared his intention of summoning an elective assembly. Reforms affecting the Dissenters, the Jews, and the Nationalities were pro¬ mulgated, and the censorship of the press once more lapsed. A great Congress of Zemstvo leaders at Moscow demanded the immediate convocation of a national assembly. In August a decree announced the establish¬ ment of a consultative Duma, chosen by indirect election. In October the Tsar felt himself compelled to dismiss Pobedonostseff and Trepoff, and to recall Witte with the position of a Prime Minister. The first fruits of the change appeared in the Manifesto of October SOth, which promised freedom of conscience, speech, meeting, and association, a wide franchise, a veto on legislation, and effective control over the acts of officials. The Manifesto satisfied the Conservative

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reformers who followed Shipoff, the head of the Moscow Zemstvo, and who were hence¬ forth known as Octobrists.

On his return to office Witte invited Shipoff to join the Ministry. Shipoff con¬ sented on condition that the Constitutional Democrats, popularly known as the Cadets, who followed Professor Miliukoff, were included. Witte was willing, but the demands of the Cadets threatened the prerogatives of the Tsar. Another storm now burst over the land. Mutinies broke out in the army and the fleet, and a revolt in Moscow was savagely repressed. Again the Govern¬ ment spoke with two voices. Durnovo, the Minister of the Interior, encouraged brutal reprisals, and incitements to riot were printed in the Government offices and circulated by the fanatical Union of the Russian People. From the other camp Witte issued a decree conceding something like universal suffrage. When the elections took place in the spring of 1906 the reformers obtained an overwhelming majority. The largest party in the Duma was that of the Cadets. The newly formed Labour Group, representing the peasantry, came next, and the Octobrists only numbered about fifty. The Extreme Right was scarcely represented. Witte was succeeded in the Premiership by Goremykin ; but the leading spirit of the

116

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

new Ministry was Stolypin, who had wron his spurs in provincial administration.

In reply to the Speech from the Throne the Duma boldly demanded control over the executive. It then carried a vote of censure on the Ministry, sent a Commission to report on the latest pogrom, and introduced a Land Bill incorporating the Labour party’s principle of expropriation. The Tsar again invited the leader of the Octobrists to form a Ministry, and Shipoff again insisted on including the Cadets. But the Cadets refused to join a Coalition Ministry. It was now a choice between Miliukoff and a dissolution. The Tsar chose the latter, appointed Stolypin Premier, and broke up the Duma after a session of three months. The Cadets and Labour leaders hurried across the Finnish frontier to Viborg, whence they issued a Manifesto calling on the nation neither to pay taxes nor grant recruits till the Duma was restored.

The Viborg Manifesto was a blunder, and Stolypin set to work with great energy to strengthen the position of the Government. Field courts-martial were instituted to punish terrorists and suspects. Tens of thousands were banished without trial, and the prisons were crowded. Yet, despite wholesale in¬ timidation, the elections to the second Duma, held early in 1907, gave almost the same

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117

result as in the first. The Cadets again dominated the assembly ; but this time their main endeavour was to avoid a pretext for dissolution. The defensive policy succeeded no better than the offensive. The Socialists were charged with conspiracy, and Stolypin demanded their exclusion. The Duma appointed a Committee to examine the evidence ; but without waiting for the report the Government dissolved the assembly.

Reaction now ruled unchecked. The Socialists were tried behind closed doors and sent to Siberia. The signatories of the Yiborg Manifesto were sentenced to im¬ prisonment. Hundreds were executed for offences committed two or three years before, and scoundrels convicted of organising pogroms were pardoned by the Tsar. On the other side, murders of officials and police were of constant occurrence. A restricted franchise had been announced after the dis¬ solution of the second Duma, and the elections for the third were held in the autumn. The new House was chiefly composed of land- owners. The largest party was the Octo¬ brists, whose leader, Guchkoff, dominated the third Duma as Miliukoff had dominated its predecessors. Stolypin had at last pro¬ cured the tame assembly that he sought ; but even the third Duma was better than none. The record crops of 1909 and 1910

118

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

at last balanced the budget and gave new confidence to agriculture. The main legisla¬ tive effort of Stolypin has been to enable the peasantry to become owners of their land. In 1906 the Premier issued decrees, which after prolonged discussion were em¬ bodied in a statute in 1910. The law gives the peasant the right to claim his holding in individual possession and in a single plot, and empowers the Commune to substitute private for communal ownership. The ultimate effect of this far-reaching change, which shatters the structure of rural life, it is too early to predict. But the Mir has received its death¬ blow.

In addition to the internal movement for reform the Government has been increasingly occupied with the outlying nationalities. On the transference of Finland from Sweden in 1809 Alexander I solemnly guaranteed its constitutional rights, which have been confirmed by his successors. Affairs of State were controlled by the Diet and Senate. The conditions of military service were light, and the army remained within the limits of the country. While Russia was sunk in bar¬ barism and misery, Finland presented a spectacle of liberty, culture, and prosperity. Towards the end of the reign of Alexander III encroachments began to be made ; and with the appointment of Bobrikoff as Governor-

RUSSIA

119

General in 1898 a systematic attack began. In 1899 the Diet was invited to make Finland a military district of Russia. The Finns, while agreeing to increase the army, re¬ jected the proposal to merge it ; but the change was none the less carried through by Kuropatkin, the Minister of War. In the same year it was announced that Finnish Bills need only be submitted to the Diet if they concerned Finland alone. The postal system was amalgamated with that of Russia, the censorship was tightened, and Russian police were introduced. These steps were at first met by passive resistance ; but in 1904 Bobrikoff was assassinated. When a national strike broke out in 1905 the Tsar promised to restore Finnish liberties and to grant universal suffrage. The new Diet met in 1907, but was dissolved in 1908. Stolypin issued an ordinance transferring the control of all matters which concerned the whole Empire to the Russian Ministry and abrogat¬ ing the right of the Secretary for Finland to report to the Tsar. By these and further measures passed in 1910 the independence of the Grand Duchy has been imperilled. Finns and Swedes, Conservatives and Socialists, are united in defence of constitutional rights which have been pronounced indefeasible by the leading jurists of Europe.

The attack on Polish autonomy began

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HISTORY OF OUR TIME

after the insurrection of 1863, and the whole country was ruthlessly Russianised. Social¬ ism arose with the great industrial develop¬ ment of the last two decades of the century, and for a time there was talk of an armed rising ; but from 1901 the leading parties have combined in an attempt to obtain such a measure of autonomy as Galicia has long enjoyed. In the first two Dumas the Poles worked with the Cadets and the Labour group. But though reformers of all schools urged the importance of a contented Poland, pacification is still far off. The Baltic pro¬ vinces have been subjected in like manner to the steam-roller policy. In 1885 Russian became the official language. The names of places were changed, German has been for¬ bidden in the schools and in the University of Dorpat, Lutheranism has been frowned on, local self-government swept away, and the press placed under Russian censorship. Yet concerted opposition was impossible, as the nobles and commercial class are German, while the peasantry are Letts. When the years of confusion began in 1905, the Letts struck at the German landowners no less than at the Russian Government ; but the movement was drowned in blood. Nicholas has proved himself as incompetent to conciliate the outlying races as to content his Russian subjects.

THE NEAR EAST

121

II

The Treaty of Berlin, while diminishing the possessions of the Sultan in the Balkan peninsula, left abundant material for future disturbance ; and the history of the years that have followed is the record of the attempts of his Christian subjects to complete their emancipation. The first step was taken in 1885. Though the Treaty of San Stefano had given Bulgaria the major part of Mace¬ donia, the Berlin Congress confined her to the north of the Balkan Mountains, and re¬ placed Eastern Roumelia under the Sultan, endowing it with a Constitution and a Governor-General. But the desire for union was too strong for treaties. The Governor- General was seized, and Prince Alexander of Battenberg marched south to Philippopolis. The Sultan loudly protested, and the Tsar recalled his officers ; but when Salisbury approved the union the danger of war passed away. The bloodless triumph of Bulgaria whetted the appetite of Servia. Prince Milan, of the house of Obrenovich, assumed the royal title in 1882 ; but the King was unpopular, while the Karageorgevich Pre¬ tender was waiting his opportunity. In the hope of strengthening his throne, Milan declared war against Bulgaria. The Bul¬ garian army was weakened by the with-

122 HISTORY OF OUR TIME

drawal of its Russian officers ; but Alexander led his troops to victory at Slivnitsa. When the road to Belgrade lay open, Austria stopped his advance by an ultimatum. The struggle was over in a fortnight.

Bulgaria had won a province and a battle ; but her ruler paid dearly for his triumphs. Some pro-Russian officers forced their way into the palace at night, compelled the Prince to abdicate and hurried him over the bor¬ der into Russian territory. A Provisional Government was formed; but Stambuloff, the leaner of the anti-Russian army, appealed to national sentiment, dissolved the Govern¬ ment, and invited the Prince to return. A fortnight later Alexander, who had been released by order of the Tsar, re-entered Sofia ; out he had lost his nerve. He telegraphed a submissive message to St. Petersburg, and, on the arrival of an unfriendly reply, abdicated and left the country for ever. For six months the throne was in the market; and when Ferdinand, a younger son of the Prince of Saxe-Coburg and a grandson of Louis Philippe was chosen, the Tsar refused to recognise him. The new Prince, though lacking the military instincts and popular gifts of his predecessor, was an able diplomatist ; but the real ruler of Bulgaiia was Stambuloff, the most command¬ ing personality that the young Balkan States lave pioduced. Though his policy was gener-

THE NEAR EAST

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ally supported by the country, the Prince regarded it with less favour. His marriage in 1893 and the birth of an heir increased his desire for Russian recognition. Stambuloff was forced to resign, and in 1895 he was murdered in the streets of Sofia. In 1896 the baby Prince Boris was converted to the Greek Church, and Ferdinand was recognised at St. Petersburg.

While Bulgaria was growing in strength and prosperity, Servia was condemned to witness a series of unedifying quarrels in the royal family. The King and Queen had married for love as boy and girl ; but Milan’s affections were quickly transferred to other ladies. Further, the King leaned to Austria, while Natalie was a Russian. Milan obtained a divorce in 1889, and immediately afterwards abdicated in favour of his only son, Alexander, a lad of thirteen. Four years later the young King suddenly proclaimed himself of age, and abolished the democratic constitution granted by his father in 1889. Though Milan returned to Belgrade as Commander-in-Chief and Natalie occasionally visited her son, Alexander followed his own counsel, and in 1900 married Draga Mashin, a woman of humble birth and doubtful character. No children were born, and the Queen was sus¬ pected of plotting to secure the succession for one of her brothers. To stem the tide of

124 HISTORY OF OUR TIME

discontent the King granted a more liberal Constitution in 1901, but in 1903 he withdrew it. Two months later the royal couple were brutally murdered in their palace by officers led by Colonel Mashin, brother of Draga’s first husband. As Milan had died in 1901 and the direct Obrenovich line was extinct, Peter Karageorgevich, who had spent his life in exile, ascended the throne without opposition. The new King was boycotted by most of the Powers till 1906, when the chief murderers retired. Commerce was gravely prejudiced by a tariff war with Austria, and the Crown Prince George kept the country in a ferment till he was persuaded to resign the succession.

For several years after the Treaty of Berlin the career of Turkey was uneventful. Abdul Hamid had gathered the reins of government into his own hand, obscurantism brooded over the land, and the finances sank into ever deeper confusion. The chief sufferers were the Christians of Asia Minor and Macedonia. The Armenians had petitioned the Congress of Berlin for a Christian Governor, but had obtained nothing more than a promise of reforms. The reforms remained a dead letter, and in 1894 the savage Kurds, aided by Turkish troops, butchered thousands of all ages. The Powers compelled the Sultan to grant a Commission of Inquiry, and presented a scheme of reform which was readily accepted.

THE NEAR EAST

125

While these futile proceedings were taking place, massacres broke out again in the autumn of 1895. In the following year a band of desperate Armenians seized the Ottoman Bank in Constantinople. The Sultan now threw aside all concealment, and for two days they were slaughtered by thousands in the streets of the capital. A shudder ran through Europe ; but the Powers were disunited, and the Great Assassin remained unpunished.

Meanwhile attention was attracted to another part of the Sultan’s dominions. The Constitution granted to Crete in 1868 had been supplemented by the Pact of Halepa in 1878, The new Charter worked fairly well under Greek Governors till 1889, when a revolt caused the Sultan to limit the powers of the Assembly and to appoint a Mussulman. Disturbances j: continued, and in 1895 a Christian Governor was again selected. The Mussulman minority showed their resentment by attacks on the ! Christians. In February 1897 the Christians proclaimed union with Greece, and Colonel Vassos was sent with a force to occupy the island in the King’s name. The Powers in vain ordered Greece to withdraw her troops. The admirals occupied Canea, and when the insurgents attacked the Turkish troops com¬ pelled them to desist by a bombardment. Though King George had no desire for a

126

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

conflict, armed bands crossed the northern frontier, and Turkey at once declared war. The Greek army was utterly unprepared and badly led, while the Turks had been drilled by German instructors. The Greek fleet displayed a masterly inactivity, and when the troops of the Crown Prince fled from Larissa, the Athenian populace threatened the palace. The Powers intervened, an armistice was arranged, and the troops returned from Crete. The treaty of peace restored Thessaly to Greece with the exception of some strategic positions, but imposed an indemnity of four millions with European control of her debt.

Though Greece was ignominiously defeated Turkish rule in Crete was not restored. In 1898 a wholesale massacre of Christians occurred, British subjects were attacked in the harbour of Candia and the vice-consul was murdered. The British admiral at once bombarded the town, and insisted on the removal of the Turkish troops. The Sultan yielded, and in a few weeks a solitary Turkish flag betokened his suzerainty. Prince George of Greece was appointed for three years as High Commissioner of the Powers, a con¬ stitution was drawn up, and for some years the island enjoyed peace. In 1904 the Christians began to quarrel among them¬ selves, and Venezelos, the leader of the Opposition, took to the mountains and pro-

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claimed union with Greece. The winter cold compelled him to surrender, but in 1906 Prince George resigned his post in disgust, his place being taken by Zaimis, an experienced Greek politician.

After the loss of Crete the Sultan was confronted by a still more difficult problem in Macedonia, which, like Armenia, had never obtained the reforms guaranteed by the Treaty of Berlin. The sorely tried Christians looked to the surrounding States for sympathy and support. Greece, Bul¬ garia, and Servia responded by a vigorous racial propaganda, while Roumania interested herself in the Vlachs. The feuds were com¬ plicated by difference of religious allegiance. For centuries the Balkan Christians had looked to the Greek Patriarch at Constanti¬ nople ; but in 1870 the Sultan had created a Bulgarian Exarch, and Patriarchists and Exarchists have ever since fought the battle of Greek and Bulgarian claims in Mace¬ donia.

In 1899 the Macedonian Committee at Sofia appealed to the Powers to create an autonomous Macedonia under a Bulgarian Governor-General, and shortly after Bulgarian bands crossed the frontier. Greece and Servia followed suit, and the ravages of roving bands were added to the torments of Turkish misrule. Austria and Russia drew

128

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

up a scheme of reform in February 1903, providing for an Inspector-General and the reorganisation of the gendarmerie by foreign officers. The Sultan accepted the scheme ; but the disorder increased, and the Bulgarian bands organised a fruitless insurrection. In the autumn the Emperors drew up a re¬ vised edition of their programme. The two Powers attached Civil Agents to Hilmi, the Inspector - General, the gendarmerie was placed under the command of an Italian General, and the greater part of Macedonia was divided up into sections under the super¬ vision of officers of all the Great Powers except Germany. But the elaborate machin¬ ery was useless, as the foreign officials and officers possessed no executive power. In 1905 the Sultan was compelled by a naval demonstration to permit the establishment of a Financial Commission ; but the ravages of the bands continued.

In July 1908 the situation in the Near East suddenly underwent a dramatic trans¬ formation. The Young Turks, who had long preached reform from London and Paris, had been recently working at terrible risk among the troops. On the one hand, they pointed to the intolerable corruption and tyranny of the Sultan’s regime ; on the other, they declared that the anarchy of Macedonia must inevitably lead to further

THE NEAR EAST

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intervention, culminating in the partition of Turkey. The propaganda had been carried far and wide before the Sultan heard of it ; and when he prepared to strike the leaders proclaimed the Constitu¬ tion of 1876 and threatened to march on Constantinople. The Sultan yielded in panic, the warring races and churches joined in celebrating the downfall of their common enemy, and a Parliament modelled on that of Midhat met in the autumn.

The honeymoon was brief, and the first shock came from abroad. In October, Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria threw off the over¬ lordship of Turkey, and Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina. The

Young Turks, indignant though they were, bowed to the inevitable and accepted a financial indemnity from both Powers. A more serious danger revealed itself during the winter in divisions among the enemies of the old regime. The Committee of Union and Progress, which had organised the re¬ volution and directed the new Government from Salonika, irritated the nationalities by a rigorous policy of centralisation. The

quarrels of the reformers were the Sultan’s opportunity. In April 1909 a revolution broke out in Constantinople, and the Young Turks fled for their lives. But the Mace¬ donian troops remained loyal to the Con- E

130

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

stitution, and within a fortnight Shevket Pasha fought his way into the capital. Abdul Hamid was deposed, and his brother was brought forth from his gilded cage to fill the Ottoman throne. The victory of the Young Turks was decisive ; but the warning was thrown away. Large sums were spent on the army and navy, the inhabitants of Macedonia roughly disarmed, and Albania goaded into revolt. The authors of a hideous massacre of Armenians at Adana remained virtually unpunished. Though they have proved themselves more efficient rulers than Abdul Hamid, the Young Turks have dis¬ appointed the hopes once inspired by their bravery and moderation. Their ideal is rather that of a highly centralised military State than a reforming regime inviting the co-operation of diverse creeds and races.

When Ferdinand and Francis Joseph tore up the Treaty of Berlin, Crete followed suit by proclaiming union with Greece. Though King George refused to respond, he earned no gratitude at Constantinople. A boycott of Greek goods was organised, and Turkish chauvinism brought the countries to the verge of war. The failure to extract advan¬ tages for Greece led to a movement for national reorganisation, headed by the army. For months the dynasty was in danger and Athens was dominated by the Military League,

THE NEAR EAST

131

which only dissolved on the meeting of a National Assembly at the end of 1910. The arrival of Venezelos from Crete has given Greece the guidance of the first strong and statesmanlike hand she has felt since the death of Tricoupis.

Happy are the Balkan States that have no history. Roumania has made progress under her Hohenzollern ruler, King Charles, and his gifted wife, Carmen Sylva, interrupted only by outbursts of agrarian discontent. Montenegro, the home of warriors, can also look back on a generation of unbroken peace under the patriarchal sway of Nicholas, who granted parliamentary institutions in 190,5 and celebrated the jubilee of his reign in 1910 by assuming the royal title.

CHAPTER VI

THE BALANCE OF POWER

The present grouping of the Great Powers is mainly the result of the Franco-German War. So long as Bismarck was at the helm Europe was dominated by the newly founded Empire ; but the last two decades have wit¬ nessed a gradual return to the equilibrium which is the normal condition of European politics.

Throughout the conflict of 1870 Bismarck was tortured by the fear of a coalition ; and when France was beaten the task of his life was to keep her in quarantine. Even before the war was over he aimed at an alliance with Russia and Austria. Alexander II was the nephew of the Emperor William, and the relations of the two Courts were cordial. When the struggle began Bismarck secretly encouraged Russia to tear up the restrictions on her right to keep warships in the Black Sea. An alliance with Austria might seem less easy to accomplish ; but it was not impossible. Bismarck had insisted on taking

132

THE BALANCE OF POWER 133

no territory from the conquered party in 1866. Though Napoleon III expected Aus¬ trian assistance in his time of need, Francis Joseph stood aside, chiefly owing to a fear that Russia might also join in the fray. The anti-Prussian Beust was dismissed in 1871, and in 1872 the three Emperors met at Berlin. No written agreement was con¬ cluded, but it was decided to consult each other in international affairs.

Bismarck supported the Republic in France on the double ground that it would be weaker and less likely to attract allies than a mon¬ archy ; but when she increased her army in 1875, Moltke demanded a second war. France appealed to Russia, the Tsar and Gortschakoff hastened to Berlin, and Queen Victoria wrote to the Emperor William. The danger was averted ; but the intervention of Russia left an unpleasant impression on Bismarck’s mind. When Austria and Great Britain declared that the settlement of the Near East after the Russo-Turkish War was a matter for Europe as a whole, Bismarck offered himself as an “ honest broker ” and presided over the Congress of Berlin not as a friend of Russia but as an arbiter. Big Bulgaria, in which Russian influence would be supreme, was vetoed, while Austria, which had taken no part in the struggle, was pre¬ sented with Bosnia and Herzegovina. The

134

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

pride of Gortschakoff and his master, who expected some return for their benevolent neutrality in 1870, was deeply wounded. Katkoff denounced Bismarck in the Moscow Gazette, and the massing of Russian troops on the German frontier seemed to bring war within sight. William tried to soothe his nephew by an interview ; but Bismarck went to Vienna and brought home a treaty, the assent of the Emperor being secured by a threat of resignation. The Dual Alliance concluded in 1879, but not published till 1888, bound the signatories to support each other if attacked by Russia. If one was attacked by any other Power, the other should remain neutral ; but if the enemy were supported by Russia, the other was bound to assist. The alliance was welcomed in both countries as a complete safeguard against a Russian attack, and Germany was secured against a Franco-Russian onslaught. The pact closed the chapter of strife and estrangement between men of German blood, and healed the wounds of Sadowa.

The Dual Alliance marks the beginning of the definite division of Europe into two camps. Three years later the adhesion of Italy created the Triple Alliance. Though Italy had combined with Prussia in 1866 to attack Austria, her sympathies in 1870 were with France. But the French Republic in

THE BALANCE OF POWER 135

its early years was governed by men who resented the loss of the Temporal Power, and for some years a French ship lay at Civita Vecchia at the disposal of the Pope, as a mute protest against the occupation of Rome. The danger of intervention passed away when Gambetta repulsed the mon¬ archical attack in 1877 ; but another cause of friction soon appeared. Knowing Italy’s ambitions, Bismarck seized the opportunity of the Congress of Berlin to suggest to Wad- dington, the French representative, the occupation of Tunis. A similar encourage¬ ment came from Great Britain as the price of French acquiescence in the acquisition of Cyprus. Backed by these sponsors France established a protectorate in 1881. Italy seethed with indignation, and if she had continued to stand alone a war with France might easily have arisen. An alliance seemed essential to national security, and she became the ally of Germany and Austria for five years. Despite the huge increase of ex¬ penditure on armaments that it involved, the alliance was renewed in 1887 and has remained to this day.

The formation of the Triple Alliance was a further step towards Bismarck’s ideal of a friendless France. As England was known never to enter into alliances, the only Power to whom the Republic could look was Russia.

136

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

Accordingly Bismarck exerted himself to the utmost to restore friendly relations with St. Petersburg. The accession of Alexander III in 1881 brought to the throne a ruler whose dislike of Germany was notorious, but whose love of peace was sincere and whose fear of revolution amounted to a mania. In 1884 the three Emperors bound themselves for three years to benevolent neutrality in the event of any one of them attacking or being attacked by another Power. Thus at last France was completely isolated. But in the following year the union of Eastern Roumelia with Bulgaria led to differences between Russia and the Central Powers, and in 1887 the Tsar determined to withdraw from the entente. Bismarck, however, persuaded him to renew the bond with Germany for three years more, doing his best in return to convince Russia of his goodwill. When a daughter of the Emperor Frederick desired in 1888 to marry Alexander of Battenberg, sometime Prince of Bulgaria, he compelled the parents under threat of resignation to break off the match. Yet the Tsar remained convinced that Germany could not be relied upon, and before the expiry of the three years for which the “ reinsurance treaty ” held good he had resolved not to renew it.

The fall of Bismarck in 1890 was the signal rather than the cause of a great trans-

THE BALANCE OF POWER 137

formation in European polities. For twenty years he had kept France in isolation. He had often declared that since 1870 Germany was “ satiated.” William II, on the other hand, dreamed of territorial expansion, and, trusting in the Triple Alliance, made no attempt to renew the treaty with Alexander. Thus Russia, no longer pressed or bribed by Germany, was at last free to take the momentous step to which she had long been gravitating.

In 1870 the sympathies of the Russian Government had been with Germany, for Louis Napoleon’s share in the Crimean War and his championship of Poland in 1863 were not forgotten. But the German and Russian peoples have always disliked each other, and Alexander II had no desire to see Germany dominate the Continent. The intervention of 1875 may be regarded as the first step towards the Franco-Russian alliance. After the rebuff inflicted by the Treaty of Berlin many Russian publicists advocated an alliance ; yet the Tsar was unconvinced, and Grevy, Gambetta and the majority of French statesmen were strongly anti-Russian. But events were stronger than individuals. In April, 1887, when France and Germany were brought to the verge of war by the arrest of Schnaebele, who had crossed the frontier for a discussion with a German functionary,

138

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

the Tsar sent an autograph letter to the Emperor, who ordered the instant release of the prisoner. In 1888 the first Russian loan was placed on the French market. In 1890 Russian nihilists were arrested in Paris while engaged in the preparation of bombs, and the plan of a visit of the French fleet to Russia was discussed. In 1891 a squadron visited Cronstadt, and the Tsar listened bareheaded to the “Marseillaise.” Europe was startled by the enthusiastic welcome, and Caprivi declared that there must be an alliance. A month later a treaty was signed in Paris by Ribot, the Foreign Minister, and Mohrenheim, the Russian ambassador. In the following year a military convention was drawn up, though it was not ratified till 1894. A Russian squadron visited Toulon in 1893, and the sailors received an almost delirious welcome. In 1895 Ribot spoke of Russia as “ our ally ” in the Chamber. In 1896 the new Tsar visited France — the first visit of a crowned head to the Third Republic — and received an immense ovation. Finally, in 1897, Faure returned the visit, and the alliance was at last proclaimed by the Tsar in the famous words, “ nations amies et alliees.”

Though the terms of the treaty have never been published there can be no doubt that Russia is pledged to support her ally in case

THE BALANCE OF POWER 139

of attack by Germany. That a first class Power should desire an alliance was an emphatic recognition that France had re¬ covered from her defeat. The glaring differences of political institutions and ideas were forgotten in the satisfaction of possessing a powerful friend. On the Russian side the alliance was hailed as good political business. Her plans of Asiatic expansion required an assured position in Europe, and demanded unlimited capital, which thrifty France was ready to supply.

The Triple Alliance no longer dominated Europe without a competitor ; but the old combination was stronger than the new, for Great Britain was no friend either of Russia or of France. She had joined in the Crimean War and she had torn up the treaty of San Stefano. She had given moral support to Bulgaria during the crisis of 1885. She had watched the Russian advance beyond the Caspian with unconcealed dislike, and the two countries had been brought within sight of war by a frontier incident at Penjdeh in 1885. Aggression on the Pamirs in 1891-2 confirmed the belief that Russia had designs on India and that a great struggle was inevitable. The scramble for China which began in 1897 added a new source of friction, and the seizure of Port Arthur moved Mr. Chamberlain to the wrathful exclamation.

140 HISTORY OF OUR TIME

“ Who sups with the Devil must have a long spoon.”

With France there was a much older tradition of hostility, and the era of French colonial expansion, inaugurated by Jules Ferry, opened up a boundless vista of con¬ troversy. The British Government pro¬ tested against the fortification of Bizerta, and for many years refused to surrender its rights under the Capitulations in Tunis. A long series of bickerings occurred in relation to Nigeria. The transportation of convicts to New Caledonia was hotly resented by Australia, whither many escaped, and the occupation of the New Hebrides was contrary to repeated declarations. A French attack on Siam in support of her claims to the Mekong river brought war within sight. The ruthless exclusion of British trade from Madagascar when the island was annexed in 1896 excited the indignation of the commercial world, and the dispute about the Newfoundland fisheries remained unsolved.

Above all, the British occupation of Egypt, in which France had taken a peculiar interest since the expedition of Napoleon, provided a constant source of irritation. For some years France comforted herself with the belief that on the restoration of order Britain would withdraw, in accordance with her repeated declarations ; but by the irony of

THE BALANCE OF POWER 141

fate the last chance was frustrated by her own action. In 1887 the Wolff Convention arranged for evacuation within three years, subject to the right to re-enter if the interests of the bondholders were threatened. Yield¬ ing to the representations of France Abdul Hamid refused the conditions. A few years later it was made clear that no limit to the occupation was contemplated. In 1895 t e British Government announced that it would regard an attempt by another Power to occupy any part of the Nile valley as an unfriendly act • and in 1896 the reconquest of the Sudan was commenced. Despite the Grey declara¬ tion, repeated and confirmed by the British Ambassador in Paris in 1897 and 1898, Captain Marchand was dispatched from the French Congo in 1896 to establish a post on the Upper Nile. He reached Fashoda in Julv 1898 ; but after the battle of Omdurman Kitchener marched south and ordered the force to retire. The dispute was referred to Paris. When the French Government hesitated, British opinion declared itself m uncompromising tones, and war was only averted by unconditional surrender. Eng¬ land’s loudly expressed disgust at the treat¬ ment of Dreyfus increased the hostility, and the Boer War provided France with an opportunity of retaliation of which she hastened to avail herself.

142

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

The relations of Great Britain with the members of the Triple Alliance, on the other hand, were thoroughly friendly. Her sympathy with Italy was proverbial, and a secret understanding was reached in 1887 guaranteeing the status quo in the Mediter¬ ranean. With Austria, in like manner, there was no clash of interest or ambition. With the leading member of the Alliance she was closely connected by ties of blood. Bismarck was friendly and accommodating, and con¬ sistently supported the British position on the Nile, remarking, “ In Egypt I am English.” The dispatch of a congratulatory telegram to Kruger after the repulse of the Jameson Raid created momentary indignation ; but allowances were made for the impulsive temperament of its author, and no one regarded it as an indication of any deep- seated hostility. At the outbreak of the Boer War Mr. Chamberlain pleaded for a new Triple Alliance between Great Britain, Ger¬ many, and the United States, and at the Lord Mayor’s banquet Salisbury declared the relations of the two countries to be 44 every¬ thing we could desire.”

The early years of the twentieth century witnessed a gradual alteration of the balance of forces, resulting in the transfer of support from the Triple to the Dual Alliance. The three main steps in this momentous trans-

THE BALANCE OF POWER 143

formation were the reconciliation of Italy with France, of France with England, and ol

England with Russia. _ . ,

The quarrel of France and Italy, which be<?an with the occupation of Tunis, reached its most acute stage during the ministries ot Crispi. A tariff war began in 1888, and incidents constantly occurred which revealed and intensified ill-feeling. In 1887 the Italian police violated the archives ot the French Consulate at Florence. In 1888 the Italian Commander came into conflict with French subjects at Massowah. In 1891 a French pilgrim inscribed the words Vive le Roi-Pape ” near the tomb of Victor Emanuel. In 1898 Italian workmen were killed in a brawl at Aigues-Mortes, and the Roman mob retaliated by an attack on the residence of the French Ambassador. In 1894 a number of French journalists were expelled from Rome. Indeed, the relations of France with Italy were worse than with Germany. But there had always been a party in favour of friendly relations, and after the fall of Crispi wiser counsels began to prevail. In 1896 Italy recognised the French position in Tunis. In 1898 a commercial treaty ended the tariff war, which had impoverished both countries. In 1901 France announced that she would not oppose Italian claims m Tripoli, while Italy promised France a free

144

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

hand in Morocco. In 1903 the King of Italy paid an official visit to Paris, and the seal was set to the reconciliation when President Loubet, despite the thunders of the Vatican, returned the visit in 1904.

The second step towards the re-grouping of the Powers was taken in May 1903, when King Edward VII paid his first official visit to Paris. Though the anti-Dreyfusards had fallen from power, and though Delcasse was more friendly than Hanotaux, France was in no mood to make advances to her old enemy. The initiative came from the King himself, who, unlike his mother, was well known to be a sincere admirer of the Republic. The position of Great Britain was no longer what it had been. So long as she could rely on the friendliness of the Triple Alliance, the enmity of France and Russia was not very dangerous. But German disapproval of the Boer War had been expressed in a highly offensive manner ; and though the Emperor refused to see Kruger and the Boer Generals, and behaved throughout with scrupulous correctness, the old cordiality completely disappeared. At the end of 1901 Mr. Chamberlain vehemently protested against German attacks on the British troops, and recalled certain features of the campaign of 1870. Billow replied in the Reichstag that criticisms of the German army were like

THE BALANCE OF POWER 145

attempts to bite granite. The gulf opened by the war was widened by the refusal of the British Government to assist in the project of the Bagdad railway, and by the obvious determination of Germany to become a great naval Power.

King Edward was welcomed in Paris with respect if not with enthusiasm, and the return visit paid by President Loubet in July paved the way for a further interchange of ideas. Before the war Mr. Chamber- lain had complained of a policy of pinpricks, and rudely warned France to mend her manners. The countries were still at issue on several points ; but the elements of a bargain were present. The withdrawal from Fashoda left France nothing to fight for on the Nile, while Great Britain possessed no special interests in Morocco, to which France had long been turning her eyes. On these foundations a treaty was framed, France surrendering all claims to Egypt and under¬ taking not to press for the termination of the occupation, Great Britain according France a free hand in Morocco. Minor disputes regarding West Africa, Siam, the New Hebrides, Madagascar, and Newfound¬ land were amicably arranged. The treaty, which was signed in April 1904, was wel¬ comed in both countries not only as a settle¬ ment of long-standing differences but as

146

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

paving the way for friendly co-operation. For the one it ended a period of political isolation which was becoming dangerous. To the other it brought an accession of security only second in importance to the Russian alliance. That Great Britain shortly after undertook to render assistance to France if attacked by Germany is widely believed in spite of official denials.

France had gained new friends, and she was soon to need them. On the eve of the signature of the treaty, Delcasse informed the German Ambassador in Paris of its terms, and Prince Radolin pronounced it to be “ very natural and perfectly justified.” On its publication Billow declared in the Reichstag that there was no reason to suppose it to be directed against any Power, and that it contained nothing prejudicial to German interests in Morocco, which were purely commercial. After such declarations the French Government had no hesitation in taking the next step forward. In October an agreement was signed with Spain, whom Del¬ casse thus associated with his plans of pacific penetration. As Morocco adjoined Algeria, frontier incidents were of common occurrence. Abdul-Aziz, who had ascended the throne in 1894 at the age of sixteen, was intelligent enough to admire the . outward trappings of European civilisation but not to assimilate

THE BALANCE OF POWER 147

its spirit. His love of foreign inventions irritated his people, and in his nerveless grasp the kingdom fell into chaos. Agree¬ ments with France in 1901 and 1902 pro¬ vided for co-operation in the maintenance of order ; but the whole country needed reorganisation, and in 1904 he was presented with a bold scheme of reforms to be carried out by the aid of French loans.

The first hint of trouble came from the German Minister in Morocco in the early weeks of 1905 ; and diplomatic war was declared in March when the Emperor landed from his yacht at Tangier, and announced that the Sultan was free and independent, that it would be unwise to hurry reform, and that German interests would be safe¬ guarded. This unexpected outburst, which virtually promised support to Morocco in resisting French pressure, was followed by an invitation to a Conference on the Moroccan question. The proposal was a direct challenge to French claims, and Delcasse advised its rejection. The Rouvier Cabinet refused to run risks, and the Foreign Minister, who had held the reigns for seven years, was forced to resign. His fall was a triumph for Ger¬ many, and was marked by the elevation of Biilow to the rank of Prince.

The resignation of Delcasse was a second Fashoda. French resentment was the keener

148

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

owing to the conviction that Germany had taken advantage of the temporary paralysis of her ally. The attack on French policy began on the fall of Port Arthur, and the Tangier speech was delivered after the re¬ verses in Manchuria. It was believed, more¬ over, that Morocco was only the occasion to strike at the entente into which she had lately entered. A revulsion of feeling set in, and large sums were spent on preparing the army for instant war. In August the Treaty of Portsmouth allowed Russia to resume her part in European politics. Thus, when the Conference met at Algeciras in January 1906, France was in no yielding mood. Throughout the prolonged discus¬ sions she was backed by Russia and Great Britain, while Italy incurred German resent¬ ment by her obvious friendliness. The United States supported her on the merits of the case, and even Austria showed a disposition to arrive at a fair compromise. Thus while the submission of the Moroccan question to the European areopagus was a triumph for Germany, the Conference itself dis¬ appointed her. Though the integrity of Morocco was secured, France and Spain obtained a mandate to organise a police force for the coast towns, and France was allowed a predominant share in the proposed State bank. In 1908 a dangerous quarrel arising

THE BALANCE OF POWER 14S

out of the arrest of German deserters at Casablanca was settled by the Hague Tribunal. Finally, by an agreement in 1909, Germany recognised the special political interest of France.

The entente which had grown out of the Treaty of 1904 had proved itself capable of resisting strain ; but there was still one more step to be taken before the position of France could be regarded as satisfactory. Her ally and her friend still looked askance at one another. The Russo-Japanese War had pro¬ duced an awkward situation. It had re¬ quired all Delcasse’s tact to avoid an explosion when the Russians fired on the Hull fishermen, while a new danger arose when Japan angrily charged France with assisting the Russian fleet during its voyage to the Far East. But the common support of France during the critical months at Algeciras brought Great Britain and Russia nearer together. The Tsar had begun to discuss the questions at issue with Sir Charles Hardinge at St. Peters¬ burg in 1905, and Sir Edward Grey was known to have set his heart on an arrange¬ ment. After long negotiations a treaty was signed in August 1907, defining the respective spheres of influence in Persia, recognising the right of Great Britain to control the foreign policy of Afghanistan, and pledging both parties to abstain from interference in Tibet.

150 HISTORY OF OUR TIME

The Treaty was sharply attacked by one school of critics on the ground that the line through Persia was unduly favourable to Russia, by another on the ground that it virtually partitioned the country, and that co-operation with Russia was indefensible. In reply it was urged that the removal of the fear of Russian attack on India was worth some sacrifices, and that the Treaty would lead to mutual support in European politics. The visit of King Edward to Reval in June 1908 revealed such cordial relations between the two Governments that Germany pro¬ fessed to discover a design for her isolation. The entente was further consolidated by the reconciliation of Russia and France with Japan on the basis of a recognition of the status quo in the Far East.

A few months after the Dual Alliance had expanded into the Triple Entente the waters of European diplomacy were once more ruffled. Though Austria and Russia had agreed in 1897 to work together in the Balkans, the world was startled in February 1908 by an announcement that the Austro-Hun¬ garian Foreign Minister had obtained per¬ mission to make a survey for the construction of a railway through the Sanjak of Novibazar. To ask or accept such a favour from Turkey at a time when the only hope of Macedonian reform lay in unceasing pressure from the

THE BALANCE OF POWER 151

Concert appeared something like treason. Moreover, it opened the door to the ambitions of other Balkan Powers, and Servia im¬ mediately put forward a demand, which was supported by Russia, for a railway to the Adriatic. But before either project could be commenced, the revolution in Turkey altered the whole face of affairs.

While sympathetically watching the efforts of the Young Turks to grapple with their gigantic problem, Europe was startled by the news that Bulgaria had thrown off the suzerainty of Turkey, and that Austna- Hungary had annexed Bosnia and Herze¬ govina, at the same time renouncing her right to the military occupation of Novibazar. In a moment the whole of Eastern Europe was in a ferment. Servia demanded com¬ pensation for the destruction of her hopes of union with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro pressed for the removal of her fetters on the Adriatic seaboard. Meanwhile Sir Edward Grey declared that any modifica¬ tions of the Treaty of Berlin must be approved by another European Congress, and Russia and France supported the demand.

Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary compounded for their sins by a cash indemnity ; but when the danger of war with Turkey was removed D’Aehrenthal could afford to oppose an unyielding front to the claims of Servia.

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HISTORY OF OUR TIME

The little kingdom, however, trusted to the support of its mighty Slav neighbour. Izvolsky, the Russian Foreign Minister, had been informed during the early summer that Austria-Hungary would some day annex the Turkish provinces ; but the speedy execution of the plan came as a shock to St. Petersburg. As the winter advanced Europe became sharply divided into two camps. The tension was ended in March 1909 by a peremptory intimation from the Kaiser to the Tsar that if his support of Servian claims were to lead to war with Austria, Germany would support her ally with all her forces. The opposition instantly collapsed, and the Powers of the Triple Entente recognised the annexations without waiting for a Conference. D’Aeh- lenthal had played a bold game and won ; but his victory was dearly bought. The indemnity to Turkey and the much larger sum spent on preparing the army for instant war, the surrender of Novibazar, the boycott of Austrian goods in the Levant, the estrange¬ ment of Turkey, Servia, and Montenegro, above all, the alienation of the Powers of the Triple Entente, might well appear even to his countrymen a high price to pay for the abolition of Turkish suzerainty over provinces that had for all practical purposes belonged to the Dual Monarchy for a generation.

The storm subsided very slowly. On

THE BALANCE OF POWER 153

visiting the King of Italy the Tsar ostenta¬ tiously avoided passing through Austrian territory, and a little later William II on a visit to Vienna reminded his hearers how he had stood by their ruler “ in shining armour ” in the recent crisis. But there are no eternal feuds in European politics except between France and Germany. The old cordiality between Great Britain and Austria gradually returned, and the withdrawal of Izvolsky to the Paris Embassy marked a detente between Vienna and St. Petersburg. When the Tsar visited Potsdam at the close of 1910, Germany undertook to facilitate the plans of Russia in Persia, and Russia withdrew her opposition to the Bagdad railway, which it was agreed to extend to the Persian frontier. Though it was an exaggeration to assert that the Potsdam interviews marked the virtual with¬ drawal of Russia from the Triple Entente, they recorded the closing of the breach which had been opened in 1908.

The mutual suspicion of Germany and Great Britain remains ; but it is gradually becoming less acute. If the German ship¬ building programme is reduced in 1912, as the Navy Law provides, the apprehension that she is seeking to steal the mastery of the seas should disappear. Meanwhile the agreement of the two Governments, announced in 1911, to inform each other of their naval

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HISTORY OF OUR TIME

construction will prevent the recurrence of the scare that arose in 1909 when the British Admiralty solemnly announced its discovery of an imaginary acceleration. More important is the surrender by the Bagdad Railway Company of its right to carry the line to the Persian Gulf in return for permission to connect it with the Mediterranean. The compromise removes a troublesome source of friction and brings within sight the co-opera¬ tion or at least the friendly acquiescence of Great Britain in the completion of the great enterprise. The sudden dispatch of a cruiser to Agadir in July 1911 announced the deter¬ mination of Germany to be consulted in regard to the new situation in Morocco arising from the French expedition to Fez and the Spanish occupation of posts in the interior ; but it gave no reason to anticipate a repetition of the agitating experiences of 1905.

CHAPTER VII

THE AWAKENING OF ASIA

The most important event in the political history of the last generation is the awaken¬ ing of Asia. The reaction on world politics has already been immense, and its further influence is the most incalculable element in the future.

I

After massacring her Jesuit missionaries in the seventeenth century, Japan lived a hermit life till the coming of Commodore Perry’s squadron in 1854 forced her to open her doors and revise her political ideas. The last of the Shoguns resigned in 1867, and the power of the Emperor was restored after an eclipse of more than two centuries. The Daimios chivalrously surrendered their privileges, and the remains of feudalism were abolished by decree in 1871. Thus in four years the country was unified under a centralised government. But the task of

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HISTORY OF OUR TIME

creating a modern State was complicated by treaty rights, which not only deprived Japan of all power over foreign residents, but prevented the raising of the customs tariff. After vainly endeavouring to obtain a modification of the treaties the Government sent an embassy to Europe in 1871. Though the mission failed, its members carried back the lessons of civilisation. An efficient army and navy were created, compulsory educa¬ tion inaugurated, and the judicial system reformed. In 1894 Great Britain recognised Japan as a civilised State. By 1899 the other Powers had followed suit, and ex¬ territoriality was at an end. For the first time Europe submitted the fortunes of her children to the jurisdiction of an Oriental State.

The modernisation of Japan naturally carried with it the introduction of representa¬ tive institutions, and in 1880 the Emperor promised a national Parliament. The plan¬ ning of a constitution was entrusted to Ito, who paid a prolonged visit to the West, where he fell under the spell of Bismarck. In 1885 he became the head of the first Cabinet, the members of which were appointed by and responsible to the Emperor. The first Parliament met in 1890. The constitu¬ tion was largely modelled on that of Prussia, with a narrow franchise (extended in 1900)

THE FAR EAST

157

and an independent executive. The early years of Parliament were filled by bitter strife with the ministers and the official class, over whom the elected House possessed no con¬ trol. Opposition and obstruction were met by repeated dissolutions, and the power of the Emperor remained undiminished. His authority has been consistently supported by the House of Peers, in which the influence of the Elder Statesmen is predominant. His person still inspires religious veneration, while the long and prosperous reign of Mutsuhito, who ascended the throne while Japan was still a feudal State, has strengthened the prestige of the Crown.

The birth of a powerful State in the Far East was proclaimed in 1894. An attempt had been made to establish closer relations with Korea, and a Japanese envoy was sent to reside at Seoul in 1880. The legation was attacked in 1882, and again in 1884. The weakness and misgovernment of Korea was a perpetual temptation to her neighbours ; and Japan invited China to co-operate in demand¬ ing reform. When China refused, Japan endeavoured to set the Korean Government in motion, and, as no response was forth¬ coming, issued an ultimatum calling on Korea to accept the Japanese programme of reforms in July 1894. Korea temporised, Seoul was taken without difficulty, and the

158

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

Emperor made prisoner. China immediately intervened, but was easily defeated by Japanese troops, which had been trained by European officers. The capture of Port Arthur compelled Li Hung Chang to ask for peace, and on the fall of Wei-hai-Wei the war was over. In April 1895 a treaty was signed at Shimonoseki, by which China ceded to Japan the Liao-Tung peninsula and the island of Formosa, and promised a large indemnity.

The ink of the treaty was hardly dry when Russia, France, and Germany ordered Japan to surrender the Liao-Tung peninsula, on the ground that the possession of Port Arthur threatened the independence of Pekin. Japan had no alternative but to submit, and the Chinese indemnity was increased by five millions. The intervention of the Western Powers opened a new chapter in the history of the Far East. Russia had reached the Pacific in the seventeenth century, and the Amur region was secured in 1858-60 by Muravief. The trans-Siberian railway was begun in 1891. After saving China from the loss of the peninsula, Russia concluded a convention with her authorising a branch line through Manchuria. But the insin¬ cerity of the Powers in forbidding Japanese spoliation was soon revealed. In 1897, when two German missionaries were murdered in

THE FAR EAST

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Shantung, China was compelled to lease the port and district of Kiao-Chow to Germany for 99 years. Russia followed suit by ob¬ taining permission to winter her fleet in Port Arthur, and in March 1898 demanded a lease of the coveted ice-free port. Great Britain, not to be outdone, acquired Wei-hai- Wei, and an extension of her territory op¬ posite Hong-Kong. France obtained a con¬ cession near Tonkin ; but when even Italy asked for a bay China plucked up courage to refuse.

The encroachments of the Powers evoked intense indignation in China, and killed the reform movement which had begun after the Japanese war. The only satisfactory piece of imperial machinery was the adminis¬ tration of the maritime customs by Sir Robert Hart. The young Emperor, Kuang- Hsu, was convinced of the need of change, and adopted the proposals of Kang Yu Wei. Learning that her nephew had decided on her imprisonment, and taking advantage of the growing hatred of the “ foreign devils,” the Dowager-Empress, Tzu Hsi, emerged from her retreat. The Emperor’s life was spared and Kang Yu Wei escaped, but his reforming colleagues were executed. The Regency was re-established, the reform decrees were annulled, and China swung back to reaction. A society called the Boxers, who claimed to

160

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

be invulnerable, rapidly spread through the provinces, preaching death to foreigners. Attacks on Europeans began in 1899, and became frequent in the early months of 1900. In May the Ministers at Pekin asked for additional guards. No sooner had they arrived than the city was surrounded by Boxer troops. An attempt by Admiral Seymour to reach the capital was frustrated. The destruction of the Taku forts, which had fired on the allied warships, was treated as a declaration of war. The imperial troops now joined the Boxers, the German Am¬ bassador was murdered in the streets of Pekin, and the foreign residents, who had taken refuge in the British Legation, were bombarded. Early in August an army of 20,000 men started for Pekin. The capital was entered after sharp fighting ten days later, the Empress fled into the interior, and the Legations were rescued after a terrible siege of two months. The allies insisted on the punishment of the ringleaders, the dis¬ mantling of the forts between Pekin and the coast, and immense indemnities. To prevent a similar occurrence the Legations were fortified. Peace was signed in 1901, and the Empress returned early in 1902.

The resentment aroused in Japan by the forced surrender of Port Arthur swelled into deep indignation when Russia herself seized

THE FAR EAST

161

the coveted stronghold. A demand for a port on the southern coast of Korea in 1899 had to be withdrawn ; but after the Pekin expedition Admiral Alexeieff, the Russian Viceroy of the Far East, invited China to resume the government of Manchuria under Russian protection. Japan protested in vain ; but her position was strengthened by an alliance with Great Britain in 1902, the latter promising support if her ally was attacked by more than one Power. The conduct of the Japanese troops during the Pekin expedition had compared very favour¬ ably with that of some of the European contingents, and the treaty of 1902 recognised the entry of Japan into the family of civilised Powers.

A few weeks after the conclusion of the alliance a treaty was signed between Russia and China, the former undertaking to evacu¬ ate Manchuria in three stages of six months each, the latter to defend Russian interests in that province. The treaty relieved Japanese apprehensions ; and in the autumn of 1902 the Russians withdrew from the first of the three sections. But in 1903, instead of continuing the evacuation, Russia demanded new concessions. Supported by Great Britain, Japan, and the United States, China refused the demands. At the same moment Russian activity increased in Korea. Russian

F

162

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

speculators had obtained a concession to cut timber on the banks of the Yalu, and influential members of the Russian Court were interested in the enterprise. Japan complained that the withdrawal fiom Manchuria was not being carried out, and suggested a treaty which should safeguard Russian interests in Manchuria and define Japan’s position in Korea. Russia refused to recognise Japanese claims in Korea, and after several months of negotiation, during which troops were hurried to the Far East, Japan issued an ultimatum in February 1904.

The course of the conflict was watched by the whole world with amazement. Few expected Japan to show such perfect organisa¬ tion, such strategic genius, such irresistible bravery; while on the other hand few were prepared for the blundering incompetence of Russia. For the Japanese it was a national struggle for clearly defined objects, while the Russian people knew nothing of the causes and aims of the war. A second advantage for Japan was that the conflict ranged in part over ground familiar to her since 1894, while the Russian front was 6000 miles from the base, and her troops had to be transported by a single line. When the war began the Russian forces were greatly inferior in numbers, and she was discouraged at the outset by the destruction

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163

or damage of several ships at Port Arthur and Chemulpo. After these initial successes Japanese troops invested Port Arthur, while the main army forced their way across the Yalu. The Russians were defeated at Liao- Yang, and in a prolonged encounter on the Sha-ho. On New Year’s Day, 1905, Port Arthur was surrendered by Stossel, though 24,000 men and provisions for three months remained. The fall of the great fortress set free the besieging army, and another titanic struggle took place before Mukden in February. After a fortnight’s fighting, in which each side lost about 60,000 in killed and wounded, the Russians retreated north. The Japanese were too exhausted to follow up the victory, and both combatants watched the leisurely voyage of the Russian fleet from Europe. As it entered the Straits of Tsushima between Korea and Japan on the way to Vladivostock on May 27th, it was annihilated by Togo. The command of the Pacific was decided in a single day.

The failure of her last card induced Russia to consider the question of peace. Japan, whose resources had been strained to the uttermost, was equally desirous of an honour¬ able termination of the struggle. A fortnight after the battle of Tsushima representatives were chosen to discuss terms. No armistice was concluded, and the Japanese landed a F 2

164

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

force in Sakhalin. The negotiations opened in August, and three weeks later peace was signed. The Treaty of Portsmouth recog¬ nised the claims of Japan in Korea, ceded the Liao-Tung peninsula and the southern half of Sakhalin, and provided for the evacuation of Manchuria by Russia. The war had cost each side about 100 millions in money and 200,000 in killed and wounded. The victory of Japan is the most important event of the period with which this volume deals. In the years immediately preceding the war the Powers had been carving China into slices. The ringleader had now been overthrown in single combat, and the achieve¬ ment thrilled Asia with a confidence and self- respect she had never known. The spell had been broken. The West was not irresistible. The question is no longer what the white man will leave to the yellow races, but what the yellow races will permit the white man to retain.

In no country was the reverberation louder than in China. The reactionary nationalism which had culminated in the Boxer movement gave place to an enthusiasm for Western learning and Western methods. Decrees appeared condemning foot-binding, recom¬ mending intermarriage between Manchus and Chinese, abolishing the system of literary examinations for official employment, and

THE FAR EAST

165

forbidding torture and mutilation. Railways were built and schools were opened, Japanese instructors were engaged, and large numbers went to study abroad. A Commission was sent to Europe in 1906 to examine the systems of government, and on its return the Regent announced her intention to grant a Constitution. In 1908 she and the puppet Emperor died within a day of each other ; but the death of the most remarkable per¬ sonality of modern China brought no change. Provincial assemblies were set up in 1909, and conducted their business with dignity and skill. A National Assembly, composed chiefly of officials and nominees, met at Pekin in 1910 and demanded that the first Parlia¬ ment, originally promised for 1917, should meet without delay. Almost more remarkable as an evidence of reforming zeal is the crusade against opium. Though depending on the duty for several millions a year, the Indian Government undertook in 1907 to stop the export to China by gradual steps within 10 years, on condition of a corresponding reduc¬ tion in her own production of the poppy. The bargain was loyally kept, and in 1911 China urged the Indian Government to co¬ operate in suppressing the traffic in two years.

166

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

II

While in the Far East the white man has been forced to abandon his ambitions, he continues to dominate the Middle East. Yet here, too, the sleeper is awakening.

Though the Government of India is relat¬ ively unaffected by party changes at West¬ minster, the personality of a Viceroy often stamps the period of his rule. Thus Lytton (1876-1880) emphasised the might and majesty of British dominion, while Ripon’s term (1880-1884) was marked by a courageous attempt to associate the people more closely with the control of their own affairs. His successor, Dufferin, was identified neither with Imperialism nor Liberalism. The establishment of Abdurrahman on the throne of Afghanistan had substituted a friendly for an unfriendly influence ; but the rapid advance of Russia beyond the Caspian con¬ tinued to inspire alarm. Though an agree¬ ment was reached in 1887, the danger led to the permanent increase of the army. On the other side of India an important conquest was effected. The maritime provinces of Burma had been annexed in previous wars, and at the end of 1885 the remainder of the country was conquered. While the savage rule of King Theebaw was the nominal pretext for intervention, the governing factor was

INDIA AND PERSIA

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the discovery of his intrigues with French agents and concessionaires. No immediate resistance was made, but a guerrilla warfare broke out and continued for three years. On its suppression Burma entered on a period of peaceful prosperity, untroubled by famines or revolutionary movements.

The main legislative achievement of Dufferin’s term was the Bengal Tenancy Act of 1885, which checked the eviction of the ryot; but its most important event was not the work of the Government. The intro¬ duction of English literature and English ideas under the auspices of Macaulay had led to the growth of an educated class, relatively small in numbers but of considerable influ¬ ence. In 1886 the first National Congress met to discuss questions of common interest. Though a few Mohammedans took part in the movement, its founders were Hindus. Dufferin regarded the Congress as a healthy growth, and showed friendliness to the leaders It was a colossal blunder that his tactful attitude was abandoned by his successors.

The term of Lord Lansdowne (1888-1894) witnessed an important change in the machinery of government. The Queen’s Proclamation in 1858 declared that no one should be debarred from any office by ace or creed. A few Indian advisers had been admitted to Legislative Councils after the

168

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

Mutiny ; but Dufferin had informed the Home Government that an increase in their numbers and powers would be expedient. The Indian Councils Act of 1892 gave cautious effect to his representations. The nominated members of the Viceregal and the Provincial Councils were increased, the non-official element strengthened, and the Indian Government was empowered to permit native members to be elected by their fellow-citizens. In another field the confidence of the Government was shown by accepting the offers of Native Chiefs to maintain regiments for imperial service. The Landsowne Viceroyalty also witnessed the settlement of differences with Abdur¬ rahman, who was seriously alarmed by the proposals of the Forward Policy. The Durand mission, dispatched to Cabul in 1893, re¬ moved his apprehensions. His subsidy was raised from £80,000 to £120,000 a year, and it was agreed to determine the still unsettled boundaries of Russia, India, and Afghanistan. Though his loyalty during subsequent frontier risings was open to suspicion, the relations of the Governments have remained friendly.

The rule of Lord Elgin (1894-1899) was a period of exceptional anxiety. The currency question had long been menacing. Owing to the increasing production of silver through¬ out the world the rupee had rapidly fallen since 1874, when it was worth nearly two

INDIA AND PERSIA

169

shillings. The loss to India, which had to find large sums in gold for interest, pensions, and foreign purchases, was serious. To meet the growing burden it was necessary to increase the salt tax and the income tax, and in 1893 the coinage of silver was restricted. The relief was slight, and Lord Elgin, on his arrival, had to revive revenue duties, that on cotton goods being accompanied by a corresponding excise on Indian pro¬ ducts. The rupee fell to thirteen pence in 1895, when it again began to rise. In 1899 a gold currency was introduced, and the value of the rupee was fixed at sixteen pence. Though gold thus became the standard of value, silver remains the coinage of the country and legal tender at the fixed rate. At the same time two other problems emerged. In 1896 plague appeared in Bombay, and efforts to eradicate it led to riots and fierce attacks in the press. Its ravages have continued ever since, and it carries off enormous numbers every year. In 1897 a severe famine visited Central India, and despite the institution of gigantic relief works nearly a million lives were lost in British territory.

Like his predecessors, Lord Elgin was con¬ fronted with grave anxieties on the North-West frontier. By the Durand agreement Chitral was declared within the British sphere In

170

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

1895 the native ruler was murdered and the British agent and garrison were besieged. After a heroic defence of seven weeks the fort was relieved by a large British force. The Rosebery Government decided to with¬ draw from Chitral ; but Salisbury, on resum¬ ing office, determined to retain it, and ordered the construction of a road through the mountains. A year later the whole frontier was in flames, the Mullahs preaching a holy war, and the tribesmen watching with anger the extension of the British zone. A rising began in 1897 among the Swats, Mohmands, and Afridis, and the insurrection became so formidable that an army of 60,000 men was despatched to the Tirah district. By the end of the year the resistance was broken, but it was not till late in 1898 that the con¬ flict was over and the Khyber Pass re¬ opened.

While some Viceroys are mere figure¬ heads, Lord Curzon, who arrived in 1899, was the undisputed ruler of India. His first task was the liquidation of the frontier problem. The British forces were gradually withdrawn from the Khyber and other advanced posts, and their places taken by tribal levies, the tribes being informed that their independence was safe so long as order was maintained. A new frontier province was created by separation from the Punjab

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in 1901, a step that has been followed by almost uninterrupted peace. In domestic affairs the Viceroyalty opened badly with a renewal of famine in 1900, more costly in life and money than that of 1897. But after its conclusion the financial situation rapidly improved, and the salt tax was greatly reduced. The ship appeared to be entering calmer water, and the opportunity was seized to overhaul every department of State by searching commissions of inquiry. An attempt was made to bring the system of report writing within reasonable limits. A new Department of Commerce and Industry was established, with a representative on the Viceroy’s Council. On the advice of Lord Kitchener, the Commander-in-Chief, the distribution of the army was changed and the troops furnished with more efficient weapons. A drastic measure was carried to prevent the alienation of land in the Punjab. The severe condemnation of the police by the Frazer Commission led to a slight increase of pay, but not to the radical reforms that were needed. Steps were taken for the conservation of the priceless monu¬ ments of Indian art. Primary schools were increased, and an effort was made to save older students from the moral contagion of city life.

Lord Curzon laboured with unflagging

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HISTORY OF OUR TIME

energy and superb devotion ; but his method of government resembled that of the Philo¬ sophic Despots of the eighteenth century. Though he sternly punished the ill-treatment of Indians by Europeans, he had little sym¬ pathy with the political aspirations that were stirring among educated natives. Pie boycotted the National Congress, diminished the representative element on the Calcutta Municipal Council, and infuriated the Bengalis by reflections on their truthfulness. Finally, on his return from England in 1904, he took a step which led directly to the dangerous crisis of the following years. Bengal had already thrown off the North-West Provinces and Assam, and a population of over 80 millions made a further partition desirable. Friendly discussions with the leaders of native opinion might have led to an accept¬ able compromise ; but the opportunity of readjustment by consent was thrown away. A new province was created in 1905 by a fusion of Assam with a large slice of Eastern Bengal, despite the passionate protests of the Congress party. If it was not the greatest political blunder since the Mutiny, it played directly into the hands of the extreme party which aims at the overthrow of British rule.

The last year of Lord Curzon’s term witnessed the dispatch of an expedition to

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173

Lhassa. The Hermit Kingdom had steadily repulsed the advances made to it since the time of Warren Hastings. When Tibetan troops invaded the Protected State of Sikkim in 1886, the Government opened negotiations with China as suzerain of Tibet, and signed a treaty in 1890 establishing commercial posts across the frontier. The Tibetans, however, refused all intercourse and returned letters unopened. Such con¬ temptuous treatment seemed to Lord Curzon damaging to British prestige ; and when the Dalai Lama engaged in negotiations with Russia he obtained leave to send an armed mission under Colonel Younghusband. The advance was but feebly resisted. The sacred city was entered, the Dalai Lama fled, and a treaty was made with his successor, pro¬ viding for a Resident in Lhassa, facilities for trade, and the retention of the Chumbi valley while an indemnity was paid by instalments. The treaty was substantially modified by the Home Government. When it thus became clear that Great Britain had no desire to intervene in Tibetan affairs the dormant Chinese suzerainty was vigorously reasserted. The Power that gained by the Younghusband expedition was not India, but China.

In 1905 Lord Curzon resigned, refusing to accept Lord Kitchener’s proposals for the

174

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

reorganisation of the military department, and receiving no support from home. His successor, Lord Minto, lacked the knowledge and ability of his predecessor ; but he felt genuine sympathy with the ideals of educated Indians. The appointment of Mr. Morley to the India Office almost at the same time further emphasised the change from the old order. The Viceroy and Secretary of State were in agreement as to the need both of generous political concessions and of un¬ flinching repression of violence. Great ex¬ pectations were aroused among the Congress politicians by the appointment of the dis¬ tinguished thinker from whom they had learned the principles of Liberalism ; but his refusal to modify the partition of Bengal provoked intense disappointment. The

Swadeshi movement began, European goods

were boycotted in parts of Bengal, and several Europeans were murdered. The

Government replied by drastic laws against seditious meetings, the press, and the use of explosives. Tilak was sentenced to six years imprisonment, and on two occasions the Regulation of 1818 was revived. The

deportation of men of high character and position without charge or trial aroused indignation in England, and led numbers of Indian politicians to despair of the Govern¬ ment. The National Congress split in two

INDIA AND PERSIA

175

at Surat in 1908, the extremists parting company with the moderates represented by Gokhale.

While the campaign of repression was in progress a far-reaching scheme of reform was being elaborated. A bold step was taken in 1909 by the appointment of an Indian barrister as Legal Member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council, and of two Indians to the Council of the Secretary of State. The Councils Act of 1909 constituted a notable advance on that of 1892. A large addition was made to the membership of the Viceregal and Provincial Legislative Councils, an official majority being retained on the former alone. Special safeguards for the interests of the Mohammedan minority were inserted. The Executive Councils of Madras and Bombay were to be enlarged from two to four, one to be an Indian, and Executive Councils were foreshadowed for the other provinces. Greater latitude was permitted in regard to criticism and debate. The reform scheme was welcomed both in India and England as wise and generous, and a more hopeful feeling was already manifest when Lord Minto and Lord Morley laid down their burden in 1910. Though they failed to mollify the root and branch op¬ ponents of British rule, they opened up a fruitful field of common activity between the

176 HISTORY OF OUR TIME

bureaucracy and the leaders of native opinion That Lord Hardinge desired to work the new system in the spirit of its authors was quickly shown by his cordial reception of Sir William Wedderburn, the President of the National Congress.

The history of Persia during the last quarter of a century is one of increasing degradation, followed by a partially successful attempt at reform. While Nasreddin was a virile despot, his son Muzaffer-ed-din, who ascended the throne in 1890, was amiable and effeminate, squandering his country’s resources in costly journeys to Europe, and for the first time incurring a foreign debt. In 1899 the custom houses were placed under the control of Belgian officials, and in 1900 and 1902 Russian loans were negotiated. The gradual mortgaging of the country to Russia was watched with jealousy by Great Britain, and with indignation by the long-suffering Persians. A Constitution had been demanded during the reign of Nasreddin by the great Mussulman teacher Jamaleddin, and in 1891 a passionate outcry greeted the grant of a Tobacco Monopoly to an English company. The concession was revoked at the cost of half a million.

Though occasional riots occurred in the provinces, there was no further explosion in Teheran till 1905, when a number of merchants

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177

and mullahs took sanctuary in a mosque in protest against the Grand Vizier. The Shah promised to dismiss his adviser. The pro¬ testers returned, but the Minister remained. A second Bast occurred in 1906, when about 14,000 citizens took refuge in the grounds of the British Legation. This time the demand was for a Parliament, which the Shah re¬ luctantly granted. A Constitution was drawn up, newspapers and political clubs sprang into life, and the National Assembly met in October. Muzaffer-ed-din died in 1907, and his son, Mohammed Ali, who had won a bad reputation as Governor of Tabriz, quickly showed his dislike of the Constitution. The first Budget cut down pensions and sinecures, and turned the annual deficit into a surplus without fresh taxation. But the reduction of the Shah’s civil list intensified his hostility to the Mejliss. He was only prevented from executing his Ministers by the intervention of the British charge d’affaires, and early in 1908 an attempt was made on his life. In June he fled to his Summer Palace, whence he carried out a coup d’ttat with the aid of Liaklioff, a Russian officer, and the Cossack Brigade. The Parliament House was bombarded, Liakhoff was appointed Military Governor of Teheran, and the reformers fled for their lives. The Con¬ stitutionalists held out in Tabriz during the

178 HISTORY OF OUR TIME

winter, closely invested by the royalist forces. When the fall of the city became imminent Russian troops crossed the frontier to its relief.

When the Constitutional cause had seemed to be lost its fortunes suddenly brightened. Russia had shown that the Shah could no longer hope for her moral support. The vigorous tribe of the Baktiaris, which had already declared for the Constitution, now marched to Teheran, entered the city after fighting, and compelled the Shah to abdicate. His youthful son was placed on the throne, the Mejliss was recalled, and the work of reform resumed. But the task was difficult and the actors inexperienced. The presence of Russian troops in the north prevented out¬ breaks, but damaged the prestige of the Government. In the south the roads were so insecure that in 1910 Great Britain threatened to police them by a Persian force led by officers drawn from the Indian army. Despite their urgent need of money the Ministers refused to raise a foreign loan on the only terms on which Russia and England were prepared to assist. The acceptance of the Regency early in 1911 by Nasr el-Mulk, an alumnus of Balliol, has been followed by a distinct improvement in the situation, which the employment of American financiers may be expected to confirm.

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179

Throughout Asia two currents are clearly visible. On the one hand, there is a desire to imitate the West, to learn its secrets, to borrow its skill. On the other, there is a deep-seated determination to retain and even to emphasise traditional ideals and character¬ istics. The tendencies meet not only in the same nation but in the same individual. In some cases a return to older practices is urged by the very men who have drunk most deeply at the springs of Western learning. The awakening of the East has been rendered possible by the appropriation of the ideas and methods of the West ; but the enduring result is the affirmation of its own personality.

CHAPTER VIII

THE PARTITION OF AFRICA

The partition of Africa has taken place with lightning rapidity during the years covered by this volume. The Powers, seek¬ ing outlets for their population or markets for their trade and debarred from South America by the Monroe doctrine, turned to the Dark Continent. A generation ago, European settlements were patches on the coast. To-day, only three independent States, Abyssinia, Morocco, and the little negro republic of Liberia, remain. Yet while the government has passed into white hands, the greater part of Africa is closed to white men by the iron law of nature.

I

^ Contrary to the expectation and desire of the Gladstone Ministry on intervening in Egypt on behalf of Ismail’s creditors, the British occupation has continued for a genera¬ tion. \ v hen Sir Evelyn Baring arrived in

180

EGYPT

181

Cairo in 1888 he found a gigantic task awaiting him. Arabi’s revolt had been quelled by British troops, but the dislike of foreign interference was undiminished. The Treasury was empty, and the State owed 100 millions. Turkey watched the settlement of a Great Power in her province with jealous eyes, and France waited impatiently for the promised evacuation. In the year of his arrival an Egyptian army, led by General Hicks, was annihilated by the Mahdi in Kordofan, and in 1884 another force under General Baker was routed. As the Khedivial army was incapable of fighting, Gordon was sent to withdraw the garrisons and civilians from the interior, but ruined his chance of success by proclaiming the abandonment of the Sudan and disobeying orders. He was surrounded in Khartum, which fell in 1885 after a prolonged siege. On Gordon’s death the whole country passed into the hands of the Mahdi.

The loss of the Sudan allowed the British Agent to devote his attention to internal reform. In 1885 he obtained the permission of the Powers to raise a loan of nine millions to pay off accumulated deficits and to extend irrigation. In 1888 deficits ceased, and the financial position steadily improved. No tax but the tobacco duty has been increased, taxation has been remitted, railways, canals, and public works have been provided out or

182

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

revenue, and Egyptian credit has risen to the level of many European States. But the assistance of the Government was direct as well as indirect. Mehemet Ali and his successors had realised the importance of irrigation without being able to turn it to much practical account. A barrage had been built below Cairo to irrigate the Delta, but the foundations were so weak that it was of little use till it had been overhauled by British engineers. In 1898 a gigantic dam was con¬ structed at Assuan, which began to work in 1901 and has since been raised. The economic stability of the peasant has been strengthened by the provision of agricultural banks, and his life rendered easier by the virtual abolition of forced labour on public works.

The restoration of financial equilibrium and the increase of the productive power of the soil were the most urgent tasks ; but efforts to introduce the equipment of a civilised State were made in other directions. The adminis¬ tration of justice among natives began to improve when Sir John Scott was appointed Judicial Adviser in 1891. Egyptian judges have proved themselves worthy of their trust, bribes have become rare, and torture has disappeared. The standard of the police has been raised by the appointment of British inspectors. Public health has steadily im¬ proved, and travelling eye hospitals have

EGYPT

183

reduced ophthalmia. Village schools have been encouraged by grants-in-aid, and tech¬ nical colleges have been instituted.

The disasters in the Sudan had arisen not only from cowardice but from the arbitrary methods by which the soldiers were recruited. Good pay and good food soon produced a better tone, and self-confidence was strengthened by the co-operation of British troops. How great the change wrought by the Sirdars, Sir Evelyn Wood and Sir Herbert Kitchener, was shown in the reconquest of the Sudan. Dervish attacks on Egypt were repulsed, and in 1896 the first step was taken by the advance to Dongola. The railway was pushed forward, Berber was captured in 1897, and in 1898 the forces of the Khalifa, who had succeeded the Mahdi, were defeated at the Atbara River and annihilated at Omdurman. The Khalifa fled into Kordofan and was killed in action a year later. The Sudan henceforth belonged to Britain and Egypt jointly. The lease of the great province of the Bahr-el-Ghazal to the Congo Free State in 1894 was annulled in 1906, and the Lado En¬ clave, the only district which French jealousies had allowed King Leopold to administer, reverted on his death to Anglo-Egyptian control. Except for some petty revolts, the vast area has enjoyed a period of peace, and the charge on Egyptian revenues has steadily

184

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

decreased. The Red Sea has been con¬ nected by railway with the Nile, while the Egyptian line has been extended to Khartum, and the White Nile has been cleared of sudd.

Though financial equilibrium had been restored, the hands of the British Agent were to a large extent tied by the Commission of the Debt established in 1876. Thus, when it was proposed that Egypt should pay for the reconquest of the Sudan, France and Russia vetoed the scheme, and the British Government lent the money. An immense relief was experienced when the Anglo-French Treaty of 1904 secured the withdrawal of European opposition and gave a free hand in finance. On the other hand the Capitulations, or treaty rights possessed by the Powers, still prevent either the taxation or control of the ever-increasing army of European residents. When Lord Cromer resigned in 1907, after twenty-four years of benevolent despotism, he left the country in the enjoyment of a prosperity greater perhaps than it had ever known.

On the material side the work of England in Egypt has been highly successful ; but the more difficult problem of winning the confidence and affection of the people remains to be solved. The generation which had suffered from Ismail is dying out, and the increased prosperity of the peasant is largely

EGYPT

185

discounted by a sensational rise in the cost of living. Large numbers of Egyptians resent the continued domination of a foreign Power which has repeatedly promised to withdraw. The Legislative Council and the General Assembly instituted by Lord Dufferin in 1883 have never possessed real authority. On the death of Tewfik in 1892 his son Abbas vainly endeavoured to assert himself by choosing his Ministers ; but the Nationalist movement grew rapidly in the last years of Lord Cromer’s rule, and found a leader in a young lawyer and journalist, Mustapha Kamel. The unpopularity of the Occupa¬ tion was increased by the vindictive punish¬ ments inflicted on the Denshawi villagers in 1906 for an attack on British officers engaged in pigeon-shooting, and was further revealed by the assassination of the Coptic Premier, Boutros Pasha, and the rejection of the Government’s proposals in regard to the Suez Canal by the General Assembly. Sir Eldon Gorst, who succeeded Lord Cromer, was prepared to go somewhat further towards meeting the wishes of moderate Nationalism ; but the British residents protested that his concessions were weakening British prestige. So threatening did the situation become that in 1910 Sir Edward Grey announced that there was no intention of evacuating Egypt and that attacks on the Government

186

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

would be sternly repressed. Since this de¬ claration the situation has been outwardly more tranquil ; but the conflict with the Nationalist press continues, and the events of the last few years have revealed how precarious is the foundation on which British rule in Egypt rests.

II

While France has lost her privileged posi¬ tion on the Nile, she now dominates the huge north-west shoulder of the Dark Con¬ tinent. Algeria, the conquest of Louis Philippe, has been a drain on the mother country ; but Tunis has made more rapid progress. The Treaty of Algeciras recognised her special position in Morocco. A series of outrages led in 1907 to the occupation of Udja, near the Algerian frontier, and of Casablanca and the Shawia district on the Atlantic coast. In 1911, the Sultan being hard pressed by rebel tribes, French troops were dispatched to Fez to restore his authority. The probability that Morocco will be engulfed is increased by the fact that the vast territory to the south and east is now included in the French sphere of influence. An advance into the interior from Senegal was under¬ taken by Faidherbe during the Second Empire, and in 1880 began a further move to the

CENTRAL AFRICA

187

Upper Niger, though Timbuctoo was not occupied till 1908. When the scramble for Africa commenced, France determined to secure a foothold on the Guinea Coast. The Ivory Coast was annexed in 1891, and in 1892 the little kingdom of Dahomey was conquered. Meanwhile, desiring that no European Power should drive a wedge be¬ tween her new empire on the Niger and her Mediterranean colonies, she obtained in 1890 British recognition of her sphere of influence as far east as Lake Chad.

Farther south French settlements had ex¬ isted on the Congo coast since Louis Philippe. During the early years of the Third Republic De Brazza pushed far into the interior simul¬ taneously with Stanley, keeping mainly to the northern banks of the great river. When the Berlin Conference created the Congo Free State, France insisted on a large part of the western and northern watershed. Starting from their new colony, the French Congo, missions pushed north to Lake Chad, thus opening up an all -French route to the Medi¬ terranean. By the Anglo-French Conven¬ tion of 1899 Great Britain recognised French claims to Wadai. Thus, with the exception of Liberia and the European coastal colonies, the whole of North-West Africa from Tunis to the Congo, from Senegal to Lake Chad, is scheduled as the French sphere of influence.

188

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

France is in mileage the greatest African power ; but a large part of her claim is unconquered and even unexplored, while the Sahara can scarcely be reckoned as a marketable asset. Her rule, moreover, is exposed to danger from the Mohammedan Sultanates of Central Africa and from the mysterious power of the Senussi. On the other side of Africa, France has annexed Madagascar. A protectorate was established over the island in 1885 after severe fighting ; but the inhabitants refused to acquiesce, and the final step was taken in 1895, when a French army landed and captured the capital Antananarivo. The Queen was deposed, and in 1896 the island became a French colony.

The largest State in Central Africa is the Belgian Congo. From the beginning of his reign King Leopold had followed the explora¬ tion of the Dark Continent with passionate interest. At his invitation a Geographical Congress assembled at Brussels in 1876, from which arose an International Association for the Civilisation of Central Africa, with himself as President. Each nation was to undertake a section of the work. But the national committees became independent, and the Association itself was soon a purely Belgian body. The journey of Stanley from the Indian Ocean to the Great Lakes, and from the Great Lakes along the Congo to

CENTRAL AFRICA

189

the Atlantic (1874-77), riveted the King’s attention on the Congo basin. A 44 Committee for the Study of the Upper Congo” was founded, and in 1879 Stanley was dispatched to conclude treaties with the chiefs. In 1884, when forty stations had been~ founded and five steamers were on the river, the Com¬ mittee of Study changed its name to the International Association of the Congo, and was recognised by the United States. At this moment the new State was threatened by a great danger. Portugal persuaded Great Britain to recognise her claims over the mouth of the river. Leopold immediately concluded an agreement with France, offer¬ ing the pre-emption of his territory in return for French recognition. Bismarck added his protest, and the Anglo-Portuguese treaty remained unratified. Germany now recog¬ nised the Congo State, and issued invitations to a Conference at Berlin to discuss out¬ standing questions of African colonisation. The Conference recognised the Congo. State, and the King undertook to ameliorate the condition of the natives and to allow freedom of commerce.

A year or two after reaching the summit of his ambition Leopold began to betray the conditions of his trust. Unoccupied land was declared to belong to the State. Companies received concessions to collect rubber, and

190

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

paid half the profits to the King. In 1891 permission was given by the Powers to levy import duties, and practically the whole trade of the country was soon a Belgian monopoly. The most valuable parts of the vast territory were appropriated as the Domaine de la Couronne. The Belgians com¬ mitted or allowed incredible cruelties. A crushing tribute of rubber was demanded from the villages, and among the penalties for non-payment was mutilation. The vast country was ruled by a handful of ill-paid and uncontrolled officials. Stokes, an English missionary who had become a trader, was suspected of furnishing the natives with powder, and hanged without trial. A rail¬ way was built from the coast to Stanley Pool, where the river enters the rapids, and some of the more obvious necessities of civilisation were introduced into the towns ; but the regime was one of ruthless exploita¬ tion. Harrowing tales were sent home by the missionaries, and confirmed by the official report of Mr. Casement, British Consul at Boma. Meanwhile the Aborigines Protection Society urged the British Govern¬ ment in 1896 to take action. In 1897 Sir Charles Dilke demanded an International Conference to save the natives. When the Government refused, the Congo Reform Asso¬ ciation was founded, with Mr. Morel as secre-

CENTRAL AFRICA

191

tary. In 1903 Lord Lansdowne at length called the attention of the signatories of the Berlin Act to the breaches of its provisions. Leopold denied the right to intervene, and it was hinted that British action was prompted by selfish ambitions.

Though the proceeds of “ Red Rubber ” were used to embellish Brussels and Ostend, and Belgium was made heir to the vast colonial empire by the King’s will of 1889, the voice of criticism was at last raised by Vandervelde, the Socialist leader. The assent of Parliament to the King’s assump¬ tion of the sovereignty in 1885 had been given without enthusiasm. When made his heir Belgium reluctantly advanced a million pounds in return for power to annex after ten years. When further assistance was needed in 1895 the Government arranged to annex at once ; but public opinion was hostile, and the pro¬ ject dropped. Criticism, both at home and abroad, became so insistent that in 1904 the King felt constrained to appoint a Com¬ mission of Inquiry. Its report revealed such deplorable conditions that sweeping reforms were at once promised, and in 1906 annexa¬ tion began to be discussed. A treaty was concluded in 1907 by which the Congo State was transferred to Belgium ; but the opposi¬ tion to the retention of the Domaine de la Couronne led to an additional Act in 1908

192

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

providing for its purchase. With the acces¬ sion of King Albert in 1909 a brighter era seemed to be dawning. A new system of government was announced, the abolition of forced labour was promised, and the Congo basin wras gradually opened to foreign trade. France and Germany at once recognised the transfer, but the British and American Governments withhold recognition till they are satisfied that the abuses have disappeared.

The German colonies in Africa date from the scramble of 1884. In 1878 a German branch of the International African Associa¬ tion was founded, and both the hinterland of Zanzibar and the Southern Congo were explored. The first definite step towards colonisation was taken in South-West Africa, where for many years German missionaries had worked among the Damaras and Herreros. In 1883 Liideritz, a Bremen merchant, estab¬ lished a trading station at Angra Pequena in Damaraland ; and, after waiting to see if Great Britain desired to annex the country, Bismarck declared the coast from Angola to Cape Colony under German protection in 1884. During the same summer Togoland, a small kingdom to the east of the British Gold Coast, and the Cameroons, a large tract in the bend of the Gulf of Guinea which ulti¬ mately extended inland as far as Lake Chad, were declared German Protectorates. In

CENTRAL AFRICA

193

the autumn Dr. Peters, the German Rhodes, landed at Zanzibar. Pushing into the in¬ terior he signed treaties with the chiefs, and founded the German East African Company, to which the Government granted a Charter, despite the energetic protests of the Sultan of Zanzibar. In 1886 the respective spheres of Great Britain, Germany, and Zanzibar were delimited. The German Company was too weak to repress a dangerous revolt among the Arabs in 1888, and an Imperial Com¬ missioner was sent to take over the Govern¬ ment. In 1890 Germany recognised a British Protectorate over Zanzibar in return for the cession of Heligoland, and carried her own frontier to the Congo State. From that time German East Africa has had a fairly prosperous career. The fortunes of German South-West Africa, on the other hand, have been chequered. Incessant conflict with the Hottentots filled the first decade ; and after a peaceful interval a formidable and costly rebellion broke out in 1903 among the Herreros in the north, which was not quelled till 1908.

The Portuguese colonies, the oldest on the continent, have been passed in the race, and a bold attempt to connect Mozambique with Angola brought an ultimatum from Great Britain in 1890. Despite this severe rebuff, a measure of prosperity has come with the railways into the interior, Delagoa 6

194 HISTORY OF OUR TIME

Bay forming the gate of the Transvaal and Beira an outlet for Rhodesia. On the west coast Angola has been the scene of raids for the supply of servicaes for the cocoa plantations on the islands of Principe and

San Thome. . . „ t .

The growth of British territory m Central

Africa has been scarcely less rapid than in the north and south. On the west coast King Prempeh was dethroned and Ashanti annexed in 1896, an expedition was dispatched to Benin in 1897 to avenge a massacre, and in 1898 a rising was suppressed in Sierra Leone. But by far the greatest achievement has been the building up of Nigeria, which now stretches inland to the shores of Lake Chad. In 1879 Sir George Goldie amalgamated the British firms trading on the river into the United African Company. Attracted by the development of trade two French Companies were formed, but were bought out before the meeting of the Berlin Conference, which approved the British claim to a protectoxate. In 1885 a treaty with the Sultan of Sokoto secured to the Company the trading rights of that thickly populated country and the control of its foreign relations. A Charter was granted to the Royal Niger Company in 1886, with control over the banks of the river, while in 1893 the outlying districts both east and west were organised as a

CENTRAL AFRICA

195

Protectorate under the Crown. A brisk competition with France for influence on the Middle Niger continued till the spheres were settled in 1898. By 1899 the task had out¬ grown the strength of the Chartered Company, which was bought out by the Crown and became Northern Nigeria. In 1902 the Fulahs revolted ; but Kano was occupied and the kingdom of Bornu conquered. The Niger Coast Protectorate became Southern Nigeria, which was united to Lagos in 1906. In 1911 the railway reached Kano, nine hundred miles from the sea.

The East African Convention between Great Britain and Germany in 1886 did not prevent friction in the hinterland. In 1890 Dr. Peters entered Uganda and persuaded the King to place himself under German protection ; but in the same year Germany surrendered her claim. The British East Africa Company, which had received a Charter in 1887, found the new territory too great a burden and gave notice of with¬ drawal in 1892. Sir Gerald Portal was sent to report on the situation in 1893, and by his advice Uganda was retained and a Pro¬ tectorate proclaimed in 1894. In 1896 the Company sold its rights to the Imperial authorities, and the British East Africa Protectorate was constituted. The Uganda railway, begun in 1896, reached Victoria 6 2

196

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

Nyanza in 1909. Though Mombasa and the coast-line are unhealthy, Nairobi and the highlands have proved themselves well suited to European residents. Farther north the Imperial Government withdrew from the interior of Somaliland in 1910 after a decade of costly and ineffectual strife.

Ill

The most important event in the recent history of the Dark Continent is the building up of a great empire in South Africa under the British flag. The premature annexation of the Transvaal in 1877 led to a successful revolt of the Boers in 1881, and to a harvest of racial hostility. The discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886 was followed by an enormous influx of Europeans into the conservative farming community of the Transvaal. A great cosmopolitan city arose at Johannesburg within forty miles of Pretoria. Fearing that the immigrants would swamp their national life the Boers excluded the newcomers, whom they regarded as birds of passage, from any share in the political life of the country. Had the Government been reasonably efficient, the anomaly might have been tolerated ; but the regime of President Kruger was corrupt

SOUTH AFRICA

197

as well as reactionary. In vain did Lord Loch, the High Commissioner, visit Pre¬ toria in 1894 and warn the President that he must make concessions. In the follow¬ ing year the Netherlands Railway Company raised their terms so high that the Cape traders sent their goods by wagon across the Vaal River. Kruger retaliated by closing the drifts, but yielded to a British ultimatum.

While Kruger stood out as the champion of Boer conservatism, Rhodes gradually emerged as the representative of British claims and ideals. He had settled in South Africa in 1870 and rapidly made his fortune in the diamond mines at Kimberley. Enter¬ ing the Cape Parliament in 1884 he at once became a force, and began to win converts for his grandiose visions of expansion. By his advice the Imperial Government kept open the road to the north by dispatching the Warren expedition in 1884 to evict the Transvaal Boers who had settled in Bechuana- land. Southern Bechuanaland became a Crown colony and the North a Protectorate. In 1888 Lobengula, King of the Matabele, granted a concession of mineral rights to Rhodes’ agents. In 1889 Rhodes founded the British South Africa Company for the development of the interior, dreaming of a dominion that should stretch to the Zambesi

198

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

and beyond. In 1890 the pioneer expedition set forth, guided by Mr. Selous, the famous hunter, and a fort was established at Salisbury in Mashonaland. The Transvaal withdrew its claim to the north of the Limpopo River ; and in 1891 an Anglo-Portuguese treaty was signed recognising Portuguese rights over the coast district of the Zambesi and British rights over Matabeleland, Mashonaland, and the districts beyond the great river. Part of the latter was entrusted to the Chartered Company under the name of Northern Rhodesia. A Protectorate was declared over Nyasaland, which in 1893 received the name of British Central Africa and in 1907 that of the Nyasaland Protectorate. The first crisis in the fortunes of the Company occurred in 1893, when the Matabele attacked the scattered settlers. The Company was victorious, Bulawayo, the Matabele capital, was taken, and Lobengula fled. A final revolt, mainly due to harsh treatment of the natives, broke out in 1896, but was terminated by a visit of Rhodes to the Matabele camp. A year later the railway reached Bulawayo, and an outlet to the coast was effected by a line from Salisbury to Beira. The expenses of the new State were so great that for many years large deficits were incurred, while friction arose between the settlers and the Company. In 1905 the railway crossed the

SOUTH AFRICA

199

Zambesi, and the vast, thinly - populated regions beyond are now divided into North- West and North-East Rhodesia, the former stretching to the Congo State, the latter to German East Africa and Lake Tan¬ ganyika.

In 1895 Rhodes was the most successful as well as the most striking personality in South Africa. He was master of Kimberley, Prime Minister of Cape Colony, founder of Rhodesia, largely interested in the Rand mines, and on excellent terms with Hofmeyr and the Bond. Yet by a single false move he shattered his power and revived racial discord. Despairing of obtaining the redress of their grievances from Pretoria, the Out- landers determined to take the law into their own hands. Rhodes offered the help of the Chartered Company’s mounted police, whom he held in readiness on the western frontier. Dr. Jameson, their commander, was supplied with a letter pretending that the women and children of Johannesburg were in danger and summoning him to their defence. Differences arose as to what flag should be raised if the Outlanders were successful. Before agreement had been reached, Jameson crossed the frontier on December 29th, and was quickly compelled to surrender to a superior force of Boers. The whole of South Africa was convulsed

200

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

by the Raid, and the Dutch realised that they must stand together. Kruger’s re¬ actionary government had become abhorrent to the progressive Boers, and in the Presi¬ dential election of 1894 he had won by a narrow majority ; but the Raid revived his waning power and made him the symbol of national independence. At the next election he obtained an immense majority, and in 1897 a military alliance was formed with the Orange River Colony. At the same time the Transvaal began to order large quantities of guns and ammunition from Europe. The country had been treacherously annexed in 1877 and treacherously attacked in 1895, and it was common prudence to be prepared for a further surprise.

The mischief of the Raid was increased by the failure of the South Africa Committee to insist on the production of all the relevant documents and by the refusal of the British Government to inflict any punishment on Rhodes. The Dutch believed that the Colonial Office had known of the conspiracy and that the missing telegrams would have proved it. The relations of the two races became steadily worse, and men in both camps began to speak of a war for the supremacy of South Africa. The situation demanded exceptional tact on both sides if a rupture was to be avoided ; but tact was

SOUTH AFRICA

201

sadly lacking. Kruger was obstinate and narrow-minded. Mr. Chamberlain was un¬ fitted by temperament for the delicate tasks of diplomacy, and his assertion of suzerainty in a form at variance with Lord Derby’s concessions in the London Convention of 1884 was needlessly provocative. The situation was rendered still more critical by the speeches and dispatches of Sir Alfred Milner, who was appointed High Com¬ missioner in 1897. A monster petition from the Outlanders early in 1899 extracted a promise of intervention. Kruger and the High Commissioner met at Bloemfontein in May, but failed to reach a compromise. The discussion of naturalisation and franchise reforms lasted through the summer. In September troops were dispatched from England and India, and on October 9th the Transvaal Government issued an ultimatum. The responsibility for the war must be divided. A large share obviously falls to Kruger ; but as Krugerism was dying when the Raid gave it a new lease of life, the share of Rhodes must be pronounced at least as great. Even after the Raid a more tactful diplomacy in Downing Street and Cape Town might well have avoided the terrible conflict.

The war began with the invasion of Natal, where the British troops, after victories at

202

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

Talana Hill and Elandslaagte, fell back before superior numbers to Ladysmith. At the same time Mafeking and Kimberley were invested, and Cape Colony was invaded. With the arrival of Buller the British forces undertook the offensive, and the second stage of the war began. Methuen marched to the relief of Kimberley, but was hurled back at Magersfontein on December 10th. On the same day Gatacre was defeated at Stormberg, and at the end of the week Buller’s attempt to cross the Tugela at Colenso was repulsed by Botha, who had become Commander-in-Chief on the death of Joubert. The triple defeat revealed the magnitude of the struggle. Lord Roberts was appointed to the supreme command with Lord Kitchener to assist him, and the Colonies vied with one another in the dispatch of volunteers. The third stage in the war was reached when French’s cavalry, making a detour of the Boer camp, relieved Kimberley, and Cronje, placed between two fires, fled from his entrenchments and surrendered with 4000 men at Paardeberg. The capture of Cronje in February 1900 was the turning- point of the war. The Free State was quickly overrun and Bloemfontein was occupied. At the end of the same month Buller, after a costly repulse at Spion Kop, relieved Ladysmith and drove the Boers out

SOUTH AFRICA

203

of Natal. Mafeking, heroically defended by Baden-Powell, was relieved in May, and in June Lord Roberts occupied Johannesburg and Pretoria. Kruger fled to Europe, and the war entered on its fourth and final stage, in which the Boers fought not for victory but for honour, and De Wet revealed his skill as a guerrilla chief. The prolonged struggle brought increasing embitterment ; but neither overwhelming numbers, nor the whole¬ sale devastation of the country, nor the appalling mortality among the children in the Concentration Camps secured the uncon¬ ditional surrender which the Government were long unwise enough to demand. The Treaty of Vereeniging, signed in May 1902, while registering the loss of their independence, granted terms which brave men could accept without humiliation.

The prolonged conflict turned a large part of South Africa into a desert. The Boer prisoners were brought back from India and St. Helena, and assisted by grants and loans. The mining community returned to Johan¬ nesburg ; but the mine-owners, finding a difficulty in obtaining native labour at the wages paid before the war, prevailed on the British Government to sanction the importa¬ tion of Chinese coolies. The victory of the Liberal party at the polls in 1906 was followed by important changes. The further im-

204

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

portation of Chinese was forbidden, and full self-government was granted to the con¬ quered republics. The courageous generosity of the act struck the imagination of the world, and the conviction of Campbell-Bannerman that self-government alone could heal the wounds of war was abundantly justified by events. Racial bitterness steadily decreased when British and Dutch found themselves co-operating in the task of reconstruction. The Transvaal elections made General Botha Premier with a composite . Cabinet. The Chinese, whose outbreaks had caused terror in the environs of Johannesburg, were gradu¬ ally repatriated, and their departure was followed by a steady increase in the output of the mines.

Attention was soon turned to a problem of more than local importance. There were now four self-governing colonies, the interests of which touched at many points. Questions of tariffs, railways, and immigration invited common action, and the greatest of all prob¬ lems, that of the native races, suggested the union of the white governments for counsel and defence. A Convention met in secret session at Durban and later at Cape Town during the summer of 1908-1909 and framed a constitution, not federal but unitary, which was accepted by the colonies concerned and embodied in a Statute by the British Parlia-

SOUTH AFRICA

205

ment. General Botha, who was invited to form the first Ministry, obtained a working majority at the elections, and the Union Parliament was opened in Cape Town in 1910 by the Duke of Connaught.

CHAPTER IX

THE NEW WORLD

I

The war between North and South was followed by a rapid restoration of material prosperity and by the uncontested pre¬ dominance of the party under whose auspices the victory had been won. But the pro¬ longed tenure of office during the period of reconstruction demoralised the Republicans. General Grant failed as conspicuously in the White House as he had shone on the battle¬ field, and a lax spirit invaded the ad¬ ministration. A demand for new methods began to make itself heard under Garfield, and it was weariness rather than enthusiasm for the Democrats which decided the election of 1884. The Republican candidate, Blaine, was believed to have used his position as Speaker to enrich himself by dealings with the corporations, and the Mugwumps, or reforming Republicans, led by Carl Schurz, did not hesitate to vote for Cleveland.

306

THE UNITED STATES 207

The new President was confronted by a formidable task. His Mugwump supporteis urged him to stand outside party ; but he was determined to act as a Democrat, and he introduced large numbers of Democrats into the Civil Service, which had been a Republican monopoly for a generation. As the Senate was hostile, party legislation and an independent foreign policy were impos¬ sible ; yet Cleveland, for the first time since Lincoln, stamped his individuality on the life of the State, and his sturdy independ¬ ence was shown by his repeated veto of bills to extend pensions to the survivors or dependents of those who had fought in the Civil War. The gravest problem that he had to face was labour discontent. In the early days of Californian development Chinese labourers had played a useful part ; but as their numbers increased the dangers of a large alien population which could not be Americanised and whose low standard of living threatened to drive the American workman from the field became apparent. In 1882 Chinese immigration was forbidden for ten years, and in 1888 the exclusion was made permanent at the instance of the Pacific States, where riotous attacks on the Chinese quarters were frequent. But it was not only in the West that troubles arose. The Knights of Labour had come to number

208 HISTORY OF OUR TIME

over half a million and had grown to be a power in the land. In 1886 a serious conflict with the police occurred in Chicago ; but a reaction of opinion followed the riot. The Knights were touched with anarchy, and the loosely knit structure crumbled to pieces, its place being taken by the American Federation of Labour.

Cleveland was not the only man who traced economic discontent in large measure to the high tariff imposed during the Civil War, and in 1887 he devoted his annual Message to the subject. A wholesale re¬ duction of duties passed the House, but was rejected in the Senate. In the Presi¬ dential campaign of 1888, General Harrison obtained a small majority, and the Republicans regained control of the House of Repre¬ sentatives. They had learned their lesson. The country realised that it could turn to the Democrats without danger, and the victorious party knew that the days of Grant and Blaine could not be restored.

The wounds of war had been healed, but a wide divergence of opinion separated the south and west from the east. It was the difference between an agricultural and an industrial population. The former asked for a paper or silver currency to facilitate business exchange, resented the power of the railways and capitalist corporations, and

THE UNITED STATES

209

believed that the small farmer and trader were being sacrificed to their great com¬ petitors. The Democrats, drawing their strength from the west and south, were the chief champions of currency changes ; but the Republicans were unwilling to be outdone. In 1890 the Sherman Act com¬ pelled the Treasury to buy 4J million ounces of silver monthly, paying for it in Treasury notes redeemable on demand in gold or silver coin, and, when redeemed, to be re¬ issued. The measure did not satisfy the advocates of sound money, but was accepted by them in order to avoid a bill for the free coinage of silver at 16 to 1. In the same year a law to restrain trusts was carried, and the McKinley tariff largely increased the duties on imports.

Harrison, though estimable and honest, possessed no political ability, and Blaine, his brilliant Secretary of State, inspired no confidence. The Democrats won back their majority in the House in 1890, and in 1892 Cleveland was elected for a second time. A candidate of the new People’s party re¬ ceived over a million votes. The Populists maintained that the nation was on the verge of moral and material ruin, the result of capitalist oppression. The remedies were to be found in free coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 to 1, a graduated income tax, State

210

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

ownership of railways, and State loans to the people. Many members of the older parties also favoured the demand that gold, silver, and paper should be equally valid. Cleveland, on the other hand, denounced all tampering with the standards of value. During his first presidency he had in vain urged the suspension of compulsory coinage of 2 to 4 million silver dollars monthly im¬ posed on the State in 1878, on the ground that they were worth less than their face value as compared with gold, that less than a quarter of them had found their way into circulation, and that as they were legal tender they were quickly returned to the Treasury. The situation had been rendered worse by the Sherman Act. There was now outstanding a mass of notes which, when redeemed, had to be reissued. The hoard¬ ing of gold increased, and it was difficult to obtain money for current business. If the Government ceased to pay in gold, silver would become the standard of values, pro¬ perty would lose half its value, and credit would collapse. In 1893 the situation became critical, and on his inauguration Cleveland called a special session of Congress, demand¬ ing the repeal of the purchase clause of the Sherman Act. The Senate delayed the bill for weeks, while business was paralysed. Finally, in October, it gave way.

THE UNITED STATES

211

Though the revenue suffered from the panic, Cleveland turned to the revision of the tariff. The free list was largely ex¬ tended, the rates generally reduced and based on value. But the Senate raised the duties and removed several articles from the free list. The House accepted the mutilated measure in default of anything better, and Cleveland allowed the Wilson tariff to become law without his signature. To meet the loss on the customs an income tax was imposed ; but though it had been in operation during the Civil War it was now declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. The financial position was thus pre¬ carious, and Cleveland desired to stop the endless demand for gold by ceasing to reissue notes when redeemed. Though both Houses were Democratic for the first time since the war, they were filled with silver men who blocked the proposal. It was a time of depression and unrest, and men sought anxiously for remedies. Armies of unemployed marched through the country, and strikes broke out. The workers of the Pullman Company at Chicago tried to prevent the use of the cars. When traffic was interrupted Cleve¬ land intervened on the ground that the mails were being hindered and interstate commerce blocked. Federal troops were sent and order was quickly restored.

212

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

In foreign affairs Cleveland’s second Presidency was eventful. Hawaii, which possessed growing commercial and strategic importance, was ruled by a native Queen whose authority had gradually been reduced to a shadow by American settlers. In 1876 a reciprocity treaty bound the islands to America by close economic ties. In 1884 the States leased a naval station. In 1887 the suffrage was granted to the white settlers. In 1893 the Queen suddenly abolished the Constitution and restored the control of the Crown. A revolution broke out, forces were landed from an American warship in the harbour, and a Provisional Government wras established. The American Minister pro¬ claimed a protectorate on his own initiative, and Harrison sent an annexation treaty to the Senate. A fortnight later Cleveland became President, withdrew the treaty, and repudiated the Minister. But as the Queen would not consent to an amnesty as a con¬ dition of her restoration, the Provisional Government remained in power, and the islands were annexed in 1898.

If Cleveland had no desire to assume new responsibilities in the Pacific, he was fully prepared to defend the claims of the United States on the mainland. The boundary between British Guiana and Venezuela had never been fixed, and the discovery of gold in

THE UNITED STATES

213

the disputed territory rendered the settlement of the question urgent. When repeated dis¬ cussions led to no result, Cleveland offered the mediation of the United States in 1895, and Olney, his Secretary of State, demanded arbitration. Asserting that the United States were “ paramount on the American Continent,” he declared that the Monroe Doctrine “ entitled and required ” inter¬ vention. Salisbury refused unrestricted arbitration, adding that the Doctrine was in¬ applicable to the controversy and was in any case no part of International Law. Cleve¬ land replied by a peremptory Message, announcing that he would appoint a Com¬ mission of Inquiry and enforce its decisions, whatever they might be. The response to this uncompromising assertion of American claims was instantaneous, and a wave of warlike enthusiasm swept over the States. The British Government, amazed at the Message, consented to an arbitration which resulted in establishing the essentials of the British claim.

The world did not awake to the full significance of the Monroe Doctrine till it suddenly discovered that the United States were ready to go to war about the boundary of Venezuela. When the danger arose in 1823 of the Holy Alliance assisting Spain to recover her colonies in the New World,

214

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

President Monroe, with Canning behind him, declared that America was “ henceforth not to be considered as subject to colonisation by any European Power.” The declaration rested on the idea of a natural separation between the Old and the New World which had inspired the warning against alliances in Washington’s farewell address. It asserted the right of free peoples to determine their own destinies, and proclaimed the principle of “ America for the Americans.” What Bismarck described as an international im¬ pertinence has been the corner-stone of the foreign policy of the United States. The Mexican Empire of Louis Napoleon was only rendered possible by the Civil War, and when the conflict was over it received notice to quit. As the United States increased in strength the scope of the declaration was widened. While Monroe had declared that there would be no interference with existing colonies, Grant spoke as if their connection with Europe should cease. The Olney dispatch carried the doctrine a stage forward.

After being brought within sight of war the relations of the United States and Great Britain became more friendly. Before his famous Message Cleveland had suggested a general treaty of arbitration, and the Vene¬ zuela quarrel increased his desire for it. In 1897 the two Governments signed a treaty ;

THE UNITED STATES

215

but the two-thirds majority in the Senate was not forthcoming, partly owing to its tradi¬ tional disinclination to surrender any fraction of its power, partly from fear of the Irish vote. Mr. Chamberlain’s ill-judged proposal of an alliance met with an even less friendly welcome.

With the end of Cleveland’s second term American politics entered on a new phase. His party had broken away from him, and the Presidential election of 1896 revealed the strength of the new forces. The agri¬ cultural States of the south and west were still suffering severely, and clamoured for free silver. Business was scarcely less depressed. Money was scarce, it was said, because the Government insisted on the gold standard, though gold was too scarce to be the sole medium of exchange. The conviction be¬ came general that the stagnation could be relieved by the free coinage of gold and silver at the ratio of 16 to 1. Many Re¬ publicans were converted, but the party as a whole resisted the infection. The Democratic Convention, on the other hand, nominated Bryan, a young lawyer from Nebraska, on the strength of a brilliant speech voicing the spirit of passionate revolt by which the assembly was moved. His phrase “ We will not be crucified on a cross of gold ” became the watchword of the campaign. While the

216

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

Populists and the Free Silver Republicans supported Bryan, the Conservative Democrats threw off their allegiance. Though he preached his gospel with extraordinary eloquence, and multitudes saw in him a new Messiah, the conservative forces in the country won. McKinley was elected by a majority of half a million on a poll of 14 millions, and a Republican majority was returned in both Houses. The enormous output of gold in South Africa banished the fear of a deficiency in the circulating medium, and a series of good years restored prosperity to agriculture. An Act was passed for the preservation of the gold standard, and a large gold reserve was established. To meet the need of revenue the Dingley tariff was hurried through Congress in 1897.

The new President was to be confronted with problems which had played no part in the electoral campaign. The renewal of the insurrection in Cuba in 1895 and its savage repression by Weyler had deeply stirred opinion, and in his annual Message in 1896 Cleveland threatened intervention. American interests had become very large, and the island was being steadily ruined. In 1897 McKinley formally requested Spain to restore order. When the Maine was blown up the country clamoured for war. Though McKinley had no desire for a con-

THE UNITED STATES

217

flict, he made no attempt to stem the rising excitement. Congress declared the Cubans free and independent, authorising the President to terminate Spanish Government in the island, and recording their resolution not to annex it. The country was totally unprepared for the struggle. The army was only 27,000 strong, and the chief burden fell on volunteers. The navy, on the other hand, though small, was horoughly efficient One Spanish fleet was destroyed in Manila Bay without the loss of a single American life, and another in a dash from Santiago, in which only one American was killed. At the end of July, Spain sued for peace. Only one battle had been fought on land.

At this moment Dewey was proposing to attack Manila, and had arranged with Aguinaldo, who had recently led the Filipinos in revolt, to co-operate from the land side. The day after the armistice was signed at Washington, Manila was captured. Spain vigorously resisted the cession of the Philippines, which had not been conquered ; but the blow was softened by the payment of 4 millions. The Commissioners of the Powers met at Paris in October. The treaty of peace gave Cuba to the Cubans, and Porto Rico and the Philippines to the victors. The revelation of Spanish weakness had turned a war of deliverance into a war of

218 HISTORY OF OUR TIME

aggrandisement. The territory of the United States was filling up. New markets were needed. The Philippines offered a foothold in the East, to which the Powers were turning their eyes. It seemed as if the opportunity for a larger life came with the need, and the Republic reached out its hand and seized it.

The enthusiasm of empire disappeared almost as rapidly as it had arisen. Aguinaldo had been brought from Hong-Kong in an American vessel and treated as an ally, and he had believed that the Americans were helping his fellow-countrymen to gain their freedom. When they learned that they had only changed their masters they set up a republic. A revolt broke out in 1899, which required several campaigns and an army of 70,000 men to suppress. The ravages of disease, the barbarity with which the Filipinos fought, and the cruelties with which the troops retaliated sickened America of the struggle. The Democrats declared that a breach of faith had been committed ; but no one desired to see the islands occupied by Germany or Japan. Heroic efforts were made to educate the Filipinos and prepare them for ultimate self-government ; but they felt no gratitude, and clamoured for independence. The expense of the occupa¬ tion was enormous. A year or two after the

THE UNITED STATES

219

war, in the words of Mr. Bryce, 44 the one partjr no longer claimed any credit for the conquest, and the other could not suggest how to get rid of it.” In regard to Cuba, the States have loyally observed their pledges. A Cuban Republic was established, and the relations of the two countries were settled by treaty in 1903. Cuba undertook not to admit the interference of any foreign Power, while the United States reserved the right to intervene for the preservation of inde¬ pendence and the maintenance of order. Intervention became necessary under the latter head in 1906, and the island was ruled by an American Governor till 1909. The experience of the Philippines is the best guarantee of the independence of Cuba.

The Presidential election of 1900 found the Republicans stronger than in 1896. As business improved the silver cry lost its potency. Bryan stood on the same plat¬ form as before, but there was far less excite¬ ment, and McKinley won by a larger majority. A year later he was assassinated, and the Vice- President was called to the helm. McKinley lacked force and originality, and conceived it to be his duty to follow public opinion. Roose¬ velt, a born leader of men, regarded the Presidency as a position inviting the exercise of a vigorous initiative. He was aided by his prestige. After an apprenticeship in

220 HISTORY OF OUR TIME

the New York legislature he had learned to know the Middle West as a rancher, and had displayed capacity as the head of the New York police. He had raised a regiment of rough-riders during the campaign in Cuba, and shared with the admirals the honours of the conflict. On his return he had become Governor of New York. Called unex¬ pectedly to the White House in 1901 at the age of 42, Roosevelt entered on seven years of almost personal rule. In 1902 he began in insist on the necessity of legislation to control the trusts, and his mediation in a great strike of coal-miners in Pennsylvania increased his popularity. Though the Re¬ publican bosses were indignant at his attacks on wealthy interests which supported the party, his bold attitude was generally welcomed. His marked attentions to Hooker Washington gave satisfaction to the best elements in the country at a time when race riots were dis¬ gracing the central as well as the southern States.

1 he acquisition of a colonial empire in the Atlantic and Pacific rendered the rapid con¬ centration of the fleet essential. The Clayton- Bulwer treaty of 1850 provided that" if a canal were made it should not be under the exclusive control of any Power. In 1881 Secretary Blaine had in vain suggested to the British Government that the treaty

THE UNITED STATES

221

should be modified ; but after the settle¬ ment of the Venezuelan controversy the relations of the two countries improved. Great Britain openly sympathised with the States in the Spanish war, and it was widely believed that she had nipped in the bud a project for joint European intervention. The seal was set on their reconciliation in 1901 when she recognised the right of the United States to construct and fortify a canal under its own exclusive jurisdiction. The Hay- Pauncefote Treaty was followed by the pur¬ chase of all rights and concessions from the French Panama Company. Negotiations with Columbia as to the status of the canal proving fruitless, Panama declared its independence in 1903, and was immediately recognised by the United States. A strip of land across the peninsula ten miles wide was granted, in return for a payment of two millions and an annual subsidy. Construction began at once, and the canal will be open in 1914.

The election of 1904 confirmed the President in his position. The most striking achievement of his second term was his media¬ tion between Russia and Japan in 1905 ; but the rapid influx of Japanese into the Pacific States after the war led to ugly manifesta¬ tions of feeling and to the exclusion of Japan¬ ese children from the schools of California. State and federal interests were in direct con-

222

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

flict. The despatch of the fleet to the Pacific appeared to indicate tension ; but the Govern¬ ments remained cool, and Japan undertook to restrict settlement in America, despite her treaty rights. At the same time a stricter attitude was adopted towards white immi¬ grants. The influx of English and Irish, Germans and Scandinavians had rapidly declined, while enormous numbers from the south and east of Europe now crossed the Atlantic every year. The apprehensions aroused by the arrival of a lower type of civilisation led Congress in 1906 to make a knowledge of English necessary for naturalis¬ ation, and in 1907 to increase the restrictions imposed on the invading army at Ellis Island. The end of Roosevelt’s term was darkened by widespread distress. The earthquake which destroyed San Francisco in 1906 was followed by the Stock Exchange crisis of 1907, in which most of the banks suspended cash payments for many weeks. The Presi¬ dent’s feud with the trusts and the bosses increased in bitterness, and Wall Street lost no opportunity of expressing its dislike of his policy. Of a less controversial character were his efforts to check the wholesale destruction of the natural resources of the country.

On his election in 1904 Roosevelt had declared that he would not stand again ; and in 1908 his friend and colleague Taft

THE UNITED STATES

223

was elected without difficulty, Bryan being defeated for the third time. The new Presi¬ dent was expected to continue the policy of his predecessor ; but he differed in temper and method, if not in ideas. The business world rejoiced in the prospect of less inter¬ ference ; but the progressive elements in the Republican party became restive. The In¬ surgents were determined to break the power of the bosses, and in 1909 Speaker Cannon was overthrown. The President attempted to prevent a final split between the two sections of his party ; but his efforts met with very partial success. The Payne-Aldrich tariff brought no real reduction, and was vigorously attacked by the Insurgents. The confusion in the Republican ranks was intensi¬ fied when Roosevelt returned from a trium¬ phant tour in Europe in the summer of 1910. At the Congressional elections in the autumn the Democrats secured a sweeping majority, carrying States which had never voted Demo¬ crat before. The main cause of the Republi¬ can rout was the failure to reduce the tariff, which had raised the cost of living and fostered monopolies and political corruption. That the lesson was not lost on the President was shown in 1911 by the conclusion of a far-reaching measure of reciprocity with Canada, and the summoning of a special session of Congress for its ratification.

224

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

II

When the Canadian colonies were federated in 1867 the scattered settlements beyond the Rocky Mountains were isolated from the east and even from Manitoba. To make a nation was the task of Sir John Macdonald and the Conservative party which came into power in the year of federation, and, with a short interval, retained office till 1896. Its policy was the fostering of industries by Pro¬ tection, the development of communications, and the strengthening of the imperial con¬ nection. The Canadian Pacific Railway reached its goal in 1886, and the settlement of the west began. A revolt of half-castes in the north-west, led by Louis Riel, was suppressed in 1885 by the Canadian Militia. But prosperity and population increased slowly, and thousands of Canadians settled in the United States every year. The Liberal party advocated a lower tariff and closer commercial relations with the United States, and for a time a few voices supported the demand of Goldwin Smith for union. Mac¬ donald died in 1891, his party was weakened by financial scandals, and in 1896 the Liberals, led by Laurier, entered on an uninterrupted term of office. They continued the system of Protection and bounties, but in 1897 a step towards free trade was taken by the

CANADA

225

grant of a preference of 12J per cent., subse¬ quently increased to 33 J per cent., to British goods. This differentiation led to Germany excepting Canada from the most favoured nation treatment accorded by her to the British Empire. Canada retaliated in 1903 by a sur-tax on German goods, and the tariff war continued till 1910.

With the opening of the present century her fortunes rapidly improved. The dis¬ covery of gold at Klondyke in 1899 caused a rush to the west. As the development of the Pacific slope proceeded, Chinese and Japanese coolies flocked in, and the Federal Government was compelled to check them, — the former by drastic legislation, the latter by treaty. Western Canada attracted an ever-increasing army of American settlers. It was discovered that wheat would grow farther north than had been supposed ; and Canada began to take her place among the granaries of the world. The vast space between Manitoba and British Columbia was filled in 1905 by the creation of the new provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. So great was the influx that the Government felt strong enough to raise its standard for European immigrants. Amid this whirl of change the province of Quebec continues its placid life, and its loyalty is expressed in the well-known saying that the last shot in

H

226 HISTORY OF OUR TIME

defence of British sovereignty on the American continent will be fired by a Frenchman. The ( only grievance of the French Canadian has arisen in the schools. When Manitoba was [ made a province in 1870 it retained denomina- j tionalism, but substituted an unsectarian j system in 1890. French Catholics appealed to the Privy Council, which declared that j the Federal Government could intervene.] In 1895 an attempt to override the province failed, and it was left to the Liberals to remove the grievance by protecting religious teaching in the Catholic schools.

The relations of Canada with her great neighbour have been smoothed by the suc¬ cessive removal of differences. In 1886 a dispute arose in regard to seal fishing in the Behring Sea, which after long negotiations was submitted to arbitration in 1892. The Tribunal reported in 1893 in favour of the British contention that it was an open sea, and drew up a scheme of joint regulations. A second controversy related to the boundary of Alaska, the huge Arctic province sold by Russia to the United States in 1867. The matter was rendered important by the dis¬ covery of gold at Klondyke, and in 190o the arbitrators decided broadly in favour of the American claim. A third and even more important dispute, relating to American fishing rights off Newfoundland and Nova

LATIN AMERICA

227

Scotia, was referred to the Hague Tribunal in 1910, and settled in the main in accordance with British claims. The Waterways Treaty of 1910 established a permanent Court of Conciliation for differences arising in boundary waters. Finally, in 1911 a far-reaching measure of reciprocity was framed by the two Governments, the United States needing a new supply of food and raw materials and the Canadian West demanding cheaper manufactured articles.

Ill

The last generation has witnessed the rapid development of large portions of Latin America. The gigantic federal State of Mexico, in which the native Indian is much more numerous than the white man, was guided since 1877 by Porfirio Diaz, under whose rule British and American capital flowed in and peace was maintained. But his long reign was frankly despotic, and the country was developed by a hideous system of virtual slave labour. His overthrow and flight in 1911 have brought new men to the front, and the future of Mexico is beyond calculation. The five small Central American Republics of Guatemala, Honduras, Nicar¬ agua, San Salvador, and Costa Rica have made but little progress. Federation, though H 2

228 HISTORY OF OUR TIME

often discussed, is still far off, and war and insurrections have frightened foreign capital. The opening of the canal may lead the' United States to insist on a minimum standard of tranquillity. The first step has been taken by the institution of a permanent Court of Justice in 1908, under the auspices of the United States and Mexico, for the settlement of all disputes between the Central American Republics. The little State of Panama is already, for practical purposes, an American Protectorate.

The tropical States of South America — Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru — have made scarcely more progress. Their history oscillates between dictatorship and revolu¬ tion, and their population consists almost wholly of natives, negroes, and mestizos . European settlers and European capital alike avoid these Republics, with their enervating climate and their feverish political life. Bolivia and Paraguay are almost wholly inhabited by native Indians. The Eastern and Western States, on the other hand, have made considerable and in some cases rapid advance. During the long reign of Pedro II many reforms were introduced in Brazil, and slavery was abolished in 1888. But an empire in a continent of republics appeared an anomaly, and in 1889 the Emperor, who had no son, was deposed by a bloodless

LATIN AMERICA

229

military revolution and shipped off to Lisbon. Unwise finance has led to a series of crises ; but Rio has become a great city, and the resources of the vast country are only begin¬ ning to be tapped. Far more striking has been the career of Argentina, the second in size and the first in importance of South American States. Since her bankruptcy in 1889, which provoked the Baring crisis, she has attracted a large European population, chiefly Italian, and an enormous volume of British capital. She will soon be the greatest corn and meat exporting country in the world. Her comparatively temperate climate, rich plains, and easy water com¬ munications promise a future of almost boundless prosperity, and Buenos Ayres, with a population of a million and a quarter, is already by far the largest city in South America. Her western neighbour, Chile, a mere strip of the Pacific coast two thousand miles long, has proved her enterprise, despite grave internal troubles. The Presidency of Balmaceda, which began in 1886, witnessed a sincere attempt towards reform ; but Con¬ gress, which was less democratic, thwarted his efforts, and in 1891 civil war broke out. The President was defeated and committed suicide. War with Argentina on boundary questions was avoided by submitting the dispute to King Edward VII for arbitration.

230 HISTORY OF OUR TIME

The settlement of the gravest frontier disputes, the growing preference for arbitra¬ tion, and the increase of European settlers and capital suggest a future of peaceful development for the largest part of the southern continent. Though the human material is not of the best, the habits of civilised States are gradually being acquired. Federation is out of the" question ; but combinations of some of the smaller re¬ publics are not impossible. While saved from the fate of Africa by the Monroe Doctrine, Latin America is at the mercy of her pro¬ tector. The joint demonstration of Great Britain, Germany, and Italy against Presi¬ dent Castro in 1903 was watched with intense suspicion by the United States, which pro¬ claimed that even temporary occupation of territory could not be permitted. The attack on Venezuela prompted the Foreign Minister of Argentina to demand the pro¬ hibition of armed intervention for the col¬ lection of debts. The Drago Doctrine was widely discussed, and at the second Hague Conference it was agreed that force should not be employed till the claims had been approved by arbitration and payment refused by the debtor State.

The Pan-American Congresses at Washing¬ ton (1889), Mexico City (1901), and Rio (1906), and the establishment of the Bureau

LATIN AMERICA

231

of American Republics at Washington, point to still closer relations between North and South. But though Latin America is grateful to her mighty neighbour for pro¬ tection in time of need, she trembles lest that power should be abused. The high¬ handed treatment of Colombia sent a dis¬ agreeable thrill through the southern hemi¬ sphere. The Monroe Doctrine is the most elastic as well as the most audacious of political principles, and he would be a bold man who dared to assert that its develop¬ ment is at an end.

CHAPTER X

WORLD PROBLEMS

The most striking outward feature of the history of the last generation is the shrink¬ age of the world. No country, no continent any longer lives an independent life. The expansion of the dominant races has led to a fuller occupation of the surface of the earth. The curtains which hide its secrets are being raised one by one. Lhassa was invaded in 1904, the North Pole was reached by Peary in 1909, the capitulation of the South Pole is within sight. Man at last knows his home. As the world contracts the human race grows more conscious of its unity. Ideas, ideals, and experiments make the tour of the globe. Civilisation has become international.

Of the world-movements of the last genera¬ tion the advance of democracy, in its dual aspect of liberty and equality, is by far the most important. The Parliaments of Japan, Persia, and Turkey, the demand

232

WORLD PROBLEMS

233

for self-government in China, India, Egypt, and the Philippines, reveal the attrac¬ tion of democratic ideas. The transfer of power from the few to the many has gone steadily forward. The aggregation of great masses in cities has weakened feudal and conservative influences and enabled the fourth estate to organise its forces. The right of the majority to give effect to its settled wishes is now recognised, at least in theory, in most civilised States, and machinery is invented to discover what the will of the people really is. The Referendum, which has long worked to the general satis¬ faction in Switzerland, has been adopted in Australia and in some of the American States ; while in the form of Local Option it has spread throughout the English-speaking world. Proportional representation is at work in Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Fin¬ land, Wurttemberg, some of the Swiss cantons, South Africa, and Japan, and is steadily gaining ground. In Belgium and parts of Switzerland the citizen is fined if he does not go to the poll, and a similar provision has been proposed in Italy and Argentina.

More important than these mechanical expedients for arriving at the will of the people has been the concession of the fran¬ chise to women in Australia and New Zealand,

284

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

Norway and Finland, the Isle of Man, and five of the United States (Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Washington). Nineteen women entered the Finnish Diet on the grant of universal suffrage, and one took her seat at Christiania in 1911. The demand for a vote as the symbol of citizenship reached a new stage in Great Britain in 1905, when the Women’s Social and Political Union, founded by Mrs. Pankhurst in 1903, adopted militant methods ; but the organised attack on the sex barrier provoked an organised defence, while the great mass of women remain indifferent spectators of the con¬ flict which is waged in their name. Several Bills have received a second reading in the House of Commons, but the historic parties are too deeply divided in opinion to take up the question officially. On the other hand, women have voted in County Council elections from the start, and in 1907 became eligible for membership. The movement towards sex equality makes rapid strides. Women doctors are found everywhere, women lawyers practise at the French Bar, women ministers of religion are common in the United States and not unknown in England. Nearly every University has opened its doors to female students, though Oxford and Cambridge still refuse them the degrees to which they are entitled. An International

WORLD PROBLEMS

235

Council of Women was formed in 1888 under the presidency of Lady Aberdeen, and the first Congress met in London in 1889. In every department of life and work women play a part of increasing importance. No voice so powerful as that of Mill is raised on their behalf ; but their ideals have been forcibly expressed by such writers as Ellen Key, Charlotte Gilman, and Olive Schreiner, while the demand for legal equality has been set forth in Lady Maclaren’s W Omari’s Charter. The concession of equal civil and political rights is consistently supported by the Labour parties of every country.

The most decisive sign of the advance of democracy is the rise of organised Labour parties. The attainment of a democratic franchise has naturally been followed by a demand for greater equality in the economic sphere. In no great country has Socialism played such a conspicuous part as in Germany, where it has won the allegiance of the vast majority of manual workers in the towns. In Prussia it has at last forced its way into the Landtag. In Saxony its power became so great that the menaced interests combined to withdraw universal suffrage in 1897. In the more liberal South German States the Socialists co-operate with the advanced sections of the bourgeoisie. In Great Britain a Labour party, largely though not wholly

236

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

socialist, emerged from the election of 1906. In France and Italy parliamentary Socialism became a force in the nineties. In Austria it arrived with universal suffrage in 1907. Its strength in the first and second Dumas was one of the excuses for narrowing the franchise of the third. In 1885 a Labour party was formed in Belgium, where the Walloon miners and factory-workers of the South confront the Catholic Flemings of the North, and where it is most closely associated with the Co-operative movement. In Holland and the Scandinavian States it has won a firm hold in the Chambers, and in the Finnish Diet elected in 1911 nearly half the members were Socialists. In Spain it is increasing its hold in the seaboard towns. Its leading person¬ alities, Bebel and Bernstein in Germany, Adler in Austria, Turati and Ferri in Italy, Iglesias in Spain, Jaur&s in France, Vander- velde in Belgium, Troelstra in Holland, Keir Hardie, Ramsay Macdonald, and Philip Snowden in England, are men of high char¬ acter and unquestionable ability, influ¬ ential in their respective Parliaments and speaking for a great volume of working-class opinion at the International Socialist Con¬ gresses held at intervals since 1889.

The once imposing Marxian structure, mean¬ while, is falling into ruins, and among its critics are many Socialists. Its theory of

WORLD PROBLEMS

287

value is untenable, its economic forecast has been falsified, its distrust of legislation as a means of social betterment is out of date. Younger men are turning to the 44 Revision¬ ism ” expounded in the writings of Bern¬ stein, while the assumption of ministerial office by French Socialists marks a further breach with the exclusive traditions of the past. In Great Britain Marxism has declined in influence since the death of William Morris, and the empirical collectivism of the Fabian Society has made steady progress in the fields both of theory and practice. The only exception to the movement towards evolu¬ tionary doctrine and parliamentary action is to be found in Syndicalism, which has won a large body of support in France and Italy since Sorel published his work, The Socialist Future of Syndicates, in 1897 . The Syndicalist works through federated trade unions instead of through political representation. Unions, he declares, must be purely fighting organisa¬ tions, their chief weapon the strike, their object the forcible transformation of society. While Marx taught that the capitalist movement tended automatically to its own destruction, Sorel and his followers affirm that the change can only be accom¬ plished by a determined effort of the pro¬ letariat.

Travelling beyond the boundaries of Europe,

238 HISTORY OF OUR TIME

Socialism is found to a less extent in the United States, where private initiative is more highly prized than in any other part of the world, and where no Socialist entered Congress till 1911. In 1901 a Socialist party was organised in Japan, where the evils of the competitive system are growing with the development of industry. In New Zealand a period of advanced legislation, equally acceptable to the Socialist and the Radical, was inaugurated by Seddon. But it is in Australia that the Labour party has gained its greatest political successes. In 1904 a Labour Ministry held office for a few months without an independent majority ; but in 1910 the Commonwealth elections gave it a substantial majority in both Houses and enabled the Fisher Ministry to levy a progressive land tax on undeveloped estates.

In addition to the efforts of the manual workers to improve their conditions of life hy industrial association, co-operative dis¬ tribution, and political action, the members of other classes have busied themselves increasingly with the social problem. Legislation aiming at a minimum standard of education, health, and leisure is gradually filling the statute-books of civilised countries, and laggards are brought into line by the international meetings and agreements which began with the Berlin Labour Conference of

WORLD PROBLEMS

239

1800. Sociil experiments are copied as rapidly as scientific inventions. I he Gheni system of insurance against unemployment, inaugurated in 1901, has spread over Central and Northern Europe. The Wages Boards set up in Victoria in 189G have been adopted by the mother country. Germany has led the way with labour exchanges, labour colonies, provision against sickness and accident, old age and invalidity. Great Britain is about to embark on a pioneer scheme of State-aided insurance against unemployment. Charles Booth and Seebohm Rowntree have describee the life and labour of the people, and the numberless University Settlements, springing from the seed sown by Arnold loynbee, testify to a more generous recognition ol social responsibility.

In an age of science and democracy the power of tradition is everywhere weakening. The significant endeavour of Modernism to restate the Catholic position has ^aroused world-wide sympathy and interest ; but I ius X departing from the cautious tolerance of his predecessor, has offered it uncom¬ promising opposition. Loisy and Jyrre felt the heavy hand of the Pope, and even Fogazzaro, the last representative of the liberal Catholicism of Rosmini, was frowned on by the Vatican. The Syllabus “ Lamentabih and the Encyclical 44 Pascendi ” have slam

240

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

Modernism as a school of Catholic thought. The watchword of Pius X is concentration. He prefers an obedient flock to a larger number of nominal adherents. Thus be imposes on teachers an oath against Modernism, denounces the Reformation in the Borromeo Encyclical, and penalises mixed marriages by the Ne temere decree. The attempts of Catholics to prove the compatibility of their faith with democratic principles has been rebuked. The promising Sillonist movement of Marc Sangnier has been suppressed in France, and the excommunication of Romolo Murri has destroyed Christian Democracy in Italy. Yet this rigid conservatism attracts the type of mind which yearns for authority, and there has been a steady flow of converts from the Protestant Churches and from the ranks of disillusioned sceptics. While the older Churches have lost much of their ground, the tendency of recent thought is rather con¬ structive than destructive. The teachings of Mrs. Eddy have spread rapidly throughout the United States and found a fainter welcome in the Old World. The emphasis laid by Christian Science on the power of the wiil reappears in the newer psychology of James and Bergson. Philosophy has passed out of her positivist mood, and Science has grown more willing to accept idealist interpretations of the universe.

WORLD PROBLEMS

241

Though the theological temperature is falling, the age-long conflict between Christian and Jew has been renewed with increased bitterness. But the Anti-Semitism of the last two decades of the nineteenth century was rather the offspring of economic than of racial or religious causes. The crusade began in Prussia in 1878 with the denuncia¬ tions of Stocker, a Court chaplain, who traced the growing materialism of German society to Jewish financiers and journalists. He was vigorously supported by the historian Treitschke, and despite the opposition of Mommsen, Virchow, and other leaders of thought, the virus spread over Germany. When dismissed by William II he appeared in the Reichstag as the leader of a party of Anti-Semites. By this time Austria had outstripped her ally. The party of Christian Socialism, supported by the Catholic clergy, obtained the enthusiastic support of the small traders of the towns, while its leader, Lueger, the burgomaster of Vienna, held the capital in the hollow of his hand till his death in 1910. In France the poisoned pen of Drumont prepared the way for the out¬ burst of Anti-Semitism to which Dreyfus owed his sufferings. But it was in Eastern Europe, the abode of two-thirds of the ten million Jews scattered over the world, that the storm raged most fiercely. In Russia

242

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

violent mob attacks began in 1881 and were renewed in 1891. A decade later a third cycle of persecution opened with the hideous massacre at Kishineff, the capital of Bess¬ arabia. Scarcely less terrible have been the sufferings of Jews in Roumania. Among the conditions on which the new State was recognised in 1878 was the removal of religious disabilities ; but the Government made no attempt to fulfil its pledges. Restrictions were multiplied to such an extent that life became almost intolerable. A great exodus began in 1900. Many fled to America, and in 1902 Secretary Hay invited the signatories of the Treaty of Berlin to common action. As Great Britain alone responded, collective pressure was impossible, and the only result of the American protest was that the Roumanian Government prohibited emigra¬ tion.

The answer to Anti-Semitism was Zionism. In 1896 Herzl, a Vienna journalist, outlined a plan of an autonomous republic under the Sultan. The scheme was warmly embraced by Max Nordau, Zangwill, and other influential leaders, and the first Zionist Congress was held at Basel in 1897 ; but the difficulties of the project soon became apparent. Abdul Hamid was sympathetic, but failed to make a satisfactory offer. Russia was hostile and Germany unfriendly. The prosperous Jews

WORLD PROBLEMS

243

of Western Europe had no wish to exchange the comforts of civilisation for the barren soil of Palestine. Despite these discourage¬ ments Zionists refused to abandon hope, and an offer by the British Government of an alternative refuge in East Africa in 1903 was refused after heated discussions. But the death of Herzl in 1904 dealt a mortal blow at the movement, and the recent project of a settlement in Mesopotamia has attracted little enthusiasm.

The filling up of the world has brought the white and the coloured races once more into close contact. Though slavery and the slave-trade had been abolished by civilised States before the scramble for Africa began in 1884, old evils have re¬ appeared under new names. Since the effective exploitation of tropical and sub¬ tropical territories is beyond the capacity of white men, indentured labour has been invented, and the 44 White Man’s Burden ” is too often the dark man’s doom. The murders and mutilations of the Congo Free State, the holocausts of Angola servicaes , the cruelties of the Chartered Company in Matabeleland and of Dr. Peters in German East Africa, the wholesale destruction of human life on the hemp plantations of Yucatan, the massacre of Blagovestchenk, the march of the European armies to Pekin,

244

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

are part of the price that humanity has had to pay for the new Imperialism. Of another character are the indignities long inflicted on educated Indians in the Transvaal under Dutch and British rule, the perpetuation of a colour bar in the new constitution of South Africa, and the undiminished insolence of the American towards the negro.

Yet some progress in the solution of the greatest and most difficult of world problems has been made. The sense of responsibility is growing. Such bodies as the African Society, founded in memory of Mary Kingsley, and the South African Native Races Committee reveal a new and sym¬ pathetic attitude towards native ques¬ tions. The noble work of missionaries is bearing fruit. The British Anti-Slavery and Aborigines Protection Society continues its beneficent activity. Thanks to the crusade of the saintly Lavigerie and the Brussels Conference of 1890 to which it led, the African slave-trade is more closely watched, and the sale of black ivory is being gradually limited. Steps are being taken to save natives from the ravages of alcohol. An International Conference met at Shanghai in 1909 to concert measures against the use of opium. No one now doubts that not only the yellow but the brown and the black races are capable of progress. While

WORLD PROBLEMS 245

Hayti and Liberia show how little advance they can make without help, Jamaica, Basutoland, and the Malay States reveal a marked capacity for development under sympathetic guidance. The American negro learns at Tuskegee to become a useful member of a civilised State, and Booker Washington and Professor Dubois are among the intellec¬ tual assets of their country. Pure blooded members of the dark races, such as Rizal, the Filipino scholar, novelist, and patriot, and Tengo Jebavu, the South African journalist, show the possibilities of advance. The desire to preserve racial purity is common to the higher nations. Yet the wisdom of friendly co - operation between the higher and the lower races becomes ever more apparent. If the white man boasts of his superior intelligence, the coloured man possesses a scarcely less for¬ midable instrument in his overwhelming numbers.

Though the civilised world has become increasingly conscious of its unity, vast armaments are still regarded as the only guarantee of national security. The acquisi¬ tion of oversea dominions has tempted the Powers to supplement their rivalry on land by rivalry at sea. The number of men under arms in Europe has risen to 5 millions, while the war budget exceeds 300 millions. Japan

246 HISTORY OF OUR TIME

and the United States have joined in the race, and the South American Republics have squandered millions on battleships of the largest size. Schemes for a reduction of armaments flitted through the restless brain of Louis Napoleon, and occupied the attention of Salisbury and other statesmen. As debt and taxation increased without any corre¬ sponding advance in relative strength, the cry for relief grew more insistent, and it was with a shock of joyful surprise that the world learned in 1898 that the most autocratic monarch in Europe had invited the Powers to discuss the feasibility of a halt. In im¬ pressive language the Rescript lamented the growing burden on the peoples and the diver¬ sion of national effort from productive pursuits. Cynics dismissed the proposal as an adroit move on the part of a State whose finances were in disorder ; but there is no reason to suspect the sincerity of the Tsar. When the delegates met at the Hague in 1899 it became clear that there was no chance of realising the purpose for which the Conference had met. The spokesman of Germany declared in emphatic words that his country found her armaments no crushing burden, and that she could entertain no proposal for their limitation.

When the ideal was thus rudely shattered, the Conference fell back on arbitration. There had

WORLD PROBLEMS

247

been over one hundred arbitrations between States during the nineteenth century. The Alabama award did little to assist the cause of arbitration, owing to the excessive damages that Great Britain was called on to pay. Twenty years later the Behring Sea dispute was settled by arbitrators, two nominated by Great Britain and the United States, and three by the rulers of countries not concerned in the dispute. Other differences have been terminated by an independent arbitrator. But it was obvious that a permanent Court would be found highly convenient, and it is the glory of the First Hague Conference, at the suggestion of Lord Pauncefote, to have created it. Of the controversies referred to the Hague Tribunal by far the most important related to the Newfoundland Fisheries. Still more recently, the questions involved in the escape and capture of Savarkar at Marseilles were referred to the Court, and settled in favour of the British claim. In addition to the growing willingness of States to refer their disputes to arbitration, the practice of concluding general treaties is becoming common. Many contracts have been signed during the last generation pledging the signatories to submit all questions except those touching vital interests or national honour. The next step, which was first taken by Chile and Argentina, was to under-

248

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

take to refer all disputes without exception. The courageous proposal of President Taft in 1910 to conclude an unconditional treaty with “ some Great Power ” and the warm welcome extended to it by Sir Edward Grey in March 1911, bring within sight a new hope for the world.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union, founded in 1888, meets every year. The Declaration of London will supply the International Prize Court, established at the Second Hague Con¬ ference, with a recognised code. The exemp¬ tion of private property from capture at sea must be secured. But the best hope of peace lies in the gradual triumph of reason over the suspicions, ignorance, and greed from which wars arise. The vested interests which thrive on armaments, the Yellow Press which lives by sensation, the nervous patriot who dreams of invasion, the soldier who glorifies the bracing influence of war, are formidable but not insuperable obstacles to the reign of law. It is the merit of Randal Cremer and Hodgson Pratt, of Baroness Siittner and Frederic Passy, of Edwin Mead and Andrew Carnegie, to have realised that peace needs its propaganda like any other good cause. It is the achievement of Bloch and Norman Angell to have shown that even a successful conflict between modern States can bring no material gain. We can now look forward

WORLD PROBLEMS

249

with something like confidence to the time when war between civilised nations will be considered as antiquated as the duel, and when the peacemakers shall be called the children of God.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

GENERAL. — The Cambridge Modern History , vol. xii. ; Rose, The Development of the European Nations, 1870-1900 ; Hazen, Europe Since 1815 ; The Annual Register ; The Statesman’s Year-Book.

CHAPTER I. — Narratives. — Bright, History of England, 1880-1901 ; McCarthy, History of Our Own Times, 1880-1901 (4 vols.) ; Herbert Paul, History of Modern England, vol. v., 1885-1895. Biographies. — Morley, Gladstone ; Winston Churchill, Randolph Churchill ; Elliot, Goschen. Ireland. — Barry O’Brien, Life of Parnell ; W. O’Brien, An Olive Branch in Ireland ; Paul- Dubois, Contemporary Ireland. The Empire. — Hawke, The British Empire ; Lucas, Historical Geography of the British Colonies ; Jebb, Studies in Colonial Nationalism, and The Colonial Conference ; Hobson, Imperialism.

CHAPTER II. — Bodley, France, and The Church in France ; Coubertin, The Evolution of the Third Republic ; Lawton, The Third French Republic ; Bracq, France under the Republic ; Conybeare, The Dreyfus Case.

CHAPTER III. — Italy. — King and Okey, Italy To-day, ed. of 1909; Stillman, The Union of Italy, 1815-1895, and Life of Crispi; Lowell, Governments and Parties in Continental Europe. Spain and Portugal. — Whyte, A Century of Spain and Portugal; Martin Hume, Modern Spain ; Morse Stephens, Portugal (with additional chapter by M. Hume). Archer, The Life of Ferrer, and Shaw, Spain from Within, discuss the influence of the Church.

251

252 HISTORY OF OUR TIME

Wilson, The Downfall of Spain, describes the American War.

CHAPTER IV. — Germany. — Dawson, The Evolution of Modern Germany. Lowell, Governments and Parties, and B. Howard, The German Empire, describe the Con¬ stitution at work. Headlam, Bismarck, and Lowe, William 11, are useful for the earlier years. The German Emperor's Speeches. Austria-Hungary. — Drage, Austria-Hungary ; Lowell, Governments and Parties ; Seton Watson, Racial Problems in Hungary. Hungary To-Day, ed. Alden, gives the official Magyar version.

CHAPTER V. — Russia. — Lowe, Alexander III ; Pares, Russia and Reform ; Wallace, Russia, ed. of 1905 ; Milyou- kov, Russia and its Crisis ; Nevinson, The Dawn in Russia ; Kropotkin, The Terror in Russia ; Renwick, Finland To-day. The Near East. — Sir C. Eliot, Turkey in Europe ; The Balkan Question, ed. Villari, and Brailsford, Macedonia, describe the rule of Abdul Hamid. Buxton, Turkey in Revolution, and Abbott, Turkey in Transition, discuss the Young Turk regime. For Armenia, Bryce, Trans-Caucasia and Ararat, ed. 1896. Miller, The Balkans, and Greek Life in Town and Country ; Beaman, Stambuloff.

CHAPTER VI. — Bismarck’s Reflections ; Rose, The Development of the European Nations ; Dilke, The Present Position of European Politics (1887) ; Benedetti, Essays in Diplomacy. For fuller study, Tardieu, La France et ses Alliances; and Lemonon, H Europe et la Politique Britannique.

CHAPTER VII. — General. — Townshend, Asia and Europe ; Lyall, Asiatic Studies. The Far East. — Uyehara, The Political Development of Japan ; Fifty Years of Neiv Japan, ed. Okuma ; Lafcadio Hearn, Japan, an Attempt at Interpretation ; Bland and Backhouse, China under the Empress Dowager ; W. Cecil, Changing China. India. — The Indian Empire, 4 vols. (Imperial Gazetteer of India) ; Lord Curzon in India. Morley, Indian Speeches ; Cotton, New India ; Nevinson, The New Spirit in India, and Chirol, Indian Unrest , describe the new nationalism.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

253

Younghusband, India and Tibet , and Hamilton, Afghani¬ stan , discuss frontier problems. Persia. — Browne, The Persian Revolution ; Chirol, The Middle Eastern Question.

CHAPTER VIII. — General. — Johnston, The Opening- up of Africa. Egypt. — Lord Cromer, Modern Egypt ; Colvin, The Making of Modern Egypt ; Rothstein, Egypt's Ruin (anti-occupation). Central Africa. — Mockler- Ferryman, British Nigeria ; Stanley, Autobiography ; Morel, Red Rubber ; Hamilton, Somaliland ; Eliot, The East African Protectorate ; Johnston, Uganda. South Africa. — Theal, Story of South Africa; Michell, Life of Rhodes ; Hobson, The War in South Africa ; Cook, The Rights and Wrongs of the Transvaal W ar ; The Times History of the War in South Africa ; De Wet, Three Years' War ; Brand, The Union of South Africa.

CHAPTER IX. — The United States. — The Cambridge Modern History, vol. vii. ; Bryce, The American Common¬ wealth, ed. 1911 ; Coolidge, The United States as a World Power ; Taussig, Tariff History of the United States, ed. 1910 ; Whipple, Cleveland. Canada. — Bourinot, Canada, 1760- 1900; Argyll, Yesterday and To-day in Canada. Latin America. — Akers, History of South America, 1854-1904 ; Fisher Unwin’s South American Series, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina , Peru, Chile, Uruguay ; Turner, Barbarous Mexico (anti-Diaz) ; Portez, The Ten Republics.

CHAPTER X. — Reeves, State Experiments in Australia and New Zealand ; Sombart, Socialism and the Social Movement ; Lilley, Modernism ; Abbott, Israel in Europe ; Inter-Racial Problems, ed. Spiller ; Booker Washington, Up from Slavery ; Howard Evans, Sir Randal Cremer ; Hall, The Two Hague Conferences.

INDEX

Abyssinia, 60-2 Afghanistan, 149, 166, 168 Africa, South, 20-2, 196-205 Anti-Semitism, 42-4, 241-2 Arbitration, 149,213-15,229, 246-8

Armaments, 245-6.

Armenia, 92, 124-5 Australia, 19, 233, 238

Bagdad railway. 93, 145,

154

Bonapartism, 56-7 Bosnia and Herzegovina, 107- 8, 151

British East Africa, 195-6 Bulgaria, 121-3, 127, 151 Burma, 166-7

Catholicism, 32, 41-2, 47-52, 65, 67, 73-4, 101-135,

239-40

China, 157-65, 173 Chinese Labour, 203-4, 207 Congo, the, 187-92 Crete, 125-7, 130 Cuba, 68-70, 216-9

Drago Doctrine, 230 Dual Alliance, 137-9

Egypt, 140-1, 181-6

Finland, 118-9

Greece, 125-7, 130-1

Hague Conferences and Tri¬ bunal, 149, 246-7 Hawaii, 212

Ireland, 7-16, 23-4, 26, 30

Japan, 150, 155-65, 221-2

Korea, 157, 161-4

Macedonia, 121, 127-30 Madagascar, 140, 145, 188 Modernism, 239-40 Monroe Doctrine, 212-4, 230-1

Montenegro, 131, 151 Morocco, 71-3, 144-9, 154, 186

Native races, 243-5 New Zealand, 233, 238 Nigeria, 194-5

Opium, 165, 244

255

256

HISTORY OF OUR TIME

Panama Canal, 39-40, 221 Persia, 149-50, 176-9 Philippines, 70, 217-9 Poland, 96-8, 119-20 Proportional Representation, 233

Prussia, 95-8

Referendum, the, 233 Roumania, 131

Servia, 121-4, 157-2 Siam, 140 Siberia, 110, 158 Socialism, 28, 52-5, 90-1, 117, 235-8

Somaliland, 196 Syndicalism, 54. 237

Tibet, 149, 173 Triple Alliance, 134-5 Triple Entente, 144-50 Tripoli, 143

Turkey, 92-3, 121, 124-30, 151-3

Uganda, 195-6 Women’s franchise, 233-5 Zionism, 242-3

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